Hey guys. I know this is late, but I have been finishing school up and now have time to work on this. Plus I watched Dragons: Race to the Edge, and saw how much Heather changed XD. So... I decided to change her a little.

To answer Mark's question, yes I am expanding this story. Five chapters will not be efficient for such a story, would it? XD

So don't worry, I will not be ending it soon. I don't know how many chapters there will be, to be honest. Definitely more than five, though.

Souls of Dragons

Chapter 4: Good Ideas Become Twisted

The sky was filled with beautiful white streams.

It was the promise of good weather. It was what the Archipelago needed in the growing months of winter coming. The sun to warm the cold homes. Especially the wind, which was not as treacherous as it usually would have been. The gods seemed to bless the day with the promise of a good year.

It was the perfect day to go flying.

Toothless was happy; he always was happy. Especially when Hiccup was with him. The two friends were inseparable, after all. It was not uncommon for the two to be seen together. And why wouldn't they? They were brothers, almost. And they were more equals in the sky where they reigned, capturing the cool breeze and sun in their face.

Hiccup smiled, feeling the air hit his eyes. Not his face directly; he had to thank his mask for that. But up here, in the cool air, was where he felt the most relaxed. The world didn't bother him here. He had no responsibilities except to just feel the cold air on his face and the light weight hide away.

This was where he felt free.

This is what it feels to be a dragon.

"Is this where you saw her?" Heather asked, looking up from her dragon, Windshear.

Both Hiccup and Heather were in the air, higher than what Berk will ever be. The small island was now far behind them now. Below them was mist that covered the world in a blanket of clouds, and the two dragons kept course in the morning sky to the north as they could.

Hiccup shrugged. "I think so." He squinted his eyes. "But it was earlier in the day when she attacked."

Hiccup gasped, as he looked at the Razorwhip. Its scales were silver, as though she was wearing armor. And her tail was covered in spikes. Hiccup reached over and stroked her shiny scales. Surprisingly, they were not sharp to the touch.

"This… is your dragon?" he asked.

Heather nodded. "I found her not too long ago, back when Dad and I left home." She rubbed the dragon's head. "I don't know how, but she came in and saved my father and I after our village was attacked."

Hiccup stopped petting Windshear. "Attacked? You didn't say your island was attacked."

"No… because I didn't mention it," Heather admitted, as she looked down at her sleeve. "A man attacked our island… but this Deadly Naddar came in… with a rider… and Windshear was with her."

Hiccup pondered at the news. "Do you think it was the rider?"

"Well, you did say she rode a Naddar, right?" Heather asked.

Hiccup shrugged once again. "Yes, but there are plenty of dragon riders who ride Deadly Naddars."

Hiccup stared down at the clouds. The way the sun was setting… it was the precise time that he saw her. Yes…. this did seem familiar. The way the sun reached the clouds with different colours. There was no mistaking it. It was though the gods were touching Midgard.

Yet…. He could not seem to remember where the nest led him and Toothless.

There was a laugh from the raven haired girl. "Right. Was that before or after she choked you?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Definitely after." He frowned. "Wait. How do you know she choked me?"

Heather shrugged, but she gave away a smile. "I might have talked to Finna. She's under the impressing that she did more than just try to kill you." She laughed. "I can see why you and her get along so well," she said with a smirk.

Oh gods. "What exactly did she say?" Hiccup asked, not wanting to hear Heather's answer.

"I might have heard her wrong, but she thinks that she dominated you and took you as her mat-"

"Okay, no! That did not happen!" Hiccup insisted, to which Heather started to laugh. "That's Finna for you, actually." He frowned. "She always said that I would be swept away by some strange dragon girl and she would mate with me." He groaned. "It's been her running joke for the past five years."

Heather giggled. "You know, I envy you two. You seem so close."

"When your younger sister is your body guard, you tend to take her crap more than most people," Hiccup explained. His mind went to the past seventeen years with his sister, of all the times she made him eat dirt or torture him. Despite the sibling quarrel, she always had his back, even during the worst of his days. "The good thing about her is that I don't have to worry about her with boys."

