Hiccup spent his time with Camicazi and Thuggory for the rest of the day. Later that night, he went to his house alone and rested on his bed. While trying to sleep, the boy pondered about what happened that day.
He was glad they helped and supported him. They spent their time together, talking about different tribes outside the region. Hiccup rarely went out from the village for peace treaties. As such, he did not know much about tribes outside Barbaric Archipelago.
That reminded him of how they found him. Hiccup was embarrassed that they found him bound at the forge. However, what shocked him was the fact that Astrid and the others had quite literally stolen from his safe place.
Hiccup had gotten complacent. For several months, they seemed to have stopped taking things away from him. He assumed that his father had done something about it.
As a result, it came as a shock to him when they quite literally robbed him in his safe space: the forge. It was inconceivable that they dared to move in and take his things!
That made him paranoid.
'What if they come after my other things? My scrolls, books and notes?' Hiccup thought, concerned.
The boy typically wrote his notes in different languages, with some exceptions. It was a habit he picked up when he was still learning different languages. None of his notes were in Norse. Nobody at Berk could read them, let alone reading at all, since most were illiterate.
'Better safe than sorry.' Hiccup thought as he sat up from the bed. If those books and scrolls were ever stolen, he needed to make sure that nobody could read them.
The boy was thankfully blessed with perfect memory. He would not be forgetting anything anytime soon. It could help him for what he was about to do.
The books were too valuable to be rid of. They were plethora of knowledge, and it would be unfair for other scholars if he simply burned them down.
However, burning the language books could fix the issue. It was a temporary solution, but considering nobody cared about the issue, he had to do something about it.
Determined, Hiccup walked to the table and grabbed ten books from the corner. Those were his language books. He did not need them anymore. The boy went out from the room and walked down the stairs. He needed to get rid of it.
Stoick had just returned into the house when he saw Hiccup throwing books into burning fireplace. He was horrified. "Hiccup!"
Hiccup turned around. He had just thrown the last one. "Dad?"
The chief quickly rushed to the fireplace. He was shocked to see burned books inside it. The flame worked fast burning the books there. "Hiccup, what were you thinking?"
"I'm making sure they couldn't read them if they stole it."
"Read what?" Stoick asked.
"My books."
"Who want to steal them?" Stoick questioned.
"Astrid and her friends." Hiccup looked away.
The chief grimaced. "Hiccup, they're not going to steal from you."
"But they did!" Hiccup exclaimed as he stared at him with pleading expression. "I made six gifts for the chief and heir, and they stole four of them. I was working when they came to the forge. They robbed me!"
Stoick was stunned. "... do you have proof of this?"
Hiccup rubbed his shoulder. "I have the plans on paper." He muttered. "Camicazi and Thuggory found me. I gave them the gifts and we traded our pendants."
As a proof, Hiccup pulled two pendants from his pocket. They were Camicazi's Bog-Burglar pendant and Thuggory's Meathead pendant. The chief was stunned to see them. He felt guilt for not seeing them. However, could not do anything about it.
He had seen the others presented the gift as their own. It would be seen as an insult if there was an accusation of theft flying around about the gift. At the same time, Stoick was proud of his son. He had invented those things.
However, seeing what he had just done, the man was concerned that Hiccup was hoarding all that knowledge for himself. Keeping things as secret was not something that they should do in the village, unless it involved safety of others.
"And you think burning book is a good idea?" Stoick questioned.
Hiccup pocketed the pendants. He looked nervous. "I don't want them to read it."
Stoick let out a concerned sigh. "Hiccup." He started. "People write those books for others to read them. They write books because they want others to know about what they have learned and discovered."
Hiccup did not respond. The man continued speaking. "When you become the chief, you won't have time to do any of your hobbies." He explained to the boy. "Those books are invaluable for those who wanted to learn, say, your apprentice. If you burn those books, you'd have to work more to teach them what you know."
Stoick sat down next to him. The man looked at his son with soft expression. "Hiccup." He softly asked the boy. "Why did you do it?"
"I just... don't want them to know." Hiccup admitted, not looking to his father. "Everything I learned is something that's... unique about me. I just wanted to help. Everything I made was done to help tribe relation. I just... want to be one of you guys."
"I uh... I like what you did, even if you're not the one giving them." Stoick was saddened. His voice was soft. "Why don't you want others to know?"
Hiccup stared at his father. "Knowledge is something that I have a lot." He admitted. "This is who I am. This is what makes me... me. I'm not strong like other Vikings, or like Astrid, or Snotlout. I don't want them to steal what I know, because they'd say they figured it out themselves. I don't want to be useless."
"Hiccup. You are not useless." Stoick was firm. He was miffed that his son would say such a thing. "A useless couldn't make all those amazing things. A useless couldn't trick me in Maces and Talons."
The man grabbed his hands as he stared at him. "A useless couldn't befriend a dragon."
Hiccup and Stoick stared at each other. The chief continued speaking. "But you did." He softly spoke. The man let out a small smile. "And I'm proud of you."
Hiccup smiled a bit. That smile faded away soon after. "I just... don't want them to take my knowledge away from me."
