The skies were clear above the Archipelago that was home to Berk, but a storm was brewing. A few miles from the shoreline a dragon was circling the waters, hunting high and low, his sad cry echoed across the waves and met the rock pools where his hunted prize was laying. A black mess, soaked from head to toe, unconscious but luckily breathing after her salty dip during the early hours of the morning. The black of her robes kept her warm in the sun though her face was pale and the freezing water she was half-in counteracted the good it was doing. If it weren't for the family ring on her finger, glinting in the sun, she'd have been perfectly camouflaged, especially with the seaweed that was tangled around her and in her hair.
Up on the cliffs Amara sighed, rubbing the chin of the black dragon that was basking in the morning sun beside her, though watching her keenly. "You worry too much, Uncle Toothless. I'm just going down to the beach to try out my new fishing rod... I'll be fine. Dad's leg's been bothering him, he needs you more than I do. I can make it down the docks myself."
At her insistence the black dragon, Toothless, cooed, in a sweet way. Having known the dragon her whole life, she read into as him telling her to be careful, before it set off to find his partner. Amara proceeded to make her way down to the beach, her hair the same deep brown as her father, Chief Hiccup's, but having a body like her mother had at 15. She smiled, waving at the Villagers on her way, settling in once down at the beach to try to do some shore fishing and do what she could to help with Berk's food stores.
After managing to half-fill her fishing basket, Amara noticed the glint on some of the rocks on the beach and went over to inspect it. Finding a human, she gasped, abandoning her basket of fish for now and hurried over to the body. She shook the unconscious girl gently hoping they ok, while scanning the horizon for any ships, as well as the sky for hostile dragons, anything that might explain where the girl came from. "Hey...are you alright?"
The girl didn't stir but coughed up some sea water. The dragon that was out searching for her wasn't visible from the closer inspection it did look more like a dragon had lost their supper than a ship had lost a member of her crew, especially as ships still seldom took women for fear of bad luck. And this girl certainly seemed to have had her fair share of that.
Amara knew this girl had to get out of the water to survive, and pulled her up onto the beach, thumping her back to try to help get the sea water out. "Hang on, ok? I'll go get my dad... he's the chief, he'll know how we should help you, and he needs to know about unexpected arrivals." She told the person, then ran out, calling for her father and Toothless. Up in the middle of the village, the dragon in question paused, hearing the girl's calls. The first hint he gave to his rider was unfortunate in that it consisted of turning and flying towards the calls regardless of if his rider wanted him to or not. His rider was Amara's father. Chief Hiccup Haddock. And thanks to toothless, he was with his only child in a matter of moments.
On the beach the girl drifted in and out of consciousness. In the very brief seconds she was awake she 'saw' a shadow in a familiar shape block out the sun. "Beau..." she spluttered as she passed out again. Her accent told Hiccup enough to know she wasn't from these waters. She wasn't dressed like a viking or even a dragon hunter. She certainly was odd but hiccup guessed she was from some form of royalty given her black dress, the ring and her strange accent. He picked her up and placed her on Toothless' back. "Amara, go gather everyone to the great Hall." He instructed her before heading off with toothless to that very place. Knowing him, hiccup was already forming a plan A, B and possibly even a C too.
Amara nodded, doing as her Dad had instructed, talking to everyone, even sending Gothi's flight of Terrible Terrors to bring her from her hut, with the message tied to one's leg that the Chief needed her in the Great Hall. Soon the whole village was there, waiting to see why their Chief had called a meeting on such a massive scale.
By this time, Hiccup had brought the girl to his house, through the back door. Astrid had changed the girl out of her wet clothes and put her in some warm dry ones of Amara's that were usually reserved for bed during the winter. Hiccup, Stormfly and toothless had dragged a bed into the back room of the great Hall and then put the girl in it to try warm her up. Hiccup had then stood outside the doors, waiting for everyone to gather. "Now, I'm sure you're all really curious about why I asked you all here. Well... Amara found a girl on the beach." He announced. There was a lot of mumbling at this but he went on, "Now, she doesn't look like anyone we've come across before and she doesn't sound it either. What I'm asking of you all is a little time and patience. If she is a dragon hunter don't let on that you know of them, she could prove vital into finding out where they're all hiding out these days. If she isn't one of them then it's our duty to help her get home. Either way, she deserves to be cared for and brought back to full health." He said before looking at Amara with a slight nod, hinting that it was time to go in so everyone could see the alien girl.
Amara nodded, leading the way in, sitting kindly by the girl, knowing how daunting meeting everyone the first time was. She smiled at Toothless and Stormfly, her eyes quietly thanking them, even as her grandmother's dragon, the Stormcutter named Cloudjumper, joined them protectively.
