#rtte fanfic

Dragon Hunters seem to have a never-ending schedule of making your life difficult.

All you wanted to do was sit outside your hut (that you spent far too much time deciding where to place) and enjoy the beautiful view with your dragon, boyfriend, or friends.

Easier said than done.

When your boyfriend is Hiccup Haddock, who has devoted most of his life to protecting dragons, free time doesn’t come often. Hiccup’s values are part of why you fell so hard for him, but sometimes it seems to take away from your relationship.

Lying in your bed thinking all of this over is not a great start to your morning. So, you climb out of your bed, throw on some clothes, and whistle a wake-up call to your dragon, who is sleeping soundly.

Your dragon groans and moans at being woken up at such an early hour, barely opening an eye to look at you.

You scoff under your breath, completely aware they could still hear it, "Don't worry, I haven't lost track of the time. Let's go for a ride, just you and me." You move to get their saddle as they move around loudly in protest.

"Weren't you the one who wanted to start doing this?" You bring up the time Hiccup mentioned that he and Toothless go for early morning rides often, and how your dragon looked at you with eager eyes, clearly wanting to do it as well.

Now, however, your dragon lets out a regretful moan in response.

You throw the heavy saddle over their back with little difficulty. "Come on, if you really don't like it, we'll end it early."

//————//————//————//————//

Your dragon's behavior has done a full one-eighty. How the dragon you're riding on now and the one you argued with this morning is the same creature baffles you.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" You tease, watching your dragon close their eyes at the feeling of the wind hitting their face.

They snort and suddenly drop a few feet in the air.

A shriek makes its way out of your mouth, and it takes you a few moments to realize that you aren't falling anymore.

"Not funny." You ground your teeth a little.

All your dragon does is laugh in response.

Just when you get over your shock, a familiar voice startles you.

“Good morning, milady!”

Turning your head to peer over your shoulder, you make eye contact with the voice, returning his wide grin with your own.

“Good morning!” You laugh, only needing to wait a minute more before Hiccup and Toothless are right beside you. Your dragon and Toothless exchange greetings as you and Hiccup chat.

“Didn’t expect to see you out so early. Something on your mind?” Hiccup questions.

You shake your head, the grin never faltering, “Just wanted some fresh air, before everyone wakes up. But it seems someone is up.”

Hiccup chuckles, “Oh, you know, just out looking for some adventure. Right, bud?” Toothless grumbles in agreement.

“Adventure, you say? Well, do share with the group.” You say playfully.

Hiccup waves his hand in dismissal, “Unfortunately, Toothless and I have seen quite enough adventure for one day. But, I wouldn’t be opposed to sharing our stories with you, milady.”

“You’re all out of adventure for the day? Don’t say that, Snotlouts not even up yet.”

You delight in the sound of Hiccup's laugh echoing around you.

//————//————//————//————//

"So this is where you run off to, hm?" You tease, sitting down on what you previously believed to be a watch tower, now, realizing it was Hiccup's camouflaged hideout.

Hiccup scoffs playfully, "I don't run off anywhere."

"You're right, you fly." You quip.

Both Hiccup and your dragon roll their eyes, but Toothless lets out a snort of amusement.

"At this point, he barely walks himself anywhere, isn't that right?" You look over at Toothless, who happily humors you.

"All right, all right. I guess I won't be taking you on any morning rides then, bud." Hiccup smirks, looking pointedly at his dragon, who no longer looks amused. "Nothing to say, Toothless?" Hiccup pokes, earning a glare from the Nightfury.

"Don't worry, Toothless. If he doesn't take you on any morning flights, I will." You intentionally whisper loud enough for the other two to hear, earning a protest from both, and your dragon even goes as far as glaring at Toothless. Meanwhile, the Nightfury lets out a laughing grunt and hops around in satisfaction.

"What?" You address your cranky dragon. “Do you know how hard it was to get you out of the hut this morning? I'm sure Toothless wouldn't make it so hard for me." You tease, grinning.

"Now wait a minute, who said you could steal my dragon?" Hiccup objects.

"Your dragon." You reply with a smug look, hearing Toothless agree behind you.

Hiccup's mouth opens, but no words come out, as if he can’t believe the things he’s hearing.

You were so busy soaking in the satisfaction you felt from seeing Hiccup's lack of response that you didn't notice your dragon make its way over to you until they knocked you over with their head.

"Hey!" You shriek as your dragon "attacks" you. You can hear Hiccup's laugh and Toothless's sound of surprise in the background. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry, I was just teasing!" Finally, they let up, looking satisfied with themselves.

"Like rider, like dragon." Hiccup comments.

You scoff, "Says you."

Hiccup leans back against a rock, smugly. "Says me."

You lean back against your dragon and shake your head.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, you open conversation: "Any news from Johann?"

Hiccup sighs, "No. I know he's scouting almost as much as us, but it's as if they've gone completely underground."

"Maybe they finally feel defeated; with the more people we meet and allies we gain, the more unpopular the dragon hunters get." You offer.

