Roxanna tiptoed downstairs and sat in silence by the window, her back to the stairs, she was uttering incantations under her breath and practising hand movement's as though she had her wand. Doing magic without was pretty difficult and very tiring so for now she was just working on the movements and words. All the while, listening out carefully for anyone coming down.

Luckily for her, the first person to come down was still Amara, looking a bit worse for wear.

Roxanna quickly stopped and 'looked' back. "Morning." She smiled brightly.

"Morning, Roxanna." She said softly, still her cheery self, but a bit less energetic as she went out in her winter wear to collect breakfast for the dragons. "Toothless tends to get an itchy spot he can't reach right under his right ear... do you think anything with food could help with that?" She asked before opening the door.

"I honestly couldn't say. I'm not very good with the feeding side. With bane, it was a lot of trial and error." She explained.

"Dad got in a habit of...well, putting a variety of what we usually caught the most of in his basket... we tend to get a lot of Cod and Salmon here on Berk." She told Roxanna, even as Toothless came up to her, nuzzling her to try to ask her to scratch the spot Amara had told her about. "It tends to get worse for him in the cooler weather, but we're at a loss as to how to help him."

"Well... maybe he just needs more good oils in his food? They tend to help with dry skin." She mused.

"Alright, I'll try that with his breakfast today. Thanks, Roxanna." She said with a smile.

"No problem." She replied, letting Amara get on with it.

Amara nodded, walking her way down to the food storage to get everyone's breakfast. Toothless let out a grumbling sound, tapping Roxanna's arm with his right ear again, then cooing in a begging tone.

Roxanna gave in and gently rubbed his itchy spot.

Toothless cooed softly, leaning into her touch, showing just how much that simple touch helped him. It wasn't too long after that that Amara returned with food, setting it out for the dragons and proceeding to work on breakfast.

"It is strange that it's restricted to the one spot. I can't feel anything but if he had an injury there then it might itch from the skin tightening to close it. Otherwise it just feels dry to me. Like he needs a good mud bath." She told Amara.

"Unless we mix it ourselves, mud is rare on Berk." Amara said softly. "We can talk to Dad at breakfast, he likes Toothless as clean as a dragon can be, but he also wants Toothless healthy, so I'm sure if he knew a mud bath would help, he'd be all for it." She said, making a nice hot breakfast for the humans as Toothless, Bane, and Stormfly ate their own breakfasts.

"From what little evidence they've seen back home, they coat themselves in the mud through the day and it dries off and falls away by nightfall." Roxanna said thoughtfully.

"That would be perfect... Toothless seems more obsessed than other dragons... not just about mud, but cleanliness... could that be a hereditary thing, from his own kind?" She asked, setting the table as she heard her parents stirring upstairs.

Roxanna shrugged, " It's possible but I'm not entirely sure."

Amara nodded, dishing up breakfast as her family sat down for the joined them in silence.

Amara smiled at her father, telling him about Roxanna's idea. "If she and I can set up a mud bath for him in the Academy, could you bring him by, as long as we send you an 'Air Mail' when it's ready? She really does think it'd help with his itch under his ear: apparently, the wild ones bathe in mud early in the morning, and it dries and falls off by nightfall."

"I can't see the harm it could do..." Hiccup said while trying to silently move various things on the table closer to their guest, obviously suddenly more aware of Roxanna's disability.

Amara smiled softly, nodding. "Then we'll send you an Air Mail when it's ready, Dad. Thanks." Amara said softly, tending to eating her meal. She said softly.

Roxanna picked at her breakfast. She obviously couldn't see what hiccup was doing but she felt certain that he was moving things closer to her and it was, well, unnerving.

Amara noticed her demeanour, and looked over at her dad. "Anyway, Roxanna... how about we get started, after asking grandmother about a dragon for me to practice on today?"

"Sure. It'll be nice to stretch my legs." Roxanna smiled, leaving the rest of her breakfast.

At her grandmother's, Valka suggested that Amara take Skullcrusher. Eret had gone out to sea by ship and wasn't due back until Johann would come to port in 2 days. Once she was on the Rumblehorn, Amara nodded to Roxanna, and they headed first toward the cave beyond the cove, to check on the egg.

