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"Actually Dad, I wanted to tell you in person. It seemed too risky to explain in a letter."
Stoick stood there, flabbergasted on where to start, and seething, while Nadig walked over to an oaken bureau, fishing out a key on a chain as he did so. It was so sturdy-looking, that Tuffnut suspected it would take a good hacking from a few Vikings built like Stoick, to get in it without the key. And you of course couldn't set fire to it without running the risk of burning anything inside. It gave the impression of being a great place to hide something important.
"I bet whatever you keep in there is important."
"Tuff," Hiccup grumbled.
"Hey! Only Ska'i's allowed to call me that from now on!"
"Okay. Sorry."
"Would someone please tell me what there is 'more of'?!" Stoick's angry voice was even louder than when he was being jovial, and they were in an enclosed space.
"This," Nadig cut in, having already made his way back to the desk, he spread an ancient piece of parchment atop it.
"Is that a map?" Hiccup asked.
"It was once thought to be a lost map of an island, rumored to hold The Fire Stone."
" 'Rumored'?" Hiccup wanted clarification.
"Anyone who has ever tried to find the island might have succeeded. But we don't know for sure, because no one's ever heard from them, once they do."
Silence. Then, "Well, that's cryptic," Tuffnut remarked.
"Well, I forbid you to go," Stoick commanded.
"Dad -."
"You are not risking your life for a rock! What's so special about these stones, anyway?"
"They control the elements," Ska'i spoke since first stepping foot in the cabin.
Every guy stared at her before Stoick broke it by repeating, "These stones do what?"
Nadig made a voice-down gesture with his palm angled at the floor. The chief countered back with a "what?" gesture of his own, to which the trader replied quietly, "Just in case."
"But why are you telling us this?" Ska'i asked in suspicion.
The trader studied her for a minute before answering, "You think it was a mere coincidence The Water Stone found its way to your island? That I just so happened to come across this map? I believe events play out for a reason. And if you let them play out in the way they fall, we might discover what that reason is."
Hmm. Tuffnut wasn't sure he fully understood that, but Hiccup was nodding and Ska'i had a serious, pensive expression on her face.
"I've heard tales on my travels; This is just one of the stones, that are beginning to resurface," Nadig went on. "The Fire Stone can be found on the island here on this map."
The Vikings leaned in closer, but it was the type of map that choreographed leveled hills.
"Uh . . . so what's this a map of?" Tuffnut asked.
Everyone looked at Nadig expectedly, and he - almost reluctantly - admitted, "If you're able to find this island, based on the others around it -."
"The ones that aren't even fully on the map," Hiccup pointed out.
"Admittedly, this is as old as it looks," Nadig confessed.
"Yeah, but how are we supposed to even find this island?" Tuffnut brought up.
"Perhaps that's one of the reasons why The Fire Stone has effectively managed to remain hidden from the world for as long as it has," Ska'i mused.
"Maybe we could compare it to some of the other maps we have," Hiccup proposed.
"Wait, what do you get out of this?" Tuffnut interrupted the chain of dialogue suspiciously.
"Mmm, other than just seeing how things play out because you believe in something more than happenstance?" Ska'i wanted more.
Nadig paused for a second, staring down at the map, before eventually responding, "These stones are powerful. You said they control the elements?" He directed this at Ska'i and waited until she nodded before continuing. Not even bothering to ask how she knew that, he shook his head, "See, I can't let just anyone find this, I can't direct any random person to this stone. I sense you're good people. You're the first decent bunch I've met since I discovered the map. And I feel like time is running out," he abruptly stood, and everyone unconsciously copied him. "The more good people know about these stones, the better. And like I've already said," he tried to ease the tension out of his face, by flashing as warm a smile as he could. "I like the stories."
