A/N: Just a quick warning for ya'll: There is talk about menstruation as well as a somewhat graphic flashback/memory Thora has. Other than that, it's a fairly mild chapter. Hope ya'll enjoy and, if you do, please leave a comment~


'I suppose Gobber gave you my warning?'

"Aye."

Gothi watched as the girl unslung her bag and hung it on a hook near the door. Thora didn't meet her gaze as she pulled the unused cauldron over to the hearth. Sitting down, she let out a quiet sigh, checking to see if Gothi had written anything else.

Instead, she flinched and instinctively covered her head as Gothi moved her staff, but it never met her skull. She cracked open an eye, looking at the woman only to find her writing. Another sigh left her mouth; this one of relief.

'I am disappointed in you, and I am sure you know of this.' When Thora nodded, she continued. 'Using so much magic when you are untrained was a dangerous thing to do, especially when we do not know how prolonged magic use affects you just yet. If something had gone wrong, you could have easily killed one of the people you meant to help –including Hiccup.'

Biting her tongue, Thora looked away, but said nothing.

'I know you were trying to help. Thank Odin and Freya, you did help. But I do not want you to do something so risky again. Not until you are better trained.' She glanced over at the girl, waiting until she was finished reading before erasing her previous words with her foot. 'But what I have to say to you today is not all bad.'

Thora seemed to perk ever so slightly. "It's…not?"

Gothi nodded. 'I am also proud of you. Ylva told me you did rather well for working in your first battle. I know it was not the most pleasant of experiences-'

Thora shuddered. "Not in the least," she murmured.

'-but I can only promise that what you saw that day will only be worse in the future, should Berk find itself at war again.'

She groaned. "Lovely…"

Brow rising, Gothi hoarsely chuckled. 'The more you continue to heal people outside of battle, the easier it will become to heal during battle. You will grow used to seeing blood and torn flesh, as well as other such gore.'

"You think I will, but I doubt it." She shuddered again. "Been havin' nightmares all week thanks t' what I saw…"

Gothi frowned. 'Have you?'

"Aye. An' they're none-too pleasant, since they're filled with charred faces an' missin' limbs…" She scrunched her nose up at the memory before glancing up at Gothi. "Did ya ever get nightmares?"

She nodded slowly. 'I still do, at times,' she admitted, 'but I never said this would be an easy life. Tending to the wounded can be the easiest part. The hardest part is when we are forced to accept that, sometimes, our efforts will be useless. We simply must remember that death will claim us all one day –but when that day is, we will never know.'

Thora said nothing, but nodded in understanding. 'Not very comforting,' she thought, 'but it is the truth, even if I don't want to think it is…'

Erasing her words yet again, Gothi continued to write. 'Now, on the subject of your magic. I have done some thinking over the last week and I have realized that, while I am teaching you the human way to use magic, you should also learn the troll way.'

"How? There're no trolls for hundreds o' miles!"

'When Trader Johann next visits Berk, I will be sending a letter to your mother.'

Her eyes widened. "M-my mother?" she repeated, gawking.

Gothi nodded. 'Who else would be better for the job?' she wrote. 'She was a powerful magic user and, now that you are grown, I would like to see if she would be willing to teach you or, if she is unable to or unwilling, if she could tell us someone who could.'

Thora rubbed the back of her neck. "An' what if she doesn't respond at all? Or doesn't know anyone who'd want t' train some stranger's half-troll teenager?"

'Then nothing will happen. I will simply continue teaching you as I have been.' Her brow rose again. 'What did you think would happen? I would cease your lessons?'

She shrugged. "Maybe? Not sure, t' be honest. I just…Well, my mum knows nothin' 'bout me, other than the fact that I exist. Don't ya think it'd be a wee bit jarring t' suddenly get a letter askin' her t' train her long-abandoned daughter in magic?"

Gothi gave her a dry look. 'Well, then, do you have any better ideas we should try?' she questioned. The mixture of her writing and the look on her face let Thora know she was not very happy at the moment.

"N-no, sorry," she murmured, cheeks reddening as she looked away. "I'll shut up now." She peeked back when she heard Gothi writing more.

'As I said, I am going to write your mother and, when I get a response, we will figure things out from there -depending on her reply. I have already discussed this with your father, so he is not unaware of my plans. Now.' She paused for a moment, resting her hands. 'Today will be easy enough for you. I want you to go Death's Head Headland and fetch me some bones.'

She frowned; Death's Head Headland was where the Hairy Hooligans would discard the carcasses of the dragons they had killed in the past. "Bones? For what?"

'You will see in the coming days. I will need a fair few of them, mind you. After you collect them, I want you to take them to your father so that he can grind them into powder for me.'

"Alright…how many bones d' ya need?"

Gothi leaned over, picking up a sack and handing it to Thora, who unfolded it. It was a very large bag, nearly big enough for Thora to fit into.

'The best bones to get are those that are unbroken with no cracks or splinters and those that have been bleached by the sun,' Gothi continued. 'If you are able, collect a few teeth as well –those needn't be grinded down.'

Thora nodded as she folded the bag back up. "Alright, though ya realize it will take me most o' the day t' do this, aye?"

'Which is why there is nothing-'

There was suddenly a knock on the door, startling the old woman. Rising to her feet, Thora went over and opened the door to find Tuffnut standing on the other side, his right eye bruised and half-shut due to swelling.

"Eesh. Fight with Ruff again?" she questioned with a frown.

"No. Made the mistake of tryin' to fight with her," he replied, his voice full of bitterness. "She sent me here, though. Says she needs some herbs or tea mixtures because it's her 'time of the month' –whatever that is."

"Ahh," Thora chuckled, now knowing why he had the black eye. Glancing over her shoulder, she watched as Gothi nodded and motioned for her to let him in. She stepped aside and Tuffnut entered the hut. "Well, I'm sure Gothi's got some things that'll help her –those are some o' the herbs we always have on hand."

He cocked his brow as Thora went over to one shelf while Gothi went to another. "How do you know what she needs, though?"

"Because we get this request nearly every other week?" Thora had to stand on her tiptoes in order to reach one of the jars. "I've got the herbs for this memorized already."

Tuffnut gave her a blank look. "Huh?"

Thora tilted her head as she went back over to him, opening the jar. "…Tuffnut…Do ya not know what a woman's time o' the month is?"

He shrugged. "Whatever is it, I just know that Ruffnut gets meaner than normal during it and she doesn't really leave her bed for a few days."

Thora heard Gothi smack her head and sigh, earning a chuckle from the teen girl. "This may sting a bit," she warned Tuffnut before gently using her finger to apply some salve to the bruise around his eye.

"This stuff stinks worse than a yak pie," he mumbled, sticking his tongue out in disgust. "What's in it?" He tried to lean away from Thora to avoid getting it on his skin, but she used her tail to hold him in place.

"Oh, the usual…lavender oil, witch hazel, cabbage, an' parsley."

A look of utter disgust came to his face. "Ugh! No wonder it smells bad!" He badly wanted to wipe it off, but knew better –especially with Gothi within sight.

"Aye, but your bruise will be gone a lot faster." She turned as Gothi tapped her on the shoulder with her staff.

Tuffnut watched as Gothi scribbled on the ground, but didn't bother to read it and instead went over to the table. Picking up a cup, he inspected its contents before smelling it; he nearly sneezed at the intense floral scent. He set it back down before plucking up a box and opening it.

"Really?" he heard Thora question. "But explainin' it t' my da' was bad enough! Havin' t' explain it t' one o' my friends…"

He didn't know what Gothi wrote in reply, but he now knew the box contained various shapes and sizes of uncut precious stones. His eyes widened as he picked out a moonstone the size of his palm.

'This must have cost a fortune,' he thought, holding it up to the light.

"Tuffnut?" Thora sighed.

He put the stone away and set the box down before spinning around, trying to seem innocent. "What? I didn't touch anything."