Roxanna dismounted and instructed Bane to heat up the amber. "Your folks were acting kinda... well... weird this morning. Is everything ok?" She asked as she let the dragons work.

"Dad has his weird days sometimes... he tends to get weird when he's trying to hide secrets, and today is his and Mom's anniversary, so who knows?" Amara said with a shrug. "I didn't sleep all that much last night... I was up until midnight working on a Snoggletog present."

"Ah, I see." She mused, petting Bane as he rejoined them. "So, shall we practice free flying today? No real guidance other than try stay close. Don't push yourself too hard to do crazy stunts but do push yourself enough to move around without me... if that makes sense.

"Yeah, but don't forget we also need to set up that mud bath for Toothless." Amara said, smoothing a hand gently over Skullcrusher's armour plates. "I do wonder, though...if you know of any species like Skullcrusher here where you're from, before we start? We call his kind a Rumblehorn. He's generally kind and protective, unless he smells a threat, then he's like a charging bull." She said as Skullcrusher went over to be in arm's reach of Roxanna.

"The description doesn't help much. All the dragons back home are very aggressive and attack to kill on sight or smell." She reminded her. "And the practice can be while we head to a suitable area for the mud bath." She added.

Amara nodded softly, sighing. "Still, I'm curious if his form is similar to any you know of. His kind has a very keen sense of smell, and their front half have large scales, almost like plate metal." She tried to explain another way.

Roxanna shook her head, "I'm not an expert, by a long shot. A teacher at my school back home would know easily, but I don't have a clue." She admitted.

Amara nodded in understanding, walking over and gently rubbing his nose horn, the dragon's eyes softening as she used her lessons so far in calming herself before climbing into his saddle. "Mum was surprised when Toothless took off for you last night."

"Really? Let me guess, she thought I was lying and we were just messing around?" She asked, getting on Bane.

Amara laughed lightly. "Something like that. Mum's head of the Berk Guard." She explained. "It's like our defence force." She added, guiding Skullcrusher outside, where he was eager to take to the air.

"Ah, so that's why she insisted I stay at her house." She said thoughtfully, though she was already mentally reminding herself to not let her secret out. Gothi might be comfortable being here with everyone but she didn't trust that they wouldn't turn on her. Years of bedtime stories about young witches being burnt at the stake still haunted her dreams.

"Yeah. Mum likes to make sure that newcomers won't harm everyone... be they on ships or on dragons, or what have you." Amara said, ready to take to the sky when Roxanna was.

Roxanna nodded in understanding before letting bane take to the sky. His wings stretched out like a butterfly, his tail like the tail of a kite in the breeze.

With barely any coaxing, Skullcrusher took to the sky as well. Amara took the first few moments to stay calm, evaluating how his temperament was different from the other dragons she'd been riding recently. She found he had a more powerful desire to follow most scents than Stormfly had, despite being of the same class. She had to keep him focused even more on what she'd wanted of him, a challenging task, as he was a stubborn individual.

Roxanna flew in silence, listening to Amara move around her, all the while wondering how she could possibly get home by herself.

Once Amara grasped the differences, she used what she'd learned to keep him focused, and managed... at least to the point that they were working together, anyway.

"You're getting a lot better." Roxanna said, smiling as she heard them pass over head.

"I'm starting to see what you mean, about staying me, and adjusting actions depending on the dragon." She said, beaming as she spoke softly to Skullcrusher about what they needed. The dragon started audibly sniffing, then roared, flapping eagerly. "I think he might have found a smell of some way to get enough mud to help Toothless, I should probably let him head on the way, now that he's focused, I think!"

"Great!" She smiled. Amara seemed to be getting it. She wondered if Amara would really be able to grasp her ideas. It was impossible to ride any dragon when thinking about another, so favouring one over another would instantly put you at a disadvantage. This was why she claimed to not be friends with bane. She loved him dearly. But once on him he was as wonderful as any other she could sit upon.

