There are many unpleasant ways to be awakened from a deep sleep. There are banging of drums, the sounds of people screaming, there is being pulled from the bed and onto the cold floor. Hiccup found that the most unpleasant of all was to have his dragon wake him up by jumping on top of the twenty-year-old first thing in the morning and licking him on all over his face.
"Toothless, what is wrong with you?" He groaned as he attempted to push the Night Fury off of him. As soon as the dragon's weight was off the bed, Hiccup covered his face with a pillow. "Bud, go back to sleep for a while. The sun isn't even out."
"The sun has been out for hours, Hiccup. You shouldn't have stayed out so late last night." Valka said as she leaned against the door of her son's room.
It had only been three months since the death of his father and each day brought new sadness with it. Each day also brought new lessons and responsibilities of being chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe.
"Toothless and I were exploring. You know how it is." He said and then smirked at Toothless, wondering how the dragon was so happy after the lack of sleep.
Valka smiled softly as her son spoke because she knew how truthful it was. "You lose track of time in the skies."
With that, she walked out of his room to let him get ready for the day. Toothless followed her quickly, knowing that his breakfast waited downstairs. Hiccup groaned before running his hands through his hair.
He made his way downstairs and then out the door to greet his people. He was still getting used to the idea of being chief and having his people greet him early in the mornings with respectful tones rather than the joking acknowledgments he'd received not long ago.
"Is not, you idiot." Ruffnut's voice could be heard and distinct from every other voice surrounding the young chief. She sounded angry but Hiccup smiled at the sound.
That was one thing that hadn't changed and he was thankful to Odin for that. His friends had continued to treat him the same regardless of his new title and he'd found that the only thing that had changed was that they were twice as loyal now as they had ever been.
He walked around one of the stables to see Astrid, Fishlegs, and Snotlout standing there with their arms crossed as they watched the twins argument. The dragons were watching the exchange with not near as much amusement as their human riders were.
"What's going on?" Hiccup asked as he came to stand beside Astrid.
She shrugged before saying "We've been trying to get them to tell us for at least an hour now but they won't stop arguing long enough to even give us a hint."
Barf and Belch rolled their eyes as they watched the expected response of Ruffnut punching Tuffnut in the stomach before turning to the other riders. She smiled when she saw Hiccup before saying "Good. Now that everyone is here, I can tell you guys what I found while out riding this morning."
"I saw them first so it's my discovery." Tuffnut said after catching his breath.
Ruffnut was about to turn and argue with them when Toothless growled and announced his presence. It seemed that the dragon wasn't in as good of a mood as his rider had assumed him to be.
"What did the two of you find that was so interesting and worth fighting about?" Fishlegs asked, ever the picture of calm.
"A shiny rock to hit each other with hopefully?" Snotlout said with mock enthusiasm.
Astrid raised her hand and smacked him in the back of his head. "No harm in asking."
Ruffnut was about to speak when Gobber came walking up to the group of young riders. "There is a ship turning in and we need you all present in case they aren't friendly. I'm getting too old to break the skulls of people. Hiccup, it's your job as chief to make them leave if they mean harm and to welcome them if they are friends."
"You aren't coming with us?" Hiccup asked, shocked that Gobber would pass up the chance for a possible fight.
"You're the chief. It's your decision that matters. I'm not the one everyone is going to hate if you make a mistake. That's all on your head." Gobber said as he walked away from the group.
Hiccup was about to say something when he heard someone grunt and a blow landing. He turned to see that Tuffnut had shoved Ruffnut to the ground and made a run for his dragon. Ruffnut stood up from the ground and chased after her brother, not wanting him to get ahead of her.
"You think they will ever figure out that their dragons are in the same body?" Astrid asked as she climbed on Stormfly's back.
Hiccup threw his leg over Toothless and laughed at her question. "I hope so. I worry about those two sometime."
Astrid smirked and arched an eyebrow. "The two asses or the dragon's they are attached to?"
"Both." Hiccup said as he and Toothless took flight and made their way to the dock with the girl's following closely behind them.
It didn't take long before the dragons and their riders were all waiting on the dock as the ship stopped. It was a sturdy ship but was strange because it had no Viking symbols on them. This made the riders tense because this sign said that the people aboard were not of any neighboring tribes and the group had no idea what to expect out of these newcomers.
"What's taking so long?" Ruffnut asked and her brother snorted.
"They are probably scared." He held up his arms and said: "No one wants to face the wrath of the greatest weapon on Berk."
Hiccup had no time to reply before Snotlout said "Your breath?"
Astrid bit her lip to hide back her laughter but couldn't stop her amused smile. They waited a few more minutes but when no one came out, the group of riders started to get anxious.
