She started to twist back and fourth in the bed as the fire got hotter. Hiccup put his hand to her forehead. Nothing yet... Toothless hasn't left her for a second. His head lay on her stomach, waiting for some response from her... Just then, her fingers twitched. And her breath picked up. Toothless' ears went up and he looked at her, waiting... Her eyes started to move under her eyelids... They fluttered open but everything was a blur!
She couldn't see anything... So she blinked a few times and then looked over... She saw Toothless' memorable face... She knew instantly. But looking to the other side, she jumped at the unknown face and fell off the bed. She reached for anything that could be used as a weapon... A fire poker.
"Get back!" She yelled, waving it in Hiccup's face. He jumped back and waited for Toothless to defend him... But the dragon wasn't doing anything! He just stood there. He just F**king stood there!
"Hey! Calm down!" He shouted, holding his hands up. "I really hope there are healers around because they're gonna have to show ya how to pull a fire poker outta your ass!" She stuck it in his face and held his hands up. And from the other side of the room, Toothless made a chuckling noise. "Please tell me that was a joke." Hiccup prayed to Oden for help. "You here to take me back? Well, tough! I'm never going back!" She growled, swinging the makeshift weapon at his stomach. He jumped back but slipped on the hardwood floor due to his metal leg. She dropped the fire poker and grabbed the bottle on the left, smashing it on the counter and pressing it to his neck.
"Did he send you? He send more men out?!" She shouted. "I don't know who-" She cut him off. "Your a liar!" She shouted at him. Just then something wrapped around her torso and pulled her back. Her back hit Toothless' chest. She let out a noise and then struggled. "Draco, let me go!" She shouted, scratching her heels against the hardwood floor.
"Draco?" Hiccup stood up and watched as she struggled against his dragon. "Draco, why are you here?" She pulled away, stumbled back a few inches before the dragon literally grabbed her shoulders and hugged her. Hiccup knew they had a connection but... this?
She seemed to start crying. "Draco..." Her eyes fell to his tail. "Oh, Draco, what happened to you?" She put her hand on his neck and he looked down at the floor, not daring to look her in the eyes. She hugged his neck. "Buddy, I'm so sorry!" She said, tears down her cheeks. The dragon purred against her side and his wings wrapped around her body. "I shouldn't have left you, I'm so sorry."
And she turned around, seeing Hiccup walk up to her. "Don't!" She shouted, backing up. "Don't you touch me!" She backed up into Toothless who, instead of protecting her, pushed her forward. She looked into Hiccup's eyes and then at Toothless. "Draco, do you- Do you trust him?" She asked, turning around. The dragon purred and nodded once. The girl breathed in with relief and stepped forward towards him. "Who are you?"
Hiccup sighed. "My name is Hiccup and me and Toothless found you on the beach... Dying." He admitted. She looked at him funny and then turned to Toothless.
"Toothless... Is that your name now, agápi̱ mou?" She said, rubbing his nose with a grin. The dragon purred. With a laugh, she turned back around. "He's always been Draco to me." She smiled. "Draco, what's that mean?" Hiccup asked. "Draco, the english version of Dráko̱n which is Greek for "Dragon."
Hiccup decided to change the subject... "What's your name?" He said. "A-Andrea..." She stuttered. "Are you OK?" He asked. She shook her head. "I... I'm covered in blood." She started getting dizzy. And then fell forward. "Whoa, calm down! It's OK..." He said. Her breaths came through shorter and she grabbed his arm. "I'll go get some help. Toothless, keep her safe!" He put her down in the blood stained bed and ran out the door. "Astrid! I need your help!" He yelled, running down the steps. "Hiccup, what's wrong?" She looked up, blowing her bangs from her face. "S-She's awake! But we need to get the blood off of her." He said.
"I know where your going with this. I'll do it. Keep out of the house until I say its OK." She said, picking up her Axe and running up the stairs... But worried Andrea's gonna freak out, she put her Axe down outside and walked inside. Astrid found Andrea wrapped in a blanket, not looking at the blood covering her.
"Hey..." Astrid said. Andrea looked up. "Your a friend of his?" She asked. Astrid nodded. "Come with me, I'll clean the blood off of you." She said. Andrea backed up. Astrid shook her head. "You know, you don't have to be afraid... Not with me." She said. Andrea breathed, looked up at Toothless, and back at Astrid before nodding.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
After another 10 minutes, Astrid dumped another bucket of hot water on Andrea. But made sure not to hurt her. The water was red and brown. Not ever clear anymore. Astrid lifted Andrea's arm up and scrubbed the blood and mud away. "How did this happen anyway?" Astrid asked. Andrea sighed. "Ran away from the wrong destiny..." Was all she said. Astrid shrugged and began to wash the mud out of her hair. She saw how it was supposed to look and ran her fingers through it.
"Your hair's pretty, Andrea." She said. She grinned. "Thank you... You know, I don't even know your name." Andrea said. "It's Astrid."