"Knowledge should never the thing that made who you are." Stoick advised. He was serious on his lecture. "It should be your action. Because action speak louder than words."
The boy looked away. Stoick let out a sigh. He let go of his hands. "Gobber told me something years ago." He spoke, softly smiling at him. "He called you Hiccup the Dreamer."
Hiccup looked up to his father. Stoick continued speaking. "That's because you're smart. You like to think. You are the only Viking that like to think and imagine things. What you need... is for you to believe in yourself."
The chief shifted his sitting position. "When I was a boy." He started. "My father told me to bang my head against a rock. And I did it." He chuckled. "I thought he was crazy, but I did it. You know what happened?"
"No?"
"The rock split into two." Stoick simply spoke. "It taught me what Vikings could do. We can tame seas or conquer lands! But the most important lesson of all, it taught me to believe in myself."
"As a chief, I believe that I am doing my best to lead my tribe to prosperity." The chief explained to his son. "As a father, I believe you'd do great things, just like I have. You need to do things differently."
Stoick and Hiccup stared at each other. The chief seemed to fumble a bit. "I uh... I'm telling you this because you're different since birth." He admitted. "You're a curious boy. You hardly pay attention to things that don't interest you. I remember you hunting for trolls when I took you out for fishing."
Hiccup looked embarrassed. "Gobber told me that trolls are real." He explained to his father. "I read some books, and they really are real. It's just that, they live in the mainland, and nowhere in Meridian of Misery."
Stoick laughed a bit. "Look how smart you are." He softly praised his son. "You should be proud of knowing that. Be proud of everything you do up to this point. You'd be smarter than ever as you get older."
"But." The chief started, raising his hand in flat gesture. "While you are smart and know a lot of things, you don't have the wisdom to help you make your choice. You need to think about what would happen when you apply your knowledge to things around you."
Hiccup was curious. Stoick began explaining what happened at the Great Hall that day. "You're about to give Dagur those... blast sticks, right?"
"Yeah."
"Did you know that Dagur blew a hole at the Great Hall?" Stoick questioned.
Hiccup widened his eyes in horror. "Thuggory told me that." He whispered, remembering that moment at the forge. "Did anyone got hurt?"
"Fortunately, no." The chief answered, staring at his son with inquisitive expression. "But you've seen what he would do with it. What he had done with it. You knew what blast stick could do. Why did you make those things for him?"
"Well..." The boy pursed his lips. "I made them because I thought it's something he wanted to have. I just wanted to impress him and the Berserkers."
"Then let this be a lesson for you." Stoick firmly spoke to him. "Dagur liked the gift, but what would he do with it? What can it be used for? Who is Dagur and why would you want him to give him that sort of gift?"
Hiccup did not have answer to any of that question. Stoick continued speaking, not expecting any answer from him. "This is where wisdom is needed." He lectured. "You need to think before you act. Can you promise me to think before you act?"
"... Okay." Hiccup nodded. "I promise I'll think before I act."
"Good." Stoick nodded. "Now, wisdom is something that you get from experience. It's okay to make mistakes, but make sure you learn from them." He paused, before continued speaking. "It's good to learn from your mistake. But it's wise to learn from others' mistakes. Now, I have something for you. Wait here."
Stoick stood from the floor. He walked into his room, leaving Hiccup alone by the fireplace. Few minutes later, the chief came back to the living room. He was carrying a small box filled with books. The man placed the box on the ground in front of them.
"Now." Stoick started as he sat down in front of his son. "These were journals of our ancestors. From the chief and chiefess before me, almost all of them carries journal for future generations to learn."
Hiccup moved to grab one of the journals. The one he was holding was the journal of Grimbeard the Ghastly. He had heard the name of the chief before. "Wow..."
"Read them. Learn from them." Stoick lectured the boy. "But know this; not all chief of the tribe learned from their mistakes. Few did not learn from their mistakes. I want you to learn from them, but make sure to understand when a chief didn't learn from their mistakes."
Hiccup stared at the box of books in front of him. "Thanks, dad."
"Why don't you carry it up and go to sleep?" Stoick softly spoke to his son.
Hiccup placed the journal back into the box. He hoisted the box on his hips, before walking up the stairs into the room. Stoick simply watched him coming up the stairs. After he disappeared around the corner, the chief let out a relieved sigh.
The man looked at the fireplace. The books had been turned into charcoal. It was a shame that those books were burned. However, it did not matter for him. It had already happened. With those thoughts, the man stood from the floor. He headed towards his room, leaving the living room empty.
Stoick's room was unusually large. His bed was around the corner, but interesting enough, there was a large flat rock on the opposite side. The centre part was charred in circular pattern, and it looked to had been there unused for a very, very long time. The room did not really have any decoration, except for some weapons hanging off the walls.
There was a table and a chair on the middle end of the room. On the table, there was a small wooden box with a latch, and several books on top of it. Stoick approached the table. The books were journals from Berkian chiefs before.
The man sat on the chair. He rested for some time and stared up to the ceiling. He seemed to be thinking about something. Tears slowly build in his eyes as he moved to look at the small wooden box on the table. He simply stared at it.