Her brow rose; the look on her face let him know she had caught him. "Sure ya didn't," she retorted. "Anyway, Gothi says I get t' explain t' ya what a woman's 'time o' the month' is."

"Oh, great. I'll finally know why Ruffnut tries to kill me more than usual and then I can repay the meanness with double meanness!" His tone and expression were full of sarcasm.

Rubbing the back of her neck, Thora glanced away. "Er…Maybe you'll feel different after I tell ya what she's goin' through."

His brow rose. "Doubt it." He plopped down on the cauldron, leaving Thora to clear a space off on the table before sitting.

Biting her tongue, Thora avoided eye contact with her friend. "So…Ya know how women have children an' all that lovely stuff, aye?"

"Of course," he snickered. "Mom had to tell us about that after we walked in on-"

"I ah, don't need to know," she cringed. "Anyway…When a woman comes o' age t' start bearing children, sometimes, er…her body, ah…Ugh." She rubbed her face, feeling her cheeks redden in embarrassment. "Once in a while, a woman bleeds from her womanhood for up t' a week."

Tuffnut stared at her, his brows furrowed and his jaw slightly slack.

Finding bluntness to be the best method of explanation, Thora continued, though she avoided making eye contact with him. "We don't really know why it happens, but it does. I've heard all sorts o' reasons from a body purgin' toxins from itself t' the gods punishin' the woman for not bein' pregnant t' even somethin' as silly as the body gettin' rid o' excess blood."

Tuffnut remained silent, his jaw now entirely slack and his skin a shade lighter.

"Mhm. Lots o' fun it is, especially since it leaves most women in severe pain –which, from the sounds o' it, Ruffnut's sufferin' from. Sometimes, though, the pain can be mild." She pushed some hair out of her face, chuckling when she noticed Tuffnut's expression. "When a woman gets pregnant, all this stops until her child's been born an' has been weened. But, o' course, it starts back up until either the next pregnancy or the woman hits old age, which comes with its own set o' problems."

Tuffnut finally moved; leaning back, he looked down at himself before looking back up at Thora. "Wait…so…" He looked down at himself again. "It's only woman who get that?"

Thora nodded. "Aye."

"And they bleed from…" He motioned to her pelvic region.

She felt herself blush a bit more. "Aye."

"For an entire week…without dying?"

"Hopefully without dyin'. Gothi's told me that there have been a few women she's known who have died, but they also bled for a lot longer than a week."

"…Dude. How do you not die? Like, I can cut my arm and bleed for a week, and I'd be dead. But a woman bleeds from there and she's just fine afterwards?"

She shrugged. "Basically."

He shuddered as the full weight of realization overcame him. "Why did you tell me this?!" he suddenly cried, looking a mixture of afraid and disgusted.

"Ya live with two women; I'm surprised ya didn't know it already." She frowned shoving the same bit of hair out of her face as it defiantly slid back over her shoulder. "Well, then again…my da' knew nothin' o' it an' he had me, so…"

"Yeah, but Gobber's not into women! It's alright if he didn't know before he had a daughter! But now I know and I didn't want to know." He pouted.

Gothi wrote something on the ground while chuckling. Getting up, Thora went over and, after silently reading it, also giggled. "She says it'll come in handy in the future," she recited for Tuffnut. "That way, if your future wife is too shy t' say what's wrong, you'll know an' be able t' get her the herbs she needs."

Tuffnut merely grumbled under his breath.

Going over to the door, Thora shouldered her bag before putting a bundle of herbs in it. "C'mon, let's go give Ruff her herbs," she told the boy. "After that, ya can come with me t' Death's Head Headlands." She also grabbed the folded sack, carefully tucking it in beside the herbs. "That'll cheer ya up."

Begrudgingly, he stood up and followed her out of the hut. "Why do you gotta go there?" he questioned.

"Gothi needs dragon bones an' teeth," she replied, leading the way down the path. "But I need t' have da' powder the bones."

"Huh. Wonder what she's goin' to use them for?" he wondered aloud. He then smirked mischievously. "Hey, we could totally use some dragon bones to make some awesome armor!"

Her brow rose. "Yeah, armor that would scare the crap out o' the dragons. They're our friends now, remember?"

"Of course I remember," he snickered. "I own one. Well, half of one. A head of one? I own Belch."

"Belch?"

"Yeah! Ruffnut has Barf –he's the one who shoots the gas- and I have Belch –the one who sparks the gas!" He grinned proudly. "Belch is way cooler than Barf, but they're both totally better than the other dragons."

She chuckled. "I'll withhold judgement until the day I get my own dragon," she told him. "Though, I doubt that'll happen."

He shrugged. "You might. It's not like the rest of us expected to become friends and riders of dragons."

"That is true," she agreed. "Though, ah…I'm thinkin' I may be a wee bit too large for most o' the ones 'round here."

His brow rose and he glanced up at her. "Uh, Thora? You're like, half the size of most of the adults and the dragons carried them."

"Not weight wise," she laughed. "Height wise."

"Oh." He stared up at her, frowning slightly. "Yeah, you did get pretty tall…You were shorter than Hiccup last year…"

She let out a small sigh, glancing skywards. "An' gods forbid it, I seem t' be growin' more. Do ya know how much o' a pain it is t' get too tall for your trousers?"

He shrugged, grinning dumbly. "Nope. Mine are hidden." Holding up his leg, he pointed at his lower legs, which were covered entirely by his leather-and-fur boots.

Rolling her eyes, she gave him a small, playful shove, sending him off balance. "Yeah, lucky you. I outgrew my boots, too."

"Then why don't you just have your dad make you some new ones?"

"Eh…I'd rather not have him waste the leather, especially if I am growin' again." She pointed at her feet. "These shoes aren't too bad, though. Aye, they're not the warmest o' things, but they're comfortable an' they grip a lot better when I'm climbin' things."

"You still climb? I thought you gave that up after we got you stuck at the top of a tree?"

She snorted. "You didn't get me stuck in the tree, Tuff –I got you stuck in the tree."

"Nuh-uh," he disagreed. "Me an' Ruff chased Hiccup up the tree, and then when you went up after him, you got stuck because you couldn't carry him back down."

"Oh." Her cheeks flushed red. "Ya meant that time…"

A triumphant smirk spread across Tuffnut's face before it quickly faded –they had reached his home. He stood outside the door, quite obviously hesitant to go inside. Glancing over at Thora, he gave her a hopeful look.

"So, ah, yeah. Go right ahead and give Ruff the herbs," he told her, gesturing at the door.

Reaching into her bag, Thora pulled out the bundle of herbs and handed it out to him. "Go right on ahead," she chirped. "After all, she asked you t' get them for her. What would she say if her loving brother didn't come back with what she requested o' him, eh?" There was a teasing smirk plastered to her face.

Tuffnut frowned before flipping a crude gesture at her and snatching the herbs from her.

As he went inside, Thora leaned against the wall to wait for him. With a small sigh, she let her head fall back and she closed her eyes, enjoying the bit of warmth the sun gave off. Though, the warmth soon grew too warm, as well as rather humid. It also started smelling quite a bit like a mixture of fish and farts.

Opening her eyes, she let out a small curse as she found four large, yellow-green eyes staring down at her. There stood Barf and Belch –which head was which, she didn't know- looking her over curiously. Even though the dragons and the Hairy Hooligans were now at peace, Thora had to admit: it was still terrifying to see them up close for the first time.

One of the heads leaned in close to her, sniffing her, while the other lightly butted her shoulder with its horn. Thora let out a squeak and tried to sidestep away, but the one sniffing her suddenly found her tail and, grabbing hold of it with his mouth, tried to tug it away from her.

"Ouch! Ouch, no –that's mine! Ya can't have it!" she yelped, pain filling her tail. "See? It's attached, like yours! Ow!" She cringed, the dragon not wanting to give up its new 'toy'.

