Joshua stared blankly out on the horizon. The cold winter air froze him down to his bones, but he didn't mind. It reflected how he was feeling. The whole island of Berk seemed cold and empty to him. He draws a picture of a monstrous nightmare in his sketch book. Joshua smiles down at it, only to have sadness grip his heart once more. Resting his head on his knees, he feels the tears run down his face. 'Why did she have to die?', he thinks.
Joshua feels a hand lightly touch his shoulder. He looks up to see his sister, Astrid, and her boyfriend, Hiccup. "Hi", Astrid says softly.
Joshua says nothing, and Astrid looks at Hiccup, gesturing for him to help. He coughs and asks "You okay?"
Joshua looks at him with a glare that could kill a person in three seconds. "What's it look like to you?" he snarls.
Hiccup takes a step back and looks uneasily at Astrid. She speaks in a gentle voice, "Look, I know it must be hard for you to lose Risingstorm, but the fact is, it's time to move on. It's been two weeks since she died, and people are worried about you. All we see you do is mope around in depression. You eat hardly anything, and seem to be sleeping your life away. Please, if your not going to move on for yourself, do it for me."
Joshua says nothing, he only stands up and walks out towards the forest. Hiccup leaves to go take care of some things around his house, leaving Astrid alone on the green cliffside. She stands up and follows after her younger brother. She follows him for a while, being sure to stay a good twenty feet behind him. The birds in the evergreen trees sing beautiful, peaceful melodies. Astrid soon catches up with Joshua, and notices that the expression on his face has changed of one from grief to one of relaxation. Maybe what she had said really got through to him.
He stops in front of a non-frozen pond near a warm cave, and stares at his reflection. His pale blue eyes sparkle against the grey cave walls, and his medium length brown hair hangs over them. He brushes his bangs aside and adjusts his vest to a more comfortable position. Astrid walks up to him. He laughs. "Decide to come for a walk to?", he asks.
"Yep. The scenery is beautiful this time of year", Astrid says with a smile.
"Doesn't it look like this all year ?" Joshua asks. Astrid laughs. "Yeah I guess it does."
"Hey, sis? Thanks for helping me out. I guess I needed someone to knock some sense into me", Joshua says. Astrid gives him a hug, and right as they turn to leave, Joshua hears a high pitched squealing noise. "What was that?" Astrid asks.
They turn around to see a tiny shadow moving in the darkness of the cave. Soon, the small face of a baby night fury emerges, it's purple eyes sparkling in the sunlight. Joshua and Astrid look at each other before Joshua takes a step forward. The tiny dragon makes a tiny, high pitched cry of fear and steps back into the darkness. Joshua gets down on one knee and says in a soft voice, "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."
The baby slowly emerges from the darkness once more, looking up cautiously at Joshua. Joshua extends his right hand, and the dragon gives it a few sniffs before licking his palm. Joshua looks up at Astrid, who smiles down at him. "She seems to like you", Astrid says.
Joshua nods and looks down at the tiny dragon, who is trying to climb on his shoulder. "Wait, how do you know it's a girl?" he asks.
Well, her eyes aren't green like Toothless'. That, and with most other dragon species, females have different eye color than males."
" Okay then", Joshua says. He picks up the baby dragon, who nuzzles his chest. 'Wow. I haven't even known this dragon for five minutes and she already trusts me', he thinks.
He carries her out of the cave, and the three of them head back down the beaten path to the village. Astrid turns to face Joshua, who is gently patting the sleeping dragon's head. "So, what are you going to name her", Astrid asks.
Joshua thinks this over for a few minutes. While they continue to walk, he notices a rusty dagger lying on the gravel trail. This gives him an idea. "Daggerheart", he says.
"That's a good name for her", Astrid says. They enter the village, and are greeted by Snotlout. He looks surprised when he sees Joshua. "Joshua? Where have you been? No one's seen you in days. And what's with the baby night fury?"
"I've been...sleeping? As for the dragon, Astrid and I found her in a cave. I decided to take her home. Her name is Daggerheart", Joshua says.
"Cool", Snotlout says. Joshua leaves when Snotlout tries to flirt with Astrid. As he walks through the village to his house, he sees several people whispering and pointing at him. He rolls his eyes and continues to his house. He runs into Hiccup, who is looking for Astrid. "Hey man", Joshua says.
Hiccup just stares at Daggerheart. "Uhh, where did you find the baby night fury?" he asks Joshua, confusion in his voice.
"Her name is Daggerheart. Astrid and I found her in a cave not to far from where you shot down Toothless. Anyway, I decided to keep her", Joshua says.
"Okay, but how do you know it's it a girl?" Hiccup asks.
"Eye color. With most dragon species, females have different eye color than males. ", Joshua explains. "Look, I'd love to stick around and chat, but Daggerheart has to explore her new home.
"Okay, one last question. Do you know where Astrid is?" Hiccup asks.
"Probably beating the crap out of Snotlout. Somewhere up near the village enterance", Joshua says before going inside. He sets down Daggerheart, who begins looking around the house and sniffing everything she can find. Joshua smiles down at her, happy to finally have a companion again. Once Daggerheart finishes exploring, she puts two legs up on Joshua's bed. Joshua laughs and pulls her up onto his bed. She curls up by his side and nuzzles him before falling asleep. Just before he falls asleep, Joshua thinks, 'Thank you Thor. You've given me happiness once again.