"Show us the way, Skullcrusher." Amara said, giving the Rumblehorn his head. As soon as he had this instruction, his focus lead them to the spot that, sure enough, had plenty of mud under the water's surface to, once heated, make a wonderful mud bath. "If we can fill the tub in the Academy with this, and heat it up, it'll be perfect, I think." She said when they arrived at the spot that Skullcrusher had tracked down.

"So next job is to go pick up the tub." Roxanna agreed.

Amara nodded in agreement, turning Skullcrusher towards the Academy. "Yeah, so to the academy! The sooner the mud is there, the sooner we can send the Air Mail to Dad, and from there, help Toothless!" She said, seeming happy.

"Exactly." Roxanna agreed, following suit with bane.

Once there, they grabbed a couple buckets for each of them, directing Skullcrusher to take hold of one side of the tub. Within a couple hours, they had the tub filled and heating in the Academy, and she called for a Terrible Terror, sending it to her father with a note in a way that may seem similar to another creature, though with less scales, to Roxanna.

"I hope I'm right about this. It won't do any harm to him but it will have been a real waste of time." Roxanna said as they waited.

There was an excited roar as Hiccup flew in on Toothless, just after Amara said that it was worth the try, at the very least. Toothless seemed confused at things, even while Hiccup took his saddle and prosthetic tail wing off. His confusion cleared up at Hiccup's pat and words. "Go ahead, Bud. This mud bath is for you." He cooed before jumping in, doing his best to cover everything. "Good job on the Air Mail... the Terrible Terror delivered it perfectly."Hiccup said with a smile.

Roxanna stood back with them, listening carefully to the content sounds that toothless was making. Bane was watching and 'helping' toothless.

Toothless cooed from time to time, especially when the mud washed over that one spot he could never reach, climbing out when it started to cool and he was covered all over. Hiccup smiled, thanking Roxanna for her suggestion. "I do hope this helps him." Amara smiled as the Night Fury laid down. "Air mail worked right, then?" she asked her father. "Yeah, the Terrible Terror brought the note right to me. They get better every time we ask it of them."

"You should probably nap until it dries, little guy. That's what the others do." Roxanna told Toothless while batting Banes's nose away.

Toothless yawned, curling up in his way, breathing a low level flame on the ground as he did. Hiccup chuckled. "He's always done that, even before he ever let me touch him."

"Must be something his mother did for him... or to replicate his pod sleeping around him." She shrugged.

"Maybe." Hiccup said, smiling at how much more relaxed Toothless seemed. It wasn't too long before the mud dried and fell away when he shook himself off. Hiccup beamed when he checked the usual problem spot. "I think that actually helped him! The spot was a lot drier than the rest of his skin, but the spot that was like that has been reduced to half the size it used to be!"

"If he bathes at least once a week, the problem will ease a lot." She smiled.

Hiccup nodded, smiling. "Hear that, Bud?" Toothless cooed, bounding to Roxanna and thanking her in his way, the way that always had Hiccup scolding him through reminding the Night Fury, 'you know that doesn't wash out!'

"Yeah... yeah... you're welcome." She said, chuckling softly though trying not to look too happy. It was the first time she'd laughed after arriving on berk and, if she was honest, it'd been the first time in a fair while overall.

Hiccup grinned. "It's rare that Toothless takes to another person... it's good to see him accept you."

"Oh... I'm nothing special. I just let them be themselves and don't ask much." She said shyly, a very light blush on her cheeks from the praise though she was frowning as though to stop it all.

"It's still good to see Toothless make a new friend." Hiccup said happily, working on putting the Night Fury's saddle and prosthetic tail wing back on, something that, by the sounds he made, had Toothless happily excited. "Don't stay out too late, girls. We need to gather what we can to barter with Trader Johann tomorrow, so we'll be ready when he docks the day after." Amara sighed. "We'll be home before dark, Dad." she promised.

"What do you guys trade with?" Roxanna asked as hiccup left. "And does it really take everyone to help?"