"Barf! Bad dragon!" Tuffnut came out of the house, a bright-red handprint decorating the side of his face. "That's Thora's tail. You have your own, see?" He went behind the Zippleback and lightly tugged on its twin tails.

Their eyes widening in amazement, Barf released Thora's tail as he and Belch twisted round to gaze at their own tails.

"Thanks," Thora winced, wrapping her tail around her waist before inspecting it. "I see Ruffnut wasn't very thankful…"

He shrugged. "Eh, she was…Until I said I hope she bleeds out." He grinned cheekily only to wince as his face stung. "It was worth it."

Her brow raised, Thora slowly shook her head. "You…are so very weird."

"Hey now; is that any way to treat someone's who going to let you ride his dragon?" he pouted, patting Belch on the neck and obtaining the dragon's attention.

Thora stared at him for a moment. "What?" she finally questioned.

"You think I'm walking all the way to Death's Head Headland?" he snorted, mounting Belch. "No way! I'm flying. And since Barf and Belch need two riders, you get to steer Barf."

Barf lowered himself to Thora's level, but his eyes were focused on the tip of her tail.

"Er…are ya sure that's a good idea?" she questioned, biting her tongue.

"Uh, yeah? We can land a mile away or something so they won't get spooked by the bones."

She glanced at him. "I meant me ridin' the dragon that just tried t' pull my tail off."

"Oh." He shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Why not? It's not like he'd be able to grab it with it around your waist like that."

Nodding slowly, Thora hesitantly made her way to the side of Barf's head before throwing her leg over his neck as if he were a yak or a horse. It was somewhat uncomfortable due to the dragon's hard scales and lack of leg support, but she found some comfort in being able to hold onto Barf's horns. Though seemingly prepared for flight, she still let out a curse of surprise when the dragon took to the air.

"It's comfier if you cross your legs," Tuffnut told her.

She did as instructed, though she said nothing as she watched the village grow smaller and smaller below them. Unconsciously, she unwrapped her tail from her waist and instead, wound it around Barf's neck –not tightly, of course.

"I'm…actually on a dragon," she mumbled, eyes wide and skin a shade lighter. "I'm flyin'…on a dragon…"

Tuffnut smirked. "Cool, isn't it?" he laughed. "Alright, so. Death's Head Headland. That's…south?"

"North-east," she corrected.

"Oh. Right. I knew that." He grinned sheepishly.

Thora copied Tuffnut's movements as he lightly tugged Belch's head in the direction they needed to go. Both heads worked in unison to turn their body around and started to fly towards the northern part of the island. Below them, the land seemed to flow by like a river, only the water was made of trees and cliffs.

"This is so cool," she gaped, twisting and turning her head round in order to not miss anything. "Everythin' looks so small up here! An' look how fast we're movin'!" She glanced over at Tuffnut, a large grin on her face. "You are so lucky t' have a dragon o' your own!"

He shrugged. "Dude, Berk is full of dragons. You'd have to be Mildew to not find one."

"Yeah, but most o' them only seem t' want my tail. I need t' find one that won't use me for a toy." She reached down, gently patting her tail where Barf had grabbed it. Only a ghost of the pain remained, earning a sigh of relief from her.

"Use it like a lure. Find a dragon you want, lure it in with your tail, then bam! Boop it on the nose and claim it as your own."

"'Boop'?" she giggled. "What does 'boop' mean?"

"You know. Like bopping, but softer. Like this." He reached over and, with a surprising amount of gentleness, pressed his palm against her nose before pulling his hand away again. "Boop!"

Thora started laughing even more, to the point where she snorted. "So that's all it takes t' train a dragon?"

Tuffnut snickered as she giggle-snorted again. "I don't know what you find so funny," he told her. "That's what Hiccup showed us to do!"

"D'ya have t' add in the 'boop' when ya do it?"

He rolled his eyes, but still grinned. "No. At least, I don't think you do. Maybe with the Terrible Terrors. They're small and dumb enough to fall for it."

Wiping a tear of mirth from her eye, Thora finally managed to calm her laughing. "I don't know. The one that attacked ya when ya tried comparin' it t' the size o' your-"

"We should probably land here," he interrupted, his cheeks turning bright red at the memory. He pointed down at an open bit of field encircled by the forest. "It's about half a mile to the Headlands from there."

She nodded in agreement. "Sounds good," she chuckled, knowing why he changed the subject so suddenly. Again, she copied his movements as he tilted Belch's head downwards. As they sped towards the earth, she was forced to narrow her eyes due to the wind rushing past her face.

As the Hideous Zippleback landed, the two teens were nearly thrown from their necks. Whether it was due to the Zippleback being one of the least graceful dragons known to mankind or because the humans riding them were still amateurs when it came to flying, none of them knew. Regardless, Thora and Tuffnut were able to safely dismount, though Tuffnut did have a bit of a waddle to his stride and a small amount of pain written on his face.

"Today's just not your day, is it?" Thora questioned, giving him a pitying look.

"I'm fine," he retorted, scowling. Despite his words, he none-too-subtly adjusted his trousers before attempting to walk normally. "Don't know what you're talkin' about." He turned towards Barf and Belch. "Barf, Belch: Stay here. We'll be back in a while. Don't fly away, alright?"

"If you say so," she murmured, watching as the dragon simply flopped on the ground. Both heads rested themselves on the ground and closed their eyes.

As Tuffnut started to walk, she followed after him. "What does your mother think 'bout you an' Ruff having a dragon?"

"Eh, she didn't like it at first," he admitted, putting his hands on the back of his head. "Thought it was unnatural for us to make peace with the dragons, but she came around when Barf and Belch kept Uncle Bucket from wandering off a few nights ago."

She cocked her head. "He tried to wander off?"

"Yeah. Sometimes, he gets up in the middle of the night and just wanders off without saying anything. Most of the time, he doesn't even know he does it, sayin' he was asleep the whole time. But it can take us hours to find him and mom's always worried he's gone off a cliff or something else to get himself killed." He shrugged. "But Barf and Belch stopped him and mom's been grateful ever since."

"Well, that's good. Don't need more Mildews in the village…"

He snorted. "My mom will never be as bad as Mildew."

"I don't think anyone can be as bad as him," she chuckled.

"What 'bout Gobber and Stoick? How're they taking it?"

It was her turn to shrug. "Well enough, it seems. Uncle Stoick is already quite fond o' Toothless, especially since Toothless is like a giant cat. An' da'…" She went quiet, frowning slightly.

Tuffnut glanced over at her. "What? He doesn't like it?"

"It's not tha' –he's glad we're at peace now. It's just…Well, I mean, it was his job t' make weapons." She kicked at a rock, watching at it bounced and rolled away. "An' since the armory's full an' we're not bein' constantly attacked anymore…he's been feelin' a wee bit useless lately."

He cocked his brow. "But…Gobber's one of the most versatile Vikings on Berk. He can make weapons, he can make shoes, he can teach, and he plays the pan pipes."

"While all o' that is true, he lost his pan pipes. An' how often is it that we need shoes made, especially when Johann brings fancy ones from the Mainland?" She let out a sigh. "And it doesn't seem we'll need t' be taught how t' fight dragons anymore."

He shrugged. "He'll find something. Like I said, he's versatile. For all we know, your dad could start building new perches for the dragons or something."

"He could," she replied, though her tone betrayed her unsureness. Shoving her hair over her shoulder, she let out a small sigh. "How's Bucket handlin' it all?" she questioned, wanting to get the subject away from Gobber for now.

"Oh, he's loving it. There's a Gronckle that decided to live behind Mulch's house and he treats her like a giant dog. He named her Sanna."

She smiled at the thought. "Well, that's good! I'm glad he's not scared o' them, especially since…well, y'know."