"Maybe. Or they're planning their next ambush on a new dragon. I don’t like how quiet they've been." Hiccup confides, shaking his head, expression grim.

"We'll keep looking, Hiccup. Once we find them, we'll stop whatever they're doing, just like we've done before." You send him a reassuring smile.

Hiccup’s eyes soften when they meet yours, and he nods in agreement.

Seeing an opportunity, you find a way to bring up your next sentence, "While the dragon hunters are quiet, maybe… we could spend some time enjoying it." At the confused look on Hiccup's face, you continue, "It's been a long time since we've hung out together, just the two of us."

"We're hanging out together right now?" Hiccup points out, still looking confused.

"I know. But just the two of us." You amend, fidgeting with your fingers.

"Oh. Oh." You see, the moment Hiccup understands.

"I know everything has been chaotic, I was just wondering since we seem to finally have some downtime. It'd be beneficial to spend it doing something other than talking about the dragon hunters." You explain quickly.

"No, you're right. It has been a while since we've hung out, just the two of us, huh? What were you thinking?" Hiccup asks, eyes curious.

You hesitate for a moment. "I don't know, I wasn't even sure if you wanted to, so I didn't really think about what." You say.

"You think I wouldn't want to hang out with you? Of course, I'd want to hang out, just us. I enjoy your company more than anyone else." Hiccup declares.

You smile genuinely, "I've been wanting to go down to the beach and examine the shells, see if I could find any fossils or something. How about that?"

Hiccup grins, "Yeah, that sounds fun."

Your smile grows, and you stand up feeling high with glee, "Come on. The others will be up soon, and we don't want them setting the edge on fire before breakfast again." You offer your hand to Hiccup.

"No, we don't." Hiccup agrees, taking your hand, "Thank you, milady."

"So…race you back to the edge!" You hop on your dragon's back.

"Wha-Hey! Wait a minute!" Hiccup calls after you, hopping on Toothless' back, "That's not fair!"

//————//————//————//————//

edited on 05/13/2024

“Lightfury,” Valkyrie corrected, the white dragon below her gargling at the name Hiccup had called her. Stardust’s head turned to glower up at Hiccup, doing so until a green eye caught hers. “Now if you would be so kind, I need that helmet back.”

“You need to answer my question first,” Hiccup demanded, pulling the helmet closer to his body. He could see Valkyrie look back nervously, eyes flickering over the ships before her head turned back forward, a more set expression on her face. Hiccup tried again, “Why are you out here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” She rebutted, hands growing restless as she felt her hair smack against her skin. She felt exposed. “You don’t understand Hiccup, I need that mask.”

“Why?” He made his voice gentler as he asked this time around, trying to offer a sense of calm to pull an answer out of Valkyrie. “What is so important about this mask that you can’t go without it?”

“Because Ryker knows who I am, alright?” Valkyrie felt the words slipping from her mouth in a burst of desperate anger. The terror that dawned on Valkyrie’s mind came crashing in waves at the information she just shared with Hiccup. Taking a steadying breath, Valkyrie tried not to let the unsettling silence get to her. She had to think of something, and something quick. “A few years ago I had a run-in with Ryker. Stardust wasn’t with me at the time and I hadn’t yet found the sword you saw me use, so I was basically defenceless. Ryker thinks I’m dead, and with all honestly, I probably should be.”

Now the silence that hung in the air was for a different reason. Hiccup’s face was calculating, the new information being absorbed and stored away somewhere in his brain for later analysing. “But why are you fighting the dragon hunters? Wouldn’t you want to get as far away from Ryker as possible?”

“There is no running from that man Hiccup,” Valkyrie warned, her voice eerie as her eyes shot back down to her helmet. She needed this to sound believable so she could get her helmet back and then promptly disappear. “Ryker has eyes and ears everywhere. So I took on a new face, a face he can’t see.”

“You’re the reason we’ve had destroyed armadas turning up at our island,” Hiccup nearly whispered, the answer dawning on him for something that had been eating at his mind since he and the other dragon riders came upon their first destroyed ship. As he turned to face Valkyrie, the Lightfury below her made a snap of her jaw, drawing Hiccup’s eye once more. “Come with us Valkyrie. Me and the other dragon riders can help you. We want Ryker gone just as much as you do.”

“Oh, we want very different things Hiccup,” Valkyrie’s voice was dark as she spoke, eyes staring hollowly into Hiccup. Valkyrie lifted her left hand and ran it along Stardust’s neck, leading down to her leg, sending a silent message to the dragon. “Now, I’m gonna need that helmet back.”

In a quick arch of her wings, Stardust went hurtling towards Hiccup and the dragon he was flying. Valkyrie had never seen a dragon like it before, the species being of a similar build to Stardust. Valkyrie didn’t plan on finding out what type of dragon that was though as Stardust curved over the top of Hiccup and his dragon, one of her arms outstretched as she snatched the white helmet from his hands. When the scaly thing was back to its rightful owner Stardust flipped back around and shot forward, leaving Hiccup and his dragon behind.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Hiccup yelled, making Valkyrie fasten the helmet on her head quicker. Valkyrie could feel as the muscles in Stardust’s back tense, her wings winding out further as she readied a plasma blast in her jaw. “We got to catch them bud.”

