A/N Hello, lovely readers! So, I finally figured out a system for updates! Yay! I made a note of it in the first chapter of my new story, "Choices, choices", but the point is that you can now look forward to regular updates.

Chapter Four

I dropped out of my tree and walked down to the pond. I scooped up a handful of water and said "Ungen." The water solidified, forming a reflective surface. I gazed at myself and tried to summon a Guise. Any Guise. It didn't work . Every time I slipped into a memory of the past, my Guises wouldn't work for a week.

I sighed, released the water and turned to leave.

"Hey!"

I stifled a curse.

"Who are you?"

I turned around to see Snotlout glaring at me, a look that quickly vanished once he realized I was, in fact, a girl.

"I am Terra," I told him.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Is this your island?"

I laughed. "No, it most certainly is not," I said with a grin. "I do live here, though. I've been watching your group. You're all quite amusing."

"Oh." He seemed to be deliberating. "Why didn't we see your ship, then?" He asked.

"I don't have a ship. I was wrecked here years ago."

"And no one came to look for you?" He sounded surprised.

"There was no one to do so. My tribe is all dead. They were all killed in the dragon war."

"So you don't like dragons?" The poor boy sounded worried now.

"Oh, no, I like dragons." I assured him. "In fact, I'm quite glad that the war is over."

Snotlout frowned. "How did you know that?"

I laughed. "Because you ride dragons." There was a short pause, in which Snotlout filled up the buckets he had with water.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" I asked.

"Sure. Um. Sorry, what did you say your name was again?"

"Terra."

"I'm Snotlout."

"Pleasure to meet you." I wasn't lying. It was a pleasure to meet him now, as opposed to when he joined the wrong side.


"Hey, guys, look what I found!"

Snotlout pushed through the bushes into the camp, where the other dragon riders were sitting by the fire. He put down the water bucket and dropped onto a log as I pushed through the bushes after him. All eyes turned to me.

"Hello," I said. "Welcome to the island. I'm Terra."

Hiccup stood up. "Hi, Terra. I'm Hiccup." The others introduced themselves as well, and Astrid asked me if the island was mine.

"No," I said again. "It's not mine. Though I'm sure I saw a claim stone somewhere up there..." I waved my hand towards the top of the island.

"Hiccup, can we go find it?" Ruffnut asked excitedly.

"No, not right now." Hiccup gave me a funny look. "So, it's just you? I mean, on the island?"

How cute. He really needed some lessons in subtlety.

"No. You guys are here. Some dragons live here." Hiccup looked a bit frustrated. I continued.

"Speaking of dragons, aren't you going to introduce me to yours?" I pointed to the pile of sleeping dragons.

"Eehh, um, that's not the best idea." Fishlegs interrupted.

"Yeah. Even we know not to wake up a peacefully sleeping dragon." Tuffnut told me.

I smirked. "Maybe you don't need to wake them up."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Astrid asked me suspiciously. I walked over to Toothless, turned around, and said simply, "It means I will."

Before anyone else could do anything, I turned back to the dragons, said very loudly, "It's time to wake up! Toothless! Stormfly! Hookfang! Barf! Belch! Meatlug!" Then, while everyone gaped at me and the dragons jerked awake, I whispered, "caem."

The dragons blinked. Snorted. Then they all sat down politely and looked at their humans expectantly. I turned around and said smugly, "I think they want breakfast."


"You know, Hookfang would have roasted me if I tried that," Snotlout prattled on. "And it's a miracle Stormfly didn't shoot her spikes, right?"

"Sure," I said. "A miracle."

Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and I were sitting around the fire. Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs were inspecting their respective dragons' saddles for wear. Snotlout pushed Hookfang's nose away impatiently and continued.

"How did you do that? I mean, dragons must love you. Do you wear some kind of dragon-nip scented perfume or something?"

I snorted at the thought of dragon-nip scented perfume.

"Or something."

"Really?" Astrid asked me suddenly. Huh. I hadn't noticed her coming up behind me.

"And what's that?" She continued.

