Bab 3: Chapter 2: This Is Berk
It has been two weeks of the dream and Hiccup made a true friend named Emily Winters. She was an odd girl around a year older than him or so. She just showed up on their beach and said that she doesn't remember what happened before she lost consciousness.
She was a teen with almost platinum colored blonde hair, fair skin and strange looking eyes and he could have sworn that he saw them glowing at night. Her attire consisted of a red tunic from an unknown fabric up to her upper elbows while her lower arms were covered by what looked like blue arm guards while her hands felt metal like.
She has a two layered shoulder pad with a symbol to it.
While another down to her the middle of her chest was what looked like the crest of a dragon.
Possibly from a tribe that she came from. She stuck by his side when she didn't need to and stood up for him when Snotlout and the twins were making fun of him. She even made him laugh when she miraculously pulled Snotlout's pants down. But right now, he just wants to sleep. He then tucked himself in as best he could and tried to ignore the grumbling of his empty stomach and knew that he should have eaten the dinner Emily made for him earlier.
He wasn't sure exactly when he'd fallen asleep, or how long he'd slept, but he woke up to the feeling of someone vigorously shaking his shoulder. He expected his father, but instead found Emily standing over him as the blonde spoke to him.
"I heard something outside. What's going on? What exactly is this place?" Emily said as she shook him awake.
It was the very early morning, with the light of dawn having yet to appear on the horizon. Hiccup pulled himself out of bed and dragged Emily downstairs with him before he started to provide the explanation the 16 year old required.
"This is Berk. It is twelve days north of Hopeless, and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery." Hiccup started.
Emily shivered at the thought of the cold. She was just glad that her clothes protect her from the climate of the world she is in.
She remembered the two weeks she had been living on the island. She and Optimus were separated from the others when the ground bridge malfunctioned by something and now he was just hiding in the woods since he wasn't allowed to enter the village without causing an uproar and she made a cover story to ensure their true origins remain unknown until further notice. She snapped out of her thoughts as Hiccup continued.
"My village. In a word - sturdy. It's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new. We've got fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests." Hiccup continued as Emily raised an eyebrow at the word pests.
"What kind of pests?" Emily asked as she stood up. There was something about his tone that said she somehow already knew the answer.
"You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes." Hiccup told her while walking towards the door.
"We have..." He opened the door and the outline of a huge beast appeared hovering outside.
Noticing them, it spat a wave of fire in their direction. Hiccup barely managed to close the door before he and Emily were burnt. Both of them shared a look of surprise, fear and shock from almost becoming barbeque.
"... Dragons." Hiccup finished his statement in a whisper.
The two of them made their way outside, looking around and watching the chaos that was taking place.
A Monstrous Nightmare scorched the ground.
A Deadly Nadder swooped down and snatched a sheep in its talons, a Viking jumped up and held onto the sheep as the dragon took off.
A Gronckle then flew by, holding a Viking in its jaws. The Viking hit the Gronckle over and over with a hammer before it threw the poor guy to the ground.
"Most people would leave. Not us. We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues." Hiccup explained as Emily just snickered at how he said that.
"My name is Hiccup." Hiccup added as Emily gave him a look like he grew a second head and he just rolled his eyes with a small smile.
"Great name, I know. But it's not the worst. Parents believe a hideous name will frighten off gnomes and trolls, like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that." Hiccup added.
The two continued to maneuver around other vikings but an explosion threw them off their feet slightly and caused Hiccup to tripped and fall on his back. A Viking warrior suddenly stooped down and howled in his face, then gave him a cheery smile.
"ARGGGHHHHH! Mornin'!"
Hiccup rolled his eyes again at this as Emily helped him up.
"I think that guy drank a little too much." Hiccup let out a snicker at that as they continued to run through the village to get to their destination while other vikings yelled at the two. Mainly Hiccup with "What are you doing here?" and "Get back inside!" while passing a viking who was cleaning his ear.
This just caused Hiccup to sigh internally but Emily knows that he's going through. They kept running and were both almost scorched if it weren't for the burly hand of the chief who quickly pulled Hiccup back with Emily.
"Hiccup?! What is he doing out aga--?! What are you doing out?! Get inside!" Stoick said before giving Emily a warning look to which she just avoided. For some reason, Stoick always gives this warning look towards her and she doesn't even know why!
Hiccup and Emily quickly resumed their run.
"Your dad doesn't like me very much, does he?" Emily asked warily as he nodded.
