Astrid wanted to test Zyrah's resilience and battle strength, she knew the 16 year old had some good strategy and her main strength was her stealth and light feet, but she wasn't really battle experienced.
"I see you've got your own sword." Astrid grinned, swinging her axe around. Zyrah nodded.
"Yeah, my mom gave it to me for my birthday."
"Your mother has good taste." Without warning, Astrid charged at the 16-year old, holding her axe above her head. Zyrah froze for a few seconds before dodging the blow and rolling to the side, holding up her sword in defense as Astrid gave a second attack blow.
"Whoa!" Zyrah yelped. She was agile, but unbalanced, and based on that first reaction, she had a tendency to freeze when charged at or attacked, Astrid observed. She wondered if her brothers had focused on dragon training more than battle training…
"So… who taught you how to wield a sword?" Astrid asked.
"Oh, well my dad taught me some of the basics, and then they sent me to someone in our village who was an expert swordsman, but he died a while back, so I guess I don't know much." She shrugged.
Meanwhile, Hiccup, Toothless, Fishlegs and Sienna were grouped up, with Hiccup and Fishlegs eager to learn more about the female Night Fury. They first noted Sienna's smaller size compared to Toothless, and her blue eyes compared to his green ones. Her wings were narrow, but the wingspan exceeded Toothless's by about two feet. Her tailfins were definitely longer and narrower. Fishlegs excitedly scribbled down Hiccup's observations.
Sienna was used to Vikings losing their minds over seeing her. But these two were definitely the most excited. Toothless had a deadpan stare.
"Now… I kinda wonder what Night Fury mating tendencies are!" Fishlegs said, earning weirded out glances from both the dragons.
"Ahh, we don't need to get into that yet." Hiccup assured.
Later on, the girls came back from training, with Konall catching up to them.
"How'd it go for you girls?" Konall asked.
"It was great! Astrid gave me some great tips and tricks. She's gonna help me balance myself out while I fight." Konall grinned.
"That's awesome!" He wrapped an arm around Zyrah, hugging her, "Proud of you."
The group had dinner together in the Great Hall, and there the Berkians told their new friends everything they could, from the end of the dragon attacks, to the Dragon Flyers and finally Drago Bludvist.
"Two Bewilderbeast's is just bad news, they fight to the death, and the victor takes away its opponents dragons. And that's what we witnessed, and Drago took Toothless as well."
"Oof… That must've been insane." Rurik said, attempting to grab Olsen's mead, who snatched it away from him before he could and shoved him a cup of water, earning a dagger-like glare from the youngest.
"It was, but in the end, Toothless saved the day, and now my mom lives with us." Zyrah smiled.
"At least you got to have one day with your whole family, that must've been really nice." She sighed, resting her arms on the table and her chin on her arms. With the revelation that her parents were her adopted parents, she had wondered if her birth parents were alive somewhere, and if it was possible to find them. But would that mean she would have to leave the only family she knew? This was a lot to deal with.
"Earth to Zyrah! Earth to Zyrah!" Someone said. She blinked and her mind rejoined the present.
"Sorry… Imma… I'm gonna go on a quick flight. C'mon Sienna." She gestured out the door and the two left. Olsen sighed, feeling bad.
"Maybe I should've waited until we got back home. I've never seen her act like this before…" Hiccup frowned.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out."
"And you don't know who her birth parents could be, so there's some damage control?" Snotlout tried, earning glares from the four brothers.
"That won't help. She's as stubborn as the next Viking, and is quick to fight, so I have no idea honestly." Alvar said, resting his fist on his cheek.
"Again, you'll figure it out, and we can help if you want."
"Thanks."
Meanwhile, the girls were flying high above the clouds. Zyrah's braid trailed behind her like a flag, waving in the wind. They had no destination in mind, Zyrah just needed to clear her head.
"Ugh! I can't deal with this!" She groaned, "My whole life has been a lie! The only family I've had turns out to not be my real family. At this point only the gods know who my real parents are." Sienna just listened quietly, used to her rider's anger tirades. She flapped her wings and glided right above a cloud, turning slightly on her right, beginning to fly back to Berk.
Suddenly, Sienna's ears perked up. The Night Fury began to pay extra attention to her surroundings, as something felt off for some reason. Her pupils narrowed as she looked around. Zyrah on the other hand remained unaware of her dragons wariness.
Sienna heard something from below them, so she dipped slowly down to get a better look. She saw ships some miles off of Berk's shores, however they didn't look like they were sailing towards the docks, rather around the island instead. Suspicious, Sienna dove down, startling Zyrah.
"What the-! Sienna? What are you doing?" She yelped, only to receive a light smack on the leg from Sienna's ear flaps, "Ow!" She replied.
Sienna trailed just above the ships, watching closely. She remembered how Hiccup had described the Dragon Hunter's seal that were on the sails, and these looked just like them. And it appeared Zyrah also made the connection.
"Odin's beard… I thought they got rid of all 'em!" Zyrah whispered in shock, "let's get back to Berk and warn the others before it's too late. We don't know if they're alone." The two rose above the clouds for cover and flew as fast as possible.
They landed just as everyone was leaving and going to bed. Zyrah practically tumbled out of the saddle.
"Whoa! Easy there!" Konall exclaimed, rushing to her side to help her up, "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." She shook her head.
"Hiccup! The seal of the dragon hunters?" She said, waving her arms around, Hiccup looked at her confused.
"Yeah? What about them?"
"Sienna and I saw two boats of theirs! Two miles offshore! I couldn't tell if they're coming for Berk but it looks like they're in the general direction." Hiccup glanced over his shoulder at Astrid, who had a perplexed expression.
"All the dragon hunters fled the archipelago after Drago's defeat," the shieldmaiden said, "there's no way there's any of them left." At that, Eret, son of Eret appeared, still earning a swoon from Ruffnut.
"What's all the fuss about?" The former trapper inquired.
"Oh, this is Zyrah." Eret bowed, and Zyrah couldn't tell whether it was genuine or joking.
"Pleasure to meet you."
"She claims she and her dragon saw two dragon hunter boats with the seal on their sails." Eret shared a similar expression to Astrid's.
"That doesn't sound right."
"I'm telling the truth! I saw them coming towards Berk! Sienna saw them too, right girl?" The dragon rumbled in response and scratched her ear. Hiccup frowned.
"I'll take that as a yes?" Sienna growled, as if to confirm it. All the dragon riders shared a concerned expression before mounting their dragons and following Zyrah and Sienna to where they saw the ships. And they still weren't sure whether to believe her.