As Hiccup spoke, Stardust released her shot of pink flames. Valkyrie tucked herself in close to Stardust’s back without a second thought. As the warm flames washed over them, Valkyrie felt the sensation of warping run across her skin, the cloaking that covered Stardust extending to her.

“What the?” Valkyrie heard Hiccup ask, a confused mew following his words. Valkyrie chanced a glance back, to see Hiccup and his dragon flying straight forward, the dark dragon looking wildly around. “Find them Toothless.”

Without warning rings of purple shot out straight at Stardust and Valkyrie. Valkyrie tried to warn Stardust as silently as she could, twirling her finger in a circle along her back but Valkyrie wasn’t quick enough as those purple rings wrapped around them. They didn’t hurt but Valkyrie could feel the energy surging over her.

“Good job bud,” Hiccup said at the same time Valkyrie realised her outline was somehow visible. An elated hum left Toothless as he now had a target to chase after. Valkyrie faced forward quickly, keeping herself low down to Stardust.

“Lose the cloaking Star, they can see us so there’s no point trying to stay hidden,” Valkyrie whispered lowly, pressing her right hand down on the side of Stardust’s neck. “Hiccup’s dragon is going to naturally blend in with the night sky while we are going to stand out. Our best bet is to tire them out by both leading them in every direction and vanishing without a trace. Worst case scenario I have to use one of the Zippleback canisters on them.”

Stardust let out a disapproving grumble as she shook her head, effectively shaking the cloaking off of them while also telling Valkyrie her plan wasn’t as thought out as she hoped it to be. “I’m giving you the reigns here Star. Do whatever you need to lose them.”

The words didn’t need to be said twice as Stardust instantly tucked her wings to her body, falling from the sky as they dived towards the ocean. A startled whump came from behind them as Stardust showed no sign of stopping. At the sound of beating wings behind them, Valkyrie knew that they were being followed just like she had hoped. Before they could hit the water, Stardust’s wings shot out, slowing them down for half a second before they were thrown upwards, shooting back towards the sky like an arrow as they attempted to leave Hiccup and Toothless behind them.

Another shot of plasma was launched forward, Stardust diving through it as Valkyrie clung onto her back. As they flew into invisibility, Valkyrie could hear the same echo of the purple rings being shot upwards. This time Stardust was prepared to avoid them as she took a sharp left, flicking out of the firing range of Toothless’s location blast. Stardust began to steer upwards now that the rings had passed her. Their peace didn’t last long though as multiple rings were shot in circles, dancing across the sky as Toothless continued to shoot them at every angle manageable.

“Why can’t that dragon just let us get away?” Valkyrie questioned to no one, in particular, a grunt following her words as her hands grew an outline. A similar response was drawn out of Stardust as she became visible once again with a grumble, her teeth snapping together a few times like she was mimicking talking. “You know what? Let’s just drop a Zippleback canister on them now. Stardust fall.”

A gargle of joy fell from Stardust’s throat as she stopped moving her wings, the two appendages going limp as the dragon started to fall backwards. As the two of them whipped through the wind, Valkyrie struggled to pull one of the canisters from the saddlebag. She probably should have thought everything through a little longer.

It didn’t take long to pull one of the canisters out of the bag, just in time as well as she heard the questions rising from both Hiccup and his dragon. Unlocking the canister, Valkyrie throws it over to Hiccup, the boy naturally catching it. It was only then that he realised what the green gas coming from the small box.

A little too late as well as Stardust’s mouth lit, a small blaze of fire shooting out as they continued to fall. As the explosion emitted above them, Stardust flipped over in the air and shot forward, repeating the process that would turn her invisible. “Sindri isn’t getting that back any time soon.”

Valkyrie was hoping that Hiccup would get the hint this time around. Would leave her alone. But when her hands became outlined in front of her and rings of purple spiralled away, it became clear that she wouldn’t be getting away from the dragon rider that easily.

Hiccup’s hair stood up and was only slightly singed. Valkyrie was good at running away, disappearing–literally–without a trance. But he knew dragons. He had been herding them to and from the Edge for months at this point. With a bit of luck, he’d be able to steer her toward the Edge and hopefully–if Odin’s looking out for him–the other riders will take notice and help him.

Valkyrie was already outlined again in front of him. She didn’t shake the cloak that took over her this time around, making it slightly harder to follow them since the outlining still faded after a while but Toothless made sure to keep them visible.

After the Zippleback attack–in which Hiccup still had the canister held in his hand–he and Toothless were a bit more careful with how they approached the duo in white, not knowing what they might throw at him next. “Come on bud, they’re already taking themselves towards the Edge, let’s just make sure they don’t get off track.”

Toothless’s wings spread as he glided off to the left, silently encouraging Valkyrie and Stardust to fly right, their presence acting as a deter. And it worked as the Lightfury that Valkyrie was riding zipped away, trying to force Toothless (Hiccup) away from her. Every time they got too close the dragon’s nose scrunched up, her head swirling backwards to narrow her eyes at the rider sitting on Toothless’s back before shooting in the opposite direction of where Hiccup and Toothless were.

