Chapter 2! Hope you all enjoy!
I wasn't planning on updating so soon, but I wanted to thank all of you for taking the time to read. Thank you, thank you!

A few notes: first of all, the next few chapters may take awhile for me to write so i'm very sorry about that in advance. Second, yes. Our main character happens to be the owner of...a Nightfury. I know that may seem Mary Sue-ish, but i'm hoping that when you all find out the reason and see how it ties into the story, it'll make sense?...Hopefully...Erm...I don't know...

Reviews/feedback are much appreciated!

"Just...take care of it, alright?"
"There's no way! Hiccup-"
"Yeah, I know. He's your sworn enemy, eternal rival, whatever. But Althea-"
"I-"
"-as chief of Berk, i'm gonna have to ask you to put aside your differences and just...try and get along. For now. Please?"
"What? No! I refuse! I absolutely refuse to play nice with that-"
"Look, just do it! I'll take care of this disaster when he's up, but right now, I have to go see the twins about the disaster that happened yesterday, alright?"
There is a brief silence then, followed by a loud but resigned groan of frustration, and the rattling bang! of a fist punching into the side of the poor wall.

And this is what Eret hears when he wakes; dazed and disoriented.
He blinks, looks around, blinks again, and realizes one thing; this isn't his home. Slowly, he sits up and realizes something else; this isn't his bed.
That is when the door swings open with a thud and the woman from last night stalks into the hut, clearly fuming about something he can only guess about.

Still, when she speaks, her voice is frighteningly calm and very, very resentful.

"Well. Look who's finally awake." she says, standing over him, arms crossed over her chest. Today, of course, she is not wearing her emerald green dress or her mask, and is instead clad in one version of the standard village uniform; warm boots, gloves, a pair of form-fitting pants and a vest with a fur-trimmed hood that is cinched at the waist with a belt, and worn over a long sleeved tunic.
But all of these observations are suddenly lost on him when the events of the previous night finally come back.
"Hang on...You...You hit me!" Eret splutters, ever so eloquently.
"Yes. Very well-remembered." Althea responds dryly with a roll of her eyes.

She makes to say something more, but instead, lets out a sigh and disappears into what Eret assumes is the kitchen, before reappearing with a bowl and wet wash cloth in hand.
"...I have to tend to your wound now...so just...deal with it." she mutters grudgingly. And without explaining how he got there or what is going on or why she had punched him in the first place, she perches herself on the edge of the bed and reaches up to wipe away the blood that runs down the newly re-opened cut on his lip.
Of course, Eret resists.
"If you think i'm going to let you touch me after what you did," he hisses, grabbing at Althea's wrist.

Almost immediately, a low, threatening growl sounds from the corner of the room.
Eret freezes.
No doubt about it. It is a dragon.

And judging by the fact that she doesn't even bother to turn her glare away from his face, it is her dragon.
"It's okay, Bloodbiter." Althea says.

The words are unconvincing, said through gritted teeth.
But Eret hardly notices that.
Because curled up in the far side of the room, is a Nightfury.
A Nightfury that he recognizes.
And his heart nearly stops.

"That dragon…" Eret murmurs, a thousand different thoughts rushing through his head all at once.
And Althea gives him a wry smile as she finally pries her wrist from his grip.
"Finally recognize us, do you?"

"Let us go. Please! I am begging you."
A derisive laugh. This isn't the first time someone's pleaded for their life.
"I have a quota to fill, dragon rider. The Nightfury is mine!"
He turns to give orders. But then-

"I'm not asking for my sake! I'm not asking for Bloodbiter's sake!...I'm asking you to let us go. For yours." A pause. "Let us go." Voice quiet and pleading.
An uncertain silence, quickly covered by another laugh. Sounds almost nervous, this time.
"You're in over your head, girl. Men, kill her!"
Eyes show fear, but just for a second.
Then, they narrow into anger.

"Bloodbiter, you know what to do!"
Bursts of bright blue flame. Shouting. Chaos.
The girl's somehow freed herself from her bindings without him knowing and she escapes on the back of the beast. The ink-black creature swoops up into the sky, then dives back down and snatches Eret and pulls him up hundreds and hundreds of feet into the air.
Panic and fear. Masked by anger. He sounds just a little pathetic.
"No! No, damn you! Let me down, rider!"
The rider ignores him. Speaks instead to the dragon.
"Bloodbiter, go!"
And they fly off so quickly, Eret cracks and actually begins begging for mercy.
He isn't sure how far they go, or how long they fly.