The crowd continued to mutter until the girl started to wake up, her eyes flickering as she came around. As she opened her eyes fully they went silent, peering at her. She slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. "W-where am I?" She asked, her voice cracking but the accent clear enough to be obvious she wasn't local at all. "You turned up on the beach of Berk and we brought you to our great hall." Hiccup explained calmly and clearly. "Berk? The great Hall?" She repeated. "That's right." Hiccup said as she turned towards him. Now he'd spoken to her and she'd spoken back, she seemed a lot less scary and everyone was dying to ask her questions.
Amara nodded, "Yeah. It's a huge building where the community gathers at important times. I'm called Amara, daughter of Chief Hiccup the Wise and his wife, Astrid. I found you on the rocks on the Beach... do you remember anything before you got there, like who you are?" She asked softly. Astrid smiled, proud of her daughter's curiosity, though wishing Amara showed more of the fierce traits inherited from her side of the family. Regardless, the looks of the 3 Dragons over the girl kept most people quiet, since Amara had asked many of the questions they all had.
"I got caught up in a dragon fight and dumped into the ocean... I don't remember anything else." She said simply. "But you said... chief? Like American Indians...?" She asked slowly. This caused quite some confusion among the villagers and nervous whispers.
"Like what? We're Vikings... don't your villages and clans have Chiefs?" Amara asked softly, Toothless tilting his head at this girl, too. She smelt different.
"V - vikings?" She asked slowly. Her hands clenched at the covers that were keeping her warm. "That's right, but don't worry. Our dragon buddies won't hurt you unless you hurt us." Hiccup explained. "Speaking of hurt, you were in pretty bad shape and absolutely frozen. I'll be surprised if you don't get cold of the lungs." He added. The girl assumed he meant pneumonia. "I think I'll be alright. Thank you for taking care of me." She said.
Amara smiled. "Still, you're a guest here on Berk until we can find out how to get you home..." She turned to her father. "Dad, since you had our place renovated recently, should I set up the guest room for her?"
"That's very kind, Amara. Make sure there's plenty of warm blankets." He said, smiling at her. "I think it's best to let her rest a bit for now, but please do what you can to help. Anything from remedies to fight the fever she has, nutritional food to get her back to full health or spare clothes she can borrow, everything will be greatly appreciated." He said, dismissing the crowd.
Amara nodded happily and put her catch, which she'd retrieved and taken with her to get the village together, in the food storage after cleaned the fish properly She then put them with the other fish being salt-treated before setting up the guest bedroom with several nice, warm blankets and gathered other ingredients from the food storage to make dinner with. At her request, Toothless helped her get their guest to the guest room and lit the fire, where Amara started on cooking dinner for everyone, getting roast chicken for Stormfly and a batch of fresh fish for Toothless' dinner as well as the nutritious meal for herself, their guest and her parents. She was glad she was a better cook than her mother at any rate.
The girl drifted off to sleep again as Hiccup and Astrid left her alone to get on with their own things.
Amara smiled, enjoying the quiet. The other dragons belonging to the rest of the Riders peeked in from time to time, but mostly left Amara alone. She took the meal to rest on a hot stone when it was ready and went to get their guest, having asked Toothless and Stormfly to get her parents for dinner. Smelling the meal, Cloudjumper, having already eaten himself, brought Valka to share in the meal as well. Amara was glad she was used to cooking for the whole family. "Hey... can you move at all? It's time for dinner... and you never told us your name."She said to their guest, gently shaking her shoulder.
She slowly woke up and turned towards her, "My legs feel like jelly..." she uttered, yawning and sitting up.
"You can lean on me, if you'd like." Amara said with a soft smile, offering their guest a hand up.
"Erm... no thanks. I'll be ok on my own." the girl said, sliding her legs out of the bed and gingerly putting her feet on the floor.
"Ok, if you're sure. You were asleep when Toothless carried you up... steps are a bit steep, so be careful, ok? You never told us your name... when the house is full, being able to say your name would be helpful... it's better than saying 'hey you' after all." She said kindly.
"It... it's... anna... Roxanna White." She said slowly as though having thought hard about it. "You're Amara, right? That guy... Hiccup I think, said it before." She said slowly as she brought herself to her feet. It seemed as though she'd no interest in the slippers that were inches away from her feet as she slowly took a few steps forward, putting her hand forward to steady herself against the wall.
"Yeah, that's right... aren't your feet cold? I brought you my spare pair of winter slippers." She said softly.
"Oh, thanks but I'm ok..." Roxanna said slowly. "I'll be down in a few so you can go on ahead." She insisted.
"Alright, Anna... just try not to take too long. I made a nutritious stew for dinner, and we want to eat it while it's warm... regular winter is a week away, with dreadful freezing winter coming in a few more weeks, so hot meals are the norm here." Amara told her before heading down to wait for her, as well as for her own parents.