A few times Valkyrie went off track anyway. Taking sharp turns and dives as they tried to throw Hiccup off their trail, making Toothless have to work extra hard to catch them and turn them away from where they were headed.

When the Edge came into view, Hiccup’s shoulders sagged, relief flooding through him as it meant all of this would be over soon. Toothless let out a mighty roar as they flew closer to the island, the huts and stable becoming clear. He was able to gain the attention of a few dragons as they neared.

Valkyrie’s head shot back at the roar, brows pinching together at how unnecessary it was. But when there was a screech in return, Valkyrie realised what the dragon had been doing. The flaming body of a Monstrous Nightmare soared up from one of the huts on the island, gaining Valkyrie’s attention while a Deadly Nadder sailed through the air, spikes at the ready. The crackling of a Hideous Zippleback scratched through the air while the buzz of Gronckle wings followed.

Valkyrie had flown herself straight into an ambush.

“I’m going to kill that Nightfury rider,” Valkyrie seethed, getting a confused rumble from Stardust below her. “Well, he called you a Dayfury when he first saw you, meaning he thought you were the same species as his dragon. So the first thing that would have come to his mind would have been the opposite of yours.”

“But now we got bigger fish to fry than what Hiccup wants to call you.” If Valkyrie didn’t know that Stardust couldn’t hiss, she would have thought the noise that erupted from her was exactly that. It came at the exact moment Valkyrie had said Hiccup’s name. Stardust wasn’t a big dragon or people animal, especially when certain people on certain dragons chased after her.

Valkyrie’s eyes scanned over the island, trying to think of a way to lose the dragon riders. She was on their home turf so no matter what she did they would have the upper hand. They knew the landscape of the island better, the dragons that inhabited it and how their dragons react and can work together.

“We got to lose them Star,” Valkyrie said as the Deadly Nadder and its rider flew underneath them, popping up on their right as the Monstrous Nightmare tried to close in on their left. Toothless was still behind them while the Gronckle lugged after them from underneath. The Hideous Zippleback maneuvered itself around the sky, not sticking to a single path which Valkyrie was guessing they did on purpose. “Hit the Gronckle. It’ll be easier to get path them.”

Stardust didn’t waste a second before shooting a blast of pink flames down at the Gronckle before plummeting towards them. The blast that Stardust had shot wasn’t deadly but enough to wound or stun any dragon. Shouts of concern could be heard all around Valkyrie, the boy who was sitting on the Gronckle letting out a high-pitched yell as they both went down. Valkyrie tried not to worry about the pair, knowing that if she allowed herself to get concerned with the dragon she wouldn’t be able to pull herself away.

Stardust made sure not to fly too close to the ground, a few meters in between the long grass and her stomach as she wove in between the trees, blocking out certain dragons from following her as their movements weren’t as smooth as the Lightfury. Toothless was able to follow them because of course Hiccup and his Nightfury couldn’t let Valkyrie have anything today. The Deadly Nadder was also pretty close to catching them, a bit behind Toothless as they fought to keep up.

Valkyrie’s hands began to fiddle through Stardust’s saddlebag, another one of Sindri’s Zippleback canisters coming out. As Valkyrie unclasped the box, she didn’t throw it like she did last time. Instead, she held it out to the side, letting a trail of gas run behind her.

“Watch out for the Zippleback gas!” Valkyrie heard Hiccup yell, Toothless letting out a squawk as he tried to fly above the gas and avoid it. The Deadly Nadder tried to get out of the way of it as well but couldn’t get far enough as an actual Hideous Zippleback flew out and into range.

“Zippleback gas?” A female voice questioned from one of her heads of the Hideous Zippleback. “Hiccup, why didn’t you tell us Fury’s could spew Zippleback gas?”

“They can’t,” Hiccup tried to warn, much to the dismay of those sitting on the Hideous Zippleback.

“Who cares?” A male voice now spoke from the Hideous Zippleback. “Belch, let’s light this place.”

“No,” Another feminine voice yelled, but a little too late as the sparks began to light from one of the Hideous Zippleback’s mouths. As the cloud of gas began to light, Valkyrie let go of the canister, Stardust taking a sharp turn and flying through the trees and away from the explosion lighting.

Stardust began to shoot up to the sky again, throat warming as plasma began to build in it. They were going to disappear again. But before anything could be shot forward, a yell rang out through the air as the flaming body of a Monstrous Nightmare came hurtling towards Valkyrie. “Snotlout, Snotlout, oi, oi, oi.”

Valkyrie’s head shot towards the Viking yelling. The short man’s eyes were already on her, a devilish grin on his face as his dragon bound after them. Valkyrie shook her head as she turned back to face forward, tapping Stardust on the neck. The fire that she had previously been warming was shot forward, Stardust diving through it.

