The Voyager and the Rogue

Chapter 6

One day, during a short lesson with Hiccup about Berk's naval history, one of his friends, Fishlegs, rushed into his study, absolutely winded. The rotund beefcake of a Viking nearly keeled over, catching his little winged helmet just before it fell off his head. His round cheeks were bright red and glistening with sweat from running.

"Fishlegs! Easy breathing buddy, what's going on?"

"Nasty... altercation... on the... piers." Fishlegs gasped out. Hiccup and I glanced at each other, he sighed and stood from his chair. I hid my annoyance that my lesson was interrupted, as I had requested to learn more about sailing through the perspective of a Viking to see how it compared to my own knowledge. It would be beneficial, as when I eventually decided to get on a boat again, I would know how to man the ship.

"Want to come with?" With a slight shrug, I followed him and Fishlegs down the scaffolding on the cliff sides down to the piers. It was a long walk, and as we made our way down, I glanced around at the seemingly endless construction going on. Hiccup had told me they were working on a pulley system to make moving stuff to the village more efficient from varying heights. Through some trial and error, it was finally working.

As we made it to the piers, I could already see a group of men gathered together next to a ship, and I could hear them arguing, their deep voices overlapping. I no longer understood a single word they were saying.

Hiccup yelled to get their attention, and upon doing so, they clamored to explain what was going on. I listened closely to what they were saying. The captain of one of the ships began to describe that they caught what they believed to be a stowaway rummaging through their cargo, they had no clue how he'd snuck on without being caught until they pulled into port. With a sigh, Hiccup assured them that he'd help resolve it. There was an opening through the crowd of men, and upon walking through it, Hiccup and I finally saw what was causing all the commotion.

Before us, two burly men held a young man between them in an iron grip. He was blonde, with fair skin and a growing beard. He was covered with freckles, and two scars marked his face; one on his right cheekbone, and the other crossing the bridge of his nose. He wore a leather vest held together with small buckles, braces on both his forearms, with a glove on his right hand. And one sword on his hip.

But the feature of his that caught my attention the most was his eyes. They were an extremely light hazel color, but in the sunlight, they almost seemed to be golden. I'd never seen such eyes before. Somehow even lighter than Ana's or Konall's. And I caught him staring at me as Hiccup approached him.

"Young man, what in Odin's name is happening here?" Through gritted teeth, the young man spat out a reply.

"Just... a misunderstanding." Hiccup crossed his arms.

"What kind of misunderstanding?" The man attempted to pull away again but was held back.

"None of your damn business. Let me go."

"You were found rummaging through cargo. How do we know you're not attempting to steal?" One Viking demanded, roughly pulling him back. I slightly grimaced at the imagined discomfort of his shoulder being yanked like that.

"Maybe because you should mind your business." The man snapped, narrowing his eyes in irritation, not willing to explain himself. Shocker.

The anger intensified in his eyes. Hiccup could tell that a simple interrogation wasn't going to get him anywhere. With a sigh, he then ordered the man to be taken to the holding house adjacent to the great hall.

"What're you going to do?" I asked, following Hiccup as he bid goodbye to the captain and his men.

"Well, we're going to figure out who he is, and what he wants. And see if he's going to be any trouble."