"Right, since brothers have to make sure their sisters aren't with asses, right?" Heather asked.

"I take it you're an only child," Hiccup guessed.

"I don't know, exactly. My dad-"

The dragons cooed, but it was low. Almost like a growl.

"You smell something, bud?" Hiccup asked.

Toothless growled, nodding in agreement.

"The best thing about Night Furies is that they are the fastest dragons we know," Hiccup said, smirking. Toothless seemed to agree, because he looked up at Heather with a grin as well.

Heather smiled. "I'd like to test that theory," she said. Heather hit Windshear's reins, to which the dragon roared and dived to the islands below. Both dragon and rider soon disappeared in the misty clouds.

Hiccup chuckled, as he heard Heather shout in the excitement. "You know what, bud? She's not half bad."

Toothless rolled his eyes as he and his rider raced to find their friends.

"But that doesn't necessarily mean that she was the one who gave you Windshear," Hiccup insisted. "The Valkyrie didn't seem like the type of person to just drop in a dragon when someone's in trouble."

Heather shrugged. "Maybe, but you've only met her once. On the other hand, I saw the rider. They were small, and practically hid on the Deadly Naddar." She stopped. "And the dragon also was blue with yellow spikes." She fixed the saddle on Windshear and hopped on.

"Lots of Deadly Naddars are blue," Hiccup retorted. He, too, boarded his Night Fury. "And they all have yellow spikes."

"How many people do you know ride Naddars?" Heather asked.

Hiccup didn't say anything.

"You'll admit that she's not as bad as you make her out to be?" Heather asked, folding her arms over her chest. "Not everyone's bad."

"I happen to know many people who are," Hiccup said. "For example, Dagur."

Heather frowned. "I completely agree. He's a monster."

Toothless and Windshear landed on a small island below. At least, it looked small. There were some trees here and there, but it was mostly a long piece of land that reminded Hiccup of a watchtower.

Both the dragons keeled down, to allow their riders to settle.

Heather glanced at the land around her. Already she had taken an interest on the small island, whose trees matched the change in season. "This is Itchy Armpit?" she asked.

"I know, but Toothless was the one who chose the name," Hiccup said, as he took the map out and laid it out on the ground. "So... we're north of Berk. The island should be closer here. And maybe to the right."

The other woman nodded with certainty, as she looked down at the map. "If I'm correct, there should be some good minerals here I can use for the ingredients."

Hiccup nodded. But there was still one thing that was bothering him, like a small thought at the back of his mind. A woman of Heather's status, being the daughter of a chief, didn't necessarily need gold.

"You know," Hiccup noted, "You never really told me why you wanted to make gold with this stone." He smirked. "Sort of like how you didn't tell me you had a Razorwhip."

Technically, she did tell him. Not about the Razorwhip, though. But it never occurred to Hiccup that Heather needed a reason to make gold. It didn't seem – well, it wasn't completely unrealistic, but it was certainly odd for any woman to want to make gold. Especially when she was the daughter of a new chief.

"I guess…" Hiccup heard Heather sigh with more depth than most of her sighs. "-maybe I thought if we had gold, we wouldn't have to make a deal with Berk." She sighed. "And I wouldn't have to get married."

Hiccup nodded, fully understanding the pressures of marriage. He, too, wished that he wasn't used as a political

"I have to admit, this place is really beautiful," Heather admitted, to which Windshear purred in unison. "Do you think the Valkyrie will be here as well?" she asked.

"There's no way of saying." He looked up from the map and glanced at Heather. "You know… I do think the Valkyrie saved you."

Heather brought her knees closer to her body. "What… makes you say that?" she asked. "You said there are many Deadly Naddars out there."

"Well, there aren't many riders out there who have Deadly Naddars; they are stubborn dragons. And our Valkyrie happens to ride one." Hiccup smiled, with a smug grin. "Then again… who knows? It does make her look more… human."