As the sensation washed over Valkyrie, they were barely cloaked for a second before Valkyrie felt something slam into her and dig into her back. Valkyrie was ripped from Stardust’s back, the Lightfury whirling around to see what happened when her eyes landed on Toothless, his front claws dug into the scales of Valkyrie’s armour. A class of distress left Stardust as she watched Valkyrie dangle.

Trying to shoot forward to grab Valkyrie back, Toothless deterred her as he turned, keeping his body between Stardust and Valkyrie. That however left Hiccup exposed to Stardust. Slicing her claws into the back of Hiccup’s leather suit, Stardust tried to pull Hiccup from Toothless’s saddle. Hiccup’s foot however got caught. Valkyrie looked up to see why his feet hadn’t fallen from the buckles onto to see a metal foot in its place.

Hiccup’s other foot came undone, jostling him from Toothless’s back and pushing him forward and off until he hung twisted and connected to the saddle, hanging backwards as his head slotted next to Valkyrie’s. The boy let out a nervous laugh as he stared at Valkyrie from upside down, trying not to show too much struggle as Toothless began to fall from the sky as well as having Valkyrie’s deadpan stare on him. “Uh, how’s the view?”

“Really?” Valkyrie asked as she tried to cross her arms, struggling lightly at the tight grip Toothless had on her. As Toothless’s body whirled around, throwing Hiccup and Valkyrie around with him, Valkyrie began to grow worried as Stardust couldn’t get close enough to pull her from Toothless’s grip. “Are you going to do anything about our current situation?”

“I’m working on it,” Hiccup said, slightly more unsure of himself as he pushed himself up, gripping the side of the saddle as he cranked his body up. Slotting himself on Toothless’s back properly, Hiccup could see that they would get too close to the ground for comfort and that Valkyrie was in the crushing zone. Shoving himself nearly off of Toothless’s saddle, Hiccup yelled, “Take my hand Valkyrie.”

“You’re crazy,” Valkyrie said as her head shot down to see how fast they were falling before one of Toothless’s claws left her shoulder, giving her space to swing up and stretch a hand towards Hiccup. As their hands met, a shock ran through Valkyrie’s bones as she was pulled up and pushed behind Hiccup.

“I know. Now, hold on,” Hiccup warned as Toothless’s wings spread, trying to slow down as they crashed down. Valkyrie’s arms instinctively tightened as she dug herself closer to Hiccup’s back. The clanking of Hiccup changing his foot’s position rang before Toothless glided forward, tail nearly smashing into the ground as Hiccup tried to redirect them up.

A sigh escaped Hiccup’s lips as they became suspended in the air again. When Valkyrie didn’t make the instant decision to throw herself from Hiccup’s back, even with Stardust hovering nearby, he leaned forward so he could talk to Toothless. “Take us to the stables, bud.”

Toothless’s gargled response came quickly before he was carefully making his way towards the Edge’s stable. Toothless made sure to keep an eye on Stardust as they flew, the Lightfury hovering as she waited for Valkyrie to signal something to her. Hiccup had half a thought that Stardust might try and pull Valkyrie or Hiccup from Toothless’s back but after the fall they had just suffered he was hoping she wouldn’t try anything. That the Stardust probably didn’t want to hurt Valkyrie.

As Toothless touched down on the stables landing strip, Valkyrie was jumping from Hiccup’s back. She hesitated for a few seconds, eyes darting between the edge of the platform and where Hiccup stood and Stardust flew. But as the other dragon riders landed around her, Stardust fell from the sky and curled herself around Valkyrie’s front, nose scrunched as a snarl started to rise from her throat.

Hiccup was the one who stepped forward, a hand raised as he tried to calm both Valkyrie and Stardust. “We need to talk, Valkyrie. Just hear us out and we’ll let you go.”

“What makes you so certain you can keep me here?” Valkyrie asked, settling a calming hand on Stardust which the dragon ignored, her teeth still bared at the other dragons and riders. Valkyrie’s eyes kept rocketing between those in front of her, trying to stay as aware as possible of who was surrounding her.

“We were able to get you here,” Hiccup brought all of Valkyrie’s attention back to him as he spoke. He still had a hand raised, taking slow steps towards Valkyrie and Stardust every few seconds, making Stardust’s hackles raise. “What makes you think we won’t be able to keep you here?”

“I’ve seen this island on maps before. I know where we are and where the nearest islands are,” Her voice was even as she spoke. Valkyrie took a step forward until she was at Stardust’s side, one of her hands falling into place on Stardust’s saddle. “We could disappear and get there quicker than any of you.”

“Maybe,” Hiccup tried to agree, his head tilting to the side slightly, earning himself a sharper glare from Stardust than he did Valkyrie. Valkyrie’s own eyes hardened, daring Hiccup to say something more. “Look, we have a common enemy. Let us convince you to work with us.”

Up so high in the air, Dagur felt free — or at least, he could pretend to be, if only for a few moments at a time. His family had left in advance of their retinue, which would arrive later in the day. It gave them some pleasant privacy on the flight there and would allow them some time with the Haddocks before the rest of the Gathering attendees began to arrive in earnest. Dagur couldn’t wait to get there. And while Heather shared his enthusiasm, the same could not be said for the rest of the party.

