To be honest, I already got the general stuff of this chapter written right after I posted the rewritten prologue, but I didn't think it was good enough, so I scrapped it and wrote it all over again. XD
Enough of me blabbering, you guys must've waited for this for a long time . I'm sorry for the lateness, as I always am, so I'm not going to bother coming up with another reason, yeah? :D
Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon and the characters in it, although it would be awesome.
Identity
The village buzzed into life as the first ray of sunlight hit Berk, a signal of a new day.
The chilly air blew across the village, though not one Viking shivered at the coldness it brought. Their grim faces, however, betrayed their thoughts about the wind. Winter had started, dragon raids were more severe, and though they worked very hard the last few months to fill up their storage on food, their food supplies were still barely enough for everyone to last through winter.
This only pushed them to work harder, though. After all, Vikings were strong and tough, and they were very, very stubborn.
The villagers filed into the Great Hall, eager to start their day with a nice warm meal. Many villagers looked down at their only half-filled bowls with a scowl – the start of winter also meant rationing, something that Vikings certainly did not like.
The household on top of the mountain, overlooking the village, seemed to have no problem though. Maybe it was because the Chief lived there, or his two children didn't have enormous appetites like normal Vikings.
Winter was also disastrous for the two teens – Hiccup and Aleda. Because winter meant more dragon raids, it made sense that more weapons were needed in the village. Hiccup was required to start work earlier, but he was not a morning person. It was almost impossible to wake him up.
More dragon raids meant more injuries. More injuries meant more herbs to collect. More herbs meant… less free time for Aleda.
She shook her brother vigorously for about five minutes, who whined and moaned, refusing to even open his eyes. Aleda groaned in exasperation, and proceeded to snatch the blankets off his bed just as a gust of wind entered from the window.
Hiccup, startled by the sudden coldness, sat up abruptly and shivered. He glared at his sister, who only looked at him with annoyance and a hint of amusement. "What was that for?"
"To get your lazy butt off the bed. You're expected in the forge in five minutes." Aleda almost snickered at his alarmed reaction as he jumped off the bed and ran down the stairs with barefoot. She laughed and followed him down, and found him stuffing his face with bread and gulping at his milk.
When he finally swallowed the bread and faced a still laughing Aleda, he simply glared and asked, "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"
"You think I didn't try?" She stuck her tongue out, "Shouldn't you be heading out already? Gobber's going to kill you if you turn up late again."
"Again? What do you mean 'again'?" He scoffed, but reached for his fur coat anyways. "I've never been late this winter."
"That's because winter just started."
"That's the point." Hiccup grinned, shrugging to lift the coat on his shoulders.
"Well, have fun being fried by Gobber." She smirked as Hiccup rolled his eyes and reached for the door.
"Have fun finding a double amount of herbs." He winked and disappeared out of the door. Aleda shook her head and continued with her meal.
She heard a yell from the forge not long later. She snickered at the image of her brother's face.
Lifting her hand, Aleda touched the side of her face, mirrored by the reflection on the lake.
When will these ever disappear? She thought as her finger scraped along her face. The scales on her face were hard and smooth, unlike the parts of her face that was actually skin.
She pinched the fabric of her cloak with the other hand and rubbed it between her fingers. Would I have to wear this for my entire life?
Not that I minded.
Of course she didn't mind the looks, the snickers and jeers she received. Of course she didn't mind the names – abomination, coward. Of course she didn't mind that nobody tried to understand her, judging her by looks and the stupid damn cloak –
Calm down.
It hadn't got to me for thirteen years. So why should it now?
All you need to care about is Hiccup.
Just the thought of him calmed her angered and agitated thoughts, chasing away unpleasant memories.
She wondered if Hiccup would hate her if she ever revealed to him of what she really was.
At least I'm sure my dad would.
She hated the disappointed look on Hiccup's face when he thought she wasn't looking. And though they shared everything, their favourites, their secrets, their worries, she could not tell him this.
For fear he would look at her with fear and horror.
Nobody knows. Nobody understands.