"I wish you could see him, Val." Stoick softly spoke to the small wooden box at the corner. "He's more of a dragon than a Viking. You'd be proud of him."
That day, Stoick cried himself to sleep. He cried as he grieved for his lost wife, and the son that reminded him so much of her. He cried for the fate of his son, and he cried for his regrets of the past.
"Hrr..."
That night, Charcoal was staring at a small, thin, greenish-orange, prismatic-shaped crystal. It was known as Stone Book crystal. As the name implied, the crystal contained information. The knowledge was read by connecting mana circuit to it.
One of his claws was touching it. His circuit was connected to the crystal. While there was no visual display like Logic Crystal, the Stone Book presented them as an external thought. It was like reading with his brain instead of eyes, which was something new for Charcoal.
He wondered how dragons made them.
The 'Mana: Principles, Techniques and Tools' was the fundamental book about mana, circuits and basic Life-Force in general. If he ever went to formal school, they would have given him a copy. The crystallised book helped him cover things he missed in his self-study.
Famously known as the 'dragon book', the stone book had 12 volumes; the ones publicly available was the first one. It was said that the rest of the books were lost in time. That was probably why the knowledge was publicised; the owner did not want the knowledge to be forgotten.
There was no written author, which was unfortunate. Charcoal wanted to know what other books the author wrote.
"Charcoal..."
The male dragon glanced at his mate. Toothless was cuddling with him, leaning against her neck. "Hrr..." The dragoness was rather comfortable. "Stop reading. It's time for you to sleep."
"I'm searching for information about my phenomenon."
Realising the problem, the dragoness pulled away. She sat on the ground in front of him. "Charcoal, I gave you that crystal to help your mana study." Toothless explained. "Your problem isn't covered in there."
Few days ago, after Amber had left, they met a nomadic merchant flock. They were commonly found in Hidden World, and it was rare to find one in the surface. The black-scaled dragoness took the opportunity to show Charcoal some things usually found in Hidden World, such as Stone Book crystal.
They did accept Nature Shard as payment, thankfully. Charcoal used one to buy a stone book. The 'dragon book' was a good choice for mana education. They were used for primary and secondary education at Hidden World.
It was also when she learned that Charcoal was a bookwyrm.
"Wait, it's not covered here?" Charcoal let go of the crystal, powering it down. The circuit connection detached on its own. The male dragon sat on the ground. "Do you know where to find that knowledge?"
"You need specific books about mana. They're usually published in Hidden World." Toothless advised. "What are you looking for, exactly?"
"I'm trying to find the difference between deviant and anomaly classification." The male dragon gave his answer. There was concern in his voice. "From what I understand, deviant activities are illegal. Deviant dragons are kill-on-sight."
"You're an anomaly." Toothless pointed out. "Amber told you that."
"Yeah, but I don't understand the difference." Charcoal expressed his concern. "What makes anomaly dragon an anomaly? The book didn't say anything."
The dragoness understood his dilemma. "Anomaly is where we put everything that's still a mystery." She explained. "You're an anomaly because your phenomenon is not well understood."
"What about deviant?"
"Deviant dragons or activities are well understood. It's a whole classification on how mana is harnessed." The dragoness patiently explained. "There's a whole study on identifying them. In short, deviant is another word for Mana Perversion."
Charcoal tilted his head. "Mana Perversion?"
"Yes. Deviant activity has this feeling of wrongness in them." Toothless seemed to shudder. "They force controlled mutation involving other living creatures. Once you do that for the first time, you become addicted to it."
"... can you give an example?" Charcoal asked, before remembering. "Other than undead dragon, I mean."
"The most common deviant activity is dragon forging." The dragoness gave her answer. She was uncomfortable talking about it. "It's a slow-acting Life-Force spell that melts humans into our scales. It makes us bigger and stronger. The human needs to be alive to work."
The male dragon straightened himself. He understood why it was defined as such. "Is that why it's illegal?"
"That, and because of the addiction." Toothless explained, grimacing. "It goes in claws with human baiting. Some human lords and nobles want to get a dragon as a pet. Deviant dragon would let themselves caught to control their captor. They used them as a source of humans to melt."
Charcoal shuddered his breath. As much as he despised humans, most of their cruelty came with their tools. Dragons were capable of cruelty as well; they had the power of mana on their side. Sometimes, they were no different than humans they fight against.
Naturally, because humans did not have any circuits, their consent did not matter dragons could swoop in and directly tap on their mana. They did not have circuits to stop them from doing that. However, something was missing with that knowledge.
"Why human?" Charcoal questioned. "It's possible to do it on willing dragon, right?"
"No. Dragon forging doesn't work with another dragon." The dragoness lectured. "It has to do with the nature of mana humans have."
"Nature of mana?"
"I remember telling you that human mana is malleable. It's their way to survive on the surface; their mana is extremely quick to adapt." Toothless explained. "This is because the surface's raw mana is incredibly toxic. When we opened the surface few million years ago, that raw mana spread deep into Hidden World. A lot of us fell and died."
"But we're here on the surface." Charcoal pointed out. "Did some of us mutated and gained immunity?"
