Strongly Believe in Your Fateful Dreams

Chapter 12: Presentation of Suitors

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The clans enter the throne room not long after that, when the DunBroch family is already assembled. The king, Fergus, says to the crowd, as the clans gather to present their sons: "So, here we are! The four clans! Uh... gathering... uh... for..." Fergus staggers & so Elinor gets exasperated by her husband's slowness. She gets up & finishes his sentence. "The presentation of the suitors!" she says. The crowd cheers then.

"Clan Macintosh!" Fergus calls out.

"Your Majesty," the same yelling man from the middle boat earlier today steps forward. "I present my heir & sire, who defended our land from northern invaders &, with his own sword, stabbed & vanquished a thousand more," Lord Macintosh says. The clan cheers as Young Macintosh, his son, steps forward to display his sword skills, looking obviously vain & spoiled. Merida & Hiccup looked at him, unimpressed.

At least he can carry & swing a sword, thought Hiccup.

"Clan MacGuffin!" Fergus calls out.

"Your majesty," Lord MacGuffin steps forth, "I present my eldest son, who scuttled the Viking war ships with his bare hands. Vanquished two thousand more," he says. Young MacGuffin crushes a thick plank of wood. "Vikings?" Hiccup looks up at his father. "We never have wars. The only wars we fight are the ones with dragons," said Stoick & Hiccup shrugs. He can do that without even flinching... I might break my wrist then, Hicup thought.

"Clan Dingwall!" Fergus calls out.

"I present my only son," Lord Dingwall steps forward & stood next to a tall, strong & young-looking warrior. Woah... tough competition, Hiccup thought. "who was besieged by ten thousand romans & he took out their whole armor single handedly, with one arm. He was..." Suddenly, we see Lord Dingwall drag his small, lanky som from behind the warrior.

And... reality strikes, Hiccup thought.

"With one arm, he was steering the ship, & with the other he held his mighty sword & struck down a whole attacking fleet," he continued. "Ugh..." Merida hides her face.

"Lies!" a voice in the crowd shouts.

"What? I heard that! Aye! Say it to my face! Or are you a scared sniffling jackanape? Afraid to muss your pretty hair?" said Lord Dingwall.

"At least we have hair!" Lord Macintosh says. Everyone laughs. "And all our teeth!" Lord MacGuffin added. Everybody laughs again. "And we don't hide under bridges, you grumpy old troll," Lord Macintosh says & everyone laughs. Lord Dingwall, angered, decides to start a fight. "WEE DINGWALL!" he yells. His son, Wee Dingwall, bites Lord Macintosh's arm. And a fight began. Fergus looks around & finally spots the vikings just looking at the rough-housing clans.

"Men!" Fergus calls out. Everyone just keeps on fighting. "MEN!!" Fergus yells. Everyone stops. "Now, that's all done. You've had your go at each other. Show a little decorum," he says in a calmer tone, "We have new friends here, just to let you know," he adds, gesturing to the vikings.

Here's our time to shine, Hiccup thought as he watched his father step forward.

Merida watches Stoick as well. Even she, who has never even seen him before, can feel his honored aura & strong demeanor.

"I am Stoick the Vast. Chief of Berk, from the Haddock clan," he spoke in a loud & strong voice. It caught everyone's attention. "Vikings!?" the three lords exclaimed.

"Uh... you see..." Fergus staggers again. "We formed an alliance with these particular vikings to face a new threat to the kingdom," said Elinor. "A new threat?" Lord MaGuffun said. "Aye. Dragons," said Fergus. "DRAGONS!?" everyone exclaims in disbelief. "Aye. Just a few days before I became king, I was a chieftain & I attended a meeting. There, we were ambushed by dragons. And now, not far from the kingdom, troops have reported seeing giant eggs & footprints," said Fergus. "We searched for anyone who was willing to parner with us on this matter. That is were Stoick the Vast comes in," said Elinor. "Yes. I agreed to form an alliegance with the kingdom alongside the fact that my village will help them in times of their dragon attacks," said Stoick.

"Where is your son then?" said Lord Dingwall. "Ah yes. My son," Stoick walks back to his clan & steps forward with Hiccup. "This is Hiccup, my son," he began, "Everytime we were attacked, he would go out of the house despite my restriction to defeat the dragons who were stealing our resources. He'd swing swords, axes... hammers, even! There, on his feet, are dragons. Slaughtered," said Stoick. Hiccup triea hiding his face but to no avail. Everyone laughs.

"That killed dragons!?" Lord Macintosh scoffed. He laughs along with the other lords & their men. Hiccup gets embarassed & feels like he wants to go back home. "Dad--" Hiccup looks up at his dad. "Don't worry about them, Hiccup. They have no idea who they're laughing at," Stoick reassures him. Merida watches Hiccup fromher seat. Oh, if only there was something she could do for him.

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