The sudden thought of her mother grazed at her mind.
My mother probably knew. She thought. But wouldn't the midwife know as well? Or was I born without scales?
Suddenly, she envied the past her.
And just about everyone else too.
Why was I born with this? With scales on my face?
Her greatest wish was to be normal. But a part of her knew she didn't, because she would lose the ability to fly.
It was really the only aspect that kept her from completely despising herself. To touch the sky and the clouds… It was relaxing.
Aleda sighed when she was reminded of the time by looking up at the sky. Double of the amount of time was lost, all because winter had begun, and she would need more herbs to aid Gothi in healing the injured or ill villagers.
She placed her satchel that was full of herbs on the ground, careful to find a place where she would not step on it.
Walking to the middle of the cove, where Aleda discovered a few years ago, she closed her eyes and hummed as she felt herself growing larger, auburn hair shrinking into dark purple scales and the switch of balance from two feet to four legs…
She opened my eyes and found that her eyesight was lower by at least half of her original height. Huh, I never noticed that before.
With only one thought in her mind, she crouched as low as she could, ran to gain speed then… jump!
Finding the right moment to flap and rise into the sky took Aleda years to master – no one taught her how to, so it made sense that her taking off skills were quite dodgy.
But as long as it got her into the sky, she was content.
She flapped her wings harder and rose into the cloud layers, where she finally allowed herself to relax her wings and glide. The clouds brushed past her head and wings, and all her worries and frustration disappeared as she simply enjoyed the feeling of being in the air.
For the first time in the day, she allowed herself to ease and let her guard down.
That was a horrible dive. She chided at herself at her landing.
But it was the best so far, so she shrugged and wondered what to do next, the sun still indicated that there was still time.
I guess I can practice for a while. The only form she had mastered (or at least, was the best at) was a Night Fury. She was still trying to work out the rest.
She found the Deadly Nadder tricky – the blind spot in the middle of her eyes was irritating. Not to mention that it was difficult to balance her dragon weight on two legs.
She closed her eyes again, and thought of the colourful scales, spikes like trees, wings with hooks, horns on head…
When she opened her eyes again, she was disturbed by that black spot in between her eyes, as well as the sudden ability to see behind her.
And her tail!
She swung her tail around in interest, and by accident, struck some spikes at an innocent rock.
Slightly startled, she winced and began her training on being a Deadly Nadder.
Her muscles complained at the excess training she gave herself that day (not to mention how she lost track of time, and by the time she got back to the village, the villagers had already gone back to their houses), and slumped into the Healer's hut, dumping the satchel of herbs on the table and tiredly looking around to see if there were anyone to tend to.
The room was empty.
Great! Time to head home then! She walked back out the door and started her way home, when she saw the glow inside the forge.
Huh. Hiccup should be home now. Curious, she peeked in the forge to see if Gobber was there.
Nope.
Quietly opening the door to the tiny backroom her twin brother resided in for work, she found a sleeping Hiccup, snoring lightly on the table with a charcoal pencil still in his hand. There were drawings sprawled all around him, some scrunched up into balls and some pinned on the wall. In front of him was a half finished drawing, which she could not tell what it was due to its complexity.
"Come on, let's get you home." She grunted as she put his arm around her shoulder and half carried him home, noting the half awaken state he was in. She stumbled a few times, grumbling about his increased weight and clumsiness.
Left with no free hands, she shifted her weight to her left leg and kicked the door open, but also careful not to break it. She tried to drag him up the stairs, but soon gave up and set him down on a chair instead.
She jumped when she heard a grumble, and realised that it was from her own stomach.
With a jolt of realisation, she realised that she had not eaten yet, and it was way too late for there to have any food left in the Great Hall. Her mouth scrunched up to one corner. Guess I'll have to cook then.
Not bothered to prepare for much, she heated water on top of the fire, and dumped anything she could find in the house to the heated water. She groaned when she realised that there was only chicken left in the house, and that meant she had to hunt.
Not that she didn't like hunting, it just took up her dragon time.
At least I can use my bow.