"Yes. We adapted." The dragoness emphasized. "That's why everything goes through our circuits they are our natural filter. We used to be able to cast spells without circuits, until the surface was opened."
"... all the dragons underground were affected because it was open, forcing everyone to mutate or die..." The male dragon realised. That sounded horrific. "It must have killed thousands of dragons."
"Almost three million, actually." Toothless corrected. "That was half of dragon population at the time."
"Harr..." Charcoal exhaled his breath. It was all in the past. He was glad that dragons were able to survive. "So, humans and dragons adapted in different ways. Humans evolved into what they are here. Dragons were forced to adapt."
"That's the history of it." The dragoness nodded. She shifted her position, before continuing the topic. "Because human mana is malleable, they are compatible with... everything. Dragons can become powerful just by being connected to them."
"Oh." Charcoal stared with wide eyed expression. "I- is that why dragon riders' a thing?"
"Yes. A human connected to a dragon is a large supply of mana."
The male dragon slowly nodded. He was relieved that there was explanation to it. Charcoal was also happy that he was just an anomaly a curiosity to be researched. He did not feel addicted to anything, meaning that he was not a deviant.
"Now, if that's all there is, it's time for us to rest." Toothless laid back down on the ground. She curled herself as she prepared to sleep. "Good night, Charcoal."
"Good night, Toothless." Charcoal reluctantly rested himself next to her. "And... thank you for assuring me."
"Hrr..."
The next day, Hiccup, Camicazi and Thuggory spent their time together once again.
It was afternoon outside. The three of them were at a forest clearing, playing the game of Maces and Talons. The three of them were having competition on the game, and they had been doing it since early in the morning.
Hiccup and Camicazi were sitting at the opposite side of the table. Thuggory was sitting not far on Hiccup's side, observing the two playing the game.
There was a charcoal pencil and a parchment on the side, showing the scores of the match. Notably, a basket of berries was also there. They also had their equipment with them to fend off dangerous forest critters.
Camicazi was thinking hard. After some time, she moved her piece. "Check."
"Hmm..." Hiccup thought for some time as he observed the game board. He moved his piece to save himself from the state. After that, the two heirs went back to ponder about the next move to make.
Thuggory looked at the paper to remind himself about the score. Hiccup had the most score, with Camicazi following close. Thuggory was the last one. The Meathead heir hummed, before grabbing a berry to eat.
Suddenly, Camicazi smirked. She moved her piece. "Checkmate."
Hiccup slumped a bit. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice that." He mumbled.
"Hah. You played right to my hands." Camicazi boasted. He turned to look at Thuggory, who had written down the score. "How was it?"
"Hiccup won 19 times against you. You won 11 times against Hiccup." Thuggory read the statistics. Upon seeing his own scores, the burly boy groaned. "I won five times against you, Cami. I didn't win at all against Hiccup."
"It's our 90th game of the day." Hiccup spoke as he grabbed a berry to eat. "Do you want to try again?"
Thuggory threw his hands up. "I give up. I need rest."
"I'm up for another game, but like he said we need to rest." Camicazi agreed with her friend. She looked at Hiccup with curious look. "I don't think I've ever played with you before. You're good at the game."
"I've been playing this since I was younger." Hiccup explained.
"We've been playing this game since we were younger too." Camicazi pointed out. "We're tribe heirs. We were taught to play this game since we could read. You're just smarter than anyone gave you credit for."
Hiccup shrugged. "I guess."
"I played them since I younger too." Thuggory complained. "But I don't win much against you two."
"That's fine." Camicazi replied, smiling. "We can teach you some moves."
"I've taught someone how to play Maces and Talons before." Hiccup added, remembering his time teaching Toothless how to play that game. "I can help you, if you want."
"Thanks." Thuggory responded, smiling at the two heirs. "I need to practice more."
"Since we're resting here, let's talk about what you do. What have you been doing around the village?" Camicazi questioned, staring at Hiccup.
Hiccup grabbed something from his back. He pulled out his metal bow, before flipping them open. Once it expanded, he placed the bow onto the table. "I've been working on this."
Camicazi and Thuggory moved to look at the bow. Hiccup was quite proud of his accomplishments. His metal bow looked like the first version, but there were many differences. The scrawny boy had reforged them into draconic bow.
Other than its metallic and mechanical things, there were large black dragon carapaces along the shafts, and a small red crystal on its handle. It looked like the weapons he made for them.
Thuggory was the first to speak. "It has dragon things." He whispered in awe.
The Bog-Burglar heiress was interested. "What can it do?"
"It can stop dragon fire." Hiccup answered, feeling proud of himself. "I don't know what dragon shed those scales, but it's really big for anything I've seen."
Camicazi widened her eyes. "Have you been working on this the whole time?"
"I... made this in four days." The Berkian heir recounted, before showing the quiver which had arrows in them. It was not clear looking from where they sat, but it had some draconic aspects on them. "Including this. It's a full set."
That made the Bog-Burglar heiress choke. "Four days?"
"Yeah." The scrawny boy nodded. "I've been working on other things too. There's also the steam engine project, where it uses steam from water to push things around. The project is still really, really, really, early..."