Heather chuckled. "Because her psychopathic personality wasn't a deal-sealer for you?"

"More or less." He frowned. "You know… you said something about Dagur. Him being a… monster."

The raven-haired woman frowned. "I did." She sighed. "Remember when I said that I found my home in-"

"Fishbone!"

Hiccup glanced up at the air, and rolled his eyes in disgust. "Oh the gods hate me."

A Woolly Howl landed, and a girl with auburn hair jumped off. The dragon appeared to have fur like a bear, but it really was sharp scales. Its wings were similar to a Night Fury's, and its fangs as sharp as a Monstrous Nightmares.

In her hand was a specially designed hammer, which matched her brown and green coating. Toothless immediately got up from behind Hiccup and ran over to Finna. The teenager patted Toothless, and glanced over at her brother.

"Wait, you took Heather to Itchy Armpit?" she asked, in disgust. The Woolly Howl beside her cooed and went to play with Toothless. "If this is your idea of a first date, it sucks."

Hiccup was about to protest, but Heather started to chuckle. "Oh, so we're bringing sisters along?" she asked with a huge grin on her face. "And here I thought you were more of a one-man type date."

The twenty year old man sighed, as he stood up. "Ignore my twerp of a sister, who doesn't know when to leave people alone." I'm certain she was only sent here on Midgard to torture me. "Finnawena, I'm sure you're acquainted to Heather, my soon-to-be betrothed." He gestured his hands towards Finna, who nearly protested at the use of her full name. "Heather, my sister who's the biggest Twerp on the face of Midgard."

""Good to see you again, Finnawena," Heather said with a smile.

Finna smirked at Heather. "Likewise, Heather." She glanced at her brother. "So, what are you nerds up to?"

"Despite what you think, we're actually going to find some minerals and the Valkyrie," Hiccup said. He shoved the map at her, as he walked over to the peak of the island. "We think it was around here when Toothless and I met her."

Finna looked up from the map and raised an eyebrow. "The Valkyrie?"

"-Among Dragons," Heather added.

The seventeen year old laughed, dropping the map on the ground. "Valkyrie Among Dragons?" she asked in the midst of laughter. "What kind of a name is that?"

Heather smirked, as Windshear purred beside her. "I think it describes this mystery woman rather well." She pat Windshear's head with emphasis. "All we know is that she is this crazy woman who lives among dragons."

Hiccup smiled. "Thank you, Heather." He glared at Finna as she wiped tears from her eyes. "At least someone likes my naming."

"Right, the lady who choked you," Finna remembered, smiling.

"It's true!" Hiccup insisted.

Finna folded her arms over her chest. "Right, and you said that you aren't fucking her."

Heather giggled. "Oh, so that's the wording you said." She folded her arms. "I doubt you kiss your mother with that mouth."

"I did once, but she rinsed it with yak soap," the teenager admitted, then looked at her brother. "Besides, you shouldn't be cheating on your fiancé with a wild woman."

Hiccup blushed, as Heather looked out to the woods, supposedly in embarrassment. "Fin, it's not like that, okay?"

Finna didn't answer. She was too busy looking past Blizzard with sudden interest.

"What, are you going to ignore me because I'm right?" Hiccup asked. He sighed. "Geeze, Heather and I already agreed-"

Heather patted Hiccup's shoulder. "Hiccup, look."

Hiccup turned his attention to where Heather and Finna were looking.

He gaped at the far sight of him. Many miles away appeared to be a fort of some kind. But it was on fire; smoke was obviously rising up somewhere. It looked as though an entire forest was recently lit with flames, but it was worse.

That's not good, Hiccup thought.

The three dragons flew through the thin black trees.

It was strange; it seemed that an entire forest used to once have a huge supply of leaves growing from the branches, and there should have been signs of life. Perhaps, at one point, there were woodland creatures and grass. Heck, maybe grass as tall as the ones on Berk were here.

But now… all that remained were ashes.

"What is this?" Heather asked.

