Reforged Alliances: A Broken Prophesy story

Reforged Alliances: A Broken Prophecy Story Chapter 4

This is a fanfic and I make no money from this. Original copyrights belong to Dreamworks and Cresedia Cowell

Chapter 4

"Welcome ta' Berk." Stoick greets the flagship of the Bog Burglars. Chieftess Big-Boobied Bertha, hops down from the gangplank and punches Stoick in greeting. The mountain of a woman stands nearly as tall as the Hooligan Chief.

From her perch on the forested cliffs overlooking the harbor, Kari could easily make out the leader of the Burglars. The woman was huge, almost as big as her father. With hands like sledgehammers, and if the rumors were true, more than one elk had been felled by a single blow from her huge beasts, she was a force to be reckoned with. A blond, small and wiry woman followed close behind, with a grin the dragoness easily recognizes Camicazi. 'She and Astrid could almost be sisters,' Kari thinks before focusing on the second flagship now mooring. It would be a bit longer before the Meatheads were able to disembark, so returned her gaze to the gathering on the dock.

Cami had filled out over the last ten years. Her golden hair was longer than any she had seen in the village, threatening to entangle the young woman, lest it get tucked into the leather belt she wore. A pair of matched daggers are the only weapons she carries, 'Unless things changed, those were the only weapons she liked to use,' Kari notes with satisfaction. A glint of bronze around her neck catches the dragons attention. 'That's my lock! She still has my lock!' What surprises her is how clearly she could hear the young woman shout, "Where's my husband!! Where is my Hiccup!"

Kari's eyes nearly bug out from her skull, 'Husband?!'

"You heard my daughter, Stoick. Where is your heir? This would be the perfect time to join our clans!" Bertha's voice booms, setting the whiskers on her jaw to tremble.

Stroking his beard, Stoick murmurs, "Well 'bout tha'... Hiccup... Eh, Hiccup can't marry yur' daughter. Somethin' happened and well... Hiccup..."

"Quit stallin' Stoick! What happend ta' my lil' girls intended!"

Taking a deep breath, and steeling his nerve, Stoick looks at the two women before him. "Tha' Hiccup you knew... He's no longer with us."

"Gone? He's gone?" Camicazi asks, bewildered.

"Aye! Gone!" The Hooligan Chief lets out a breath in relief.

"You sound almost happy 'bout tha'..." Bertha squints at the odd behavior of her host.

"Well, No! 'Course I'm not happy 'bout that... But because of Hiccup we are no longer at war with tha' dragons."

Bertha eyes the Berkian Chief, "Hiccup? Yur' Hiccup? He stopped the dragons?"

"Not alone, but ya' It came at a cost, but Hiccup was a hero, and recognised by our Gothi before the whole o' tha' village. Now if ya' want to head up to tha' mead hall, we have a feast ready and our best brew waitin' to be enjoyed. I need to go greet tha' Meatheads."

Kari turned unseen from her vantage point, and bounding silently quickly makes her way to the smithy. Gently she knocks on the large double doors. The wait feels like forever, before Gobber opens the door.

"Kari! What brings ya' here? Ya' should be hidin' not traipsin' around the village. What if someone sees ya'?"

The dragoness coos in apology, then quickly scribbles instructions in the dirt of the shop floor.

"Small box in yur' room? Ya' it's still there. Hadna' the heart to toss yur' stuff. Ya' know, just in case..." The smith, even a year after her change still held some hope his apprentice would be able to return. Looking into the contented eyes of the Dragon before him, he sighs. "I know, ya' ain't comin' back... Not like ya' used ta' be. Just an ol' man's wishful dreamin'." With uneven 'clomp' he steps through the small room, not much larger than a storage closet, that Hiccup had claimed for his own. On a shelf he finds a deceptively simple wooden box.

"This tha' one?" He asks, getting a nod in return.

Kari once more scratches instructions in the dirt.