Queen Mala was, as usual, hard to read. She was draped in a black, fur-lined cloak with gold embroidered trim. A thin circlet of gold and rubies was perfectly placed on her short, silvery-blonde hair. She sat regally atop Sleuther just as she’d sit on her throne. If she was excited or bored or upset, she didn’t show any of it. She was like a perfect statue on dragonback, eyes set steadily on the nearing island. Dagur hoped that something in the coming days would give her cause to smile.

Then Dagur glanced at Prince Rainier, who flew behind the group. He was the most reluctant of all of them and showed it plainly. For Dagur, looking at his teenage son’s face was like looking back in time. Rainier had the same thick brows, green eyes, hooked nose, and angry expression as a young Dagur, but if anyone pointed out the resemblance, he was likely to scowl harder. While athletic, Rainier was leaner than his father and would soon stand taller than him. His strawberry-blonde hair was kept short and swept to the side like his mother’s, and his mannerisms were a mirror image of hers. Like Dagur, Rainier had a scar running down the right side of his face, but his was cleaner, single slash. Where his scar met his eye, he covered it with a patch. Rainier was not so lucky as to keep his eye in the incident that marred him.

Rainier flew Valkyrie, his indigo-coloured Skrill, whose disposition was quite similar to that of her rider—she was a haughty, proud dragon who did not like to be approached by most people. Like Queen Mala, Rainier was swathed in black, sitting tall and rigid. Unlike her, however, he had not yet mastered the art of disguising his emotions.

He caught his father looking at him and quickly glanced away.

“I’ll admit I don’t know as much about the Blessed Isles as I should, considering… you know,” he said. “I didn’t know if you guys were dragon-friendly, that’s all. I swear that I didn’t hide Sleuther to use him against you.”

“Sleuther? Him? You keep that dragon as your pet?” you asked, narrowing your eyes. You and the Harvesters were no dragon hunters, but to keep them? It was unheard of. Dagur’s mouth set itself into a hard line.

“Sleuther is not a pet,” he said, nearly growling. “He’s a companion. A friend.” You let out a breath and it sounded like a scoff.

You shook your head. “I can’t do this right now,” you said before standing from your seat and walking out of the house. You needed air.

“So that’s how you’re going to handle this? By running away? What happened to working out our problems, Y/N? Where is the fierce chief of the Harvester Tribe?” he called after you. You grit your teeth so hard as you walked out that they started to hurt.

Any greeting that was to be given to you for the rest of that day stuck in the throat of its giver at the sight of your stormy expression as you stalked through the village. You were grateful for the opportunity to sort your thoughts out on your own.

Your trek took you all the way back to where you’d first learned about Dagur’s dragon, at the northernmost shore of the island. You looked around to get a better idea of the state your watchtowers were in. They were in worse shape than you remembered. The towers themselves were in a fair state, but the new shields you’d had built didn’t hold up nearly as well as you hoped they would. Most of them had been burned beyond repair and there were patches of burnt grass not too far off, a few clumps of black pitch still burning. You wondered what happened after you lost consciousness, but judging from the look of things, it was best not to bring it up. You tightened your shoes around your feet and set to work with the few who were still there to clean up the rest of the damage.

You tore the shields and their fastenings off the cliff face in silence. You got a few concerned stares when you threw the scraps onto the trash heap with more force than necessary, but no one asked any questions. That was just fine with you. You needed the space to sort yourself out.

You couldn’t wrap your head around it. Dagur had a dragon, and he rode it. The people and the dragons on your island had an unspoken agreement to leave each other be. You didn’t bother them and stayed away from the nesting grounds during the breeding season, and they avoided your farms and fishing points. To mix the two groups was… you weren’t sure what word you would use to describe it. All you knew was that you couldn’t handle it right now. You still weren’t completely used to your marriage and with all the work that needed to be done to repair your northern lookouts, you couldn’t allow this whole mess with dragons to be added to the pile.

Oh, how the village women would laugh. You thought back to the feast on your wedding night, and how easily you could banter with your husband. You weren’t sure if it was the drink, or the nerves, or the fact that you knew nothing about each other, or maybe even some strange combination of the three, but you had never been able to recreate that easiness between you. Things were so much simpler back then that you almost couldn’t believe that it hadn’t even been a full month since that day.

You wanted to tell Dagur that you actually weren’t upset, that you were open to the idea of making friends with the dragons, but you weren’t sure if you truly were. You wanted to say that you were thinking of your people and how they would react to the sudden change, but you knew deep down that wasn’t true. The truth was that you were scared, and unsure of how to admit it to anyone, even to yourself or your husband. You sighed to yourself, wondering-- not for the first time-- if you deserved your name of Fierce.

You only looked away from your work when a familiar set of hands took the splintered wood from your hold and tossed it onto the pile before stopping you from going back for more. Dagur nodded off to the woods and started walking. You followed without a word. He stopped just on the edge of the forest and waited for you to catch up.

