Chapter 1

"Move that bucket or it'll be thrown at you. Better not let anyone see you up after your supposed to be asleep. The boats are arriving, you'd better make sure the men on board have plenty of mead."Her mistress called her to and from the well all morning before giving her further orders. "And if you let anyone see those bruises they'll be worse."

The Mistress's calmness was far more unnerving than her husbands shouts and slaps. "Yes mam." She replied, hesitating before taking out a tray with goblets to the other maids. She had been sold to the Mistress and her husband two months ago, and was already getting used to the rythym of life in her house. Wake up at before dawn, clean the fireplace, feed the animals, watch the drapery, dust her share of the large fortress, then make part of the breakfast, make the tea, get slapped by the Mistress if she didn't do it good enough, and then when the Mistress's husband got back he would beat her and ocassionally lock her up in the attic. Thus went the days of her life. Until the townspeople had heard that the chief of Berk and his heir would be coming to consider a peace treaty.

Then then her life got even worse. Dreadfully busy and filled with slaps and burns. Bruises on her mouth and hands were very hard to disguise, and many called her clumbsy. She had thought the Mistress was nice at first, her niavety striking when she had been kind and earned the 'favor' of the mistress. Before the night was up she had been sold to the Mistress as a slave, and now she had no choice but to serve the heard the trumpets sound the arrival of the Hooligans.

Henna calmed herself, taking deep breaths before she stepped out of the fortress to greet the other tribe. They weren't as ferocious looking as Berserkers but they still looked fierce.

"Welcome to Hysteria!" Her Mistress's husband bellowed as the boats docked. A crowd had gathered, with baked bread and smoked cod. But in the back of the crowd some armed men lingered, waiting to see if a scuffle would ensue. Her Mistress was the chief's wife, but more respected her than her husband, most calling him a foolish lout when he was too drunken to react.

A warrior with a bald head and had his long blonde mustache braided into two messy braids began announcing the chief, but what he said surprised Henna. She had heard of Stoic the Vast, all knew of him, but the warrior spoke a new name.

"Hiccup Haddock the Heroic, chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe!"

After the viking finished, he stood aside to let the chief pass him and walk down the ramp onto the wooden dock. He had auburn hair and green eyes. His hair wasn't long like most of the vikings in her village, or the chief, but it was loose. He wore it shoulder-length and had uneven bangs that covered his forehead in an unobtrusive way. He wore fitting leather armor and even had a metal left leg.

Henna watched him in astonishment. He was the chiefs heir, but where was Stoic? She watched as a beautiful blonde shield maiden came up behind Hiccup, hooking her arm through his. She must be his wife or future wife. She wasn't surprised that he wasn't single. He was... handsome. But something in her made her not want him in a... certain way, she more like just wished he was her chief.

She heard gasps and heard the shouts of the men of the village. A huge dragon had temporarily blotted out the sun with its pair of wings. It roared and then landed on the dock beside the Hooligan ships. A beatiful woman delicately slid down one of the dragons four wings, walking over to Hiccup.

Henna watched the woman with interest before her eyes went to the dragon. It was beautiful, a red-brown color with blue on its spines, tail, and a streak of it across its chin. A beige colored its belly and dappled it's wings while a dull red exagerated it's catlike face. The dragon turned its golden eyes on her, noticing her examination. It narrowed its eyes, taking a deep whiff of the air around him before strolling over to the woman.

"Amazing..." She breathed. She had heard of the Hooligan tribe's power over the dragons, and their ability to ride them, but had never seen it done.

The Mistress's husband strutted over to where Hiccup and the woman stood, seeming happy that he stood a foot taller than the other chief. "Where is Stoic the Vast?"

Hiccup, apparently unfased by the other chief's stature replied calmly, "My father passed away in battle, I am now chief. I have come to discuss a peace treaty. Are you interested or not?"

The Mistress pushed her way though the crowd, touching her husband's tense arm, "We are interested. The whole Hysteria tribe is interested in an alliance."

"Peace treaty, not an alliance." The blonde woman spoke up, moving to Hiccup's other side.

