Hey everyone, I'm back with another chapter of Silver and Gold! Sorry that I kind of rushed the last chapter.
Aurora's POV
As I jumped off the cliff after Astrid, I could hear Hiccup fainting on the ground above me. I gave myself Ice Fury wings so I could get to Astrid quicker. As I caught Astrid, I could hear Mist getting up in the background.
I returned to the cliff only to see Hiccup coming to and Mist walking over. I set Astrid down on grass, who had still not come to.
Hiccup's POV
As I slowly opened my eyes I saw someone I didn't know walking over and Aurora with wings setting Astrid on the ground before me. "Hey, Mist? Help me will you? She broke her leg on one of rocks" Aurora called to the young girl who was walking over.
I looked over to Astrid to see that her right leg was slightly out of shape. The young girl Aurora called Mist came over with some bandages. She had jet black hair that went to her hips pulled back in a braid and ice blue eyes. She wore a grey tunic and brown leggings.
"What happened?" I asked groggily as Aurora and Mist worked on Astrid's leg. Mist spoke up. "Well, from what I saw Astrid looked over the cliff and fainted from the sight of the White King, Aurora jumped after her, you fainted. From what I see, I believe she's your wife and she hit one of her legs on a cliff, she won't be able to move for a while buddy"
Before I could protest Aurora seemed to read my mind and spoke. "Look, she's your wife Hiccup, you should stay here with her, Mist and the others. You'll be fine with them, I'll go tell Fishlegs that your staying here till Astrid gets better"
Aurora's POV
Me and Sunset headed off towards berk, as much as I hated to go there. Not only that I haven't forgotten what happened seven years ago, but I have a souvenir form the old man (Mildew, I think his name was) managed to get a hunting party to come after me.
Thanks to the old idiot, I now have a large scar over my right eye. From my forehead, skipping over my eye and then to the bottom of my jaw line. Oh, how I hate that bitter memory.
Flashback
I was now 21 years old (Heather taught me how to use a calendar and keep track of how old I was a little after I met her). Jason was back at the nest taking care of the dragons while I went to go do something just for myself for the first time in a year.
I went to the forest to sleep, since I hadn't gotten more then three to four hours a night. Hunting for six extra people and three extra dragons did a number on you, along with when you were the only one who knew how to treat serious wounds (ask the scars I have how I learned to care myself. Self stitches hurt you know).
I had probably been asleep for a good ten hours before I woke from a punch to the stomach. I looked up to see probably a good twenty Vikings standing in front of me, and a ship with what seemed to have the berk crest.
On instinct, I vaulted on my hands flipping midair drawing Ember and landing perfectly on my feet. I clicked Ember, the blade made of flames popped out. I held backwards since I really didn't have time to care how I held my sword.
"What are you doing here?" I asked them, making sure I didn't kill them incase they came in peace. "We were sent here to kill you, abomination" I rolled my eyes at them, they clearly hadn't heard of any of the story's about me. "Are you so sure about that, unless you wish to return to Berk chopped into chilli".
They laughed at threat. The same Viking who had talked to me earlier crossed the line at that point. "Sure, I'm shaking in my boots. I'm so scared pipsqueak". With my free hand I drew my dagger and threw it at him, pinning him to a tree behind the crowd through his throat.
The rest of them stared at me. "Any questions?" I asked as if I gave the a choice if they got to live or not. "Kill her!" Yelled a Viking from the middle of the crowd. They charged at me, at which point I slightly smirked before charging back at them, immediately running Ember through five Vikings at once, slicing them in half, but as she went through the last Viking in the row, someone got a cut from my forehead across my right eye to my jaw line.
To avoid getting blood in my eye, I closed my right, now relying on my senses and instincts to guide me through the fight. I drew one of daggers I kept on my person and stabbed the man who had cut me while my other hand ran Ember through three approaching Vikings. I grabbed three daggers and threw them at the remaining Vikings approached me, killing them instantly.
The rest got ran through with Ember. I left one alive. "Now you answer my questions or you end up the same as everyone else" the young Viking nodded, who was cowering against a tree as I approached him.
