54. A mysterious ryder

.

.

.

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................

.

Their moment of silent reassurance was broken as a massive figure suddenly broke through the veil of clouds without any warning. A dragon unlike any that had been seen before flowed with powerful grace around them, its body almost twice the size of Toothless. Elongated spines jutted from its back all the way down to its tail and hooks emerged from the top of its wings. Its face, from the angle, appeared to be caved in with a natural crown atop its large, frilled head.

The rider was another story. Clad in armor that appeared to make this figure seem dragon-like opposed to human was the first thing Hiccup took. A helmet with horns and frills, combined with a tattered cape, a staff, and a shield painted in bright colors made for a figure clad further in total mystery.

The unknown rider, who was amazingly standing and maintaining its balance atop the dragon, raised its staff almost in challenge. The pose was perfectly maintained even as the dragon circled around and came to face them directly, giving both astonished flyers a direct look at its fearsome visage. Its two wings then, to the utter shock of the claimed Dragon Master, broke into four, each delivering a gust that parted clouds with the strength of a Gronkle's charge. For a moment one side stood in transfixed apprehension, the other in silent observation.

Until Hiccup finally regained his voice. "A-Alright, who are you? You're no Draakian rider; that much is for sure. State your business."

The figure said nothing, nor did her dragon.

"Answer! You some kinda spy or a traveler? Been letting this guy do your navigating?"

Again, the figure remained silent. Toothless gave a slit-eyed snarl, prompting the other dragon to do the same.

Hiccup gave another sigh, left with little patience, and shook his hands out. "Y-You know what? I don't have time for this – I've got an early morning crowd of paranoid Vikings about to wake up with a whole new batch of complaints any minute. So if you could just fly back to wherever it is you came from-"

Toothless had spied it mere moments before, but Hiccup was not so fortunate as once again out of nowhere, a dragon appeared and tackled him. The impact knocked him from his seat off of his dragon's back, tumbling down into the ocean. Without his rider to operate his mechanical tail fin, Toothless soon followed suit and with a mighty splash, both hit sea.

The frigid water bit at every inch of skin and broke through his armor's protection, the blood flowing through his veins beginning to drag slowly on. Cold flooded at every inch of his senses with every movement bringing another wave of it rushing through his whole form. Every second beneath the surface was another moment air and heat escaped him, reducing his body to an iron weight of numbness. Prying open his eyes, Hiccup could barely see Toothless ahead through the dark blue and swum to him with panicked speed.

The two resurfaced with heavy gasps, grabbing for oxygen by the gallons to fill their tightened lungs. They looked above to see the dragon rider and dragon staring down, now joined by a plethora of similarly unknown beasts. Each one stared down with no discernible emotion other than mild curiosity as they maintained their heights from the chief's point of view. Before long, they flew off – their forms quickly becoming little more than specks on the high horizon.

"Well, I'll say this." Hiccup growled in irritation. "That guy really makes an interesting first impression."

Toothless huffed in agreement.

"So, you wanna fly or swim back?"

~~

~~

"You know, when a woman wakes up in the morning, the last thing she expects to see is her chief husband and his Night Fury soaked to the bone and shivering."

The sarcasm Syn had picked up from years of being with her husband and arguing with others was a major downplay to what she had seen. Hiccup and Toothless: droopy-eyed, soaked to the bone, and shivering uncontrollably; an ill Zippleback was more slightly than the pair drudged up after futilely attempting to swim back from an unknown point on the open water for 20 minutes. The Night Fury's prosthetic tail fin refused to open underwater while his massive wings and flailing limbs did little more than soak Hiccup again and again. By the time they had been found and retrieved by a Selardalr Scauldron, thankfully before any hungry sea creatures spotted an easy breakfast, it was with lungs near burst from overexertion and equipment practically welded on with frozen-solid seawater.

They lay together wrapped in coal-heated blankets on the docks before Syn and the children, Alvis by his mother's side with Syn in a bundle of cloth in Syn's arms. Every member of his family along with numerous dragon sentries gathered at the edge of the cliffs placed for extra security looked at him with eyes full of concern and sympathy. Though he could say their rich wealth of compassion was enough to warm his heart, to warm his body was another matter altogether.

"T-T-Take it up w-w-with t-the D-D-Dragon Rider f-flying around the island. Y-You're not the only one w-w-who w-wants to file a c-c-complaint..." He spoke huddling in himself.

"You want me to get a couple of Stoker-classes? Maybe King would-"

"F-Forget it... I h-had to t-t-trade away 20 p-p-pound of l-leather, t-three G-G-Gronkle Iron blocks and a s-sheep the l-last time I b-borrowed something from R-R-Raoul..."

"Yeah, I get you. Talking with him's enough of a price to pay."

Hiccup's near-blue lips cracked a near invisible grin before he was tackled into a hug by his boy with tears in his eyes. The touch of his father's armor was as cold as ice to his skin when he collided with Hiccup's wet armor, but paid it little mind. His father gave him a soft pat on the head, all his heat-conservative form would allow at the moment.

"Dad... you're cold."

"T-Thanks for s-s-summing that up, son."

"Fafnir and Torch can warm you up too. Come on, guys!"

At his prodigal son's command, the Terrible Terror Alvis called his own huddled itself in Hiccup's lap while the Typhoomerang's elongated neck wrapped around them. The small surge of warmth washed over them like a light summer rain filling him with strength. The binds of cold gripping his body were shattered instantly as feeling returned to every part of his body and his shivering soon came to a halt. Even Toothless felt the shower of energy and he awakened with a shake of his head and a lick of his lips.

"Oh, I needed that."

"I hate ta interrupt what's either family bondin' time or much needed post-swim recuperation," Came the voice of Asmund from behind Torch's wing. "But ah think you better look at this, chief."

Hiccup rose with ease from his seat on the wooden dock with Alvis locked to his side and grabbed the spy glass in Asmund's hand. His eye locked onto the mysterious object in question immediately: an unknown ship heading for their island. Syn took the glass from him without a word and just as speedily as either of them had caught sight both their minds filled with concerns.

"Do ya think it's from Berk?" Asmund gave voice to the foremost concern.

The chief brought the spy glass to his eye again. "Well, at least they're coming from the front this time."

"They just don't know when to quit, do they?" Syn asked bitterly.

"Hmm..." Hiccup ignored his wife's bitter tone and observed the ship. Something was wrong, or right in this case. For whatever reason, hostility he had prepared to feel, that he churned up from his stomach, wasn't rising to the surface. His disturbing sense of complacency was explained when he spied an important detail on the boat.

"It doesn't have the Berk crest on it," he stated, both relieved and somewhat concerned. Alvis clung to his leg seeming to sense his conflicting emotions.

"Dad?"

Syn only looked confused and held their youngest child tighter. "If it's not Berk, then who is it?"

"I don't know..." Hiccup said. While the boat was clear of any Hooligan tribe indication, suspicions were far from cleared. All present could breathe a sigh of relief that the sign of any other hostile tribe wasn't present either. Many had feared since the beginning of their culture's reformation that it wouldn't be long before the whole of an infuriated archipelago would have been breathing down their necks calling for war. Yet as friendly as the new ship seemed to be, all present, whether aware of an exact explanation for their feelings or not, could only consider this the calm before the storm.

Hiccup took another look for any sign of the crew onboard. From what he could see, the ship was loaded, although cluttered might have been a better word, with knickknacks and odds and ends from every corner of the world, it seemed. The only person he'd spotted was a man garbed in robes far from elegant, dulled and desaturated from years of wear, a slightly sunburned complexion, and a bushy mustache. He couldn't place his finger on it but the man looked... familiar.

It was... It was...

"Wait, isn't that..." Hiccup muttered more calmly. "That's Trader Johann!"

"Who?" Alvis asked.

"He's a merchant who hits most of the islands with wares to trade and sell," Hiccup said. "It's gotta be... years since I last saw him."

"Well, I've never heard of him." Syn muttered, letting her grip on Livia relax.

"Really, I gotta figure there isn't an island out there who hasn't heard of Johann. Trust me; he's a guy you don't forget anytime soon."

"You mean 'cause he brings lots of presents?" Alvis asked.

"Can't say anyone 'round here's gotten a taste of his charity." Asmund muttered with his arms crossed. "Never been a Trader Johann that's come here as long as I can remember."

Hiccup turned to Asmund with a confused look. "Wait, seriously?"

"Aye. We don't see much o' traders since Selardalr's a lit'l farther out than most o' the other islands and a fair distance from the nest. We just don't have much of a need. I can recall every last trader's ship that's ever sailed in ta Silent Wolf waters since Harold became chief, an' that ship ain't one of 'em."

"Come to think of it, his route doesn't cover this part of the Archipelago," Hiccup recounted and looked out again. "So then what's he doing so far off course?"

"Well... maybe he's looking for new business." Syn chimed in. "Or he's just exploring."

All eyes, human and dragon, looked to her. The dragons snorted dubiously and the skeptical looks, her husband and Asmund gave her matched the mood. Of course, years of arguing her case against stubborn Vikings made her an iron wall of immunity with a smile, the same she gave now nonchalantly.

"Just... exploring?" Asmund asked.

"Yeah. What, you think there's something weird about that?"

"You don't? You know, you're pretty trustin' for a girl that nearly got chopped in half the other night."

"Come on, you don't think Berk has something to do with this?" Syn chuckled. "He's a merchant, totally impartial. You're making him sound like some kind of assassin."

"I'd bet he's got a knife or two in those pouches o' his. Like ma cousin Snort used ta say, 'Look to a man's hands before you look to his face.'"

"Well, you know what my mom used to say?" Syn glared at the old smith. "Sometimes the only things false about a person are the assumptions you make about them.' Hiccup, tell Asmund that he's being paranoid."

For a moment, Hiccup couldn't bring himself to say anything, the pressure of his title and anxious eyes on him once more seeming real. The young chief had already been warned with the pointing fingers of a temperamental and insecure populace that letting his guard down had nearly led o disaster. With responsibilities unlike anything he was accustomed to, open arms like Syn wanted to show to Johann were a luxury that he had stolen from Selardalr, and now he needed to accept the consequences.

"Hiccup?"

"Dad, what's wrong?" Alvis asked.

Hiccup looked to the assembled Vikings and dragons on the cliff. "Stand ready, but do not engage without my say!"

His wife was disappointed, his son confused, his dragons obedient and at the ready. Time to find out what was really going on here.

.

.

.

~~TO BE CONTINUED~~