"Warned me not to hang out with you but you seemed like a nice teen to hang out with. Anyway, That's Stoick the Vast. Chief of the tribe. They say that when he was a baby, he popped a dragon's head clean off of its shoulders. Do I believe it? Yes, I do." Hiccup explained as Emily shuddered at the thought of the poor dragon getting its head ripped off.
After running a few more moments they finally reached their destination and Hiccup quickly took off his apron while Emily started helping by heating up the forge. A friendly greeting from the blacksmith was heard in the fray of the raid going on outside.
"Ah! Nice of you two to join the party! I thought you'd been carried off! Hello, Miss Winters, how is your stay on Berk fairing?" Gobber greeted them both as Emily greeted back with a smile.
"I'm doing great, Gobber. Though Stoick could at least still give me these warning looks as if I'm about to do something." Emily said and just resumed her task.
"What, who, me? Nah, come on! I'm waaaay too muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all... this." Hiccup said before motioning to his skinny arms as Gobber changed his prosthetic arm for another tool as Hiccup went to the window.
"Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?" He teased him playfully which got a laugh from Emily and Hiccup.
Hiccup opened the window and vikings quickly ushered him to get their weapons fixed. Hiccup picked them up as Emily helped him to bring the weapons to the forge while Hiccup explained to her who Gobber is.
"The meat-head with attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber. I've been his apprentice ever since I was little. Well... littler." Hiccup said as Emily hammered another sword back into shape and handed some already fixed weapons to the Vikings waiting outside.
"Seemed like you and Gobber have a father and son relationship while with Stoick... not so much as a relationship." Emily noted as he nodded.
"Yup." He replied while popping the 'p' at his answer.
The two continue to fix the weapons and heat the forge while Hiccup leaned back slightly to watch the fray as another set of houses was caught on fire to which Emily noted with a wince.
"See? Old village, lots and lots of new houses." Hiccup said as Emily just nodded.
"FIRE!" A viking shouted before a big barrel was seen being pulled up and five teens were quickly grabbing buckets and filling them up with water.
"Alright, let's go!"
At this, Hiccup quickly leaned out to watch them as he introduced the five teens known as the fire brigade of the village.
"Oh, and that's Fishlegs." Emily recognizes the big chubby teen. She and Fishlegs talked a few times and she discovered that he's such a bookworm and she gave him a few tips on how not to be afraid of certain things.
"Snotlout, the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut." To which Emily snorted with a frown. Those three were such trouble makers and the main ones making fun of Hiccup.
"And... Astrid." At this, Hiccup let out a dreamy sigh as he watched the other blonde girl in the village walk away from the explosion as Emily rolled her eyes with a knowing smirk. Somehow, Hiccup reminds her of a certain black raven 16 year old boy who has a crush on a certain redhead at school.
"Oh, their job is so much cooler." Hiccup muttered. He then leaned out to get a better view but was pulled back inside by his collar by Gobber.
"Oh, come on. Let me out, please? I need to make my mark!" Hiccup pleaded as he was set down.
"Oh, you've made plenty of marks. All in the wrong places!" Gobber said as he jabbed his tongs against Hiccup's chest to emphasize his point. Emily was confused by this as Gobber mentioned that Hiccup is a disaster magnet which she finds hard to believe.
"Please, two minutes. I'll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date." Hiccup said as he gestured outside as Emily just blinked at that.
"What?"
"You can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe, you can't even throw one of these!" Gobber counts as he then holds up a bola and a Viking grabs it from the window and uses it to bring down a Gronkle.
"Plus, with those two minutes, you'll end up in bed with a few bruises or dead." Emily pointed out as he shot her a look that clearly said 'you're supposed to be on my side' as he pouted.
"Exactly!" Gobber exclaimed as he was glad that Emily made a point there.
Hiccup just shook his head and went to his new invention, The Mangler.
"Okay, fine, but this will throw it for me." Hiccup said and put a hand on it which somehow triggered it and shot out a bola accidentally and hitting a viking square on the forehead and he landed with a heavy thud.
"Argh!" Emily quickly leaned out to check if he was okay and sighed in relief. He'll have a concussion some time later.
"See, now this right here is what I'm talking about!" Gobber said as he marched up to Hiccup like a scolding father as the teen tried to defend himself.
"Mild calibration issue-" Hiccup tried to argue but Gobber stopped him.
"Don't you- no- Hiccup. If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop all... this." Gobber said as he gestured to him as Hiccup and Emily looked at him with a look of disbelief.