Before he realizes what's happening, the dragon is making to release him and so he braces himself for the fall, but...nothing. Dragon trapper opens his eyes and his head whips around and he realizes that he is high, high up and...is being tied rather tightly to the trunk of a sturdy tree by a pair of dexterous hands.
"What can I say? I am a showman." a voice says, but there is no humor in its tone.
It is the woman, securing a knot by his feet that will keep him from falling thousands of miles now to his death. Her face is obscured by her fur-lined hood, but Eret can just make out sharp eyes and dark hair. "Your men will come for you. If they can. No need to worry."
She laughs heartily then and hops lightly onto the back of her beast, just about to fly off and escape his clutches forever.
Temper flares. Indignation and embarrassment go hand-in-hand.
"We'll meet again, dragon rider! You've not seen the last of me, I swear it!"
The girl turns her head to look back over her shoulder. She is surprised at the challenge. Then, she grins, a shockingly non-hostile grin, considering the circumstances.
"I look forward to it!"
Then she really is gone.

Suddenly breathless, Eret can feel his heart pound in his chest faster and faster and faster.
Anger or excitement? He doesn't know.
But he watches her disappear with a new sense of determination; purpose. But first…

"Hello? Anybody there? Men! Cut me down!"

"...It's been awhile, dragon rider." Eret says quietly.
"It's been awhile, dragon trapper." Althea replies, more nastily than she intends. She pauses then, lets out a heavy sigh to calm herself, lifts her hand once again. And this time, Eret does not stop her as she presses the damp washcloth to his wound.
"...You didn't recognize me." Althea says after a moment, ignoring the fact that Eret is staring at her; staring without even blinking and with his eyes wide open in disbelief, in fear, in wonder, in awe.
"You were wearing a mask."
Althea quirks a brow at him and her hand stops moving.
"I took the mask off." she says pointedly.
"And then you punched me."
Her hands resume their work.
"Fair enough, I suppose." Althea says with another sigh.

After a moment, she puts the bowl and cloth aside and begins unscrewing a small jar which she produces from her pocket. The stuff smells putrid, even by Eret's standards, but he trusts she won't try and poison him, at least, not yet, so he doesn't protest even as she dips her finger into the gel.

"...This may sting." Althea mutters, and then, she leans in close and begins to dab at his lip.

And Eret keeps watching her, all the while.

In the three years he has known her, this is the closest he has ever been able to get, though they had seen so much of each other over that time. And it seems so odd for him to see her here; no longer quite the mysterious, steadfast, untiring rival who appeared once in awhile just to torment him and his men, but an average villager of Berk...with a home and companions and a normal life; with dark patches and lines underneath now weary eyes and a scar he had never even noticed she'd had, running across her cheek.
She feels much too real up close.

And suddenly, he can't stop the words from tumbling from his lips.
"Aren't you going to kill me?..."
Althea's eyes meet with his then and his blood runs cold at her unwavering gaze.
"...Would you let me?" she asks evenly.
And Eret wants to be the noble man and say that yes, he would in fact let her kill him, as he was quite sure that after what he'd done to her, he deserved it. But...-
"No..." comes the honest answer.
And Althea, to his surprise, almost smiles at that.

"All done." she announces, but her face is suddenly cold and stony once again as she collects her things. "If you're feeling better, you should go home. I'm not going to kill you, no matter how much I want to so you can rest easy."
"Wait. Wait!" Eret struggles to sit up as she heads for the door. "You're...not going to kill me?"

"...No." she says, but it pains her to say it. So Althea quickly turns, calls Bloodbiter after her, and both dragon and woman disappear out the door. But, of course, the dragon snarls at him first.

"Althea! You headed to see your sheep?"

It is Snotlout who obliviously calls over to her as she storms past the great hall later that morning, and Althea knows, she knows that her friend has done nothing to become the unwitting victim of her hostility. So she tries her hardest to repress the urge to hiss and growl and bark at him like some wild animal, especially in public.

"Just going to see how they've been." she answers with a strained smile.
"You know, if you need help getting settled in again, i'm always ready and available."
He grins at her. Althea snorts.

"Still haven't given that up yet?" she replies tiredly. He matches her pace as he lets out a chortle.
"Me? Never. I never give up. Ever. You know? I'm like-"
Althea finds herself interrupting before she can stop herself.
"Yeah, I know. Thanks."
She gives him a somewhat apologetic pat on his beefy arm, then steps past him, hoping he won't follow as she turns the corner near Gobber's home, but...no such luck. Still, she tells herself that she can handle this.

She just hopes that he doesn't-

"Well, hey, did you ever find that dragon trapper you were after?"

Althea immediately bites down on her lip viciously and waits a moment before braving an answer.

"Uh. Yes. Yes, I did."
And at that, her companion perks up, nods, waits.
"...And?" he urges, when she offers nothing.
"And...what?"
Ever the dramatic man, Snotlout stops walking altogether as he flashes her an exasperated look.