As much as I hate threatening people, I had to know why Berk sent people to kill me. "Why did you come here, who sent you, and how did you find this place?"
"WeweresentheretokillyoubyMidewwhogotpeopletobelievethatyouwantedtokillusall
sohegotthecheiftosendouthuntingparitesforyouandIdontknowhowwefoundyouitwas
someoneelseontheshippleasedontkillme" (A/N see if you can translate THAT).
"I help you get the bodies on the ship, you sail back to Berk and tell them this is only a warning, I let you off the hook, you seem like a nice guy. But I will be forced to kill you of tell them where I am" he only nodded.
By the time I got back to the cave we stayed in, I had probably been gone a good two days, I had to catch up on sleep. I had managed to stop the bleeding with pressure, but it was still open. (You can't blame me for waiting, I was tired and I've almost died enough times to handle myself).
The wound had started bleeding again, but I didn't really care at the moment. I walk into the kitchen trying to find the medicine box when Mist walked in. She took one look at my face and said "I really don't want to know do I?" I shook my head while rummaging through the cabinets until I finally found what I was looking for.
I took out some of the ointment and bandages starting to work on my cut. "Ok, what happened, and don't say it's a scratch, you know Sunset isn't going to let you out of bed for the next two days with a cut like that" I sighed and told her what happened.
Everybody seemed to take it pretty well, but I had bandages over my eye for the two months. I wasn't able to hunt so Jason and Jack took care of it for me.
Flashback ended.
I was going to slowly torture that man and then slowly kill him and enjoy every second of it. I know it sounds harsh but think about this. I wasn't able to fly for two months, so I was horrible to be around for the next two months, I had to basically act like the basic house wife and had to give up every single weapon to Mist so that she knew that I wouldn't hurt anybody or stab them in my horrible mood. You have no idea how much I hated those two months.
As I landed in Berk, Fishlegs ran up to me, probably recognizing me right away. I had spent a lot of time with him when I was here, helping him make a new book of dragons.
"Hey Aurora!" I grinned slightly at seeing my old friend "Hey Fish, I just needed to drop by for two things, the first being Astrid broke her leg and won't be going anywhere any time soon, so he needs you to stay in charge a little longer"
He nodded understanding "The second reason why your here?" My eyes narrowed. "Where's Mildew" my answer came when I caught a dagger between two fingers that was headed for my throat.
With that, many in the village paled seeing I was not one to be crossed. "If that was an attempt at my life Mildew, it was a very poor one" he snarled at me "Well, what have I done to you then"
I slowly approached throwing the dagger in the air catching it on one finger and balancing it there without it breaking skin (according to some people who brought it up the word 'impressive' barley covered it). I stopped ten feet away from him.
"Remember five years ago when that ship came back with the message of it being a warning" everyone in the village visibly paled remembering that day when the ship came back.
"Do you see this?" I said gesturing to the scar over my eye. It seemed everyone there only just noticed it. "I got that from the damn hunting party you sent, I wasn't able to fly for two months, I had to act like a common house wife, no offense, and I wasn't allowed near a weapon for those two months, I was in such a bad mood I was in danger of stabbing those closest to me, you think I was going to let that slide"
I drew Ember off my belt. Mildew scoffed. "You expect to hurt me with a stick?" I raised an eyebrow at him "Wheres the kid who took the ship back" an older version of the person whose life I had spared all those years ago. "Good job on keeping your mouth shut, you get to live" I told him as I tossed him a pouch with ten silvers in it.
I clicked Ember open. Everyone gasped, they had probably never seen a sword made out of flames before. "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't kill you on the spot, anybody"
I slowly approached the old man, enjoy the fear in his eyes of his last moments. "Hey, we have bigger problem then a cooky old man at the moment" Mist was standing behind me with Jack beside.
I rolled my eyes before turning my gaze back to Mildew. "Remember this, and remember it well. Next time you do anything to hurt those close to me or a dragon, you'll find this dagger in your heart" gesturing to the dagger on my wrist.