"Yeah, it does...and we trade with goods, like weapons, gems, fish, eggs, cloth...anything we make or grow that is surplus, we trade with Johann for stuff we can't get ourselves. Ink, or leather, or books, or plant seeds that are hard to breed, for instance. He's even started bringing this new foodstuff that is hard when you receive it, but becomes soft when left in boiling water." Amara explained.

"Oh. Sounds interesting." She said. So, what else do you want to do before heading back?" She asked.

"It might be a good idea to do some fishing to start a stock of food for when the egg hatches." Amara suggested.

"Sure... how do you go about doing that? You just leave the dragons to get on with it? Or what?" Roxanna asked, having never fished before.

"Usually, you get some kind of bait and a fishing rod, put the bait on the hook, and... wait for a bite. A lot of landing your catch is by the feel of tension on the line: let it out when you feel the fish fighting, reel in when you feel it tire. We could get my rod from home, borrow one from Mulch for you, and try it out in the cove." Amara suggested.

"I don't know... I don't think this is something I'd very good at." Roxanna said doubtfully.

"You never know unless you try, right? And I'll be here to help you get started."

"I guess..." she shrugged.

Amara nodded, smiling. "It'll be ok, Roxanna. Don't worry about it." she said softly.

"I worry about everything. Its just a bad habit." She smiled nervously.

"It'll be fine, I promise." Amara said as they flew back to her home, grabbing her rod and the bait. After explaining things to Mulch, he was more than happy to loan Roxanna a rod, and before they knew it, Amara had baited the hooks and had Roxanna facing the water of the inland cove, and instructed her on casting. "Once the line's in the water, it's mostly feeling the tension on the line, if you feel a strong pull after a few light ones, you've most likely hooked a fish. That's when you pull and use what you feel to reel it in."

Roxanna didn't look confident but agreed to try it.

Amara smiled as Roxanna's line hit the water. "Just like you taught me for dragons...calm yourself and just FEEL." She said, casting a few feet away, so as to not distract any fish near Roxanna's line with a second offer.

Roxanna sat in silence. After what felt like forever, and after hearing Amara reel in several, she finally got a bite. Unfortunately upon reeling it in, it turned out to just be an old boot. This had bane in hysterics. He'd obviously learned to mimic the human laugh and was rolling around on his back giggling uncontrollably. The sight itself was pretty hilarious but Roxanna didn't look impressed.

"That happens to the best of us sometimes, especially when we're first starting out." Amara reassured Roxanna. "I must have fished out enough old boots when I started to last the village for a lifetime, Just keep trying." She said, deciding to not distract the fish at all and take a break from fishing herself a bit before helping Roxanna re-bait the hook and cast again, even as Skullcrusher gave Bane a warning glare.

Roxanna kept trying but hadn't caught anything else by the time they were due to go back. She pulled the line in and put the rod down carefully. "Well, at least I tried." She said.

"Yeah, you did...and even the most skilled fishers in the village have a day where the fish just won't bite." She said reassuringly, putting the fish she'd caught in a bucket of salt to preserve them for when the egg hatched. After having the dragons warm the nest one more time, Amara was set, flying home with Roxanna.

"So do you trade anything, personally, with... Johann was it?" Roxanna asked as they flew home.

"Yeah, I do...He says that the woollen cloth I make does real well in other areas he visits. Unlike a lot of wool clothing, where people just make yarn and knit it? I actually weave the wool into a soft cloth...it's still amazingly warm, but it's not as itchy. I have a few bolts up in my room, I can let you feel one before bed, if you'd like?" Amara offered.

"Sure. It'll be interesting." She replied as they closed in on the village.

Amara smiled, smelling the air. "Smells like Dad finished work early and was actually able to cook for us tonight... I don't know why my father's a better cook than my mother or gran, but... he taught me to cook."

"Just be thankful. Nobody I'm related to cooks at all." She said.

"I am thankful, it's just...very different from the rest of the families on Berk." She said as they arrived.

"Sometimes, different is good. If I weren't different from the rest of my family you'd all be dead and that includes the dragons." She shrugged.

"I hadn't meant it as anything bad. It's the only way I've ever known, I've just been curious as to the why." She tried to explain as they headed inside.