Windshear growled nervously, as she darted the trees. All three dragons checked their surroundings and gave off alert coos. They easily stayed close together (as much as their wings would let them without bumping in each other). Finna and Blizzard followed in suit of Toothless and Hiccup while Heather and Windshear stayed to Hiccup's right. The three riders could easily see the charcoal wasting off the trees... that were no longer there.

"It's like something came it and just burned everything," Hiccup said. He, too, tightened his grip on Toothless' reins. Whoever did this wasn't happy….

Finna pointed ahead. "Then what in Hel did that?"

Both Hiccup and Heather looked ahead and saw what she was addressing to: it was a large piece of ice, about the size of a small mountain. It looked as though it could pierce a ship.

I have a bad feeling about this. "Stay close you two, okay?" Hiccup asked.

For once, Finna did not verbally respond. As for Heather, she nodded and flew Windshear closer to Toothless. Finna and Blizzard glided beside them as well.

The ice dome contained pieces of wood all over, as though the ice swallowed an entire base in its wrath.

The young man looked down at the enormous ice piece, as Toothless glanced down at a huge footprint. Despite the situation, Hiccup could not help but remain curious about how something like this could happen. What had the capacity to create a large ice sculpture of a death scene? It certainly wasn't from nature or the gods. It was unnatural.

They flew around and suddenly heard-

"Dragons! Fire!"

Hiccup looked back and a net went right for them.

Toothless and Windshear seemed to dodge them, but Blizzard wasn't as lucky. Toothless dove in after Finna.

"Damn!" Finna shouted, as she fell. "Hiccup!"

Hiccup didn't think twice, as he had Toothless dive after the younger Haddock. Windshear bent down to reach for her as well, as Toothless grabbed her leg with his forepaw. They both threw Finna down to the base, and she landed with ease.

A man grabbed the Woolly Howl with his hands. "C'mon, men! This is a tough laddie, but we'll get her!" he shouted. He was followed by five men with thick coats and trapping equipment, as they clamped down on the dragon's jaw. The leader tugged a rope around Blizzard's muzzle as the dragon tried to move.

Some of the other men charged at Finna, but they were too slow. Hiccup jumped off Toothless and drew out Inferno. Heather drew her long sword and pointed it at the trappers. Finna's hammer stayed in place, ready to pounce.

The man who attacked the Woolly Howl looked up at Toothless with surprise and desire. "Soil my bridges," he whispered. "A Night Fury. And here I thought they were extinct."

Hiccup's Inferno burned as he took a better look at whoever caught his sister's dragon. He was a tall man, that was certain, and possibly a few years older than Hiccup was. The most bizarre thing about the man was that, although his body tone could crush the young Haddock alone, his chin barred a tattoo belonging to a clan.

Needless to say, Hiccup wasn't taking any chances with this guy.

Hiccup held a hand up in defense. "Listen, sir. We don't want any trouble. Just give us back the dragon, and we'll be on our way."

The tallest man chuckled. "Oh, I see. So you think you can come here and wreck our camp in the middle of the night, and there wouldn't be any consequences?" he asked, stepping on Blizzard. Finna tried to charge at them, but Heather held her back. "Trapping dragons is hard enough without goody-two shoes dragon riders like you messing it up!"

Heather raised her hands gently, and lowered her sword. "Look, it wasn't us who destroyed your fort. No dragon we have could have done something like that, anyway." She placed her sword closer to the ground. "We come in peace from Berk."

Hiccup did not say anything, but he was glad Heather was here to help calm the storm.

However, from the look on her face, Finna was ready to hurt someone. "I only come in peace if my dragon isn't harmed."

The tattooed man chuckled, as he walked over to Finna. "And you seem rather bold for a child, eh?" he asked, with a sly grin. He leaned in closer to tilt her head up with his hand, to make her look him straight in the eye. "It's too bad you're too childish; people in my village would have taken you for a bride in no time."

Finna merely spat at the man, and raised her hammer.