Henna smiled, not often did someone call the Mistress out on her foolishness. Most were too afraid, some just didn't have the leisure to do so. That thought made her bring her hand to her back, where the scar remained. She brushed the thought out of her mind. Her beliefs had nothing to do with the situation.

The chiefs, their wives, and the woman who had ridden the dragon went inside of the feasting hall to discuss the peace treaty, and before long, a playful scuffle had started. Henna sighed, and weaved a tiny braid into her messy auburn hair. Most of her hair had been cut off halfhazardly as a punishment, but for some reason the Mistress had left a braidable portion uncut. That portion she had braided and it hung over her shoulder. The rest of her hair fell over her forehead and or tickled her neck and cheeks. She sneaked a look around, then started to slink into the shadows of the stone fortress. When she was sure no one was watching, she ran to where the back door to the feating hall was, and slowly opened it to where she could see part of what was going on and hear the conversation.

"No dragons will be trained here, I hope you understand that. My son has no desire for an armed ally." The woman who had ridden the dragon, and was Hiccup's mother, was speaking, a strand of her brown hair falling across her face.

"We understand." The Mistress sounded dissapointed, but tried to hide it with a smile.

"Then we can sign the treaty. You have read the terms of agreement?" Hiccup held the quill over the treaty, looking pointedfly at the Hysterian chief.

"I have read them and have signed the treaty, now you can too. And then you can leave, my men don't exactly fancy a dragon on the dock that they can't decapitate." Hiccup's mother stiffened at the chief's words, but stood up and left without a word.

Henna watched as the door to the feating hall closed behind her, and then slowly let the door close. She had seen what she needed to see, no more spying was necessary.

Silently, she ran around to the docks again, her deerskin boots helping her to not make a sound on the moist ground. The dragon was still there, enjoying a good scratch from his rider.

Whistling a soft tune, she pulled a piece of parchment and a charcoal pencil from a pocket in her leather jacket. Quickly, she drew a swift sketch of the beast, making sure to get the main shape before filling in the details.

"It's good." A snarky voice said behind her.

Henna whirled around, hiding the sketch and the pencil in her jacket. It was the blonde shield maiden. "Thank you." She said, trying to calm herself. If it had been one of her tribe, she would have been in serious trouble. They would probably assume that she had stolen the pencil and parchment.

"How did a serving girl learn that? Cause' the only person I've seen draw like that is my future husband." So Henna had been right, she was his future wife, but how did she get back here?

"I just learned. How did you... If you don't mind me asking how did you find me back here?"

"I saw someone open the door in the back of the feasting hall an followed your tracks over here after the meeting was over. Astrid Hofferson of the Hairy Hooligan tribe." Astrid held out her hand, gesturing for her to shake it.

"Henna." She replied, a little sorry that she had no title. She had been found by monks when she was little and raised in a monestary, than some traders had stolen her and sold her to the Hysteria tribe.

"Just Henna? I thought you were from here?" Astrid brushed her hair out of her eyes, placing a hand on her hip.

"I was raised in a monestary as a babe, I don't know who my family is." She mumbled the last part, her brown eyes traveling to her folded hands. This was an odd meeting. Most people didn't talk to her this way, most were cruel or dismissing. She rubbed her left foot over her right one, biting her lip. Was she supposed to say something?"

Astrid watched her behavior, eyes wide. "You were raised in a monestary, so did your mother die?"

"I never really asked, no one told me. All I know is that I was raised by fifteen old men and ten nuns... Why do you ask?"

"No reason in particular... Just trying to make conversation. So, you like Valka's dragon, huh?" Atrid gestured to the dragon in the town square with her head.

"He's amazing..." Henna shuffled her feet some more, before slowly backing towards the village square, "I'm going to need to... Umm..."

"I've gotta go too. Don't get youself into trouble." Astrid said the last remark with a wink, and then strutted over to the boats, talking to Valka before returning to the hall. Henna watched her go, feeling a lightness in her heart she had not felt in a long while.