She smiled... "I like that name."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
It took an hour to clean all of the blood and mud off of Andrea. Hiccup was left pacing around outside his house when Astrid called out. "You can come in now!" He hesitantly pushed the door open and stepped inside. What he saw was surprising. Astrid had Andrea in his old black t-shirt with the sleeves cut off and stitched up the sides, looking pirate-like. Skin tight brown leggings were on her legs, along with the lumps under the leggings, due to bandages. And several other bandages sat on her arms. A bandanna sat on her forehead. Her hair was tightly braided and was so long, it reached her waist.
"And who said you could go through my stuff, Astrid?" Hiccup said. She rolled her eyes. "It's just sitting there, Hiccup. I'm gonna put it to good use. And I think she's good use, don't you?" From the distance away, Andrea rubbed her arms and then felt something push her. She turned around and smiled at Toothless. "Your still my Dráko̱n." She smiled, kissing his nose. Toothless purred at her.
Just then, something growled. And it wasn't Toothless. Andrea backed up and held her stomach. "I can't remember the last time I actually ate something..." She said with a small laugh. Toothless laughed as well. "Do you wanna go to the mess hall, Andrea?" Hiccup asked her. She bit her lip. "I don't think I'm ready to take that yet, so, is it OK if I stay in here for a while?" She asked. "Of course! You want me to bring you something?" Astrid asked. "Please?" She said. Astrid smiled. "I'll be right back." And left.
"Well, me and Toothless has some training to do. C'mon bud!" He said, pulling on his saddle. But Toothless didn't budge. In fact, he pulled away from Hiccup and put his head in Andrea's lap because she was now lying down. Andrea sighed. "Draco, don't worry about me... I'll be fine." She lifted his head and kissed his forehead. The dragon blew air out of his nostrils and licked her face with his tongue. She laughed.
"Love you too, you reptile." She scratched him behind the ears and he purred.
"Go on," He then padded off with Hiccup. He looked at the girl with skepticism and then shrugged. "How do you know her, Toothless?" He asked him. The dragon purred in his language... "I wish you could talk."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Andrea was looking around before she fell forward on his bed and looked under it... "The Dragon Manual?" She pulled it out and started flipping through it... Everything seemed to be crossed out or changed. She read the original words... "Kill on sight? No dragon really kills on sight. Not even the BoneKnapper." She said, flipping the page and then stopping. It was recently updated. The ink looked fresh and a fresh picture was drawn... "Night Fury..." It looked just like Toothless.
She smiled. Just then, the door opened. Andrea looked up at Astrid holding a plate of... meat.
"What are you doing with the Dragon Manual?" She asked. Andrea shrugged. "I was looking around... Maybe getting a little too curious. I hope you don't mind if I read it." She said. "Just... Just, don't try and steal it. It's been stolen by a pretty girl before." She said. Andrea closed the book and put it back under Hiccup's bed. "I won't look at it again. I promise." She said.
Astrid suddenly felt bad when she saw the immediate look of guilt and betrayal in her eyes, as if she abused their trust. "It's OK if you wanna look at it, but just don't take it." She said, putting the plate down in front of her. "I can't really take it anywhere." She said with a smile. Andrea picked up a piece of the meat off the plate and began to nibble on in.
"Hey Astrid... Are you and Hiccup dating?" She asked her. Astrid was taken a few steps back by her question but answered, nonetheless. "Yeah, why?"
Andrea smiled. "You just... Don't look like an ideal couple. But I can see the way he looks at you. It's full of love and... something else I can't identify... Just wish that I felt like that at least once in my life." She sighed and ate some more. "Can you tell me how it happened?"
"It's a long story." Astrid said. "Where am I gonna go?" Andrea smirked slightly and Astrid sighed, pushing the plate a little to sit on the bed in front of her. "Its really all 'cause of Toothless." She said. "My Draco did that?" She said with a smile. "Yes, your Draco brought us together... I noticed that Hiccup was doing better in Dragon Training. Unusually better. So I followed him one day, threatened him, and he made up a lie. That's when Toothless almost attacked me. But Hiccup stopped him before he could." She said.
"I... I didn't realize Draco was so vicious." She looked down. Astrid rolled her eyes. "That dragon kept destroying our towers before Hiccup took him down." She said. Andrea decided she'd ask her about THAT later.
"Anyway, Hiccup and Toothless caught me and took me for a terror ride. He wouldn't stop scaring me until I told Hiccup I was sorry... And then, he showed me the coolest thing ever. How amazing it was to fly on a dragon... But something bad happened... Toothless took us to the Dragons Island by mistake and we were almost killed. Hiccup begged me to keep it from anyone, especially his father, and reluctantly agreed. And... I kissed him." She smiled slightly, Andrea breathed in. "That's really sweet."
Astrid rolled her eyes and then thrusted the plate in her shaky hands. "Eat. Your getting more scrawny by the second." She stood up. Andrea rolled her eyes. "I've been worse, believe me." She said.
"I'd rather not believe it." Andrea smiled a little once she walked out of the doors... She finished the slab of her meat and put the plate down on the floor, resting her head on the pillow, waiting for the two to return... But being as how exhausted she was, Andrea fell asleep before they could return.