Before you could open your mouth, Dagur said, “I’m sorry. What I said this morning was uncalled for.” You nodded, and went on to apologize for disrespecting Sleuther when Dagur obviously cared for him. “Come with me,” he said, nodding deeper into the forest. “I want you to meet Sleuther officially.”

You followed him, looking around the forest as you walked. You’d played in this very forest all through your childhood. You thought you knew it like the back of your own hand, but now it was entirely new to you, knowing that a dragon might be somewhere in here. No, you decided, that wasn’t quite right. There was always the chance of a dragon being anywhere on the island. It was just now knowing that there was a dragon you would meet and not fight that threw you. You pulled at your sleeves the deeper into the forest you went, glad that Dagur wasn’t looking back to see.

You guessed that you were somewhere near the heart of the forest when Dagur stopped and whistled a special tune. You took a deep breath and finally released your sleeves as leaves rustled nearby. There was a moment of watching the branches and shrubs in front of you bend and sway before Sleuther finally bared his face from behind a bush. The way you could only see his face over the bush made him seem smaller than he actually was, and you wondered in the back of your mind if he was doing that on purpose.

“Slowly now,” Dagur said softly. He crooked his fingers to edge Sleuther forward. You were thankful that he was trying to take things slowly, but your apprehension only grew the longer the moment went on. By the time Sleuther stood in front of you on his hind legs, you were paralyzed and you felt your heart was in danger of beating out of your chest.

Your breath hitched when Dagur took hold of your wrist and moved your hand toward Sleuther’s face, but his grip didn’t tighten even when you pulled it away. Instead he tried again, somehow more gentle than anyone would expect a Berserker to be. He didn’t offer any words of comfort, but somehow you felt more appreciative than if he had. With your hand mere inches away Sleuther moved forward and touched his nose to your palm. You tensed and Sleuther only closed his eyes serenely.

“Sleuther, meet Y/N. Y/N, meet Sleuther,” Dagur said, voice still soft. You slowly willed your muscles to relax and they both waited patiently as you did. You looked into Sleuther’s now open eyes and what you saw stole your breath away. His eyes were so bright, so clear, so expressive, so human.

You took your other hand and felt around his face. His scales were much smoother than the rough volcanic rock you thought it would feel like, and cool to the touch. Not knowing what else to say, you only breathed, “Hi.” The dragon crooned at you and you couldn’t help but find it endearing. “You know, for a creature that breathes fire, you’re not as hot as I thought you would be.” Sleuther only pushed his face more into your hands.

“You say that now, but wait for a sunny day. He and Toothless get almost too hot to ride on those days. We’re still trying to figure out why that is,” Dagur said beside you.

“Toothless?” you asked, not taking a bit of your attention away from Sleuther, who gave little licks to your palms when they passed near his mouth. You laughed at the ticklish sensation and leaned in closer to coo at him the way you would a baby.

“Toothless is a friend’s dragon. He’s a Night Fury.” At this you stopped and pulled away, a shade or two paler than you were before. Sleuther crooned in confusion, nudging at your hands to pet him again, but you took a step back and turned to face Dagur.

“I thought those were a myth,” you said. “A Night Fury? The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself? One of those? Your friend rides one of those?” You were looking more uncomfortable with each question you asked and you turned to Dagur, hoping he would deny all of it.

“Yeah, what’s the problem?” That wasn’t what you wanted to hear.

“You ride a Triple Stryke. Your friend rides a Night Fury. How many others are there? Do they all ride dragons this strong? What do you do with them?” You asked each question in quick succession, fearing the worst. A group of people with that much power… you didn’t want to think of what could happen.

“No. No, it’s not what you think. They’re good people, Y/N. You’ll see. We’ll meet them on our tour.” Dagur tried to calm you, but you could still feel the same sense of panic you felt when you first saw Sleuther creep up on you again. You took a few breaths, hoping to keep your cool, but it must’ve shown on your face that you weren’t okay.

“Y/N, what are you thinking?” he asked softly. You laughed breathily and ran a hand through your hair as you paced back and forth.

“I’m thinking you were right about me not being fierce,” you said, laughing again. Oh gods, you were not ready for this today. The headache you had earlier when you woke up was starting to creep up on you again, and you held a hand to your temple.”I’m not ready to take all of this in at once, Dagur,” you said. “I need to go be by myself. Don’t follow me. Please.”

He didn’t. You were grateful that he didn’t as you trudged back to your home and curled up in the thick furs on your shared bed. In your safe ball of furs, a failsafe to calm yourself as a child, you took deep breaths, one after another. You tried your best to clear your mind of all thoughts and for once it worked, and you fell into a deep sleep.

You hadn’t a single dream as you slept and when you awoke, the sky was dark with night. You blinked blearily and automatically scooted to one side of the bed to make room for Dagur, so used to doing so that it was not until a moment or two later that it occurred to you that he was not there. You called his name in a mumble. No answer. You sat upright and lit the lantern beside your bed, sleep falling away with the fur as you did so.