She heard a moaning from upstairs, and smiled when she recognised the noise.
Hiccup woke up to find himself in his house.
Huh, I thought I was in the forge.
He also heard the sound of something boiling, and it smelled nice. That means it can't be dad.
His eyes lightened up when he figured out that it was Aleda who carried him home (and he was slightly ashamed about it). He got up from the bed, and moaned at his sore arm. I should stop sleeping on my table.
"Finally woken up, sleepyhead?" Aleda teased as Hiccup walked down the stairs, and handed him a bowl of soup.
"Because of this." He held up his bowl and brought it near his mouth, and hissed at the heat that burned his tongue. "It smells nice."
"Nice? That's all you have?" She stuck her tongue out and blew at her soup, avoiding making the same mistake Hiccup had.
He learnt his lesson as he blew on his soup before bringing it near his mouth and taking a tiny sip, so his tongue wouldn't be burnt again. "Your cooking is getting better. You should cook more."
"Tell that to dad. It seems like he never got over that I nearly burned the whole house down three years ago." She chuckled, as they both relived the moment of Aleda's panic, the spilled contents and Hiccup's face in horror.
The door flung open with a force that the twins wondered how it didn't break (especially after Aleda had kicked down the door a few moments ago). Stoick the Vast, their father, appeared at the door, a furious scowl on his face that only faltered slightly at the sight of his children.
"D-dad." Aleda stuttered a little as Stoick sent an unintentional glare at her. She swallowed, her eyes flickered down (although no one else was able to see that) and continued, "I cooked some soup. You must be tired working in the cold." She handed him a bowl, and excused herself as she slipped away and went upstairs with a filled bowl in her hands.
"Hey dad? Maybe you should loosen up on the glare." And proceeded to receive one himself. Hiccup shifted uncomfortably, and in an attempt to break the awkward silence, asked, "So, how was today?"
"As usual." Stoick grunted as he put down the empty bowl, and stood up to leave when he paused, as though he was debating between decisions, "Tell Aleda that her cooking got better." And proceeded to leave the room.
Hiccup let out a breath he did not know he was holding and grinned. Their father complimented her! He couldn't wait to tell his sister, and ran up the stairs.
"Hey Aleda! Dad–" He abruptly stopped at the sight of his sister sitting on her bed, her expression unknown.
"I know. I heard."
Then why does she look like she's sulking?
"Did he really say that though?" She looked up, her arms wrapped around her own torso.
"Yeah." Not knowing what else to say, he whispered, "But you're okay, right?"
She laughed a little, "Yeah. I'm okay."
No you're not. "You know I'll always be here for you, right?" He put his arms around her shoulders, in an attempt to soothe his younger-by-a-minute sister.
"And the same goes for you." He could feel her smiling, even if he couldn't see it. "And don't you ever forget that." She laid her head gently on his shoulder.
They stayed there for a while in silence, each comforting the other without words.
Thanks for supporting The Cloaked Twin Sister, you have no idea how surprised I was when I saw the stats tab... I mean, I don't update frequently (because I don't really have a schedule for this), and yet you guys still support it :D I love you all XD
Please comment on any errors and things you don't understand so I can change them! Especially about the characters - I'm always worrying that I write Hiccup out of character, or Aleda's character development is completely horrible.
Review Replies for anonymous and guests: (I realize that I'm replying to reviews that are written for chapter 14, so I'll comply this all together when I finally finish rewriting so everyone can see the reviews :D)
Dragonfan808: I would love to read it! Except, the place I live blocked Wattpad, so... *sighs in frustration*
MuchNugget: For now, I'm only rewriting the chapters because I feel like the character development is horrible, and it's too OC centric for my liking XD But thanks for supporting this story :D I don't know if you'll ever read this since you're anonymous and don't get the alerts, but I'll be posting an announcement after I finish rewriting all the chapters and am happy about it.
Guest: I'll tell you a secret. I don't know how old Niall is either... *acts innocent*
Ooooh this is so exciting, I feel like I'm writing this story all over again :D
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I was quite happy with it :D See you in a while :)