Camicazi and Thuggory paid attention as Hiccup began rambling about things he had been doing for the past few months. The two heirs were a bit distracted by the bow in front of them, but they paid attention anyway.
They did not understand what was being talked about, mostly because it did not make much sense to them. They listened for the sake of their friendship.
For Camicazi, she knew that Hiccup was incredibly smart, albeit somewhat eccentric on his behaviour. But she never thought that Hiccup might knew something long forgotten, such as dragonsmithing. The Bog-Burglar heiress wondered what Hiccup would be like when he finally reached adulthood.
"... and see if it sticks." Hiccup finished talking about his projects. That was when he noticed their distraction. The scrawny boy slowly took his bow, collapsing and putting them back to his side. "Sorry."
"Wait, wait! No, don't apologise." Camicazi quickly interrupted. She mentally slapped herself for that distraction. "I also did something."
The scrawny boy was curious. "What did you do?"
The Bog-Burglar heiress suddenly pulled out a stained brown underwear from her pocket. They could smell the stink from where they sat. "This morning, I stole your dad's underwear while he was still wearing it!" She exclaimed, proud of herself.
Hiccup dropped his jaw. He was speechless at what she had done, and the evidence of said action. Seeing the boy was not going to talk, Camicazi threw the underwear away and looked at the Meathead heir. "What about you? What do you do?"
"I ate a rock this morning." Thuggory answered.
Camicazi looked at him with disgust. "What are you, a Gronckle?"
"It was a really good and soft rock." The Meathead heir supplied, grinning at her. "You'll like it if you try it."
"Well, you do you, Thuggy. I'm not eating rocks." Camicazi shrugged, not wanting to dwell further into it.
Hiccup frowned as he felt like he heard something. The boy looked towards the forest path entrance into the clearing. "... I swear I heard something."
Camicazi and Thuggory turned to look at what he was looking at. "What is it?"
Not long after, several Vikings came into view. They were Dagur, Astrid, Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut and Fishlegs. The six of them were surprised to see them in the forest. It seemed they had been wandering around the forest and stumbled upon them.
"What are you doing here?" Astrid asked.
"We're having Maces and Talons competition." Camicazi answered. She was a bit wary of the six children. "We just finished the match."
"Ah. Maces and Talons." Dagur hummed. He looked unusually happy. "That reminds me back at home."
"You play a lot?"
"Of course!" Dagur retorted at Astrid, offended by the suggestion. "I play a lot! I even have Vikings as the pieces!"
"You mean your opponent." Camicazi tried to correct the boy.
"That too." The Berserker heir called out. "They're not allowed to kill each other when one gets eaten."
Thuggory blinked. "You use real people for Maces and Talons?"
"Yup!" Dagur puffed up his chest. He looked incredibly proud. "I made it myself!"
Camicazi looked at the Berserker tribe with disgust. Thuggory was frowning at them. Hiccup was uncomfortable. The three heirs did not like the fact that Dagur made a live version of it, with real Vikings as the pieces. They did see the irony of that invention, however.
Dagur crossed his arm. "So, who won?"
"Hiccup." Camicazi smirked.
Snotlout scoffed. "The useless won?"
"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third." The Meathead tribe emphasized the name. "Won the competition. He, uh..." He grabbed the parchment on the table. "19-11 against Camicazi, 30-0 against me."
Dagur frowned when he heard the score. Snotlout was confused to hear the numbers. "What are those things?"
"They are the scores."
The Berkian burly boy snorted. "What kind of game is Maces and Talons anyway?" He sneered.
"Umm..." Fishlegs brightened as he went to answer that question. "It's a game meant to test chief and chiefess abilities and decision-making expertise in the heat of battle."
"It should be an easy game for me!" Snotlout boasted as he puffed his chest. "I'm a real Viking! Unlike the useless over there."
"There's more about being a chief than being a 'real Viking'." Camicazi retorted. She was annoyed by his behaviour. "Seeing you just outright went for insult shows how 'real' you are."
The insult flew over his head. Snotlout scoffed. "Of course, that's all there is. That's what our chief is all about!"
"You don't even know Maces and Talons."
"Of course, I know!" Snotlout angrily exclaimed. "You just don't want me to lose!"
"Why don't you show me then." Camicazi dryly replied as she gestured to the game.
"Fine!" Snotlout stormed towards the opposing bench. "Out of the way, useless!"
Hiccup and Thuggory moved away to the opposite side, but not too close to Camicazi. Dagur and the others moved to stand behind Snotlout. The Bog-Burglar heir went to rearrange the pieces. When that was done, she gestured to the board. "You're white. You go first."
Snotlout looked down at the board game. He clearly did not know how to play, but he did not want to back down. He moved a Hunter three blocks forward. "There!"
The others simply stared at that move. "Wait." Camicazi started. "You can't do that. First Hunter move must be one or two blocks away."
"Uh..." Snotlout was nervous but decided to press further. "I moved three blocks, so I say three blocks!"
"What you're doing is against the rules."
"I don't care what the rule said!"
Hiccup held back a groan. He did not like where it was going. Snotlout was stubborn when it comes to his pride. Camicazi had scratched it. The Bog-Burglar heiress had temper problems. He was not sure if she could control that around Snotlout.