"Have you tried asking? I hardly know them but they seem pretty open about everything." She suggested as she followed Amara.

Amara shrugged with a 'maybe' type hum before smiling. "Dinner smells great, Dad!"

"You think? I just decided to throw some things together." Hiccup replied, humming to himself as he cooked.

"Yeah, it does. I'm gonna show Roxanna the cloth I've been weaving for the trades, Dad. We'll be down when Dinner's ready." She promised.

"Ok then." He smiled. Roxanna followed Amara upstairs.

Once they made it to Amara's room, she opened up a special storage chest and pulled out a bolt of cloth she'd made, bringing it over to let Roxanna feel it.

"Ooh... that feels nice." She said, touching it carefully.

Amara smiled. "I card the wool for quite a while, after washing it, before I spin the thread from it, and then weave that thread into cloth. It takes about a moon cycle for one bolt of cloth to finish... I have this one and 10 more in a chest to use for trade... I hope he has some of that fine, supple leather this time."

"Oh? And what will you use that for?" She asked.

"The way we usually make winter clothing is with Wool cloth on the inside to insulate, and then leather on the outside, to guard against the bitter cold wind. One of the Snoggletog gifts I'm making for someone is a full set of Berk-made winter clothing. I've finished the wool layer, but I need the supple leather to fully finish the gift."

"Oh I see. Makes sense to make them that way. I'm surprised that with so much inspiration you're not a dressmaker." She said. "I'd love a set of dress robes from the wool you've spun. It's pretty cold back home, not like here, but still it'd be nice. Maybe I could commission something from you once I can get home." She said.

"I do have some that I won't be trading. I could probably make you a set if you explain the fit you want." She said with a smile. "I don't usually have much to do on the day before Trader Johann comes, because I prepare for that day for the entire year leading up to it."

"Well... robes are like very long coats, sometimes with hoods, with pockets inside and out. But unlike coats they're not often taken off and can be worn indoors... a bit like an apron. Some you can even slip straight on like a dress, with no opening at the front. They always come in black unless they're dress robes." She tried to explain.

Amara nodded, pulling a piece of paper and a makeshift pencil, made of charcoal, flax thread, and wood, toward her. "Ok, I think I understand. Is there anything in style you'd like, or colour you'd want it?" She asked, sketching very lightly as she worked with Roxanna for a design.

"I can't really remember colours that well. I just relay what people have said. I guess darker colours like black and red...?" She mused.

Amara nodded, making notes on this and sketching out a rough design. "Well, I can work on the design tomorrow, and see if Trader Johann has what I'll need for dyes...it'll take me at least a moon cycle or two, because I'll have to dye the wool after I wash and card it... but I don't think it'll be too much of a problem." She said with a soft smile. "Making you these 'dress robes' is the least I can do to thank you for how much just your friendship and helping me with... well, everything, has done for me." Amara said honestly.

"I'm not really doing anything Amara. People aren't normally interested in me, I'm a very plain girl with nothing remarkable about her so nobody takes notice." She shrugged.

"You saved my grandmother's blinded Hobblegrunt, you've been helping me learn to ride dragons, you found a way to help Toothless with that one itchy spot he can never reach, you brought peace to that poor Thunderdrum... and you've managed to tame and raise a dragon nobody on Berk has ever been able to... a Deathsong. Strangely, most of the other teens in Berk seem to avoid me, so...yeah, having a human friend means a lot to me. If I can help you with something you can use even when you journey home, it'll be worth it."

"I've only done what people have asked me to do. I pitied the Thunderdrum, and taming Bane was purely accidental. Please don't put me on a pedestal when I'm only just average." She pouted, clearly not used to any sort of praise. "But I would be honoured to wear anything made for me." She added.

Amara smiled as she heard her father calling them. "You've changed at the very least my life for the better, Roxanna... I'd be happy to make you the dress robes you asked for." She said, opening the door and allowing Roxanna through before heading downstairs with the girl.