Many saw the truthfulness of this threat, and backed away from me. Not even turning to know what they were doing "And I have few more things to say to some of the people here"
I walked up to Snotlout first. "Next time you flirt with me the same goes for you" I turned to face the crowd after easily making Snotlout faint from the threat. They all backed away in fear. No one had ever scared Snotlout with a threat before. "Anyone want to argue, I will be more than willing to fight" I scanned the crowd. "Good" Is all I said before mounting Sunset and flying back.
Jack and Mist followed after me "So what did you want me for?" Mist paled, she had seen many bad injuries in her days, but she knew Hiccup was my brother and Astrid was his wife. "Astrid is burning up with a fever and the leg somehow became seriously infected".
I huffed "God damn it. Why am I always the one to do everything" I didn't let them answer before I raced towards the sanctuary. I knew that if the infection spread, thee would only be one option, risk treating it or chopping the lower leg off. The best we can hope for is that she would just need a leg brace.
Hiccup's POV
As Aurora set off, I was tempted to ask about the scar on her eye. "You're lucky that she's a strong person your sister Hiccup. She would have died a LONG time ago if she couldn't fight like she can" I hesitated to ask my question. "What happened with the scar on her eye?"
She sighed. "I believe you know that Mildew sent out hunting parties for her a while ago right? And the warning that was sent back?" I nodded my head. "We'll then there's you answer. Can't believe you would want to know about that one of them all. To be honest it's one of her less serious scars".
She shed a tear at that. "That's actually how I ended up here. I was a Viking once, but when I was five I was kidnapped by Romans and sold as a slave. I stayed for 2 years. I was seven when Aurora came to free the dragons, but she noticed me, the youngest slave, being beaten and tortured and whipped"
My eyes widened. Torturing a minor was something that got you exiled on Viking culture. "She freed me, but not without a price. She bargained to buy me, but she had to give up a small dragon rock pendent that was one of the few things she had from her mother. Even though from there on out, she raised me as her own, seeing as the Romans slaughtered my whole tribe. She basically adopted me and cared for me. I'm actually happier with her then I was with my old family. I was born a runt, and a girl runt at that. Always mistreated. She's done a lot for me that I can never pay her back for" the tears were freely flowing.
"One time when I was nine and got captured by the Outcasts, they wanted to use me as a slave. She got captured herself so she could free me, but she also got three treatments to one hundred whip lashings. She's done too much for me"
She continued working on Astrid's leg, clearly showing that she didn't want talk. She sat there working until a face of worry came over. "She has a fever and a serious leg infection. Keep her warm while I go get Aurora, she's the only one who knows how to treat this. Put her on one of the beds in the cave over there" she instructed, pointing to a cave to our left.
She called over an unknown male, who looked roughly Aurora's age, and they both mounted dragons and took off. I gently picked Astrid up in my arms and walked over to the cave instructed. I looked around until I saw a bed in a small room just Astrid's size. I laid her down in the bed, placing as many furs as I could find over her. I went back to the main room where I picked up something else that had caught my eye earlier.
It was a small journal that said Aurora in the left corner of the cover. I flipped it open, reading through the things she's been through, and by Odin she has probably been through more battles and had more injuries and adventures then the whole of Berk combined.
I literally jumped five feet in the air when a dagger implanted itself in the wall behind me, not an inch from my neck. An all to familiar voice talked. "If you know what's best for you, you'll drop the book now".
I looked over to see Aurora standing in the entrance to the cave with her arms crossed. I finally got to see how much she changed in the past seven years. Her hair was cut extremely short, roughly looking the exact same as mine, except I had two braids behind my ear from Astrid. She had updated her armor, I'm not even going to question it, it's even more complicated then mine. I only just noticed she was missing a foot, she had a metal stick strapped to her lower thigh, and little capsules filled with something on her right calf.