"Give it to Camicazi? The Bog Burglar? Well if tha's what ya' want." Gobber sets the simple box on his workbench. "I did manage ta' finish wrappin' tha' hilt o' tha' other thing for ya'." Stepping back to the weapon rack near the forge. "Ya' wanted this ta' go to tha' Meathead heir, right?" From the rack, he pulls out an ornate sword, the blade is acid etched and decorated with swirls of color caused by the strange meteoric iron Hiccup had found. "Right then... I'll go give these ta' yur' dad, and he can give them ta' the heirs at the feast tonight. Are ya' sure yu' wanta' just give them away? I know that blade took ya' forever to get it the way ya' wanted.

Nodding, she looks through the open door behind her. Butting her head against the smith briefly, she turns and disappears into the back streets before anyone has a chance to see her. With a burst of speed, the dragoness moves from building to building, silently working around the perimeter of the village. The sounds of her father and Bertha getting closer. Peering around the edge of a small house, she can make out the trio of chiefs passing by.

'Can't go that way.' Turning away from the village, Kari bounds through a field of tall grasses, the smell of goat and sheep hang heavy. Rearing up, to get her bearings, she notes the livestock are in a neighboring pasture. Quickly bounding through the pasture she pays no attention to the overgrowth as she slinks blindly through the high grasses. Pausing periodically she pokes her head up, to check her progress. Grinning she sees the stone wall enclosing the pasture is just a few feet away. Bounding over the wall, she clears it easily. Turning back north she takes one step before a 'whoosh' of movement passes her muzzle. The solid 'thump' of a heavy axe embedded itself in a tree just to her left makes her freeze in her tracks.

"Oh gods! Kari?! Are you alright?" Astrid and Asurestorm race over from the woods to her right. The blond Viking grasps the dragon's head, carefully turning it back and forth looking for any sign of injury.

"Uhh, Hi Azure... How are things?" she tries to laugh off the close shave. Shaking her head free of Astrid's panicked examination.

"Kari? What are you doing out here? We thought you were a wolf stalking the sheep. Astrid could have killed you! Not to mention what my quills could have done."

Kari scribbles in the dirt, and speaks aloud for Azure to understand. "I had business with Gobber, and was trying to get back to my cove, but Dad and the visiting chiefs kept showing up." With a lopsided grin, "Good to know Astrid's aim is as good as ever."

The blond chuckles, readjusting her eyepatch, she wipes her brow. A sheen of sweat suddenly breaking out on her forehead. "Is it suddenly hot?" She staggers against a nearby tree, her hands shaking. Grasping at her chest she falls to her knees, a faint grey haze swirls around her.

Kari and Azure stand stunned. The teen pitches forward, her eye rolls back as her face and head suddenly swells. "Astrid!" Kari screams, her roar barely covering the wet sound of flesh tearing, and bones snapping. Before either dragon can react, the form of a developing Thorntail rips from the girls flesh, like a butterfly escaping its cocoon. Panting, the unconscious dragon lies in the bloody remains of Astrid's clothes and skin.

"What's happening?" Azure gasps, unable to look away. The dragons watch helplessly as Astrids fingers elongate, a fine webbing stretching between each digit, becoming wings. Her spine expands, growing into a tail. No sooner one change ends another begins. Feet expanding with the quiet explosion of bones breaking and growing into taloned claws just before Astrid's body fills out, adding muscle and scales to the horrifically stretched out skeleton, finalizing her changes into a Thorntail.

Panting heavily, the new Thorntail twitches periodically. As the last of the blue and purple scales grow into place, "She has a very striking pattern," Azure comments, almost sounding jealous. The Astrid-dragon finally settles into a fitful sleep, and Azure ever so gently shifts the new dragon, nudging her from the bloody remains of her old body and into the tall grasses to make a hastily constructed nest. The blue-green dragon looks at Kari confused, before taking a couple of sniffs.

"Kari? Astrid's male!"

I just wanted to take a second to apologize for the sudden edit.  I apparently uploaded an older version of this chapter, and only now just caught it.