Author's Note: I decided to go ahead and post this story. It is complete in my stories folder, but I'll be updating regularly. Like I said, I'm going to not publish any more stories unless I have finished them outside of FF. Thus, here we go. This is a Tuffnut story from How to Train Your Dragon. A better summary is on my profile, along with some of the other stories I have in the works behind closed doors. Yeah, I have a lot of different ones being written at once. Ha. Enjoy!
Rating: This story is rated Mfor suggestive themes voilence later.
Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train Your Dragon or any of it's characters. Dreamworks beat me to the author. =D The only characters I own are the bandits, valkyries, Zera, and Valdis.
[ Chapter One: Decisions ]
"Do not worry, my friend, I shall have this handled soon."
A soft mewl is heard from the ferocious creature, black in color with irises as red as blood. It straightens, taking post outside of the grand structure. A small smile breaks the woman's lips, patting the beast once more upon the chest before entering.
Within, a warmth envelopes the woman, easing the trouble on her heart. She self-consciously pulls the skirt of her armored dress down, allowing the straps that held the one-piece to her leg-plates to loosen slightly.
Further into the meeting hall, a woman sat at a table, demanding attention. She was old, nearing her passing days, and had a fierce look upon her stern lip. She was accompanied by three others, varying in ages though all older than the woman that had called this meeting.
"Lady Valdis, why have you summoned us so urgently?" The youngest of the group, a stout redhead with bulging biceps, much unlike the curved, secretly muscled physique of the only woman standing, calls forth to the woman of platinum blonde hair, nearly white in color.
She clears her throat, holding her head high, revealing three deep scars across her left cheek, gently beneath the icy blue of her eyes and the long, dark lashes that accompanied them. It would not be easy declaring what was needed, but it had to be done for both her sake and her beast's.
"Elders," she calls, the voice both hardened and musical, "I have come to give my declaration. It is time I set forth on a journey that might not allow me to return, though I pray it shall."
The dreaded silence overtakes the four seated as they look from one another, both in awe and saddened by this news. It was not often one came forward, asking to leave the island of women, the island of the valkyries.
Valkyries-in-training would be more suited, for none were truly to be named as such until their passing into the afterlife, where the God Odin would have them choose and lead the slain to Valhalla. Each and every woman upon the island had been chosen at the age of eight years, brought forth to the private island, it's whereabouts unknown to all but the inhabitants, by the God himself. It was both an honor and a curse, considering one hundred plus women were to be stranded together, without a man in sight, until their deaths, unless they chose to leave after they'd passed all of their training and were ready for Valhalla, should something happen after their departure. None that had left had ever returned…
"We have known of your restless, lass, for years now. Why have you just decided to step forward?" The eldest of women asked, her voice rugged and aged. She was petite as well, small in stature but with an ancient, underlying strength.
"I have thought long and hard, even trying to ride out the inevitable, but I believe it is time for my departure." She takes a sideways glance towards the wall she knew her beast sat on the other side of. "Zera is in need of something I cannot give her. I feel her pain and it hurts. I'll be leaving to find whatever it is that fills the void she is unable to hide."
"If that is your wish, then we grant it. We shall beg Odin for your safety away from the island, for it is only the first part of the danger you face off this island." The elder gives a slight smile, her approval lifting a weight from the younger's shoulders. "Heed me when I say you must travel light, but pack essentially. Valkyries are a rare sight, lass. And people try to covet what is rarest of all. You have only lived twenty-three years, and you have much longer to go before you escort the slain to Valhalla. And keep that dragon of yours out of trouble, understand?"
"I understand. Thank you, my lady." The woman pounds her chest lightly, above her heart, before leaving to the beautiful beast outside. "Zera…"
The dark, serious dragon lowers down to eye level, ears trained back and waiting for bad news. She could hear the worry in the subtle noises made, fearing the worst of what would be said.
"We must pack. We leave in the morning for the mainland."
Zera growls merrily, jumping in the air and causing the ground to shake. Truly, this trip could mean a cure for the loneliness felt or a life full of longing.
Switch Point of View's
That had been three long weeks ago when I'd left my island, my most faithful and closest friend flying me through the treacherous waves, rolling fogs, and harsh winds that had kept the valkyries safe for all those years.
Before we'd left, I'd changed into a simple light gray tunic and leather skirt, my silver sheathe and sword clinking against my hip, feet covered in fur-rimmed boots. I had the silver plate strapped around my neck that held a ground-length, wide cloak of silver and gray wolf's fur, the very same creature that gave me the three jagged, old scars across my cheek a decade ago. I did not wear any of my heavy armor, choosing to carry it along with me otherwise. I did not want to take chances in this world, one I'd not been in since I was merely eight-years-old.
I was exhausted, but had at last found a lead to where I should be going. I had known for a long while what was wrong with Zera, but had never told a soul on my island in fear they would keep me upon it's rocky out cliffs and not aid my dragon. She had not found a mate, and from the way she repeated the same, agonizing voices, I could tell it was near the time she at last found one. This trip was for her more than for me to have a bit of freedom.
A village nearby had spoken of a rider and his black devil, the same description as my Shadow Stalker, on an island further out at sea. I had traveled hundreds of miles to finally come across this bit of information after following all sorts of false leads. Even then, this could be false, but I would always keep my hopes high.
"Come Zera." I remove my armor from my pack in our small campground in the woods. From it, I remove my armor and begin fitting myself within the mass of silver plates and few strands of gold.
The entire dress is one piece of armor that stops just above mid-thigh and covers my breasts in a sweetheart sort of top. The sides are cutout and held together with multiple throngs of leather, following this pattern onto my hips with shoulder pieces attached with a few straps of leather to the breastplate, stopping above the elbows. Down the sides of the skirt, across the sides of my legs, leather binds the leg plates securely, in case of losing them in battle. The leg pieces are layered plates of metal, much like Zera's dragon scales, that start below the knee and end at my ankle. The shoes are plated sandals with multiple straps that attach to the leg plates. My sword is strapped to my waist, smiling to myself at it's gleam. Instead of wearing my winged, valkyries helmet, I opt for a jeweled circlet with many loops upon my brow, delicate and small. My cloak is fitted as well, comfortably around my neck.
We were heading to an island called Berk.