Roxanna didn't smile as she went downstairs to dinner. She felt quite confused after hearing what Amara had said. She'd been blind ever since she could remember and, as she was mostly ignored by her family, she had always assumed she'd been ignored by everyone unless spoken to directly. So it was surprising to find someone think even remotely highly of her when she was just being herself. 'Perhaps', she thought, 'perhaps I should be myself and speak up more at school... maybe I could make a friend...'. She sat at the table and waited for everyone to be seated.

Once everyone had taken their seats, dinner was served, and Amara smiled as they began to eat.

As always, Roxanna was silent as they ate and, like before, hiccup and Astrid were moving things closer to her. They were obviously not very good at pretending to not know about her lack of sight.

Amara rolled her eyes at the fails from her parents at subtlety, and Toothless nudged Hiccup in the back out of frustration. After they'd finished eating, the Night Fury gently cooed at Roxanna, hopefully moving towards her. He'd enjoyed their flight the previous night, and was hoping she'd fly with him again.

"What's up?" She asked him, rubbing his head gently.

Toothless cooed again, nudging her toward his saddled back before he let out a hopeful purr.

"Erm... is it ok if I take him out? Amara can join me on Bane if she wants?" Roxanna asked.

Hiccup smiled. "That's fine. I haven't had the energy to fly at night lately, and he's been really missing it." Amara was interested to see what quirks she'd need to adapt to for riding with Bane, so she smiled at this prospect.

"Well... do you want to join us Amara?" She asked. Bane watched them, tilting his head this way and that.

"Yeah, I've wondered since I started really learning what quirks I'd have to adapt to." She said with a soft smile.

"Well he certainly is quirky, no doubt about that." She said as she headed outside, being nudged by toothless and bane following behind.

Amara shook her head. "Toothless, manners." The Night Fury cooed, doing his best to calm and not push Roxanna.

Bane was bouncing about in excitement as they got outside. Roxanna got on Toothless and waited for Amara. Bane bowed down to make it easier for her to get on.

Amara smiled, staying calm as she thanked Bane and climbed into the saddle, doing her best to follow the instructions that Roxanna had been giving her since they started.

Bane was, as to be expected, quite different to the others. He took off a little awkwardly but flew smoother than even toothless. This was probably down to having Roxanna as his rider. If she'd had to teach him to fly from a hatchling then that explained the bumpy take off... and how does a human teach a dragon to fly anyway? He was a lot more temperamental than Toothless too. The slightest move from Amara and he'd move. Fortunately she didn't have to keep him focused but it was more difficult compared to the others she'd flown.

Amara did her best to adapt and fly with Roxanna as she took Toothless on his night-time flight. She wasn't riding anywhere near as well as Roxanna could, of course, but she was at least keeping up as best as she could.

"How about a barrel roll? Just lean as though you're going to fall off over the side and see what he does." Roxanna called, showing her with toothless. Toothless tilted to the side too until he'd twisted 360 around and she was sat upright again. "You can do forward rolls that way too." She said.

Amara was a bit nervous for a moment before she managed to calm herself and follow Roxanna's instruction. However, when the manoeuvrer had been completed, she wondered why she hadn't thought to try it before. It had been amazingly fun, but she could see it being difficult for dragons with shorter wings to pull off safely.

The longer she was on bane, the easier it was to see why they worked so well. Roxanna didn't consider him a friend simply because their relationship was more of a partnership. Roxanna had obviously raised him, so he viewed her as his alpha. And in return, he guided her and offered her support which she obviously never received at home. "Liberating isn't it?" She called over to Amara.

Amara nodded, smiling. "Yeah, it really is... it could be quite dangerous to try on a dragon with small wings for it's size, though... like a Gronckle, for example."

"Depends. It'd just have to be a smaller roll. But it'd be a good thing for them to all know, so they can right their rider if they falter." She shrugged.

"True enough on that." Amara agreed, seeing Roxanna's point. They spoke on a fair few other things during the flight before heading back inside and to bed. Tomorrow would be a full day, with their secret and helping to prepare for Trader Johann's arrival.

Roxanna was all for sleep after the flight. The night air really took it out of you, especially with the colder weather setting in so it didn't take long to drift off.