Chapter 2: The Girl

A/N: Big character revelation in this chapter! Hope you're as pumped as I am! Well, probably not, but enjoy it anyway. Also, this chapter is longer than I usually write, but there's a good reason for it.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own How to Train Your Dragon or anything related to it. I only own this story and any FC's.

Hiccup's POV

We flew over the ocean that surrounded Berk. Normally, I would have been excited and doing more complex maneuvers, but it was different this time. What Toothless needed now was speed, and lots of it. But that's easy for him, since, come on; he's a Night Fury, the fastest dragon in the history of dragons. We didn't have a lot of time to get away.

We finally stopped at sunset on a small island that would be easily overlooked if any ships were to come look for us. Plus, I could see a fog coming in, which would give us some cover for a while. I managed to gather some sticks to make a fire. Toothless decided to show off and he felled a tree for wood. "Always have to be the better one, don't you?" I asked him jokingly. He growled at me in response. I decided it wasn't worth an argument, so I gathered up the logs we'd collected and put them into a messy pile as Toothless lit them up.

"You know, that's not a good formation for a fire; especially if you want it to last the night." I jumped at the sudden voice and turned around to find… a dragon. No, scratch that, a Night Fury. A Night Fury! I thought at first that there was someone behind it, or in the woods surrounding us, before it hit me.

"Did you just….did I just hear you….?" I asked in shock. The dragon narrowed its eyes in annoyance, "No, it was that rock over there; of course it was me!" I stumbled back and promptly fell on my rear.

"Who…what are you?" I asked it. It looked over itself, like just now realizing it was a Night Fury. "Oh, I'm so sorry if I scared you. Although that look on your face was priceless." So, it has a sense of humor, I thought.

Suddenly, it started to shimmer, as if it was underwater and I was looking at it from above the surface. Then it started to change. I don't mean like change colors (although that in itself would've been weird); no, I mean that it started to change into a human. "Whoa! What the…" I stammered as it finished. There, standing in the same spot where the Night Fury stood just a minute ago, was a young girl with light red hair. She had fair skin and had strange, purple eyes. She was wearing a simple blue shirt and some kind of cloak that looked to be made of dark scales. She had plain brown pants with layers of colored material and strings of large dragon teeth and claws around her waist and tall dark blue boots wrapped in strips of cloth.

Toothless appeared at my side and growled at the girl threateningly. Then, the girl approached him and began making some growling noises at him. Was it possible…that she was talking to him? It seemed bizarre, even by my standards.

"I know all of this this may seem crazy, but I can explain." She said, trying to get me to calm down.

"Okay, well, start talking." I said in the most commanding voice I could muster at this moment. She then sat down near our fire and began to move the sticks into a cone-formation, while they were still burning.

"I know you must be freaked out right now, but I'm not going to hurt you or the Night Fury. Just, hear me out." Her words, oddly, kind of calmed me down and I sat near the fire opposite of her.

"His name is Toothless, and he won't attack." I replied, holding a hand to the side to stop Toothless from jumping at the girl. I looked over at him, and he looked like he wanted to rip her head off.

"Well, where do you want me to start?" She asked innocently.

"Just…well, I guess you can tell me who, or what you are."

"My name is Gordanna, but you can call me Danna. What's your name?" She replied.

"Well, my name's Hiccup, and…hey! Don't change the subject! You still haven't told me what you are." My impatience must have started to show, because after I said that, she began to laugh.

"I'm a Shifter." She said between more questions than the statement answered.

"Okay," I replied, getting angry at how she was ducking my questions. "How can you talk to Toothless?"

"I can talk to all dragons because of my powers." She said simply.

"Uh huh." I said, "and what can a Shifter do exactly?" She studied me for a bit, possibly wondering if I, a stranger, was worth the answer. "I can turn into a dragon, specifically a Night Fury, and I can talk to dragons in their language." She answered, plain and simple.

"Is that those growling noises you made earlier?" She nodded. "Okay, so, where do you live, and how did you end up here?" I asked. I could tell that she was getting bored with this many questions, but I wanted, no, needed to know who she was and where she came from.

"I come from the Dragon Nest. I came here to get some herbs, since I'm starting to run low." She said, finally.

"Wait, as in the dragon nest? In a giant volcano?" I asked suddenly, remembering my little adventure with Astrid to the dragons' nest the night before.

"Oh, no; why would I live there? No, I live in a giant ice nest, that's ruled by the King. He looks over us and provides for us. He's very kind to everyone."

I could tell the girl - Danna- was starting to tire, so I decided to quit asking questions and call it a night. I could tell she felt the same way, so I stepped back and Toothless let me curl up in his wings. I yawned as I recalled the day's events. It sure has been a weird day, I thought as I drifted into sleep.