"O..kay, that's enough male interaction for you," Hiccup said. The teenage girl stepped back, as Hiccup looked up at the tall man, who was wiping spit off his face in disgust. "Look, you weren't attacked by us. We haven't been this far out before." He frowned. "I'm sure, however, that you were attacked by the Valkyrie."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Val...kyrie?" he asked, uncertain of the word. He looked over at his mates, who were as equally as confused. He pointed his knife back at Hiccup. "What is this Valkyrie you speak of?" He stepped closer. "And how do I know this isn't some dragon-rider's trick?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. I'm going to need to make posters of this woman. "You know… Valkyrie Among Dragons?" he hinted.

At first, there was silence from the trappers, as they looked at each other with unease. Then, they suddenly joined together in uneven, hard laughs. Hiccup would have grown red in embarrassment if he knew these men. Luckily, his brow only showed annoyance.

The tallest trapper seemed to laugh the hardest, holding his stomach with his hand. "What kind of a bloody name is that?" the man taunted. "It sounds like a child came up with it!"

"More like a papered child," one of the men added.

"I know, right?" Finna said, with a smile on her face.

Not helping, Fin, Hiccup thought, as he glared at her with annoyed eyes. Finna didn't miss it, but she merely shrugged her shoulders.

Hiccup turned his attention back to the tattooed trapper. "It's not a trick, okay? This Valkyrie… she's the demon sent from Valhalla. She'll stop at nothing to release all imprisoned dragons of this world." Every word was louder than the next, growing in tone. "She's not one to temper with, and she certainly would take your life with one strike, and without mercy. That's why they call her the Valkyrie Among Dragons."

The other trappers looked at each other with nervous expressions. Hiccup assumed that they hadn't heard of such a person, or demon. Good.

"You've seen her before?" the first trapper asked.

The tallest trapper rolled his eyes. "Teeny, this rider's obviously trying to trick us!" he insisted. "Look, boy-" he pointed his dagger at Hiccup, "-I have witnessed some bizarre sightings in all my twenty-five years on Midgard, and I have never set eyes on this woman before."

"I'm completely honest," Hiccup said. "In fact, I was on my way to see her. You wouldn't be able to miss a golden-haired demon with the eyes of stolen sapphires taken from the depths of Hel herself." He frowned. "You mess with the Valkyrie, and she'll be sure to reign Hel over you."

Finna raised an eyebrow at him. "Stolen sapphires?" she mouthed.

There was a sigh from the tattooed trapper again. "You mean to tell me that a single woman came in with her ice-spitting dragon, and controlled it to attack us," the man said. He scoffed. "It really does sound like a childish antic. No woman can control dragons like that."

Hiccup wanted to sigh in annoyance, but he stood his ground. This guy would get along with Dad quite well. "I'm telling the truth. She exists."

"Yea, and I'm not a Son of Eret." He laughed. "Right. Where are my manners? I am Eret, Son of Eret. The finest dragon trapper this world has ever seen."

Hiccup chuckled. "You know, I'm used to being ridiculed by having a strange name, but I suddenly feel better knowing yours."

Toothless growled.

"And this is Toothless, and he says we're going," Hiccup added. "So good-bye to you, Son of Eret. I hope we never have the pleasure to see each other again." He looked back to the snarling dragon that desperately wanted to kill. "Tooth-"

"Deadly Naddar!" someone shouted.

Hiccup looked at Toothless. The distraction we needed. "Now, bud!"

Toothless fired one of his powerful plasma blasts, and a piece of the ice from above them dropped onto the net. Blizzard screeched, and pulled the net off her. One of the trappers tried to capture her again, but Finna came in and swung her hammer at them. She jumped on Blizzard before a trapper could hit her.

Blizzard joined Toothless and Windshear in the sky, and the dragon riders were gone out of the trappers' sights.

No POV from Astrid? What is this? :O

Don't worry, we'll see Astrid again sooner or later ;)

And don't forget to review! I'd like to hear what you think of this story :). the more response I receive, the faster I'll get this done ;) (I'm evil and manipulative, I know XD)

See you guys soon!