Beyond the Sunset | HTTYD (Discontinued)

Chapter Two

Endeavor's group, as I later learned, was more of a mismatched group of outcasts that were too smart to die but, at the same time, too stupid to survive after the Collapse. 

"Sails cannot be made out of tissue paper," I explained to Todd for the billionth time. "Water will disintegrate it. Cotton and leather is the simplest thing, but canvas is better if you can find it. Now, shoo."

After four years of gathering people, materials, and information, we were finally able to leave to find Berk. Everyone had called in every favor, pooled all their resources, and given up everything they had so we could make this voyage. 

Our plan was to travel to somewhere in the middle of the Norweigan sea: a few hundred miles northeast of Norway. The location was vague, I know; I had to read it in an old trader's log. All Hiccup's journals say is that Berk is "twelve days north of Hopelessness and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death." Thank you for nothing, you useless chief. 

"Earth to Merica." Someone snapped in my ear. 

I flinched. "What?"

"You're daydreaming again," Endeavor said. "The ships aren't going to fix themselves."

"Sorry." I went back to sanding the inside of one of the small boats we had acquired for the trip. "How are the technical preparations going?"

"Last I heard, Cody was ranting to someone about how 'a ship with no sail would get us farther than the engines would run.'"

"I'm not surprised he said that. The engines on most of these are bad enough that they'll freeze before winter even begins to think of showing itself."

"How long do we have?"

"Before winter? Four months, at best," I said. "If we don't leave in a week or two, we'll have to wait another year." The scrape of sandpaper echoed in the silence that followed. 

Todd crashed through the door and tripped, faceplanting on the floor. 

"I got some stuff for the sails," he said, his voice muffled against the wood. 

"How much?" I had learned to make sure he had gotten enough for every ship. He had once come back with less than a yard of fabric. 

"It's in the pickup," he said. "It's actually quite comfortable down here. I think I'll just stay here for a while and contemplate my existence, maybe take a nap."

I walked by him and over the gangplank to the small port we had taken over a few years ago. The barely running pickup truck was haphazardly filled with cotton and leather, the traditional materials for sails. Canvas would have been better and easier to deal with, but this would do. 

As I walked over to begin taking stock of the materials, Maverie burrowed out of the sails and tumbled onto the sidewalk, laughing like she hadn't nearly given me a heart attack. 

"Mav?" I asked her. "What are you doing?"

"Todd has no idea," she said between laughs. 

"No idea about what?"

Before she could answer, an enraged yell came from inside one of the boats. "Who wrote 'kick me' on the back of my shirt?"

"Here we go again," I muttered, unrolling one of the rolls of cotton to begin measuring. 

As it turned out, Todd actually managed to acquire enough materials for all five ships, with extra for repairs. I gathered a few idle people and taught them how to weave the cotton and leather together in a way the would prevent rain from weighing down the sails. 

After making sure that everyone was making the sails correctly, I moved on to the backup engines on the ship that would help us get out of the harbor. 

"The engines are either going to frost over or explode," Cody, our local nerd and robotics champion (a skill useless after the Collapse, yet he still reminded us every chance he got), said. He had long been panicking about the trip and our survival or lack thereof. 

"They don't need to get us far," I assured him. "Once we get out of the harbor we'll depend on the sails." I made a few tweaks to the machine to ensure smoke wouldn't begin spewing out into the air when it started. 

"When are we leaving?"

"As soon as possible," I said, omitting the possible complications of winter and what would happen if we were stuck in the middle of the ocean when the first storms hit. 

A week later, everyone was packed and boarding the ships. The crews were a good mix of warriors and craftsmen: enough to keep us surviving for a long time. 

Except for Todd and Mav. I had no idea why they were going on the trip. All they did was cause trouble and mischief. I had to put out so many fires, both figuratively and literally, in the last week before the trip. 

"Are we good to go or are you just going to stand there and stare at the sunrise?"

I glanced once more at the horizon before sliding back down to the deck where Deav was waiting. "We're good to go. How are the other four?"

"Waiting for the signal." He pointed the flare gun at the sky and fired, sending a bright spark into the clouds. "You do know how to sail this ship, right?"

"I've spent more than twenty years learning everything about vikings," I said, "I think sailing a ship should be part of that." I jogged to the front and turned on the engine. I didn't usually sail with an engine, but it couldn't be that much different.

"Sails are secure," Deav shouted to me. 

I nodded and spun the wheel slightly to maneuver out of the harbor. It was tedious work, sure, but there were a lot fewer ships docked than there had been before the Collapse. 

The other four filed in behind me, matching me turn for turn until we hit open ocean. 

"Can we shut off the engine?" a person from the boat beside me asked. 

"No," I said, "the water is too shallow to risk a failure in setting up the sails right now. Wait a little bit."

He nodded and called Mav down from the top of the mast, where she was attempting to jump onto another ship. She grumbled and climbed back down. Deav had separated her and Todd to prevent mischief during the brief trip, a good decision in my opinion. Although who knew how long that would keep them apart.

Not long after, the sea grew to a darker, deeper blue, signaling that it was far enough away from the shore to turn off the engine.

"Cut the engine!" I shouted to the others.

An echo of people passing on the command was quickly silenced by the sound of engines sputtering out and sails unfurling. 

"This is it," I said. "No turning back now."