"Pft," he raspberried. "He's a Thorston. Even if he's only got half a brain, it'll take more than a few dragons to scare him." He grinned at her before shielding his eyes as they stepped out from under the cover of the trees. "Whoa…"

"Freya's girdle…" Thora murmured, her eyes widening.

They had stepped into an open field filled with bones. Most of them had been picked clean by scavengers, but some of the carcasses still had bits of rotted flesh hanging off of them. Only a few yards away lay the body of a Deadly Nadder that was still mostly intact, having only been killed in the last dragon attack.

"This is really creepy," Tuffnut murmured, doing his best to avoid looking at the dragon.

"Let's try t' be quick," Thora mumbled, covering her mouth and nose. "I think I'm goin' t' be sick otherwise…"

He nodded, grabbing her arm and leading her into the dragon graveyard. He shuddered as they passed by the long-forgotten skeleton of a juvenile Hideous Zippleback; it was only a quarter of the size of Barf and Belch. Shaking his head, he lead her towards one of the mountains of bones –at least then, there wasn't a chance of seeing entire skeletons.

Despite how eerie the place was, he couldn't help but find it rather exciting, as well.

"How many bones does she need?" he asked.

"This bag needs t' be filled," she murmured, pulling it from her satchel. She unfolded it, showing Tuffnut its size.

"Well, dragon bones are big, so it shouldn't be too hard at least?" he suggested, trying to be optimistic.

"Hopefully." She glanced around at the field, biting her tongue. "Look how many have been killed over the years," she murmured. "Our graveyard isn't even half the size o' this place…"

Reaching the pile, Tuffnut started picking through the bones. "Yeah, but most of our dead get sent out in funeral ships," he reminded her. "You said Gothi wanted some teeth, too?"

"She said I could collect some if I wanted; didn't say why, though." She focused her attention on finding the types of bones the old woman had specified, though she still felt disgusted by it. "No, not that kind –she wants the whites ones, like this."

"This white enough?" He held up a large bone, but half of it was missing.

"Aye, but whole ones, if possible."

"Got it." He disappeared as he went to the other side of the pile, though Thora could still hear him as he mumbled to himself and moved bones around.

'Go figure, the first time I come to this place, it's after we've made peace with the dragons,' she thought, tossing an imperfect bone over her shoulder before digging deeper into the pile. 'I'm pretty sure I'd still be creeped out even if we weren't, though…' She shoved a bone into the sack, sighing quietly.

Once in a while, Tuffnut would call over, tossing a bone over the top of the pile to her. Some of them were good finds, though she rejected most of them when she found cracks or stained spots on their surfaces. It was surprisingly hard to find the sorts of bone Gothi had asked for; with Berk lacking sun most of the year, bleached bones were hard to come by, leaving most of the bones yellow with age.

They ended up splitting up, Tuffnut heading west while Thora went east to search out the bodies. More bleached bones were found this way, but it was still a challenge to find ones that were either unmarred or small enough to fit in the bag.

'Well, here are some teeth,' she thought, finding the jawbone of a dragon. She wasn't sure which kind of dragon it came from, but was glad for that. Grabbing one of the bigger teeth and using her feet to anchor the jaw to the ground, she began pulling. The tooth, however, barely budged. Frowning, she adjusted her angle and tried pulling harder, but the tooth still stayed firmly in place. 'Why aren't you coming out?' she thought, unconsciously snarling as she tried a third time. 'You're just a tooth! Sure, you shouldn't come out easily, but you shouldn't be this hard to remove!'

When her third attempt failed, she grumbled and stood upright. "Whatever," she muttered. "Didn't need them anyway." She blew a raspberry at the jaw before returning to the search for bones.

Soon, her bag was halfway full and she decided it was time to go find Tuffnut to see what he had collected so far. She headed back to the pile where they had split up and called out to him, but go no answer in return. Frowning, she called out again, but still, no reply came.

"He better not have ditched me in this place," she sighed, moving some of her hair. Her brows furrowed and she flipped her hair back to her front only to find two, small bones tangled up in it. "Oh gods…really? Ya had t' get bones o' all things stuck in ya? Honestly, ya really need t' get some better ideas…" she quietly scolded –not that she expected her hair to listen.

Once her hair was bone-free, she called out for Tuffnut one more time. No reply came and she bit her tongue, nervously beginning to finger-comb her hair.

'What if he tripped over one of the bones and got impaled on a ribcage?' she thought. 'Or maybe he was trying to look through one of the piles and it collapsed on him? No…No, I would have heard either of those. Maybe he's just out of earshot? That could be it…This place is ma-'

She suddenly let out a scream and flung herself backwards as one of the nearby small piles exploded into the air, a skeletal creature roaring at her. Too stricken by fear, she failed to notice that the creature sounded very much like a certain human and that its skull was lopsided. Instead, she curled into a surprisingly small ball and whimpered, afraid for her life.

"Ha! You should've seen the look on your face!" Tuffnut cackled, still wearing his bony costume. "You looked like you saw Death herself!" He continued to laugh, doubling over when his sides began to ache, causing the skull to fall off his head.

After a few minutes, he managed to calm down enough to glance up; Thora was still curled up and whimpering as she shook in fear. His brow rising, he went over to her. "…Uh…Thora…? You alright?" he questioned, though there was still laughter in his voice.

Slowly, she lifted her head only to find Tuffnut looking down at her; her cheeks were wet with tears. Her brows furrowed as the realization of what had happened took over her mind.

"Uh? Hello? Thora?" Tuffnut waved his hand in front of her face only to suddenly fall to his knees as Thora slammed a bone down onto his helmet. His vision spun for a few seconds.

"What in Midgard were ya thinkin'?!" she snarled, wiping her face on her arm. "I thought ya had gotten hurt or somethin' an' then ya burst out like that! O' course I thought I saw Death herself!"

His vision still spinning, he looked up at her only to cringe; she looked almost feral in her anger and the fact he saw two of her at the moment only made it worse. "It was just a joke!" he told her, his tone defensive. Blinking a few times, he managed to get his vision to stay in place. "Anyway, I would have thought you heard me, what with your weird troll hearing and stuff!"

She rubbed her face, growling under her breath. "Well, your joke had me thinkin' I was about t' be killed by a Boneknapper," she snapped. "An' I probably would have heard ya if I wasn't makin' a racket lookin' for bones myself!" Despite her angry tone, Tuffnut could see that she was still shaking from the fear.

"I didn't think it'd be that bad," he admitted. "I mean, yeah, I wanted to scare you a bit, but…"

"But ya went too far with that," she finished for him. Groaning, she rested her face in her hands before letting out a heavy sigh. "Maybe if we were somewhere else, it wouldn't have been as scary, but Tuff –we're in a dragon graveyard…"

"Right…Sorry. Kinda." He righted his helmet, feeling a bit guilty about his actions –but only a little bit. He would make sure to tell Ruffnut about Thora's reaction later; maybe it would cheer her up. "But, to be fair," he added, "you were pretty scary just now, too. I think that makes us even."

She peeked out from behind her fingers. "What? How was I scary?"

"Uh, it only looked like there was a bear or wolf or some sort of big, hairy animal about to bite my face off." He snapped his fingers, his face brightening. "Like that time in the Kill Ring when you were snarling at that Monstrous Nightmare! You know, last week!"

"…But I don't look like a wolf or a bear," she murmured, brows furrowed.

He snorted. "Not normally, but when you get mad like that, you start to snarl and you nose scrunches up, baring your teeth. You're like-" He held his fingers up to his mouth, pretending they were tusks as he frowned deeply and began making angry animal noises. "Like that, only way scarier. Not that I was actually scared or anything, but y'know, normal people would be scared."

She stared at him for a moment before letting out a groan and hiding her face in her hands. "Oh gods…No wonder people were callin' me a monster!" she grumbled, her voice muffled by her hands. "I was actin' like one!"

Tuffnut's brow rose. "Wait, what? When did that happen?"