It did not matter, however; the two would most likely be screaming within hours. The scrawny boy did not like arguing about Maces and Talons, since they often devolve into screaming match about the game.
And, as expected, it went exactly as what Hiccup had predicted. For the next few hours, Camicazi and Snotlout kept on playing the game. The Jorgenson junior did not back down on his premise, and instead of following the rules, he blatantly ignored them.
Hiccup observed them play and noticed that the Berkian burly boy had at least made 50 illegal moves. Camicazi was obviously getting sick of it. And this was the first game!
After some time, Snotlout took the black Viking Chief piece. "Hah!" He exclaimed. "I won!"
Camicazi was exasperated. She was losing her patience. "You don't know how to play! You should've been disqualified on that illegal move!"
"It's just a game." Snotlout dismissed her as he cheered for himself. "Why should I bother with the rules anyway? No one is following it."
"Yeah, you go 'lout!" Ruffnut mockingly cheered for him.
"Good job." Dagur praised him. He sounded sarcastic. "I wish the game is that easy. You know, with you not following anything at all."
"Thank you!" Snotlout thanked the Berserker heir. "That's why I'm the real Viking."
Camicazi opened her mouth to retort. Hiccup suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her a bit. "Cami, can we talk?"
The Bog-Burglar heiress was seething with anger. She calmed herself, before looking at the lanky boy. "Yes."
Hiccup, Camicazi and Thuggory stood from the bench. They walked not far from the place, leaving Snotlout cheering with the others. After getting some distance, the Bog-Burglar heiress scowled. "How did you put up with that boy?!"
"Cami, that's just how Snotlout is." The Hooligan heir started, trying to calm the girl down. "I- It's like trying to play Maces and Talons with a pigeon; it knocks over the pieces, dumps on the board and flies back to its flock to claim victory. It's pointless to argue and play with him."
Camicazi was fuming, but at least she understood. That calmed her down, somewhat. The girl looked back at the cheering Berkian boy. "... alright." She whispered.
The three heirs walked back to the table. After they returned, Snotlout was smirking at them. "How's that for a real Viking?"
Camicazi did not respond. She simply glared at him.
"So." Dagur started, getting their attention. He was looking at the score parchment on the table. "You're good at the game, Hiccup?"
"I- I guess."
"Let's play then." Dagur spoke as he moved to sit on the bench. "Move."
Snotlout moved out from the bench. Hiccup sat on the opposite side. The boy moved to rearrange the pieces. While Hiccup was rearranging them, Dagur noticed that Thuggory and Camicazi were looking at him with pitied look. "What are you looking at?"
"Just wondering how you're going to play with him." Camicazi commented as she sat on the bench somewhat far from Hiccup. Thuggory sat next to her. "Are you going to throw tantrum like that snotty boy there?"
"Oi!"
Dagur laughed at her remark. "Oh, I'll be following the rules." He let out a sardonic smile. "This is competitive Maces and Talons, after all."
Hiccup finished rearranging the pieces. The boy looked at the Berserker heir. "You're white piece. You go first."
Hiccup and Dagur began playing. The others simply watched them both played the game.
As they both progress through the game, Hiccup was entertained by Dagur's play style. It seemed to favour unpredictability, as it did not follow some common move pattern that he knew of. It was very entertaining and challenging for Hiccup, as it meant Dagur was competent on the game.
"Checkmate." Hiccup spoke as he placed his piece.
"You're good." Dagur smirked as he slowly nodded.
"You're unpredictable." Hiccup complemented. "It looks like your style."
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Dagur suddenly laughed aloud, making everyone jump with surprise. After that, the laughter abruptly stopped, as the Berserker heir focused back on the game. That reminded everyone why Dagur was called Dagur the Deranged.
Hiccup did not say anything. He rearranged the pieces and gestured to the board. "You're black. I'm going first."
Hiccup and Dagur began playing once more. The others moved to sit on the bench, not far from the two Maces and Talons players. There was no more interaction between them, as they quietly played the game.
The second match took roughly ten minutes, with Hiccup winning the match. After that was done, Hiccup simply rearranged the pieces.
"You're white." Hiccup droned, staring at the board. "You go first."
The rest of the games went smoothly. As they progressed throughout the game, it was noticeable that Astrid, Snotlout, Tuffnut and Ruffnut were losing interest.
Thuggory, Camicazi and Fishlegs paid attention, as they wanted to study and learn their moves. Hiccup and Dagur were focused on the game, silent on their interaction.
Hours passed. The two players kept on playing until it was midnight. There were torches around the place, brought by Astrid and others. Camicazi was keeping the score, while Thuggory watched the game happening.
Interesting enough, Snotlout and others had moved on to play around the field, as they had completely lost interest watching the game.
Hiccup remained stoic. Dagur, however, looked increasingly angry. That was expected. This was their 20th game, and Hiccup kept winning.
Internally, Hiccup was disappointed. Dagur was a decent challenge on the first few games. However, after losing several games, his judgement was clouded with anger. That made him predictable.