Your worries didn’t have much time to take root as you found your husband just downstairs, snoring away and sprawled across a chair by the fire pit. Your brows knit together and pity took hold of you. That couldn’t have been comfortable. You inched closer to him and called his name.

“Dagur,” you said softly. His snores continued, but quieted somewhat. You tried again and again to rouse him, calling his name, and each time his snores lessened until he cracked his eyes open with a groan.

“Y/N?”

“What are you doing down here?” you asked. “Come on, let’s get you into a real bed.” You pulled him up by his arms and he leaned into you. You weren’t as muscular as he was, but you took pride in being able to support him with relative ease. He obediently stumbled along with you and nearly pitched you halfway down the stairs when he suddenly straightened himself up and gasped.

“Wait!” he said, taking your hand. “Sleuther and I have something to show you.” Having had time to yourself, you were no longer so apprehensive of anything to do with Sleuther or any other dragon, but you weren’t so eager to jump back into the subject.

You glanced out a nearby window. “Whatever it is,” you said. “Can’t it wait until morning? You won’t be able to show me anything at this time of night.” Dagur shook his head.

“Trust me, the moon and the stars will give us more than enough light for you to see it,” he said, leading you down the stairs toward the door. You pulled back, not moving from your spot. His eyes begged you more than his words did, and ultimately they were what swayed you. “Please, Y/N?”

Rather than speaking, you took slow steps down the stairs and motioned with your hand to lead the way once you’d caught up with him. With a nod, he took hold of your hand and brought you out into the night.

You didn’t have to go as far as the northern woods, for which you were glad. You weren’t particularly clumsy, but tempting Loki in the dead of night when there was no one awake to help you was a chance you would not take if you had all the luck in the world. You stopped on the northern edge of the marketplace and Dagur whistled the same tune you’d heard earlier that day.

Without any thick foliage to alert you of Sleuther’s whereabouts, you instead listened for footsteps, but even those were hard to detect. It was incredible for a dragon of Sleuther’s size to move so quietly on the ground. You undoubtedly only heard a few of Sleuther’s footsteps but you didn’t have much to fret over as he clicked to announce his presence. Dagur whistled again, quieter this time, and Sleuther finally stepped into view.

You were having doubts about whether you’d actually be able to see whatever it was that Dagur wanted to show you. You could barely even see Sleuther if it weren’t for the moonlight bouncing off of his skin and making his scales shine like wax. Even his yellow scales were hard to see in the light. Sleuther crooned as you approached and bunted his head against you, like a cat. You ran a hand over his smooth scales, still marveling at how everything you thought you knew about dragons was being proven wrong bit by bit, all by this one dragon to whom your husband had introduced you.

It was a wonder; you’d had next to no interaction with Sleuther and yet he was trying so hard to be your friend, to seem welcoming and unintimidating. You felt you owed it to the both of them to give this-- whatever it was-- a chance. With a grunt, Dagur hefted himself onto Sleuther’s back and offered you a hand.

“Care to take a flight?” he asked. You tentatively reached out to take hold of his hand but then quickly drew back.

“Promise you won’t drop me out of the sky and say it was an accident?” you asked. Dagur laughed and reached out again. This time you took it and took some time to adjust to the feeling of being on a dragon’s saddle. Once you were situated you wrapped your arms around his waist and waited.

“Okay, I promise I’ll tell the truth about dropping you on purpose.” Your arms loosened slightly.

“What?” And then Sleuther lifted off the ground. Any other words you had died in your throat . All that came out was a whimper as you tightened your hold around Dagur’s waist, adding your legs into the knotted mix. You were sure to have left scratches with your nails on the leather beneath his plate armor as you squeezed your eyes shut. Truth be told, Sleuther wasn’t flying especially quickly or violently, but your fear held strong all the same. You held yourself as closely as you could to Dagur without physically melding your skin to his, trusting that he wouldn’t jump off the back of his own dragon just to scare you.

Sleuther eventually leveled off in the air, not that you could tell, and Dagur patted one of your hands. “I was kidding, you know,” he said. “I wouldn’t drop you; you’re my wife.”

“Men who loved their wives more have done worse things,” you mumbled, daring to peek an eye open and shutting it tight once again when you took note of the distance between you and the ground. You tucked your head into your chest and willed your stomach to calm its roiling waves.

“Those men have no honor, Y/N,” Dagur said. “We had a wedding ceremony, we wear matching rings, we share a home and a bed, and we have two cats.” You laughed at the mention of the cats, as if they were what truly tied your marriage together. “We are now lifetime companions, whether we like it or not. I say we make the best of it, how about you?”

Just to be cheeky, and to calm your own nerves, you said, “We haven’t even seen one of the cats.” Dagur shrugged.

“No, but he’s ours all the same. Heather’s just looking after him until we get to Berserker Island.”

You hummed. “We have such an unconventional marriage,” you mused. “I feel like all the advice I received during my cleansing will end up being useless. Our cats don’t even live on the same island. What other couple can say that?” You don’t know why you were suddenly so fixated on the cats you received as wedding gifts. One was from your family to live here on the Blessed Isles, the other was from Heather to live on Berserker Island.