"When we were headin' t' Helheim's Gate," she sighed. "I heard a bunch o' the warriors whispering amongst themselves…they were sayin' Uncle Stoick should have locked me up because I was just as monstrous as the dragons an' that I'd just be a problem for them…"

He cocked his brow as he stared at her. "Uh, hello: You're half troll and you were trying to protect Hiccup," he said, his tone blunt. "Of course you're going to look scary. But, uh, if they haven't noticed, you look pretty normal when you're not scared out of your wits or trying to protect your family." He shrugged, flicking a bit of rotted flesh off his shoulder. "I mean, have they not seen a person protecting a loved one? Even the kindest person can be frightening in those moments."

She glanced at him, rather taken aback by how sound his logic was. "Ya think so?"

"I know so." He shrugged. "I mean, it's pretty much no secret that my mom's considered the most beautiful woman on Berk –she doesn't look scary at all. Quite the opposite, really. But, by Odin's beard, you should have seen her the time a bear tried to attack me 'n Ruff when we were kids! I have never seen a sight scarier than my mom shouting at that bear and swinging her ax at it."

"Your mom fought a bear? And lived?"

He nodded, wearing a proud grin. "That cloak she wears during the winter? Yeah, that's the bear that tried attacking us. I've even still got a scar on my leg from where it clawed me." Still grinning, he leaned back, his hands resting on the ground behind him. "But yeah. People get scary when protecting loved ones. Sure, some are scarier than others, but that doesn't make them monsters –you especially, since you're a healer-witch-thing now."

She quietly chuckled. "Healer-in-training," she corrected.

He shrugged, feeling his guilt disappear now that he had her laughing again. "Healer-in-training, healer-witch-thing. What's the difference?" He smirked, ducking as she made to playfully thwack him with her tail.

"The difference is I'm sort o' banned from usin' magic right now," she laughed. "Gothi's not at all happy with what I did on Dragon Island." Standing up, she brushed herself off and offered her tail to help Tuffnut up.

"What? Why? You saved lives." He held his hand out and she curled her tail around his forearm before easily pulling him to his feet.

"Because I apparently pushed myself too much an' could have killed either my patients or myself." She shrugged. "I understand why she's upset, so I'm not too distraught over the situation." She held the bag open as Tuffnut began adding some of the bones from his prank to the collection. "That, an' she's not entirely sure how t' keep trainin' me in magic? I've been learnin' the human way o' using it, but she also wants me t' learn the troll way."

He picked up the skull, dislocating the jawbone from it. "Uh…How? There're no trolls on Berk except you."

She eyed him curiously as he put the jaw in the bag. "Why're you addin' that in? An' Gothi said she's goin' t' write t' my mum."

"For the teeth," he answered. "Keep it in simmering water for a few days an' the bone should become wet enough to break away from the teeth or at least allow you to pull the teeth out easier."

"Huh. Didn't know that."

"Yeah. Uncle Bucket actually taught me that." He picked the bag up, hoisting it over his shoulder. "Anyway, Gothi's writing to your mom? But…like, your mom doesn't know anything about you." The two of them started to walk, heading back to Barf and Belch.

"Right? That's what I told her!" She sighed. "I told her I didn't think it the best o' ideas, but o' course, she disagreed. She probably read the runes an' they told her t' do it."

He chuckled. "Probably. But, hey: This means there's a chance you'll finally meet your mom. That'd be cool, wouldn't it?"

She bit her tongue, a bit of a nervous look coming to her face. "Eh…T' be honest, I'm not entirely sure. I know next t' nothin' about her an' she knows literally nothin' about me. For all we know, she totally forgot she gave birth t' me."

At that, Tuffnut let out a loud, sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, that's likely. She only shoved you out of her-"

"You know what I mean," she interrupted, scrunching her nose up and sticking her tongue out in disgust.

He smirked. "Consider that mental image payback for earlier."

She pouted. "Oh, come on –I had no choice! Gothi made me explain it to ya."

"I could have lived the rest of my life not knowing about how women bleed for a week." They came to the clearing where Barf and Belch still lay, pleasantly snoring as they slept. Tuffnut whistled and their heads shot upright, looking around for him. As they spotted him, they got to their feet and trotted over.

She rolled her eyes at his comment. "An' I could have lived the rest o' my life without thinkin' I was about t' be killed by a very tiny Boneknapper." Mounting Barf, she glanced over at Tuffnut as he mounted Belch. "Make sure t' not let the bag open up. Don't need its contents spillin' over the island."

"I'll be careful," he retorted, his tone indignant. As they took to the air, a look of confusion came to his face. "Wait…What's a Boneknapper?"

Her brow rose. "…Da's never told ya the story 'bout him an' the Boneknapper?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Huh. Ask him 'bout it sometime; it's the sort o' story you'd like. Apparently, he's friends with a whale."


"Ya know, takin' a dollop o' fresh dragon poo t' the eye an' still havin' an eye afterwards is pretty much unheard of."

"It's not something I'm very proud of, to be honest."

"Still. You're lucky t' have an eye at all –let alone the right side o' your face."

Hiccup cocked his brow as he glanced over at his cousin. Gothi lightly flicked his forehead, making him look back at her. "I really don't want to think about that right now," he sighed, closing both eyes and wincing ever so slightly when the old woman applied a strange paste to his skin.

"That's why I'm sayin' you're lucky," Thora chuckled. She tilted the mortar towards her, peering at the paste within. Finding it still too chunky, she started to grind it with the pestle again. "But don't worry –you're not the first one we've seen who's been bombarded by dragon poo."

He sighed. "That's…oddly a relief to hear."

Thora turned as Gothi tapped her on the shoulder. She pointed at the top shelf and Thora went to retrieve the jar she needed. "It's not happened as much since we've figured out the dragons poo at three o'clock," she told him, standing on tiptoe, "but it still does happen."

"With luck, I'm hoping to get them pooing somewhere away from the village." Hiccup cracked open an eye as the scent of lavender filled his nose and saw Gothi dipping her fingers into a purple-tinted cream. "It's harder than it seems, though."

Gothi nodded, chuckling.

"We heard the commotion ya made earlier," Thora admitted with a pitying smile. "Uncle Stoick put ya in charge o' herding the dragons then?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, Gothi applying the cream to his cheek. "Eh…not really herding…more like trying to keep the dragons out of everyone's hair. And Mildew's been no help. Apparently, his entire field of cabbages was eaten by Gronckles a few nights ago."

"Good! The basta—Ow!" She rubbed the top of her head where Gothi had smacked her. "What? He does! He's nothin' but trouble; even you've admitted it, Gothi."

Gothi sighed, rolling her eyes before grabbing her staff and writing in the ashes of the hearth. 'I may agree with you, but his cabbages were a food supply as well as useful in medicine. Hopefully, when spring comes, he will be able to grow more.'

Hiccup stuck his tongue out. "But his cabbage tastes disgusting."

"Da' can make it taste good. Remember that soup he made a few weeks ago –the one where ya had like, eight bowls?" He nodded. "That had cabbage in it."

"Really? I thought that was lettuce or spinach…"

She snorted. "Nope. An' you haven't tried his cabbage rolls, either –those will make ya love the stuff. He boils cabbage leaves an' then fills them with-" She was interrupted as Gothi used her staff to tap on the mortar. "Er…Right. Less talk, more work."

Chuckling, Hiccup watched as she transferred the contents of the mortar into a jar before cleaning it out. "What are you even making? It smells disgusting."

"A mixture t' help with muscle cramps," she replied. "It does have a bad smell now, but after a while, it mellows out. Even gets a bit sweet."

He nodded in understanding, Gothi finally finishing her work on his face. "Oh, by the way: Your dad said to tell you all the bones have been ground up and the powder's ready to be picked up."

Gothi lightly shook her head, writing in the ashes. 'About time. It only took him three days! It used to take him one.'

