I Am Dragonblood: Alpha and Chief {Book Two} (HTTYD Fanfic)

Chapter Three - Eret, son of Eret

'Seal the gates!' Stoick bellowed as he ran into the stables. 'Lower the storm doors!'
    'What? Why?' Hiccup sprinted in after him, panting for breath. 'What is happening?'
    'No dragon or Viking sets foot off this island until I give the word!' Stoick hollered from the midst of a chaos of running Vikings and dragons.

    'Because some guy you know is stirring up trouble in a far away land?'
    The Chief turned to his son. 'No, because Drago Bludvist is a madman, unconscious of mercy. If he's built a dragon army, Gods help us all.'
     Hiccup followed his father as he stormed through the crowds like a charging bull. 'Let's ride back out there. We'll follow those trappers to Drago and talk some sense into him.'
    'No!' Stoick said sternly. 'We fortify the island.'
     His eyes flashed reptilian for a second. 'But it's our duty to keep the peace!' He could see he was going to get nowhere with his father, but he tried anyway. 
    'Peace is over, Hiccup. I must prepare you for war.'
    'War? Dad, if Drago's coming for our dragons we can't wait around for him to get here. Let's go find him and change his mind.'
    'Some minds won't be changed, Hiccup. Berk is what you need to worry about, a Chief protects his own.'
    Hiccup looked at Toothless, and Toothless looked at him. Astrid caught on to what he was planning immediately. 'Hiccup, don't.'
    'I have to.' He leapt on to Toothless and they shot out of the closing door, hearing his father yell after him. He glanced back and saw a blue Nadder come through the almost closed doors, her bright colours shining out in the afternoon sun. 

***

Eret's ship was ahead and below them, the hull smashing through the thin ice like it was eggshell. Hiccup saw the Hunters readying crossbows and bolas launchers, Eret son of Eret himself taking aim straight at them. With a twang the weighted ropes were launched into the air, fanning out like a deadly spider web. They avoided them easily and landed on the ship, people scattering out of the way of the two dragons. 
    'Here I was thinking we were going to turn up empty handed,' Eret said, strolling forward as if having two Riders land on the deck was the most normal thing in the world. 
    'Nope, it's your lucky day,' Hiccup said. Time to put his plan that had been forming for the past few hours into action. 'We give up,' he held his hands up in surrender. Astrid looked at him as if he'd turned into Snotlout. 'That's one Night Fury—'
    'W a   re  ou d in ?' Toothless asked. 
    '—one Deadly Nadder and two of the finest Dragon Riders west of Luk Tuk That ought to make the boss happy, right? Excuse us,' He opened the trapdoor that led to the hold. 
    'What're you doing?' Astrid echoed Toothless's question.
    'Toothless, stay.'
    The Fury glared at him for speaking to him like that. 
    'The dragons don't really care for cramped spaces, so they'll just hang out with you,' his voice became echoey as he descended into the hold, pushing Astrid in front of him. 'They won't be any trouble.'
    A multitude of weapons pointed at the dragons, making Toothless jump up in alarm. 
    'Unless you do that.'
    'How is this plan?' Astrid hissed. Hiccup motioned for her to be quiet. 
    'Once they see you as their own,' he said, seeing Stormfly dropping a shiny object at Eret's feet and nudging him. He threw it just to stop her slobbering on him. 'Even the testiest of dragons can be trained, right bud?'
    'What game are you playing?' Stormfly dropped the shiny thing at Eret's feet again. 
    'No game, we just wanna meet Drago.'
    'Why?' Eret threw the shiny again, this time in the opposite direction. 
    'Because I want to change his mind about dragons.'
    The Hunters laughed, then laughed even more when the shiny landed on Eret's head. 
    'He can be very persuasive,' Astrid put in, poking her head up from the hold.
    'Once you've earned his loyalty, there is nothing a dragon won't do for you.' Excluding Hookfang, he thought. 
    'You won't be changing any minds around here,' Eret said. 
    Hiccup climbed out of the hold. 'I can change yours, right here, right now.' He pulled the lever on the Night Fury's saddle, the one that locked the red tail. 'Er, may I?—'
    He was cut off by talons wrapping around his arms and pulling him from the deck. He looked up to see the underside of a red and orange Monstrous Nightmare, then his gaze travelled to the rider and saw Snotlout looking back at him in triumph. 'Snotlout! Put me down!'
    'Ahh! What is it with all the nets!' Out of the corner of his eye Hiccup saw the twins being taken out by a bolas and crashing into the ocean. 
    He growled at Hookfang, who loosened his grip a little from the surprise of being growled at by a human, and struggled out of the dragons talons. He hooked the small clips on the arms of his suit into rings on looser fabric down the sides of his brown outfit, creating makeshift wings. He glided down and hit the sail, grabbing a loose rope so he could swing down to the deck. 
    'Er, what are you guys doing here?' Hiccup called out as he folded the fabric wings down. There was a slight snarl in his voice that he immediately quashed. 
    'We're here to rescue you!' Gobber said as Grump plonked onto the corner of the deck, making the whole boat shake. 
    'I don't need to be rescued!' No snarl this time. 
    'Enough!' A Rumblehorn landed at the front of the ship, his rider's shadow playing huge and imposing on on the sail. 
    'Well, didn't you just pick the wrong ship, hey?' Eret said, stepping forward as the Chief marched towards his son. 'I am Eret, son of Eret—' all he got for his introductions was a hand to his face, a bonk to his head and a Hotberple on top of him. 'Get. This. Thing. Off of me.'
    'You, son, are going home,' Stoick said, standing in front of Hiccup like a mountain. 
    'No.' He didn't even try to stop his pupils turning to slits. 
    'Of all the irresponsible—'
    'Im trying to protect our dragons!' Hiccup burst out, the snarl he'd tried to suppress returning. 'And stop a war! How is that irresponsible?!'
    Stoick's voice was gruff and full of anger. 'Because war is what he wants, son!' He paused, collecting himself. In a much calmer voice he told the riders and Hunters of the night Drago had burnt down the hall, killing all but Stoick. 'Men who kill without reason cannot be reasoned with.'
    'Maybe.'
    'Hiccup,' Stoick warned. 
    He took no notice of his father. 'But I'm still going to try.' He mounted the waiting Toothless. 'This is what I'm good at. If I could change your mind, I can change his too.' He and his friend took off, rocking the ship from the downdraught of the dragons wings. Eret followed the dragon and Rider with his blue eyes, a frown on his face. Astrid made to follow, but the Chief stopped her. 'Lead the others back to Berk, I've had enough mutiny for one day.'
    Begrudgingly she obeyed, flying west towards Berk with the other riders in tow, while Stoick and Gobber stayed behind on the ship. She hoped that the Chief wouldn't be too harsh on the Hunters, but that was a small hope, nothing compared to the hope she felt for Hiccup, for him to be safe. 

1281 words.
There'll be more Hiccup as dragon action in the next few chapters, I hope :D

≈Flitt