"But, you just pointed to all of me/him!" They both said simultaneously as Gobber nodded to make his point known.
"Yes! That's it! Stop being all of you!" Gobber said.
"Ohhhh..." Hiccup said as he tried to sound threatening as Emily facepalmed.
"Ohhhh, yes." Gobber mimicked the teen.
"You, sir, are playing a dangerous game. Keeping this much, raw... Viking-ness... contained? THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!" Hiccup exclaimed a little upset as Emily winced while Gobber remained unfazed by that.
"I'll take my chances. Sword. Sharpen. Now." Gobber said before dropping a sword in Hiccup's arms to which he caught before he went to the grinding stone to sharpen it.
Emily became concerned for the 15 year old as she walked up to him to see if he was okay.
"You okay, Hic?" She asked softly as she put a hand on his shoulder as he sighed and looked at him before shaking his head.
"No but I will be, Ems." He gave her a slight smile to which she returned as they watched the fray outside.
Emily looked how the battle was going on, she knew that Hiccup really wanted to help and prove his value as a warrior. But she felt like if she didn't tell him that by trying to fight a dragon he could end up hurt and she wanted to make him know that she's not on his side nor Gobber's side. She just doesn't want to see a guy like him getting hurt.
"Look, I don't mean to take sides or anything. But Gobber is right, you might not have what it takes to be a warrior like the others. And maybe it's not that bad. Based on what I've seen, you can fix anything and make a lot of great stuff. This might be the way for you to make your mark." Emily said in hopes that Hiccup might reconsider what he wants.
"I know I don't look like your average Viking. Strong and terrifying. But I'm a Viking, and this is what a Viking does. It's an occupational hazard." Hiccup said with tons of confidence.
"Okay?" Emily said and didn't quite understand what Hiccup was trying to say when he said that it being a Viking was an occupational hazard.
That part was a bit confusing for her. Feeling curious about the dragons that are attacking, Emily wanted to ask if these attacks are very common in Berk.
"So? Has Berk been attacked by dragons before I came in?" Emily asked Hiccup who was still sharpening the sword.
"Yes, Berk has been the victim of many dragon attacks in the past." Hiccup said who had finished sharpening the sword.
"What kind of dragons came here?" Emily asked with curiosity.
"Do you really wanna know?" Hiccup asked while he was putting the sword in its right place.
"Yes I do." Emily said.
"Alright then, I hope you're ready. Because after I tell you everything I know, things will never be the same." Hiccup said with a sort of a scary tone.
"And let me tell you one thing. One day I'll get out there. Because, killing a dragon is everything around here." Hiccup said before starting to explain the different species of Dragons that show up around Berk.
"A Nadder head is sure to get me at least noticed." Hiccup said.
"Nadder Head? Sounds like one nasty Dragon." Emily said while imagining what a Nadder looks like.
"It is one of the nastiest and spikiest of all Dragons. If you ever face one. Try not to face it face to face. If you get hit by one of his spines. You'll die for sure." Hiccup told her and she started to feel a bit nervous.
"Gronckles are tough". Hiccup said.
"Gronckles? They don't sound so tough." Emily said, who started to underestimate one of the most dangerous dragons.
"Trust me, they are. This particular Dragon is a hard one to beat. If you hope to kill it, you have better be carrying a bigger weapon. Taking down one of those would definitely get me a girlfriend. A Zippleback? Exotic. Two heads, twice the status." Hiccup said before they noticed a watch tower was being climbed on by a dragon that's on fire.
"And then, there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire." Hiccup said as Emily tries to fight off a grin.
"Reminds me of a certain someone who's always cranky." Emily said as he let out a snicker.
So far, Emily mentioned a few names when she was telling him of her family and allies and the name Megatron somehow fitted the description of a Monstrous Nightmare and he almost laughed at the image he saw.
"But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one has ever seen. We call it the-" Hiccup continued only to get cut off by a high-pitched whistle that could be heard from the night sky as both Hiccup and Emily looked up as the other Vikings panicked.
"NIGHT FURY! GET DOWN!" A viking shouted and everyone ducked down as one of the catapults was torn down by an explosion from out of nowhere.
Both Hiccup and Emily were stunned by this as Hiccup quickly tried to get a better look as he searched the sky for the elusive dragon as he explained to Emily about it.
"This thing never steals food, never shows itself, and... never misses. No one has ever killed a Night Fury. That's why I'm going to be the first." Hiccup said as he grew determined but Emily's eyes quickly widened at that.