"Well, in his defense, we did get some pretty big bones," Thora pouted.

'With all his newfound time off, he should have finished ages ago.' She lightly smacked the ground with the butt of her staff for emphasis.

Hiccup winced, glad his cousin was too busy measuring out some herb to read Gothi's message. "Don't you think that's ah…a bit harsh?" Hiccup questioned, rubbing the back of his neck. "After all, Gobber's been plenty busy! How else is the armory supposed to stay nice and sharp?"

Gothi gave him a dull look before going to check on Thora's progress.

"Right…Well, ah…Thanks for fixing my face, Gothi. And I'll see you later, Thora. Bye!" He waved at them both before hurrying out of the hut.

Thora glanced at Gothi from the corner of her eye as the old woman inspected the salve she had already made. "Are…ah, are ya feelin' alright, Gothi?" she questioned.

'Of course. Why would I not be?' she scribbled on the chalkboard.

"Well, ya seem a bit…grumpy all o' a sudden."

She sighed, lightly shaking her head. 'Do I? I apologize. With the colder weather, my bones have been aching of late, but I haven't any mint oil to ease them for the time being.'

Thora cocked her head to the side, using her tail to add a log to the fire. "Well, we can make some." She added some oil into the mortar before sprinkling in some seedpods.

She shook her head. 'I haven't any mint and with storm season coming, I dare not sail to Healer's Island."

"…Gothi, we've got dragons now. We could fly t' the island."

Gothi shot her a scolding look. 'Neither of us has a dragon, nor can either of us fly one,' she reminded her.

Shrugging, Thora started to grind the ingredients with the pestle. "That may be true, but I know Hiccup, Ruff, an' Tuff –all o' whom have dragons. I could ask 'em if they could fly us over t' the island."

'I think it would be best for only you to go,' Gothi wrote. 'Being in the cold so long would only make my bones feel worse. But, if they would be willing to take you then, by all means, please go. When the snows come, it will not be just me needing the relief of peppermint.'

Thora nodded. "Then how 'bout I go ask 'em after I finish this batch o' medicine? I can also pick up the bone powder from da'."

Gothi nodded. 'That sounds good. By the by, I forgot to ask: Did you find any teeth?'

"I did, but they were still in the jaw. Tuffnut told me t' simmer it for a few days t' soften the bone, so I've got it at home in a pot."

'Tuffnut told you that?'

She nodded.

'Well, well…that boy does have a brain after all,' she wrote with a small laugh.

"He and Ruff are pretty smart, actually," Thora told her. "Sure, they act dumb most o' the time, but I swear, they're only doin' it t' make us underestimate them.' She paused, thinking back to a few days ago. "…Then again, Tuffnut did think it was a good idea t' cover himself in bones an' jump out at me in the dragon graveyard. Ugh. Could have sworn he was a Boneknapper…"

Her brow rising, Gothi cleaned off her board before writing anew. 'Boneknapper?' she questioned. 'What in the world is a Boneknapper?'

Thora frowned. "…You've never heard o' a Boneknapper either?"

She shook her head.

"Why is it tha' only da' an' me know what a Boneknapper dragon is?" She sighed and brushed some hair from her face. "A Boneknapper is a type o' dragon that uses the bones o' the dead for armor. Its scales never harden enough t' be useful, so it's got t' make due usin' other things."

'Interesting! I've never heard of such a dragon before. How did you come to know of it?'

She shrugged. "Da's had a few run-ins with one before," she explained. "He's told me the story at least a hundred times. An' he's also made sure that I've got every dragon in the Book o' Dragons memorized, what with him usin' it t' read me t' sleep when I was a child." She peeked into the mortar before dumping it into another, empty jar.

Gothi watched as she cleaned out the mortar and wiped off the pestle. 'When would you be willing to go fetch the mint?'

"Well, if I get someone's help, I could go today," she replied. "How much o' the stuff d'ya need?"

'Quite a lot, actually. I always make my mint oil extra strong so I can get away with using less of it.'

"I'll be sure t' keep that in mind." Wiping her hands on her apron dress, she went to the door and shouldered her satchel. "If I don't come back, I'll have gone t' the island an' I'll bring in the bone powder an' the mint tomorrow. Otherwise, I'll be back with the bone powder."

Nodding in understanding, Gothi gave her a small wave before she left.

When Thora reached the town square, she found it to be in complete disarray. Barrels and crates had been tossed everywhere, dragon poo was scattered across the ground, and a lone sheep stood near the well, the wool near its rump burnt. Sighing, Thora lightly shook her head and continued on her way.

'I suppose Hiccup will be too busy after this,' she thought, turning some barrels upright and carrying them out of the way. 'I'll see what Ruff and Tuff are up to, then. Hopefully Ruff's feeling better…'

When she made it to the Thorston household, she was greeted by the twins and their dragon. All four were sitting atop the house, though Barf and Belch lowered themselves at Thora's approach. She bit her tongue, feeling a bit nervous to be so close to the dragon, despite having ridden it just a few days prior.

"Halt!" Tuffnut declared. "Who dares to approach the Thorston estate?"

"'Estate', huh? Since when did you guys get one o' those?" she teased.

Ruffnut grinned. "An estate needn't be a large plot of land, my dear Thora," she explained, her tone scholarly.

"Indeed, my good sister!" Tuffnut agreed. "In fact, an estate is simply the whole of somebody's property, possession, and money."

"Yes, farms and large halls are normally what one thinks of when the word 'estate' is brought up-"

"Strange, I normally associate it with dead people," Thora interrupted.

Ruffnut pouted. "I was going to add that in!"

Shrugging, she cheekily grinned. "Sorry."

Flopping over the top of Barf's head, she let out a defeated sigh. "Aren't you supposed to be at your lessons with Gothi?" she questioned, still wearing a frown.

"Yeah!" Tuffnut agreed, his brows furrowing in confusion. "Why're you out early?" He suddenly perked, his eyes widening. "Did you get in trouble? Did she fire you from being her apprentice? We can kick her butt if she did!"

Thora cocked her brow, wondering how in the world he had come up with that idea. "Ah…no? I'm actually here wonderin' if I could ask a favor o' ya."

The twins raised their brows and spoke in unison. "A favor?"

She nodded. "Aye. I need t' go t' Healer's Island, but since I don't have a dragon o' my own an' Hiccup seems t' be busy destroyin' the town…"

A sly grin suddenly came to Ruffnut's face. "And what would we get in return for said favor?" she questioned.

"Er…the satisfaction o' knowin' ya helped out a friend?" she suggested, trying to smile innocently.

The twin looked at one another, both wearing dull, bored expressions. "You'll have to do better than that," Tuffnut replied, resting his chin in his hand.

Ruffnut mirrored his pose. "Yeah. We need somethin' better than that."

"Like what? I already brought ya herbs for your cramps. Did they help, by the way?"

Ruffnut's cheeks turned a bit pink as she self-consciously glanced over at her twin. Tuffnut, however, pretended not to hear and simply glared at something in the distance. "Er, yeah…they helped a lot, actually," she mumbled, quickly looking away again. "But that was earlier this week; this is an entirely different situation."

"I have an idea!" Tuffnut suddenly declared. He motioned Ruffnut over and, leaning close to her, began whispering in her ear.

Thora rolled her eyes, chuckling as she covered her ears. When the twins separated, she uncovered them again. "So, what's the price I've got t' pay?"

"Pierce our ears," they answered, crossing their arms and wearing smug grins.

Her brow rose, taken aback. "…Ya want me t' pierce your ears?" she repeated. "That's all?"

"You act like it's easy," Ruffnut frowned.

"Yeah, it's not. We've tried before, but we always got them crooked or ended up having to take the earrings out because they got infected," Tuffnut added.

She shrugged, surprised by the simplicity of the trade. "Fine. I'll do it, but only on one condition."

"And that would be…?"