Hiccup put a hand on Toothless as he hopped off of the dragon and said: "We don't mean you any harm but if you want to step foot on this island, I suggest you show yourselves."
Toothless grew uneasy until he heard the sound of footsteps on the boat. A girl came into view then and gave a warm smile to the riders of Berk. She stepped onto the dock and gave a small bow to the group of riders.
"I assure you my sisters and I mean no harm. We were simply seeking a place to take refuge from the sea." She smiled and her forest green eyes sparkled with sincerity and kindness. The young woman's dark brown hair was pulled up into a tight bun but her bangs were falling into her face from the light wind. From her sun-kissed skin, it was easy to assume that she'd been at sea for at least a week.
She looked at each of the riders before her eyes rested on the dragons beside them. Her face showed no fear but her hands grabbed at the skirt of her brown dress and lifted it slightly in case she would have to make a run back to the boat. Toothless gave the woman a grin with his teeth retracted hoping to calm her fears by showing that the dragons were harmless.
"I see we've made a mistake. We'll leave and not return." She said and was about to walk back up the ship when another girl leaped off of the boat and onto the dock.
"Terra, is everything okay?" She asked and when she saw what was behind her sister, her electric blue eyes widened in fear. She hid behind her sister and her cyan colored hair fell in loose waves as she peeked around her older sister.
Hiccup gestured with his head for Fishlegs to follow him as he walked towards the girls. He held his hands with his palms open as he said "We aren't going to hurt you and neither are our dragons. Unless you attack first, no harm will come to any of you."
Terra looked at the chief hesitant but the other girl was not nearly as cautious. She walked up and held out her hand as she said "I'm Isla. This is my sister, Terra. My other two sisters are on the ship probably wondering where I've run off to."
Hiccup took her hand and shook it before letting it drop to his side. "My name is Hiccup. This is Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut."
The girl looked at each of them and was met with warm but cautious smiles by all except Astrid. Toothless growled to remind Hiccup that they were still present. Isla stepped back a little to put more distance between herself and the dragon.
Ruffnut snorted and said "You left out Barf, Belch, Meatlug, Stormfly, Hookfang, and Toothless. You distracted or something?"
Fishlegs smiled at Isla before saying "I just think it's a lot of new faces and he didn't want them to be overwhelmed."
"Isla!" A voice called from the ship and the riders looked to see that another sister had made herself known. The purple haired woman walked down to pull her sister into a tight hug and say "Don't scare me like that ever again."
Isla struggled until she realized that escape was impossible without help. "Skya, you're crushing me!"
Skya let her sister go before running a hand through her long hair nervously. Skya smoothed out her pale pink shirt and pants before looking to the riders and her gray eyes were apologetic as she said "I do hope we aren't an inconvenience. We mean no harm but we understand clearly if we aren't welcomed."
Skya was taking a step back when Tuffnut walked up to her. "Don't worry. We won't do you any harm unless you strike us. Then you will have to deal with me."
Skya, Isla, and Terra backed up a little towards the ship while Astrid snuck up behind him and hit him in the back of the head. "Tuffnut, we don't need to scare them off."
"If his fighting skills are as threatening as his name, I'm certain we can hold our own." A woman's voice came from above them. "Are your parents cruel here or are the names meant to make you grow up stronger after being tortured at an early age?"
Hiccup looked up to where the voice was coming from but saw nothing. "You must be the other sister."
"You must be the smart one." The woman said with a laugh and it no longer sounded so distant.
Hiccup's eyes searched until he finally rested on a fourth figure that looked much more threatening and confident than the other girls. She wore a black corset, a small jacket that was just enough to cover her arms, and leggings that were all the same colors of blue and black. The only slight offering of color rested on her ankle where she had a silver chain with silver and black beads around her boot. Her pale skin was a striking contrast with her dark clothing but her shocking features were her hair and eyes.
Her hair started off as a deep red and faded to a gentle gold when it reached the woman's waist. This was all held together by her piercing rose-colored eyes. She stood completely confident until she let a bit of a smile show. She placed her hands on her hips before looking directly into Hiccup's green eyes, addressing him above everyone else.
"My name is Vesta."
***Wow. I think this is the longest chapter I have ever written. Okay, so I guess to start this is my first HTTYD fanfic. I watched the movies a while back and watched them recently only to fall completely in love with the series. After a month of consideration and arguing with myself on whether or not to post my story, I have decided to give it a shot. I have a DeviantArt account that I plan on putting images of Terra, Isla, Skya, and Vesta up as soon as I am able to. Thank you for reading and let me know what you guys think so far.