Home-Bound: Broken Ties

13 - Backwards Thinking

whoa 4k again!

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The arrival of the Defenders awoke something in the Berkians. Perhaps it was the excitement of being that much closer to conquering the nest, or maybe it was the sudden influx of new people. Berk rarely saw visitors, save for a few lost fishermen and maybe a random trader every now and then, but everyone on Berk knew everyone and that got boring. Welcoming exactly fifty new people to the town literally raises Berk's population by ten percent.

The Elites waited for the lead ship at the docks. Saphira was the very first one off the boat, followed closely by Mala, Harper, and Throk. Mala eyed the Berkians with a particularly disinterested face, her distaste for them obvious (Hiccup had told her why he originally left Berk and she didn't take it all too well).

"Chief!" Saphira exclaimed, nearly tripping over her own feet when she took notice of Hiccup and his bare face. "You... er— well— um... Your face..."

"Yes, everyone knows," Hiccup chuckled.

"You should've seen the fight!" Allen exclaimed, tossing an arm around Hiccup's shoulders. "it was intense! I thought I was going to combust."

"Ah, Allen. Ever the drama queen," Mala stated dryly.

Allen looked Mala up and down and removed his arm from around Hiccup. "Mala. How nice to meet you again."

"I would say likewise but unlike you, I'm not prone to telling lies."

Allen huffed and turned on his heel, stalking back up the cliffside. Mala wanted to mention how dreadful his dyed platinum blonde hair looked with the dark brown roots showing but she feared that would be overkill.

The Elites watched him go with slight amusement.

"Allen being shut down. Wow, I've missed you, Mala," Elise giggled, covering her smile with a shy hand. "He's been dreading this moment for the past week."

"I aim to please," Mala grinned. At her gesture, her Defenders began to line up and exit the ships, falling back into place once they stepped off the boats. Harper flapped his wings to take off and fly to the square. "Throk, Elise, and Jeysannia, please lead the soldiers to the town square. I'll meet up with them later and Hiccup will show us where we can camp out for the night."

Mala stepped forward to allow the Defenders to march in line behind her while she continued to talk to the Isunderians. "When is the Royal Guard to be expected?"

"Tomorrow afternoon," Hiccup said, paying close attention to the marching soldiers and the bundles they carried. He was always the observant one of the Elites. "I really hope those aren't your Defenders' blankets. It sometimes drops below freezing at nighttime."

"Don't worry about my Defenders, Hiccup. They are a resilient people. What I'm worried about is the Berkian force and their cooperation. Sure, they have agreed to follow orders now, but what happens when the fight begins and they see just how colossal this queen is?"

"That's why they won't be on the front lines," the Chief sighed, lowering his voice so no Berkian would overhear. Mala decided to help him out and stepped forward to hear him easier. "I'll have them manning the catapults and behind the Royal Guard and Defenders. They will have restricted contact with dragons of any kind. I'll make sure of it."

"Alright then. What about Luneah?"

"What?" Luneah's head snapped to the queen in surprise. Mala was astounded at how Luneah was actually caught off guard and how she actually let it show. In any other situation, Luneah would suppress her emotions enough to mask any surprise and play it off easily enough with her words.