A serious expression came to her face and she pointed at them with her tail. "Swear t' Odin that you'll never yank each other's piercings durin' one o' your fights," she told them. "I've seen the damage they can do when pulled on an' trust me, it's not pretty. There's a reason No-Ears Erlingr is called No-Ears."

The twins cringed at the thought, but that didn't deter them. "We swear," Tuffnut told her.

"Yeah, we swear. We like our ears. …Well, I like mine. Tuffnut's are the size of shields," Ruffnut snickered, ducking as her brother tried to smack her shoulder.

"Your ears are just as big!" he argued. "They're just hidden under all your hair."

"It doesn't matter how big your ears are," Thora sighed. "They'll both end up pierced in the end. Now, let's go t' Healer's Island, shall we?"

Barf and Belched hopped off of the roof and landed beside her. "You'll have to sit on their back," Ruffnut instructed, "since there's no more room on their necks."

Tuffnut looked at his twin. "Uh…how's she going to hold on?" he asked as Thora awkwardly climbed onto the dragon.

"Uh, duh?" She reached over and knocked on his helmet. "Her tail, idiot." She glanced back at their friend, checking to see if she was settled yet. "You alright back there? We could always have them carry you in their claws."

Adjusting herself so that she was nestled between Barf and Belch's spines, Thora wrapped her tail around Belch's neck. "I'm fine just where I am," she replied. "Aye, it's a wee bit awkward, but I'm sure I'll be fine."

Matching grins came to the twins' faces and Thora let out a small yelp as Barf and Belch suddenly took to the air. It was far more difficult to hold onto the dragon without the help of rope and horns, but Thora kept her tail securely wrapped around Belch while her hands gripped the spines in front of her. When the twins started diving through the air and making their dragon twirl around in circles, she wasn't sure if they were trying to dislodge her or if this was how they always flew.

Thankfully, getting to Healer's Island didn't take very long. By boat, it would have taken half a day with favorable conditions, but thanks to Barf and Belch, the trip to the island only took an hour. They landed near the island's center, in a nice, open field. As Thora slid off the dragon's back, Ruffnut and Tuffnut looked around, already finding themselves bored.

"So…why are we here, again?" Ruffnut asked, hopping off Barf.

"I need t' get a lot o' mint," Thora replied, straightening out her clothes. "It shouldn't take me too long, so the two o' ya can either come with me or stay here."

Tuffnut slid off Belch, moving to lie against the dragon's side. "I'm stayin' here. Going to Death's Head Headlands was fun, but hunting for plants? No thanks."

Ruffnut shrugged, moving to start following Thora. "I'll come with you; I need a break from the smell of Tuffnut."

"Real men smell like sweat and blood!" he argued as the two females walked off.

"Real men know tha' bathin' is good for them an' their health," Thora murmured, plucking a leaf off a bush and looking it over.

"Huh. So that's why all the guys our age act like babies," Ruffnut snickered.

Thora chuckled. "That's not true! Hiccup an' Fishlegs are rather mature."

"Eh, but the rest of them?" She shook her head. "Snotlout and Fraener are the biggest babies of the bunch, though."

Thora rolled her eyes, letting out a sound of disgust. "You're tellin' me! If it's possible, Fraener's worse than Snotlout –he goes cryin' t' his da' if ya so much as look at him wrong."

"Right? At least Snotlout has the bollocks to fight back –sometimes." She glanced around as they got further and further away from her brother and dragon. "So, ah…where would we find the mint? Does it grow in the trees?"

Shaking her hair, Thora used her tail to lightly turn Ruffnut westwards along the path. "It likes wet areas," she explained, "so we're goin' t' the lake."

"There's a lake on this island? Not fair. Berk doesn't have a lake…"

"No, but it's the Unlandable Cove –that's got a nice swimmin' hole in it."

"But this is so far away. If I wanted to go swimming, I don't want to have to fly an hour to get there." She crossed her arms, pouting.

Thora laughed. "We live on an island, Ruff. Ya can walk t' the beach an' go swimming any time ya want."

Ruffnut stuck her tongue out in displeasure. "It's salt water; I can't swim with my eyes open! Plus, what I get attacked by a shark?"

"…You're scared o' gettin' attacked by a shark?"

"It's a logical fear! They live in the ocean and come close to shore when they want to eat a seal or something."

Patting her on the shoulder, Thora chuckled. "I wasn't goin' t' tease ya for it," she assured her. "I'm afraid o' sharks, too. Da' says I shouldn't be, since they're easy t' gut, but he forgets that I don't have a hook for a hand." Holding up her hand, she scrunched her nose up slightly as she looked it over. "Don't even have enough fingers, really…"

Ruffnut snickered again. "You've got more fingers than my cousin, Handless Hans. He lost his right hand in a dragon attack a long, long time ago, as well as…oh, three, I think, of the fingers on his left hand."

Thora cocked her head. "You've got cousins?"

She nodded. "Yeah, on mom's side. They live on Bashem."

"Your mum came from Bashem, too?"

"Nah. Mom had five sisters and they all married Bashem-Oik men. We don't see them very often, but they do write a lot. Mom has a whole chest of letters from her sisters…She's waiting for Trader Johann to get here so she can send him off with a batch she's been writing." She shrugged. "But yeah. Handless Hans only has two or three fingers to his name, so you're better off than him at least."

"Have ya ever met him?"

"Once, when Tuff and I were real small. Mom's the youngest of her sisters, so all our cousins are like…twice or thrice our age. Not that it matters, since we don't get to see them, anyway."

It was Thora's turn to shrug. "Must be kind o' nice, though, knowin' you've got family out there, even if you don't know 'em too well."

"Yeah, I guess." She gave Thora a light shove. "You've got Hiccup though, so don't go acting like you don't have family."

"I wasn't!" she pouted. "I was just sayin' it's nice t' know. I mean, I've apparently got three older brothers somewhere out in the world an' it's oddly comfortin' knowing that."

Ruffnut grinned. "You're just weird."

"Well, aye, but I thought ya knew that already?" She quickly reached over, grabbing Ruffnut's belt and tugged her backwards as they abruptly came to the edge of a small cliff. "Thank ya, Gothi, for not tellin' me about this…" she murmured, peering down at the lake below.

Ruffnut's cheeks grew a bit red out of a mixture of shock and embarrassment. "Er…thanks," she mumbled, also looking down at the water. Its surface was no more than ten feet below them, but both girls knew that it would be freezing cold. "So, uh, is that the mint?" she asked, pointing at a bush growing a few yards away from the lake's edge.

"Could be. Hard t' tell from up here, though." Releasing Ruffnut's belt, she started to climb down the crag.

"How much of it do you need?"

"Gothi wasn't specific. She told me that I'd just need t' grab a lot." She slid down the side of a boulder before reaching up and helping Ruffnut down. "So, I'm guessin' 'a lot' means as much as I can carry."

"And since you're half troll, that means you can carry way more than she thinks!" Ruffnut teased. "You should bring her like…ten bushes."

Thora's brow rose. "How am I supposed t' carry ten mint bushes, especially when we've got t' ride a dragon back t' Berk?"

At that, Ruffnut shrugged, but grinned. "No idea, but at least it would be enough."

Rolling her eyes, she nudged the blonde's shoulder with her tail, also grinning. "Keep talkin' like that and I'll make you carry some o' it, too," she lightly threatened. She walked over to the bush and, without touching it at first, inspected it. "Looks like mint an' kind o' smells like mint," she murmured.

"So it's gotta be mint," Ruffnut finished.

"It smells different, though. I think this might actually be spearmint." She pushed some hair out of her face before plucking one of the leaves from the stem.

Ruffnut cocked a brow. "There's a difference?"

"Mhm. They look pretty much the same, except spearmint has pointier leaves." Popping the leave in her mouth, she chewed it. As the flavor coated her tongue, she nodded. "Aye, definitely spearmint. Hm…" She looked around, hoping to see if any other mint bushes were growing nearby.