After some silence, Hiccup moved his piece as he spoke. "Checkmate."
Dagur finally snapped. "HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" He roared, surprising everyone. "You won 19 times! Nobody wins 19 times against me! You cheated!"
"How can I be cheating?" Hiccup asked, surprised by the accusation. "You watched all my moves. I even kept track of my time."
Dagur gritted his teeth. He moved to rearrange the pieces. "Hobgobbing... yak-dung... fifi... vamr..." He muttered angry insults as he rearranged the pieces. After he finished rearranging them, he simply glared at the opponent. "You first!"
Hiccup and Dagur played once more. It would be their 21st game. This time, however, it did not take too long to end. Five minutes after starting, the game ends with Hiccup winning. "Checkmate."
"Graah!" Dagur screamed as he slammed his hands on the table. The pieces rattled under the impact. He grabbed the table and threw them aside. Everything went flying as the table was flipped upside down. "AAAH!"
"What the-"
"What are you-"
Dagur stood from the bench and screamed at Hiccup. "AAAA!!!" He roared, angry. He turned around and kicked the chair, which toppled under the violence. He pulled out his sword and began smashing it with his sword. "Son of a troll, cheating, fishbone... AAAA!!!"
Everyone simply watched as Dagur rampantly destroyed the chair. Hiccup, Camicazi and Thuggory had evacuated away from the place, standing somewhat far from him. Astrid and the others looked hesitant as they watched him rage. They could simply watch as the Berserker heir vented his anger onto the chair under him.
After some time, Dagur finally stopped smashing the chair. He was angry and exhausted. The violent boy moved and glared at the lanky boy. "Stupid game!" He shouted at him. "This is all your fault!"
"What did I ever do to you?"
"You're not playing my game!" Dagur shouted.
"What game?"
The Berserker heir suddenly grinned. "Dragon hunting game!"
Hiccup took a step back. It was the game Dagur named when he wanted to play throwing knife with him. He would have to keep on running away from him while he went hunting for him. He did not want to go through that experience.
"What is that game?" Thuggory asked.
"Hiccup be the dragon, while I'm the hunter!" Dagur boasted. He relished at their reared expression. "Why not all three of you be the dragon!"
"Ooh, hunting." Tuffnut rubbed his hands. "Can we join?"
The Berserker looked back. He smirked upon seeing six children behind him. "Sure! You'll be the hunter!"
"You dare to hunt us in foreign tribe land?" Camicazi challenged, angry at the insinuation. She placed her hand on her sword handle. "I will gut you where you stand!"
Thuggory took a step forward. He angrily pulled out his new shield. "I will not stand for this!"
Dagur frowned a bit. He did not expect them to carry weapons. Then, he let out a smirk. "Let me change your mind then." He pulled out a blast stick from his pocket.
The boy bent to light the fuse with a lit torch on the ground. The fuse sizzled with fire. He quickly threw the blast stick towards three of them, too enraged to think about anything else.
Hiccup realised that it was the thing he was supposed to give to Dagur. He realised the significance of what his father had told him before. Deciding on what to do, the lanky boy pushed Thuggory aside and moved forward.
The lanky boy went on a stance and round kicked the blast stick away from them. It flew back to where it came from, but before it reached Dagur, it exploded, sending seven of them off their feet.
BOOM!
Everyone covered themselves at the deafening explosion. After it died down, Camicazi cheered for the Hooligan heir. "Yeah! You show them!"
"GROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
The young Vikings flinched upon hearing that. It sounded like Monstrous Nightmare roar. Hiccup looked at the general direction where it came from. It took him a while to realise what it was. "Oh no." He whispered. "We disturbed a dragon's sleep."
"Was that a dragon?" Dagur spoke aloud.
Hiccup moved to grab both Camicazi and Thuggory by their hands. "Come on! Let's go!"
BOOM! FWOOOOOSH!
Before they went anywhere further, the edge of forest clearing was suddenly set ablaze. They could see some sort of dragon doing that from above. Finding themselves cornered, the young Vikings moved closer to the centre. They looked around to search for the dragon that did it to no avail.
Most of them, at least. Hiccup could see them clear in the night sky. It was a massive Monstrous Nightmare. "It's a Monstrous Nightmare!" The scrawny boy called out, getting other's attention. "Really big one!"
"It is a coward!" Thuggory shouted as he readied his shield. Pulling out the spear, he searched for the dragon in the night sky. "Dragon! Show yourself!"
Hiccup did saw it coming. The scrawny boy quickly pushed the two heirs prone, right when the red dragon flew past them. Dagur, Astrid and other Vikings were struck by its claws. The unlucky ones were flung landing just close to the fire. Everyone heard the dragon landing close to the three heirs.
The young Vikings looked up to see the dragon. It was a Monstrous Nightmare, but something was different. This one was much, much bigger than they had ever seen. The red colouration was also much darker. There was also that feeling of wrongness about the dragon.
Alex had taught him about it before. He was not a normal dragon hunter; he hunted those that was a threat to both humans and dragons alike. Hiccup was taught to identify them. As such, other than its species, he would recognise their variations.
The one in front of him was the most dangerous one.