On her left leg, she had a complicated looking prosthetic, with a small compartment built into it. I noted the seven daggers on that leg and the seth attached to her lower right arm, which must have been the one she threw at me. On the outer sides of both her calf there were small pouches with a leather strap attached to each one. I must say, her armor is surprisingly similar to mine (not a big surprise, were twins). This was the first time that I noticed the auburn forelock on the right side of her head. (Now that I think about it, it was there before, it was just tucked beneath the rest of her hair).
I dropped the book, raising my hands above my head in surrender, I might be good at sword fighting, but with the way she handles her weapons, I shouldn't take my chances. "If you value your life your not going to touch it again". I only nodded, I did value my life.
She walked over and picked it up, that's when I noted that she was now roughly six foot three, and I was two inches taller then her, and Astrid four inches shorter then Aurora.
Without saying another word, she made her way over to Astrid's side. She studied her for a moment, also holding the back of her hand to her forehead. "The fever will break soon enough, but we only have a few options for her leg, but first, I'm going to need a knife, string, and a cup" Mist handed her the cup and the string, and Aurora drew a dagger from her rather large amount on her person. "Mist and Jack, hold him down, he won't like what I have to do"
They both took one of my arms and pinned me to a wall across from Astrid. I watched as she tied the string tightly just below her knee, set the cup down underneath part of her calf. Then, to my horror, she took the knife made a deep cut in her calf. Astrid unconsciously screamed in pain, I was trying to get to her, I had to stop her suffering, but they weren't letting up.
She used the cup to catch the blood, and when it stopped bleeding, she put the cup off to the side and flipped Astrid over. She took out a needle and thread, and I looked away, knowing what she was going to do. I heard Astrid piercing screams of pain as Aurora put in stitches.
"You can go ahead and slap me now if you want" I heard Aurora call behind me. I was let out of the pin, doing just that (she surprisingly didn't flinch) and then kneeling by Astrid's side. "We are either going to amputate the leg or make a leg brace, your call".
"Brace" I answered automatically. "Make sure to put herbs and ointment on that, I just got rid of the infection" she told Mist before walking out of the cave. Jack just wandered off somewhere. Mist just sighed. "You might want to get out of sight before she comes back, I'm warning you now. She was only beginning your torture for touching her journal. Run while you can" I nodded before taking off.
Aurora's POV
I was in the forge, finishing off the leg brace that I was making out of gronkle iron. I put the last piece in the barrel before putting it onto the brace. I walked out after making sure that it was sturdy. By the time I get back, Hiccup better be gone or he will face my wrath.
I returned to the cave, walking into the room where Astrid was, she was still knocked out. I made sure to wrap the leg before placing the leg brace on. It seemed to fit well enough. Noting that Hiccup wasn't there, me and Sunset left. I sat on the cliff edge.
::What is wrong little one?:: the White King asked. I sighed "Well, I can say that even my own brother doesn't respect my privacy, I found him nosing through my journal, I had to treat his wife for a leg infection and fever, and know I have four extra mouths to feed. I can barley keep up with the hunting we have right now"
::Well maybe you should rest, it's quite late, you can deal with everything tomorrow:: Agreeing to his advice, I walked up his tusk so I wouldn't have to deal with anyone in the morning, Sunset following behind us. She used her tail to hang upside down to sleep, like she usually did, and I just laid down on the tusk, sleep overtaking me as the nest settled down for the night.
The next morning, Sunset nudged me awake ::We have to go hunting remember?:: I groaned know that she was right, so I got up and walked along the tusk until I reached land. I jumped the two foot gap walking up to the hollowed tree where I kept my bow. I tightened the string while admiring the bow I had made last year. It was a red oak wood bow finished with something they call polish from Southern Europe. It had a light leather string grip with little designs carved into it, mainly dragons that I made when I had time.
I yawned as we landed at the next island over. I had brought quite a few bags for food that I got. If I remember correctly, everyone eats two fish or a fourth of a deer, but the dragons each had to have two deers for them to stay filled. I needed a rough total of twenty fish and eighteen deer. This was going to take a while. I wasn't used to having to hunt this much at once, but I had to get up earlier science I had extra mouths to feed, so I didn't have a hunting flare with me.