I smiled and said softly, "magic." I had thought they'd take it well. They didn't.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut yelled "Witch!" together and fell backwards off the log they were sitting on. Snotlout jumped up and backed away. Astrid drew her axe.

"What's going on?" Hiccup ran up, followed by Fishlegs.

"She's a witch," Astrid bit out, not taking her eyes off me for a second.

I rolled my eyes. " Relax, Astrid. I mean you no harm. Besides, I'm not a witch."

"Oh, so you're trick with the dragons wasn't magic?"

"It was, actually."

"So you're a witch!" Ruffnut said.

"No, I'm not a witch. A witch cursed me."

"Okay, hold on." Hiccup put up his hands. "Astrid, put the axe down. Terra, what do you mean, a witch cursed you? Guys, how about we hear her out before we attack her?"

I nodded. "Good call, Hiccup. If I was a witch, I could have quite easily taken offense. Witches are weird that way."

Astrid put her axe away, though quite reluctantly. Ruffnut and Tuffnut came back to sit on their log. Snotlout joined them. Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs took another log. I was alone on a log.

"So." Hiccup said. "Explain."

"Alright." I started. "A few thousand years ago, there was a tribe of Vikings in your archipelago called the Wanderers."

"What does this have to do with you?" Astrid demanded. I fixed her with a steady stare and said, "Because I was a part of it."

That shut her up. Everyone else's eyes widened.

"My village was very adamant that we should end the war with the dragons by killing them all. One woman was highly against it. She wanted us to join the side of a boy who was quickly gathering followers, he was the son of the chief of the Hooligan tribe."

"But that's our tribe!" Ruffnut realized.

"Yes, Ruffnut, it is. This boy wanted to end the war by negotiating with the dragons. He had made best friends with a Sea Dragon named Odinsfang. This boy's name was Hiccup."

They all gasped. Hiccup was speechless.

"You are the third to carry that name, you know," I told him.

"Really?"

"Yes. Didn't you know?"

"No."

"Well. Anyway, this woman wanted to join his side. But our chief didn't want to. The rest of our tribe didn't want to. They believed that dragons were evil, soulless beasts. And so...this woman..she..she revealed herself as a witch. She cursed the tribe to die at the claws of the dragons. She spared one. The chief's daughter was cursed in a different manner."

"You?" Hiccup was still shocked, and this revelation had shocked him all the more.

"Yes. Me. At first, the curse seemed like a gift. I had extensive magical abilities. I lived for years and years and never got older. My mind stayed young. My body stayed young. But...it is a curse, after all. I cannot do any magic without a price."

"What kind of price?" Fishlegs asked interestedly.

"A bad one. See, the more magic I do, the more likely it is that I will be pulled into what I call a Time Slip. I re-live terrible things in the past that I have seen. I re-live moments where my friends were ripped apart by dragons. Where my brother abused me. Where Hiccup confronted the dragon Merciless. Where the king Grimbeard executed the last of the honorable dragon riders from the time of Hiccup the First. Where the dragon army attacked the Viking city, and the city burned, and the streets ran red with blood, and the harbor was clogged with corpses, and the ground was sticky and choked with blood and smoke and fire. Where the chief of the Uglithugs locked me in a Berserker prison for a hundred years. And much more. And every Time Slip leaves me weakened. I can do...impressive physical feats. I can jump from great heights and land safely. I can run faster than a Night Fury can fly. Stuff like that. But after a Time Slip, I am just as weak as you."

"Hey!" Snotlout protested. "We're not weak!"

"Compared to me at full strength, you are."

"So..." Tuffnut seemed confused. "This actually is your island?"

"No, Tuffnut, it is not. I came here to escape the other part of my curse."

After a long pause, Astrid asked, "And..were you planning to tell us what it is?"

"I wasn't."

"Why not?"

"Partly because it's embarrassing, partly because it doesn't matter, and partly because it's none of your business."

There was a long, awkward silence.

"Fine." Astrid finally huffed. "Well, what do you want with us?"