"Oh no..." Hiccup widened his eyes. "It's a deviant dragon."
Camicazi looked back in confusion. "A what?"
"GROOOOAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!"
The young Vikings covered themselves as flame particles spread all over the place. They slowly stood from the ground as the red dragon set itself ablaze. It turned the cold night into bright, burning hot place. The forest was starting to catch on fire.
Camicazi stood on her ground. "We have nowhere to run... well then!" She smirked, before pulling out her new sword. The blade seemed to resonate with the environment. "Time to show you how real Viking fights!"
Thuggory faced the shield to the front. "I want to try the shield."
Hiccup remained silent. He stared fearfully at the red dragon, who had paused to glare at him. It seemed to recognise him, which was plausible because he was a hunter-in-training. Its yellow eyes were full of hate. There was nothing else; only hate. The red dragon was there to kill them.
This time, he had no one else to help.
Not his father.
Not Toothless.
No one.
Meanwhile, back at the village, Stoick was busy conversing with the chiefs near the docks. There was not that much topic to talk about, mostly since everything was already in order. It left them talking with the recent event that put a hole in the room.
"... I'm sorry for my son." Oswald gave his apology for the umpteenth time. "I didn't expect him to use them inside the Great Hall."
Stoick was getting somewhat tired of it. "Oswald." He patiently interrupted. "It is no trouble. The wall can be fixed."
"Or made a new door." Mogadon humorously added. "That looked like part of the cave when it blew up."
"No Vikings are injured!" Bertha boomed her voice. "Stoick has forgiven you. You should not concern yourself."
Stoick exhaled his breath. He focused on the far ocean, staring at the horizon. There was something nagging his mind. "That reminds me..." The man frowned. "How is the situation in the north?"
"Greater Archipelago?" The Meathead chief questioned. "Business as usual."
"More north." The Berkian chief glanced at him. "I thought you kept track of them."
"Ah... Northern Alliance." Mogadon slowly nodded. His expression turned serious. "We don't have any news about them."
"We heard whispers of a lost weapon shipment." Bertha spoke up. She crossed her arms. "Supposedly, some smugglers got tons of surplus from the last war. They sent a huge ship full of weapons, but they never arrived."
"A fraud, then."
"Nay. My Vikings saw them coming. They pretended to be Chinese merchant ship." The Bog-Burglar looked deep in thought. "We never saw them again until someone saw fire on an island. The ship was stranded into middle of a forest. No one else was there."
Other chiefs simply stared at her. Oswald was the first one to speak. "No ship could strand itself that far ashore." He commented. "Especially mainland merchant ship. They are big."
"My Vikings found them like that. It was the strangest thing." Bertha admitted, before booming her voice. "The ship was full when it blew up! We saw signs of dragons, and nothing was left."
"As if it had been looted..." Stoick whispered, getting their attention. He looked deep in thought. "Dragons are getting smarter..."
"Off chance they disturbed their rest." Mogadon shrugged.
"No. A common merchant ship would take several days to move on land." The Berserker chief gave his argument. "Unless it was dragons doing it. Had they disturbed their rest, the ship would have been attacked before reaching the shore."
The Meathead chief was exasperated. "Ye can't be saying that dragons moved them there."
"I believe him."
They turned their attention to Stoick. The Berkian chief looked rather serious. "I was there with my Vikings when the Lava-Lout Island was destroyed." He began his tale. "We were on guest ship during their festival. We used spyglasses to see their new weapons."
"Weren't they destroyed by dragons?" Oswald questioned.
"Aye. We saw everything." Stoick nodded. His expression darkened. "We saw them dropping barrels to blow up the island. Two Night Furies blew up the lava dam and erupted the volcano. There was nothing left."
"Oh..." Bertha raised her brows. "That's why the island is all rock and lava."
"So... dragons are getting smarter." Mogadon crossed his arms. "Or have they been holding back all this time? They never showed anything like that before."
"Historically, it happened from time to time." The Berserker chief corrected. "It's always those with better weapons, or advantage against dragons. They were always destroyed."
The Viking chiefs fell silent. They had seen the patterns. Those with food were raided for them. If they had better weapons, dragons would aim to destroy the village. It made sense that dragons were smarter than they thought.
boom!
Suddenly, they heard something exploded from somewhere at the island. It was rather loud in the quiet night sky. They turned around to search for the cause. The Viking chiefs stayed silent in case they heard another explosion.
"groaaaa...!"
They heard a loud roar instead. It came from somewhere at the forest. There was a plume of smoke coming from there, followed by familiar red glow that signified fire. The Meathead chief was the first one to speak. "What was that?"
"It sounds like blast stick." Oswald answered, remembering the sound. "My son probably used them in the forest. I don't know what that roar was."
"Monstrous Nightmare, from the sound of it. The explosion must've disturbed it." Stoick answered, curious as to what was going on. It was then he remembered something. "Hiccup is in the forest."
"My daughter is with him." Bertha remembered.
Mogadon widened his eyes. "I saw them with my son heading there."
It was when the chiefs realised that their children might be in danger. They quickly rushed further to the village, calling their Vikings to search for them. They needed to find their children, and fast.