As day turned to night and night turned to morning Henna slowly realized that the Mistress had revised her husband's word, and that the Hooligans would be staying for another day. Relishing the thought of getting to see Astrid Hofferson again, Henna strolled through town, her duties in the fortress done. Feeling randomly brave, she walked over to where Hiccup's mother had made herself a temporary 'roost' next to her dragon on the dock.

"Did you name him?" Henna asked. Now that she had spoken, she noticed how big the dragon was, how at ease Valka seemed, and how small she was.

Valka looked her over before smiling, "Cloudjumper." The dragon rumbled at hearing his name, and placed his head next to his master's, looking Henna over.

Instinctively, Henna reached out a hand, but then hesitated.

"Go ahead." Valka spoke softly, her green eyes boring into her. Henna looked over at her before looking back at Cloudjumper. Her had a dumbfounded expression on his large face, nostrils wide as he took in her scent. She extended a hand, retracting the hand when he started to glare, his eyes widened again, and she slowly placed her hand in front of her. The dogs in the village never let her tough them unless they smelled her hand, while a dragon and a dog are very different, Henna desperately hoped that it would work.

The world seemed to become mute in the background, and all she could hear was her beating heart. Cloudjumper eyed her, before extending his head towards her and letting her touch his nose. She took a step closer to him, petting his scaly neck. She hadn't expected him to be warm, but he was, and in the cool fall air it was a welcome heat.

"Very good." Valka had moved behind her while she was stroking Cloudjumper, and Henna culd feel her eyes on her. Henna turned away from the drogon smelling her hair, brown eyes meeting green one's. "What's you name?" Henna opened her mouth to answer, but heard the Mistress calling for her angrily. Henna flinched, giving the drogon and his trainer an apolegetic look before running for her mistress.

A burning slap was her punishment for not being where she should be, and a harsh rebuke. Henna's beliefs told her that rebuke was good, but this was rebuke for something that wasn't there. She had been allowed her leave by the Mistress herself, and hadn't done anthing wrong by touching the dragon, but the Mistress had no recollection of any of that.

Henna walked toward's her room, head bowed so that no one else would know what had happened. Her face was swollen and sore, no doubt bruised. When in her room, alone she knelt in front of a small pail of water in the corner of her room. The lantern beside her made it possible for Henna to see her reflection, and, wincing as she did so, washed her face and hands in the water.

Lifting up a heartfelt prayer, Henna repeated the same words over again, "Deliver me from my affliction." she wanted a safe haven so desperately, and she had found one in the woods, but now she knew what she wanted. She wanted to fly away from Hysteria, far away. She knew where she would fly. Berk.

Astrid listened to Hiccup as he complained about the chief of Hysteria, not as unhappy about the treaty as he was. When he finished, she sat down next to him on their bed in the belly of their ship, putting her hand on his thigh. "Well you sound like your day sucked, mine wasn't all that terrible."

"Oh really, what did you do?" He unstrapped his prosthetic, setting it beside his armor before sprawling out on the bed.

Astrid huffed, unbraiding her blonde hair before she spoke, "Well, after you signed that, 'dreadful' treaty, I went out into the forest to find who was spying on us."

"Spying?" Hiccup propped himslef up on his elbows, green eyes lighting up in interest.

"Shut up and listen," She said semi-playfully, "So I followed her tracks, and found her-"

"Her?"

Astrid punched his chest, ignoring his ow. "She was drawing Cloudjumer, and I sware, she's better than you... almost. Probably not as good because she isn't always drawing dragons. So we talked for a little and I found out... well more like guessed that she's a serving girl in the fortress, and she told me that she was sold to the Hysteria tribe by traders. After that my day was pretty much the same as yours." Astrid layed down next to Hiccup, playing with a loose string on his shirt nonchalantly.

Hiccup watched her with a playful glint in his eyes before asking, "Did you even ask for her name?"

Astrid punched him again, "Her name was Henna." Hiccup's eyes seemed to glaze over, almost as if he was dreaming with his eyes open. "Hiccup?"

Starting, he looked over at her, "Wha...?" He suddnely seemed tired, as if he had been flying all day without a saddle. "I can't wait to go home." He blew out the lantern, plunging the room into darkness.