"Wait, you're not saying you plan on shooting down the Night Fury are you?" She asked him in slight surprise as he nodded as she just sighs.
"Man the fort, Hiccup, Emily. They need me out there!" Gobber said as he attached an axe to his arm and began to run out to the battlefield but turned around at the doorway to give them a look.
"Stay. Put. There. You know what I mean." Gobber said before running off with a battle cry and he just missed the smirk on Hiccup's face as he glanced at Emily.
"Are you in or not?" He asked her as she looked at him before looking back out to the fray before smirking and nodded.
"I'm in." She said with a smirk to which he returned.
After a few minutes, Hiccup burst through the doors of the forge while pushing his invention out with Emily following.
"Hiccup, where are you going?!"
"Come back here!"
"Yeah, I know! Be right back!" Hiccup shouted over his shoulder while avoiding vikings who made sure to get out of the way.
"Excuse me!" Emily shouted while she ran beside Hiccup to their destination.
Hiccup and Emily quickly made it to a quiet area and he set up the Mangler and got ready as they both stared up at the night sky and waited for the elusive dragon.
"Come on. Gimme something to shoot at, gimme something to shoot at." Hiccup muttered quietly to himself before he noticed that Emily's eyes were glowing again as if she was following something that he couldn't see.
It's always like this every time it's dark and it's hard to see. Emily's eyes seemed to light up a second later and he can see where he was going a few nights ago
As he continued to ponder this, his eyes caught on a shadow, visibly blotting out the stars and he quickly got his hands ready on the trigger waiting for the right moment to launch the bola.
It gives out its signature high-pitched whistle before it fires at an empty watch tower and the explosion illuminates it, showing a visible shadow of it for a split second. Not missing a second, Hiccup pulled the trigger and shoots the bola but the strength of the force was too much for him and forced him down but Emily quickly caught him as they both look up as the bola hit something and a loud cry was soon heard as the shadow is seen plummeting down into a forest.
A few seconds of shock silence, Hiccup couldn't believe that he actually did it. Emily was in disbelief but was really worried for the dragon as she looked to where it fell since Optimus was hiding in the forest.
"Oh, I... I-I hit it? YES! I HIT IT! Did anybody else see that?" Hiccup shouted victoriously as Emily was about to answer him but her eyes widened at the dragon behind Hiccup.
Hiccup winced and turned around when he heard his beloved invention broken only to come face to face with a Monstrous Nightmare and it was standing on what was left of his invention.
"Except for you." He said sarcastically.
It gave off a low growl and Hiccup backed away from it only to become shocked when Emily quickly stood in front of him as her hand somehow changed into what looked like cannons and shot the dragon square on the face with what looked like a fireball as she looked at him.
"RUN!" She exclaimed as they quickly made a run for it as the Monstrous Nightmare began to chase the screaming boy and the blonde as it was angered by the blonde human that attacked it.
The dragon breathes out a liquid stream of hot flames at Hiccup and Emily who both quickly run behind a torch pole and hide just as the dragon fires again but thanks to their thin and slim frame, the fire only sprayed on each side of their hiding spot.
Hiccup checks the side of the torch pole to see if the dragon was still there only to hear a growling sound from the other side as Emily quickly puts her arms around Hiccup in a protective hold. The Nightmare was about to get Hiccup and Emily but Stoick jumps in just in time and punches the beast.
The two had a small stare off before the dragon tried to breathe fire, but coughed up only a few drops of flaming liquid instead, having exhausted its shots and was at its shot limits. Hiccup and Emily watched as it gave a look that said 'uh oh' before looking at Stoick nervously.
"You're all out." Stoick said as he marched up to it and gave it a punch and a few kicks as it quickly flew away for its safety. Stoick just huffed and faced the torch pole as it collapsed on the side to reveal both Hiccup and Emily as Hiccup looked at his dad with a nervous look on his face while Emily fidgeted slightly at the chief's stare. The torch tumbles down into the village, leaving ruins in its wake.
"Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know..." Hiccup whispered to Emily.
The torch rolls onto the Nadders that Stoick netted earlier, freeing them as the Vikings holding the net down scramble to get out of the way. Hiccup winced as he heard some of the other villagers tried to avoid the flaming part. The dragons manage to escape, hauling off most of Berk's food and livestock.
"Sorry, Dad." Hiccup said sheepishly but knew he'll get an earful at this. Why can't he just do something right for once?
Emily looked at him silently with an apologetic look on her face and glance at the woods and wondered what Optimus was doing.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone