Chapter 10: From the Ashes

As the mob of angry villagers approached the group, Will quickly stepped in front of them, putting himself between them and Gobber.

"Alright, alright," Will called as he held his hands up in front of him, prompting the mob to stop in front of him, "Let's all calm doon!"

"Calm doon!?" Balfour roared as he gestured at the fires still burning in the village, "Th' damned toun is on fire!"

"Yes, an' tragic as 'at is, it can be replaced," Will replied firmly, "Th' important thin' 'ere is dealin' wi' th' dragon."

"Th' dragon 'at 'at Vikin' bastard brought doon on us!" Balfour snarled as he pointed an accusatory finger at Gobber.

"An' how exactly did he dae 'at?" Will questioned with a dubious expression.

"E'eryane knows 'at the Vikin's are experts aboot dragons," Balfour explained loudly, "An' there's even rumor 'at they've started trainin' 'em! Obviously he brought this dragon wit him tae attack us!"

"Gobber brought a dragon wit' him tae attack this little village?" Will repeated as he stared at Balfour with an incredulous expression, "Instead o' Macintosh Castle, which is where he was when we gaet th' news o' ye bein' attacked?"

"Ah….uh….Ah mean…." Balfour mumbled, clearly thrown off by this line of questioning.

"Balfour, dae us all a favor, an' stop talkin'," Will interrupted with a sigh and a shake of his head.

"M'lord," Malcolm said as he hurried up, sweat beading on his forehead, "M'lord, whit are ye gaein' tae dae aboot th' dragon?"

"We're gaein' tae track it doon an' deal wit' it," Will replied matter-of-factly.

"But….But how?" Malcolm asked in confusion.

"Easy," Will replied with a nonchalant shrug, "We already know whit th' dragon is after."
"...An' whit is 'at, m'lord?" Malcolm asked, clearly not understanding.

"Those Vendal we brought in," Will elaborated, "They escaped in th' chaos, sae now all we hae tae dae is track 'em doon, an' th' dragon will come tae us."

"Sae th' dragon was after th' Vendal?" Malcolm questioned.

"Essentially, yes," Gobber confirmed with a nod.

"Sae it sounds as though th' problem is solved 'en," Duncan spoke up as he walked over.

"Whit dae ye mean?" Will question in confusion.

"Well, ye seem quite confident 'at th' dragon was huntin' these Vendal, m'lord," Duncan explained, "If whit ye're sayin' is true, 'en th' anly reason 'at th' villagers were in danger was because o' these dirty Vendal. Now 'at they'ae gaene on their way, th' dragon shud deal wit 'em an' leave on its own. While th' village may hae suffered a large amount o' damage, as ye said, m'lord, it can be rebuilt, an' wit' th' dragon's attention focused elsewhere, th' villagers will be safe."

"But whit o' th' Vendal?" Maudie inquired.

"Whit o' 'em?" Duncan questioned in return, "We daenae need any o' those monsters livin' in th' Highlands. If th' dragon takes 'em oot, it wud be daein' us a favor."

"How can ye say 'at?" Maudie questioned, her expression disgusted, "Vendal or nae, those are people."

"Ah fought in th' Highlands' war against th' Vendal, m'lady, an' Ah can assure ye, those thin's are nae people," Duncan all but spat.

"An' whit if th' Vendal end up leadin' th' dragon tae another village?" Gobber questioned, his expression baffled, "Or, even if it daes get whit it wants from 'em, whit's tae stop it from jist findin' a village tae destroy anyway?"

"Ah suppose 'at's jist a risk we'll hae tae take," Duncan answered with a shrug, "But Ah wud bet 'at th' odds are in our favor."

"Well, Ah daenae consider myself a bettin' man," Will said as he stepped in front of Duncan, "Sae, we're gaein' tae track this dragon doon an' deal wit it, ane way or another."

"Ah apologize, m'lord," Duncan replied with a solemn shake of his head as he crossed his massive arms over his chest, "But ma men an' Ah will nae be daein' 'at."

"Excuse me?" Will asked incredulously.

"This whole excapade has been a fool's errand," Duncan elaborated, "Ye were sent 'ere tae protect this village, but yer inept leadership has destroyed it instead. An' now ye want tae lead good men intae pointless danger. Nae, Ah will nae allow it."

"Ah daenae think ye hae a choice in th' matter, Duncan," Will said as he narrowed his eyes at the tall warrior.

"Ye are nae ma lord, sir," Duncan all but growled as he looked down his nose at Will.

"But ma father is," Boyd spoke up as he glared at Duncan.

"Yer father is nae 'ere, boy," Duncan spat as he turned his attention towards Boyd, "An' if he was 'ere, he wud tell ye th' same thin' Ah am."

"Ye cowardly son o' a-" Will growled as he began approaching Duncan, only to stop as Gobber reached out and grabbed the young man's shoulder.

"Easy, lad," Gobber said, "Ye daenae want tae be daein' 'at. Trust me, Ah know."

"But we cannae dae it withoot-" Will began to argue but cut himself off as Gobber shook his head.

"Th' Vikin's o' Berk hae been dealin' wit dragons fer generations," Gobber assured him, "We can handle this Bone Knapper wit jist th' four o' us."

"Five o' us," Maudie stated as she stepped up next to Gobber.

"Five o' us," Gobber amended as he looked at her, smiled and nodded.

As he looked back at Will though, Gobber saw the young man wasn't wholly convinced.

"All o' this?" Gobber continued as he gestured in the vague direction of the villagers with his prosthetic hook hand, "We can deal wit it later, lad. Our concern right now shud be stoppin' this dragon."

Letting out a sigh, Will nodded in agreement before looking at Boyd and Andra.

"Come on, lads," Will said as he gestured away from the crowd with his head, "Time's wastin' an' we daenae hae any tae spare on cowards."

Duncan glared at Will but said nothing as the group walked past, though he arched an eyebrow in confusion as Maudie stopped in front of him.

"Shame on ye," Maudie spat as she glared up at Duncan and shook her head in disgust before marching away.

"Now wait a minute!" Balfour snarled as he stepped in front of the group, "This Vikin' bastard attacked me in th' tavern! Ah'm nae gaein' tae let him get away with his crimes!"

"Ah suggest ye let this ane gae," Will said coldly as he glared at Balfour, "E'eryane has more important thin's tae deal wit than yer whinin' aboot gettin' boxed around th' ears. Now, step aside afore saemeane daes worse tae ye."

Balfour looked ready to press the issue, but as he glanced around at his fellow villagers, he saw that everyone else was giving him a wide berth. Realizing he would have no support against Gobber and his friends, Balfour stepped to the side, his face burning with angry embarrassment.

"Oi'm comin' too, sir!" Sheamus called out as he began making his way through the crowd towards the group.

"Whit!?" Balfour shouted as he stepped in front of Sheamus and stopped the young man by grabbing his arm, "Th' Hel ye are!"

"Let go of me!" Sheamus shouted as he struggled against Balfour's iron hard grip.

"Ye stupid little bastard, why'd Ah e'er agree tae take ye in? Yer an embarrassment!" Balfour snarled as he grabbed the front of Sheamus' shirt and turned the young man to face him, "Ah'm gaein' tae teach ye a lesson 'ere in front o' e'eryane! A lesson ye waenae soon ferget!"

"Hey!" Gobber shouted as he began moving towards Sheamus and Balfour, an angry expression on his face, "Leave 'im alone!"

"Ah'm gaein' tae beat ye sae bad 'at yer waste o' a father wudnae recognize ye," Balfour spat.

At this, Sheamus' eyes turned hard as he glared back at Balfour.

"Oi said let go a me!" Sheamus roared as his hand curled into a fist and he slammed it directly into Balfour's face. The blow connected with a sickening crunch, and blood began pouring out Balfour's now broken nose as he was completely knocked off his feet. As Balfour lay on the ground, bloodied and dazed, Sheamus leaned over him and glared down at the blacksmith.

"Oi quit," Sheamus spat before turning and stomping away, the rest of the villagers stepping out of the young man's way with stunned expressions. Gobber was also surprised as Sheamus stopped in front of him.

"Is it alroight if Oi come along, Master Gobber?" Sheamus questioned hopefully.

After blinking owlishly for a few moments, a broad grin spread across Gobber's face.

"Aye, lad!" Gobber agreed while patting Sheamus on the arm in a friendly manner, "Th' more, th' merrier."

Smiling as well, Sheamus followed along as Gobber turned away from him and began walking away, falling in with the rest of the group as they left the stunned villagers and the burning town behind them and ventured out into the dark Highland wilderness.

Later,

After traveling down the well-worn road for a while, the group agreed to enter a field to the side of the road and set up their meager camp for the night. Soon enough, they had a small, but welcoming fire built that they gathered around.

"Sae, do we actually hae any way o' trackin' doon th' Vendal?" Maudie questioned as she looked around at the others.

"My hope is 'at in th' mornin', we can find saeme sign o' their passin' by th' remains o' th' farm 'at th' Boneknapper attacked," Will explained, "If they've been in th' area multiple times, they must hae left behind saeme sign 'at we can track."

"An' if there isnae anythin'?" Gobber questioned.

"We'll cross 'at bridge when we caeme tae it," Will replied with a helpless shrug.

"Oi'm more worried about what we're goin' to do about dat dragon," Sheamus spoke up, "Oi caught a glimpse of it while it was attackin' de village and Oi mean….what are we supposed to do against sometin' like dat?"

"Ah've been fightin' dragons ma whole life, lad," Gobber assured him, "An', hard as it is tae believe, Ah've faced worse threats 'an even a Boneknapper an' come oot th' other side. We can handle it."

"Even sae, Ah've seen whit this dragon can dae," Will said with a sigh, "An' wit e'erythin' Ah saw on Berk, Ah daenae think there's much Ah wudnae give tae hae a dragon o' our own tae face this Boneknapper wit."

"But where wud we even get a dragon?" Boyd questioned pensively.

It was at that exact moment that the Hotburple landed heavily on the ground directly behind Boyd, kicking up a large cloud of dirt and dust in the process. Scrambling to their feet, the men and woman quickly grouped together as the dust cloud cleared, finding the Hotburple sitting a short distance away, looking at them with wide, uncertain eyes.

"Whit's it daein'?" Boyd questioned after a prolonged moment of silence, "Why's it jist sittin' there, lookin' at us?"

"Ah….Ah think it's tryin' tae decide whit tae dae," Will guessed as he studied the dragon, "Ah'm bettin' 'at….well, Ah'm bettin' 'at it's jist as scared o' us as we are o' it."

"Sae whit shud we dae?" Maudie questioned.

"Ah think we need tae prove tae 'im 'at he can trust us," Will explained, "Ah think it's up tae ye, Gobber."

"Me?" Gobber asked in confusion, "Why me?"

"Look, Ah was there when Hiccup taught th' others how tae tame their dragons," Will elaborated, "He said 'at it works best if ye already hae a relationship with th' dragon, an' Ah think ye've formed saeme kind o' bond with 'at Hotburple."

"Oi tink he's roight, Master Gobber," Sheamus spoke up, "You did free it tonoight, after all."

Gobber seemed to consider these words for a moment before he slowly turned his attention towards the Hotburple, which was looking at him wearily.

"Alright," Gobber agreed hesitantly, "Whit dae Ah dae?"

"Approach him," Will answered, "But like, slowly, sae he knows ye're nae gaein' tae hurt 'im."

"Easy enough," Gobber commented as he began slowly hobbling towards the Hotburple, "Alright, pal. Let's take this nice an' easy."

The Hotburple stared at Gobber as he approached, it's eyes locked with the blacksmith's as he drew ever closer. Then, suddenly, once Gobber was almost within arm's reach of the dragon, the Hotburple let out an angry snarl, prompting the Viking to quickly backpedal away from him.

"Whit was 'at!?" Gobber questioned, looking at Will as he gestured at the Hotburple, "Whit did Ah dae wrong!?"

"Ah, uh, Ah daenae know," Will admitted with a helpless shrug, "Hiccup did say saemethin' aboot all dragons bein' different."

"Sae, whit?" Gobber asked in exasperation, "Ah'm jist supposed tae guess whit Ah need tae dae tae get this thin' tae like me?"

At that moment, there was a low but loud rumbling. Turning their attentions towards the source of the noise, the group found the Hotburple staring back at them with wide eyes as its stomach continued to rumble.

"Ah, right," Gobber said with a smile and an understanding nod, "O' course."

Reaching into his pockets, Gobber searched around for a moment before he pulled out an old screw.

"Hey," Gobber said as he held up the screw for the Hotburple to see, "Ye want this?"

Focusing its gaze on the screw, the Hotburple perked up excitedly before opening its cavernous mouth expectantly.

"Alright, 'ere ye gae," Gobber replied with a chuckle before he tossed the screw into the dragon's waiting mouth, which snapped close like a steel trap as the Hotburple began happily chewing on the screw. Quickly finishing, the Hotburple swallowed and looked back at Gobber expectantly.

"Um," Gobber mumbled as he rummaged through his pockets again and came up empty, prompting him to look over his shoulder at the others, "Daes anyane hae any scrap on 'em?"

Receiving shrugs and shakes of the head from the others, Gobber turned his attention back to the Hotburple, which stared at him hungrily. As Gobber tried to think of a solution, his gaze eventually fell on his prosthetic hand, which currently had a metal hook attached to it. Gobber looked at the hook thoughtfully for a moment before he smirked and shrugged.

"Alright, ye want saemethin' else tae chomp on?" Gobber questioned as he detached the hook with a sharp twist and held it up, "How aboot this?"

It's gaze focusing on the hook, the Hotburple's eyes went wide with excitement and it opened its mouth expectantly. Chuckling, Gobber tossed the hook into the Hotburple's maw, who clamped its jaws shut and began happily chewing on the metal.

After a moment, the Hotburple swallowed the remains of the hook and turned its attention back towards Gobber. As Gobber watched the dragon approached him with wary eyes, he fought all of his impulses to move away from the Hotburple. Once it had drawn close enough, the Hotburple sniffed Gobber curiously for a few moments before pushing its snout against the Viking's stomach and making affectionate noises towards him.

"Well, alright then," Gobber said with an amused laugh as he began to pet the Hotburple's snout, eliciting more happy noises from the dragon, "Ah guess ye're nae much o' a grump after all."

As he continued scratching the dragon's snout, a thought occurred to Gobber.

"Ye know, 'at sounds pretty good, actually," Gobber mused, "Ah think Ah'm gaein' tae call ye Grump. How daes 'at sound?"

At the question, the Hotburple, Grump, made pleased noises in response.

"Oi can't believe what Oi'm seein'," Sheamus said as he stared at Gobber and Grump in amazement, "You...you've tamed the dragon, Master Gobber!"

"This is naethin'," Gobber replied with a chuckle, "Ye shud see whit th' kids back on Berk can dae wit 'em."

"Wud it be alright if Ah pet it?" Maudie inquired as she stepped up next to Gobber.

"Sure," Gobber answered as he smiled at her, "Grump seems like he's willin' tae be nice if ye're nice tae him."

Turning her attention towards Grump, Maudie hesitantly held her hand out towards the dragon. Looking at Maudie's hand, Grump sniffed it curiously for a moment before leaning forward and rubbing his snout against her palm.

"Oh, what a sweetheart ye are," Maudie cooed as she scratched Grump's snout, earning pleased noises from the dragon.

"Well now," Will said with a smirk as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Looks like we've gaet a dragon on our side. Thin's are startin' tae look up, lads."

"Now whit?" Boyd questioned as he looked at Will.

"Now, we shud try tae get saeme rest," Gobber spoke up as he turned to address the others, "It's been a Hel o' a day, an' Ah can anly imagine 'at tomorrow will be just as hard, if nae worse."

Nodding in agreement, the group began settling down for the evening, taking up spots around the fire as they tried to find comfortable sleeping positions on the cold, hard ground. As Gobber moved to lay down, Grump wandered up behind him before collapsing onto the ground. Chuckling, Gobber leaned back so that he was laying against Grump's side, the dragon's scales warm to the touch.

"Mind if Ah join ye two?" Maudie questioned.

Looking up at Maudie, Gobber found the woman giving him a hopeful, if hesitant, smile.

"Sure," Gobber replied with a grin as he patted the spot next to him, "Grump's got plenty of room."

Giggling, Maudie settled down next to Gobber, her shoulder touching his as she leaned back against Grump, who grunted contently.

"Gobber?" Maudie spoke up after a few moments of silence.

"Aye?" Gobber replied as he crooked an eyebrow at Maudie.

"Ye're gaein' tae be able tae beat this dragon, right?" Maudie questioned, worry clear in her voice.

"Well, ye know 'at th' lads an' Ah hae faced a dragon worse than a Bone Knapper," Gobber answered, his expression uncertain, "But all dragons are dangerous, an' a Bone Knapper is more dangerous 'an most, sae it's gaein' tae be risky."

"Jist….dae yer best tae stay safe, alright?" Maudie said as she looked Gobber straight in the eye, "Ah daenae know whit Ah'd dae if ye gaet hurt, or worse."

"Why, Maudie, it almost sounds like ye care aboot me," Gobber observed with a sly grin.

"Why dae men hae tae make e'erythin' a joke?" Maudie commented with a disgusted sigh, "Wud it kill th' lot o' ye tae be emotionally honest with yerselves e'ery once in awhile?"

Gobber blinked in surprise at Maudie's reaction before looking at her meaningfully as he reached down and took her hand with his.

"Maudie," Gobber said solemnly, "Ah promise ye 'at Ah will dae e'erythin' in my power tae caeme oot o' this fight in ane piece fer ye."

Maudie was caught off guard for a moment by Gobber's promise before a warm smile spread across her face. Leaning forwards, Maudie rested a hand on Gobber's chest before pressing her lips to his, causing the Viking's eyes to go wide in surprise.

"There," Maudie said as she pulled back, smiling as she saw the look of shock on Gobber's face, "Was 'at sae hard?"

"Ah suppose nae," Gobber answered with a chuckle.

Still smiling, Maudie settled down next to Gobber, resting her head on his chest like a pillow and closing her eyes. Grinning from ear to ear, Gobber wrapped his arm around Maudie to keep her close and shut his eyes as well, the gentle rise and fall of Grump's chest as he breathed quickly lulling the Viking to sleep.

Later,

It took Gobber a moment to remember where he was as he pulled himself out of the oblivion of sleep. Slowly opening his eyes, Gobber quickly became aware that night had given way to a gray, overcast morning, the group's fire having died sometime in the night.

The next thing Gobber became aware of were the pair of Vendal men pointing spears at him. Glancing between them, Gobber noticed the two men were flanking the Vendal girl that the group had encountered the day before.

"Oh, it's ye," Gobber said with a wry grin, "Ah was wonderin' where ye had run off tae."

At that moment, the girl shouted something in the Vendal tongue, causing the men to begin shouting as well. Starting awake, Maudie looked at the Vendal with wide eyes before letting out a scream of fright. Suddenly, the entire camp was awash with screaming and shouting, as the rest of the Vendal who were with the three in front of Gobber woke the rest of the Viking's group and began forcing them to their feet.

"Alright, alright!" Gobber shouted, holding his hand out in front of himself as the Vendal before him aggressively gestured for him to rise to his feet, the Viking doing his best to keep himself between Maudie and the warriors, "Take it easy, wud ye?"

At that moment, all the noise and commotion caused Grump to begin stirring, the Hotburple rising to his feet with a tired grumble. Seeing the dragon moving, the Vendal began to let out panicked cries, with a number of them moving aggressively towards Grump, causing the Hotburple to begin growling at the men.

"Hey, hey!" Gobber shouted as he stepped between the Vendal and Grump, doing his best to keep both the warriors and the dragon calm, "None o' 'at! Naebody wants any o' 'at!"

The Vendal warriors ignored Gobber however, and continued making aggressive movements towards Grump, causing the dragon to act more and more agitated.

Suddenly, Andra shouted something in the Vendal tongue, causing everyone present to turn and look at the young man. Andra, however, had his gaze focused entirely on the Vendal girl, who was staring hard back at the lordling. After a tense moment, the Vendal girl said something to Andra, to which the young man replied.

"Boyd," Gobber said as he looked over at the young man, "Whit are they sayin'?"

"Andra says 'at she says they're takin' us prisoner fer the crime o', well, fer takin' her an' th' auld man prisoner," Boyd explained as Andra mumbled to him, "Andra is tryin' tae warn her 'at th' Boneknapper is after her tribe, but it daeesnae sound like she wants tae hear aboot it."

"Fantastic," Will spat angrily, "Sae now whit dae we dae?"

Glancing between both sides of the conflict, a pensive expression passed over Gobber's features as he formulated a plan.

"Tell her 'at we surrender," Gobber spoke up, "As long as none o' us, includin' th' dragon, are harmed, we'll gae with 'em peacefully."

"Whit!?" Maudie questioned as she looked at Gobber in shock.

"Are ye insane!?" Will demanded as he glared at Gobber.

"Think aboot it fer a second," Gobber argued as he turned his attention towards Will, "We needed tae find th' Vendal an' now we hae. But even more importantly, we need tae find white'er it is th' Boneknapper is after. It's probably saemethin' on th' auld man's staff, but we daenae know fer sure. Whether we like it or nae, th' fastest way we can get tae th' auld man is tae let these Vendal brin' us tae him themselves."

There was a pause as Will considered Gobber's words before he swore under his breath.

"Fine," Will relented before he looked over at Andra, "Tell her 'at we'll gae quietly as long as she an' her men daenae hurt any o' us."

Nodding in reply, Andra turned his attention towards the Vendal girl and relayed Will's words to her. The Vendal girl's eyes widened in surprise for a moment before she nodded sharply and said something in reply.

"She says we need tae drop all o' our weapons," Boyd said to the group after Andra mumbled something to him.

"Ye had better be right aboot this, Gobber," Will said as he unstrapped his sword and threw it on the ground, "Because if ye're wrong, Ah swear Ah'm gaein' tae find ye in th' afterlife an' kick yer arse."

"Well," Gobber sighed as he looked around at the Vendal angrily glaring at him, "Ah suppose 'at's fair."

A/N: Kind of a bridge chapter but I had fun writing it all the same. Hope you all liked it! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!