I entered the woods, knocking an arrow to my bow. I was following the tracks of a deer herd that had gotten up to early. I signaled for Sunset to take the other side so that they wouldn't be able to run. Shooting as fast as I could, I got twenty deer downed. Sunset started eating two of them so she would have energy and we would have to carry less. At least the extra dear meant that Leaf didn't have to go hunting for herself, she tore her wing a few weeks back, so she had tremendous trouble hunting. I spent a good hour dragging the deer into the bags and down the shore. Luckily fishing was simpler. I drew a special arrow with a string attached to the end, but you basically get the idea.
I had probably been gone five hours by the time I got back. By now everybody was up sitting around a small camp fire. I dragged the bags over, only Astrid and Hiccup surprised that I didn't have any trouble carrying them. "Breakfasts up" I said dropping the fish bag next to Gemma, who was basically the main cook. The other three bags over to the dragons, giving each one there respective two deers before dragging the two extra Leaf, who was still recovering.
I walked tiredly back to the the group, before falling on my back and not bothering to get up. "Just let me lie here in my misery" Jack chuckled "Translation: she got up early to go hunting and is tired so she wants to lie there and sleep" I rolled my eyes.
"Thank you, Jack" I said slightly sarcastic. They all laughed. I was in a crabby mood, I got up early to feed them, and they laugh at me. In a moment of lightning quick reflexes, I picked up my bow pulling back an arrow aiming it at them. "Next one to make a joke out of what I do for them gets an arrow through their throat" that shut them up quickly. Keeping the arrow knocked, I went to the closet tree climbing to the top slightly slower then what I usually do cause of my fatigue. I picked out a strong sturdy branch, and slept on it, putting my bow and quiver on a branch next to me.
Third Person POV
No one noticed that when Aurora talked to him, Jack slightly blushed. He didn't admit it, but he kind of liked the girl. They noticed that after she left, Sunset looked after her before running off to the cave to grab a bag. She ran back to the fire with the bag in her mouth.
She dropped the bag on the ground before nudging it open. With her toothless mouth she pulled out little boxes and an envelope. She brought the letter to Mist first. She slowly opened it smiling at what it said.
Dear Mist,
Happy thirteenth birthday, and I hope you haven't forgotten that you're finally old enough to train a dragon, but as I warned you before. You do actually need to care for her. You can't keep taking Sunset.
You never did the favors you owed me for it, so I expect that you care for her, we will go see her tomorrow. I also expect that you figure out how to help with some thing, I haven't had a good nights sleep in two years. Say that to you brother and sister too, I need some help around here.
Happy birthday,
Aurora
She smiled seeing that she remembered what she had promised. Once she had finished, Sunset fished out another box, this time waddling over to Jason. It was a saddle that he had been meaning to get for a long time now. It also came with a short note that said: I expect you do something useful for once sometime in the future.
He chuckled seeing that she still had her dry and sarcastic sense of humor. Next, a box was fished out and taken over to Ari, which turned out to be a riding harness with a note that said: Next time I need to save you your grounded for a month.
Sunset fished out a smaller box and gave it to Ellen. It was a book of dragons, except it was one for training and taking care of them. She immediately started reading it, not even looking at anyone. Everyone chuckled at the fact the second she saw what it was, she just started reading it.
Another was given to Gemma, who got preservatives, which she had been complaining about for a year.
Two more where given to Astrid and Hiccup. Astrid open hers, which was slightly larger then the others. It was the axe she had brought with her, except touched up to the point where it exceeded Gobber and Hiccup's work. Hiccup had gotten a metal stick. "Someone mind telling me what this is?" Mist came over and pointed out the button and recommended holding it away from his person.
He clicked the button, and a sword made out of flames similar to Aurora's appeared. He also noticed a small pouch that had small capsules similar to the ones on Aurora's leg. Mist moaned "Why do you get gas? We only got the sword. You're lucky". He found the small hole and pushed the capsule into it. They all walked over to a small clearing where they figured out how to release the gas. He released the gas in a small circle where he ignites it, and it explodes exactly how a Zipplebacks does.