"It's been about fifty years since anyone friendly came here, and about two hundred years before that since I saw any humans at all. Have you thought that I might just be lonely? You guys seem good enough. You ride dragons, dragons you are obviously friends with. You are a close group, I can tell. You trust each other. You're friends. I haven't had a friend for three hundred years."

My voice turned wistful.

"I just wanna be one of you guys."

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Hiccup frown with a slightly confused air.

"Hiccup?" They were all looking at him.

"Well... Um. You want to be a dragon rider?"

"Well, that would be nice. But not exactly. I want to help you. There are Dragon Hunters who frequent these parts. Their leader is a man named Viggo Grimborn. When he learns about you, which, let's face it, is inevitable, he will do everything in his power to destroy you. Everything. And this man is the smartest person I've ever met or heard of. He will try to outsmart you time and time again. Now, I'm not saying I'm smarter than he is. I'm just saying I know how to teach people to think strategically. How to bluff convincingly. How to lead your enemy off the path of thought you don't want him on. I want to train you. All of you."

They were silent, apparently waiting for Hiccup's decision. I had only told one lie in there. The lie was the Viggo was the smartest person I'd ever met or heard of. That would be Hiccup. He just didn't know how to use his intellect. He used it on dragons and inventions and races and whatnot. But I had seen his future knowledge. His future decisions. He so far surpassed Viggo that Viggo was like a dead fish compared to Hookfang.

"Well," Hiccup finally said. "I guess so. But if you're going to be one of us, you're going to have to do your part."

I grinned. "Of course! I can work just as hard as any of you. I won't let you down, I promise."


I sat on a bench in the Club House, a week after Hiccup had let me join the dragon riders. The others were off doing who knew what, except for Hiccup, who was talking to me about an idea for the Dragonfly while giving Toothless an ear rub.

I found myself staring at him, again and again. Each time, I'd rip my gaze away and pray he hadn't noticed, and it seemed he hadn't, but then I'd find myself distracted by random things; his auburn hair, and how it turned bronze in the sunlight. His small, lithe hands. The spray of freckles over his face. The way his leather armor hugged the muscles of his chest in a totally not subtle way at all. His eyes. His eyes were beautiful. Tempting.

When that thought hit, I froze. No.

"Terra, are you alright?"

Since when had his voice become so...so...completely amazing?

"Yeah. I'm fine. Um. I had a training session..."

"Oh. Okay."

The disappointment in his voice tugged at me. No matter. I fled.


I shut the door of my hut firmly and dropped to the ground.

No, no, no, this was not fair! THIS WAS NOT FAIR AT ALL!

Why?!

Why did it have to be him? Well, to be fair, he was utterly fabulous...

I hit my head with my hand.

"Stop it!" I told myself. I got up and began pacing.

He had a destiny. I could not interfere. Astrid was a part of that destiny. I was not. I was expendable. She was not. She would be his. For all I knew, she already was.

I sighed heavily. "Stupid curse."

I dropped to the ground again. Long ago, when I had protected Hiccup the First, the curse had decided that I was to fall in love with his brother. Then, destiny had dictated that I kill him. To kill the man I loved had broken me. It was an accident, but still. The curse wouldn't even let me follow him past the veil of death. Then, when I protected the boy Speedfast, the curse forced me to completely lose any feelings I might have had for Hiccup's brother and fall in love with the boy's cousin, who had died when Tomorrow was burned. And now I loved Hiccup? How was this fair? He would never be free to love me back. And I did love him. It was not simply infatuation. It was not simply attraction. I knew Hiccup's future. I knew Hiccup's past. I knew how he thought, how he just was. I loved him.

But I had loved Winter, too.

The thought brought on a Time Slip and I fell again into the past...


A/N Hello again! Hoped you liked it.

Out of curiosity...would you like me to follow canon conversations? I don't know them by heart, but I can paraphrase pretty well..OR..I can watch RTTE again and figure it out.

One parting word: PIRATES!

(Just 'cause I don't have enough randomness in my life...)