"Don't spearmint and mint have basically the same uses?" Ruffnut also picked a couple of leaves and started chewing them. "My mom uses them pretty interchangeably."

"For the most part, they do," Thora agreed, "but spearmint is more treatin' skin problems while plain mint is better for lungs an' aching bones. Plus, it tastes better with lamb an' mutton."

Nodding in agreement, Ruffnut spat the chewed-up leaves on the ground. "You got me there. Spearmint just tastes a little…odd with sheep."

"Oh, an' plain mint is also really good at keepin' lice an' fleas away," added Thora as she went to look over a different bush.

"Yeah. Mom's been making sure to douse me an' Tuff in the stuff for years. It's like she forgets that Berk is one of the cleanest Viking settlements, so we don't have those problems…" Picking up a rock, she looked it over, judging its flatness. "Anyway, I found out fish oil is actually a lot better for my hair." Finding the rock too round on one side, she tossed it over her shoulder.

"Fish oil?" She glanced over at Ruffnut.

"Yeah! Not only does it keep my hair nice and shiny, but it also keeps it thick and strong. Tuffnut hates it when I use the stuff because it apparently stinks, but then again, have you seen the state of his hair? Blegh. Also, he doesn't bathe." She shook her head and picked up a different rock. Finding this one flat enough for her liking, she flicked her wrist, watching as it skipped four times before sinking beneath the waters.

"Well, he's a guy. What do ya expect?" She let out a small sigh of relief; this second bush was mint. "For the most part, guys are gross."

"Name one guy who isn't gross and who isn't Hiccup or Stoick."

She peeked over at Ruffnut, seeing that she was looking for more rocks to skip. "Er…Well…Egil's fairly alright."

"Uh…He farts on his little brother. I thought that was common knowledge?"

She stuck her tongue out. "No wonder Gustav's weird…" she muttered. "What about Gunnar Swansong? Not only is he a decent fellow, he's probably the least offensive guy our age next t' Fishlegs."

Ruffnut was silent for a moment as she contemplated Thora's suggestion. "Hm." Flinging a second rock, she watched as it skipped five times before sinking. "Yeah, alright. He's not gross. Then again, he's had to take care of himself, especially since he's had to start raising his little sister now that Gerta's gone…"

Thora froze, the memory of a half-burnt woman, her skull crushed and body twisted, filled her mind. Swallowing hard, she tried to push the image away and focus on gathering the mint in front of her, but it stayed in place.

"You alright?" Ruffnut asked, her brows furrowing as she watched Thora shake her head a few times. She grumbled quietly before rubbing her forehead. "Thora? Hey? Are you even listening to me?"

"S-sorry. I just…" Thora shook her head again before sighing. "It's nothin'."

Ruffnut crossed her arms and cocked her hip as she gave Thora a scolding look. "Yeah, you bein' pale and shaky isn't nothing. What's going on?"

She bit her tongue before rubbing the back of her neck. "Gerta was…she was one o' the bodies I saw durin' the fight," she admitted. "Let's just say there were far better ways for her t' have gone."

Cringing at the thought, Ruffnut awkwardly patted her shoulder. "O-oh…sorry," she murmured, glancing away. "I guess not being on the ground for the most of the fight was a good thing for us riders. We didn't have to see any of…of that. And when we were on the ground, the fog and smoke blocked it all out."

Letting out a sigh, Thora shook her head a final time. "Yeah…But at least she's at peace now. I'm pretty sure she's with her husband in Valhalla." Pulling her dagger from her bag, she pushed it into the earth around the mint bush. She began sawing around its base, cutting its roots so she could pull it up. "But yeah, Gunnar an' Fishlegs are the only guys I can think of."

Ruffnut crouched down, helping Thora loosen the plant from the earth. "Well, now that I think of it, Yngling isn't too bad, either."

"Yngling? As in Yngling Berg?"

"Uh, duh? He's the only Yngling on the island."

"Yeah, and he happens t' be a complete jerk. He's worse than Snotlout."

"Attitude-wise, yeah," Ruffnut grinned mischievously, "but even you gotta admit he's gettin' real handsome."

Thora stuck her tongue out. "There are way better lookin' blokes on Berk than him," she argued. With some effort, she and Ruffnut were able to tug the mint free of the earth's grasp. "Anyway, I thought this was a discussion 'bout how gross the guys are –not how attractive they are?"

Shrugging, Ruffnut chuckled. "They can go hand-in-hand, you know. The grosser a guy is, usually the less attractive he is. Anyway, despite being a jerk, he's real easy on the eyes. I mean, have you seen the way his biceps flex when he's carrying sheep?" She let out a wistful sigh, mentally picturing the sight. "It's like watching Thor himself…"

Her brow rising as she watched the blonde stare lustfully at nothing in particular, Thora made a quiet noise of disgust. "Ruff, you're startin' t' drool."

"Sorry. It's just such a gorgeous sight." She wiped her mouth off on her arm. "Seriously –you should check it out sometime."

"Er…I'd rather watch Snotlout workout than watch that jerk. An' that's sayin' something, because ya know how much I hate Snotlout." Shaking her head, she wiped her dagger clean on her trousers before tucking it away. "So, no, I don't agree he's handsome."

Ruffnut stared at her, somewhat offended. "But even Astrid thinks he's handsome!"

"That may be so, but look who she picked over him: Hiccup." She chuckled, pushing some hair from her face.

Giving her a curious look, Ruffnut crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you even sure you're into guys?" she questioned, her tone almost accusing.

"Just because I don't find one bloke handsome due t' him bein' a jerk doesn't mean I don't like men!" Thora cackled as they started to walk back to the clearing.

"Then who do you find handsome?"

She shrugged. "Well, I find Egil kind o' cute, but that's about it, really." She ran her hand through her hair only for it to get stuck partway through. "T' be honest, I'm tryin' t' not go down that road right now."

"Huh? Why not? Is it the whole 'future Völva of Berk' thing?"

Untangling her fingers, Thora scrunched her nose up when she realized one of her rings had come off in the mess of hair. "Sort of, but it's more me tryin' t' not get my hopes up for any sort o' romantic future."

Ruffnut frowned. "Dude, that's lame. I'm sure-"

Thora shot her a look. "Don't even try," she sighed. "Your my friend, o' course you'd be optimistic. But I know I'm not what humans want for a lover or wife. Now, that's not t' say I may find myself a troll in the future, but…" She shrugged. "Unless the person's blind, that is."

Shrugging, the blonde put her hands behind her head. "I guess that's alright. So long as it doesn't like…depress you or anything? I mean, you are being realistic about the whole thing…Still think you can score a human, though. You're actually pretty plain, even with your tail and tusks."

"Regardless. I'm not gettin' my hopes up." She shrugged again. "Anyway, it's not like I really have much time t' spend with a guy. I'm either at my lessons or runnin' errands for Gothi."

"True. You don't have the freedom of us dragon riders." She grinned cheekily. "We get to spend all day doing whatever we want with our dragons…it's almost a shame Gobber stuck ya with Gothi. You're missing out on all the fun!"

Thora cast a small glare in her direction, but it went unnoticed. "Keep that in mind the next time ya get sick from inhalin' too much o' Barf's gas."

Ruffnut stuck her tongue out. "Warmed yak's milk with chamomile in it," she taunted. "Easy enough to remember."

Smirking, she gave Ruffnut a light nudge with her tail. "Ya forgot an ingredient."

"Did not! Gothi put chamomile in that warmed yak's milk –nothin' else!"

"Nope. There was somethin' else she added an' I'm not goin' t' tell ya what it is." She blew a teasing raspberry at her friend, who scowled. "At least, I won't tell ya if ya can't catch me." She darted ahead on the path.

"Oh, I'll catch you alright!" Ruffnut laughed, taking chase.