"And did you get him?" he exclaims, throwing his arms up in the air. "Cause, oh man, if that were me, I would take the guy's face and just...crush it. With my fist. Nobody messes with my dragon. I would make this guy hurt so bad he'd die. And then, i'd...bring him back to life and like, kill him all over again."
And despite herself, even Althea can't help but laugh at that.
"I'm sure you would." she agrees.

She watches as Snotlout brightens at the simple task of having made her laugh and suddenly, listening to his happy prattling feels a much less frustrating thing. Still, Althea can't help it if she's distracted by thoughts of the rather unpleasant surprise that had been waiting for her return to Berk.

"Snotlout...Why is Eret here?" she finally asks, when she is no longer able to contain her curiosity.
The boy stops mid-sentence.
"Eret?" he echoes, blinking in surprise.
Althea nods, trying not to meet Snotlout's eyes. For a moment, she wonders if he'd caught on to the familiarity with which she had said his name by mistake, but thankfully, Snotlout just strokes his chin innocently as he thinks.
"Well...He used to be a dragon trapper. Nearly turned all of us in to Drago, but then, oh man, you should have been there." he says excitedly. "All these weapons were like, pointed at him and Drago nearly killed us all but Astrid's dragon came from nowhere and just swooped in and totally protected him."

"...Stormfly did that?" Althea asks, voice quiet and unbelieving.
Because she knows that Stormfly, much like her owner, is slow to trust and very good at picking out threats. Althea has seen constant proof of that since the day dragons had come to Berk, and that is precisely the reason why none of this makes an ounce of sense to her.

In all her years of knowing Eret, she had learned perhaps only one true thing about him; and it was that he was a coward.
And cowardice always meant betrayal.

"...Do you really mean it?"
Her eyes are surprisingly guarded; suspicious.
"Yes." comes the answer.
But he pauses before he says it, and Althea should understand what that means but she's too blinded by years' worth of adrenaline from playing cat-and-mouse with a stranger who had seemed completely harmless to her until just a few weeks ago, and she misses the signs completely.
Silence, in which he tries to read her face and she tries to read his.
Finally, there's a smile. It's weak and hesitant and not quite trusting, but it is a smile nonetheless.
And Eret feels both shame and relief at the sight of it.
"...Okay. Tonight then."
(He doesn't miss that trace of doubt, but he convinces himself that it isn't there.)

She turns to the sky and calls, "Bloodbiter!"
A roar. The flapping of heavy, scaly wings.
The huge creature appears out of nowhere and the sight never ceases to amaze him.
Althea mounts the beast and by the time she's properly seated, she is back to normal. No hint of unease or fear. This time, she smiles for real and says, "It looks like you'll be disappointing Drago Bludvist again, dragon trapper."
He brightens at the sound of their customary farewell, no longer said with a threatening edge or after a bloody bout involving daggers and spears and raised fists.
"I'll get you next time, rider." he says quietly.
Another pause.
"I'm sure you'll try."
He knows she may not quite suspect what, exactly, he's gotten her involved in, but the words smart and sting like a slap in the face nonetheless.
And so he comes that close to telling her.
But by the time he's made up his mind, the Nightfury has already leapt high into the air and taken off, leaving Eret alone to face the decision he's made.

And this, this is the very last time she sees him.

"Althea? Uh...Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Althea snarls, shaking herself from the memory. She walks faster as they approach the far hills of the village, once again eager to be rid of company so she can finally think with a clear head. "Snotlout, don't you have anything-"
But then, from the far side of Berk, there is a loud, echoing roar followed by thunderous cheers and applause.
Althea stops in her tracks.
"What was that?"
"What do you mean 'what was'-" Snotlout begins to say with a laugh. Then, he seems to realize something and, pleased at the prospect of knowing something she doesn't, he smirks and says, almost to himself, "Heh. I forgot you left before someone thought it up."
"Thought what up?"

"Uh. Dragon racing?" he replies, as if it is the most obvious answer in the world. "Which means you get the day off. Come on, let's go."
Still not quite understanding, Althea remains rooted to her spot and simply frowns.
"What are you talking about, Snotlout?"

"You know...you don't have to tend the sheep?" he offers, not very helpfully. He waits for her to understand but she doesn't. "You know, cause they've been using your sheep as a point count and all, ever since you-" he continues, but Althea is already storming back towards the stadium, obscenities streaming from her lips.

For a moment, Snotlout just watches in surprise as she goes. Then, he laughs and hurriedly chases after her.

Thank you for reading! If you find the flashbacks confusing, please let me know!