Wayfinding Berk

18. We Won't Go Down

18. We Won't Go Down

"Oww! Oww! Oww that really hurt!" Snotlout cried as the tip of the tool used for tattooing pierced the skin on his back.

"If it hurts so much, why did you bother getting a tattoo?" Eret asked as he was receiving the same treatment on his chest and flinched a bit.

"I thought it looked cool! I didn't think it'd hurt this much!" Snotlout whimpered. "I don't get why the villagers who have so many can stand the pain!"

"Some are tougher than you, that's why." Eret retorted. "And I had this done on my chin so it hurts way more. The inked places are going to be hurting for a while."

"How's it going?" Moana asked, approaching them with a basket filled with coconuts with Hei Hei sitting in it. "That's actually looking really nice Eret."

"Thanks, since I didn't get it finished yesterday I figured it should be complete today." Eret said and gave her a smile.

"Almost done chief. Soon, you won't be able to see if he has that mark." Kona, the tattoo artist who was working on Eret said as the chief handed her a coconut with the top sliced off. "He's a lot more quiet than this other one here."

"I am not used to this!" Snotlout snapped.

"Well, at least you have a very nice and tiny fish on your back." Moana chuckled and Snotlout scowled at her. "Well, I just came by to see how it was going. Gotta go!"

Eret smiled as he watched her hurry off. He stopped when he noticed Snotlout smirking at him. "What?" He asked.

"You really do have a crush on here, don't ya?" Snotlout snickered and sat up. "Is that why you agreed to be her 'husband'?"

"If I wasn't being tattooed right now I would strangle you." Eret muttered and looked to Kona.

"Go ahead, I'm almost done anyways." She said scooting back and laughed. "But seriously, why did you agree to it?"

"Well it was to protect her, plus I had no choice. According to her father, I'm now his son-in-law until all this blows over." Eret said, sitting up and Snotlout scrambled to his feet to be out of reach.

"Well, hope this 'marriage' works." Kona said and motioned for him to lay back down. "I'm no expert in marriages, but I've known Moana since we were kids, so you'll have to be careful with her. We all heard why she needed the fake marriage."

"Yeah, we can't let her get thrown into a volcano." Snotlout muttered and yelped when Kona began to poke his back with the tattooing tool.

"They need a virgin, so you have to devirgin her." Kona pointed out. "I've heard of some chiefs going for weeks without consumating the marriage with their spouse."

"I'm not going to do that to Moana! Maui will kill me!" Eret protested as he felt his cheeks grow hot, recalling what the demigod had told him last night.

"You're a good man Eret, I trust you to take care of Moana. But if you don't keep your hands to yourself when she doesn't want you touching her, I will chop you into little bits and use them as bait." Maui warned him moments after Moana's father announced the marriage. At least Tui just told him to keep Moana safe and to be a respectable husband.

"Well, you two could get married for reals and divorce after this whole thing is done." Kona suggested. "At least to make it legit for a while."

"Tell that to Moana." Eret murmured.

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"Make it legit?"

"Well why not?" Hiccup asked as he handed Moana one of the clubs he had been making since dawn. "At least until the whole sacrificing thing is over. And those people might want a virgin-"

"I am not doing that!" Moana snapped. "As long as no one let's it slip that this marriage is false, we are perfectly fine!"

"Moana, perhaps having an official wedding would make it easier." Tui said, placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"What if those people try torturing one of the villagers and they accidentally let it slip that your 'marriage' to Eret was fake?" Hiccup added softly. "You two can go along with the ceremony, hide in the woods for an hour or two with a blanket and stain it with a bit of blood. Then if those people come you, you could show it to them as proof!"

"Exactly!" Tui hissed.

"Then after all this blows over, you and Eret can cut ties and you can go back to being the single chieftess." Hiccup finished.

"Hiccup, I have no doubt that your idea is brilliant, but...what if I can't pull it off?" Moana said and looked away. "What if I mess something up? And who's to say those people won't kill Eret, the rest of my people, and the riders when they find out I'm married?"

"Moana, we have dragons, a powerful demigod-"

"Who got his ass kicked last time he crossed paths with those people."

"And who won't let that happen again. We all won't go down without a fight, no one in this village will die. But before we even fight, we'll try to talk some sense into these people."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"We'll try again, but if that doesn't work, we'll fight."

Moana let out a shaky sigh and gripped her friend's hand. She and Maui had only known Hiccup or the other riders for nearly two months, but they were willing to risk their own lives to come to her island and fight to keep her and her people safe. And for that, she was grateful to have good friends like them.

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"It's actually looking quite good." Moana said later to Eret that evening as she was examining the tattoo. "Did it hurt when Kona went over the scar?"

"A little." Eret admitted and rubbed the spot. "But I'm completely fine. How long until the redness goes away?"

"About a week or two. Until then, try to avoid getting hit in the chest." Moana chuckled and looked at him. "My dad and Hiccup said we should get married for reals and fake the bedding."

"Ah, the old boar blood on the sheet trick." Eret snorted. "Haven't seen that one done in a while. Once one of my cousins decided to keep the sheets and wrapped his first born son in them. My mother made me swear up and down that I would never do that."

"Your cousin is psycho." Moana muttered, earning a laugh from Eret.

"We better get to sleep."

"Should we do it? Marry for reals and divorce afterwards?" Moana asked as she grabbed the blanket to pull over herself and Eret before laying down next to him.

"I don't know, it's up to you." Eret replied with a shrug and smiled softly. "Whatever you decide with, I'll try my best to go along with it."

Before Moana could say anything, the distant sound of a conch horn being blown broke the silence. Eret sat up immediately, throwing aside the blanket and helping Moana to her feet before they hurried out of the hut. Several sleepy villagers had came out of their homes as the two hurried towards the center of the village. Eret heard the sound of beating wings as Stormfly and Maui in hawk form came down.

"Astrid!" Moana yelled when she saw her friend laying limp on her dragon while the blue dragon released two villagers from her talons. "What happened?!"

"Storm, very nasty storm!" Maui wheezed as her reverted back to his human form and sat down on the floor to catch his breath. "And those people, the ones who want you, they're on their way!"

"Get them to the healers!" Moana yelled as Hiccup darted forward to catch his girlfriend before she fell off Stormfly. "And get this dragon some food! Get all of them food! Make sure they get treated, we need to hear what they have to say!"