"You're second hand smoke, second hand smoke
I breathe you in, but, honey, I don't know what you're doing to me
Mon chéri, but the truth catches up with us eventually
Try to say live, live and let live
But I'm no good, good at lip service
Except when they're yours, mi amor
I'm coming for you and I'm making war"
-Fallout Boy, "Irresistible"
Author's Notes: Ah, yes. Sweet, sweet freedom. Now that Addie's had a taste of it, she might not want to give it up just yet. But does Hiccup have something to say about it? You bet! And does the rest of Berk have something to say about her staying? Of course! And does Addie have a fairly traumatic past that was only salvaged by Frostwave's appearance in her life? *rolls eyes* What do you think?
By the way, you're probably wondering why I've put in song lyrics. It's for the same reason that I've stopped making the chapter titles one word, to show how her life is better because she's free.
This is your last chance to guess what Benydeyh is based on for a while. And Addie'll give you the biggest hint with one word. Yep, just one. So if you've played a certain game and actually payed attention to one of the cutscenes, you're all set for the reward.
That's right, people, if you guess what Benydeyh really is, you'll get a prize! What is it, you may ask? A dedication in the next Author's Note AND READER COOKIES! Plus, I will favorite your account (if you have one) or simply accept requests for something you want me to do. By the way, I might make it available as a contest on my Frozen Flames forum, Frozen Flames Fans. Go check it out, if you want to.
Please READ! That doesn't mean SKIM or SCAN. It means LOOK CAREFULLY AT THE WORDS AND COMPREHEND THEM!
Disclaimer: Let's face it. I will never own HTTYD, not unless someone twists the fabric of reality for me. And if someone does have that power, then why are they using it on me? They could make it so that they own HTTYD.
Key: I'm putting this in to help differentiate between different modes of conversation.
Bold: Translated Benydeyh
Italic: Frostwave's translated lines (when from Addie's POV); human language (when Frostwave's POV); emphasis during normal speech
Italic Bold:Translated Benydeyh (when Frostwave's POV)
Normal: normal Norse; emphasis during flashbacks or when Frostwave is speaking
Adeline's POV
Okay, that storm might be a bit of a problem. I picked up the bundle again and scanned the island we had landed on. It was a goodly sized one, not big enough for a village, but definitely large enough for an outpost. Frostwave bumped her head against me. When I turned to look at her, she was gazing at some point on the island.
"Frostwave. What do you see with your dragon eyes?" I asked. She huffed a cloud of mist into my face and returned to looking at that far off point.
"There is a cave in the center of the island. If we are lucky, we may make it before the storm hits. But we must hurry. I can hear it coming closer," she replied, lifting her crimson gaze to the gathering dark clouds. I nodded and looked at Hiccup hopefully.
"Frostwave says there's a cave in the middle of the island. But we have to move fast or else we'll be caught out in that storm. Let's go!" I told him, running toward the general direction of where she had been looking. The footsteps of dragons and a human followed me in that mad dash to safety.
A few minutes (and Addie nearly tripping over a root) later...
We barely managed to make it into the shelter of a cave across from a dry ditch with a big scoop at the end, like a spoon, before the storm hit. And boy, did it hit hard. I was thankful we had found such a sweet spot before getting caught out in that downpour. And... there was another reason, but I'm not gonna spill just yet. Some secrets need to remain secret.
There was a pair of shallow dips in the sandy cave floor, just far enough inside that we wouldn't get wet, but near enough that we could see outside. Well, when lightning flashed, we could. The darkness summoned by the clouds made it look like nighttime out there. And that's when it hit me. This storm would mean certain doom for any ship caught out in it, both from the thunder and from the pirates that would strike under the cover of the wrathful sky. It was part of the MO of Blackstone pirates that they only attacked during storms, mainly to bring up the shadow of a doubt that the ship had merely sunk because of the weather, not because of human efforts. Frostwave reached back out into the torrential rain to pull a log in for us, but already it was drenched. There went our chances of having a fire.
Then Frostwave hit her tail against it, hard, and it snapped in half to reveal nice, dry insides. Thank Thor. Toothless blew some sort of purplish fire at it in one quick bolt and it lit, giving us some crackling warmth to shield us from the biting chill that came with a storm of this caliber. I sighed with relief, even though my shoulders had more tension than a ship's sail under high winds. I hated storms. Hated them almost as much as Frostwave hated being scratched under her chin. Which you should never do, if you value staying reasonably intact for the rest of your life.
With the fire going strong, the dragons curled up in their sandy nests, and me and Hiccup leaning back against them, there wasn't much else to do. A crack of thunder made me wince ever so slightly. I thought I had hidden it well, but he saw and asked me a question I really wasn't okay with answering right now.
"You okay? Is the storm getting to you?" he said kindly, waving a hand at the rain forming dark silver sheets just outside the mouth of the cave. I smiled weakly and shrugged.
"I'm fine. Just surprised, is all," I deadpanned. Silence followed, punctuated with random pops from the fire and the deep breathing of huge lungs (see: dragons in the cave). The steady beat of water against the ground reminded me of the one thing I had left of my parents, and I unwrapped the large bundle I had rescued from the dragon graveyard.
The oilcloth had kept it safe from the weather, protecting the small woven chest that contained a wad of thread and needles stuck in a piece of cloth for safekeeping, my special braider and some spools of thread, the two books bound in pale leather and stamped with different symbols (an "H" for my healer book, and a "D" for my notes on Frostwave), and a plain wooden box, among other things. My dnaycina-puq, kept hidden away from the current inhabitants of Blackstone among the remains of the previous inhabitants. It was almost poetic that I would hide my most precious memories among those of the dead.
I opened the last delicately, peeking inside to make sure it was okay. The years had been kind to it, because the remnants of my past life were intact. A scrap of paper with faded ink on it, a dragon toy that measured the length of my forearm (about 8.5 inches from nose to tail), and an old ring made of a pretty purple flower, now dried and crumbly, but still wearable if I was careful. I tenderly took out the dragon and held it in my hands, trying to remember the girl I used to be. The innocent girl who laughed without fear, the girl who enjoyed everything, the girl who had never known a dark period in her life, the girl I could never be again. She flashed, as fleeting as a half-remembered dream, and then that girl was gone.
"Did your mother make that?" Hiccup asked, breaking into my near-breathless reverie. I let out a long, slow stream of air and looked at the dragon toy in my hands, then shook my head.
"No. I kinda remember who did, but it was a long time ago. So much has happened between now and then that the memory is fuzzy," I replied wistfully. I wish I remembered who made it. All that came to mind was the blurry face of a woman, and a lot of pale green, and familiarly faint sounds. Really, that wasn't much to go on.
The silence settled on us again, like flies on the corpse of a yak, but this time it was a soothing sort of quiet. We sat like that, listening to the harmonious furor of the rain and fire, when Hiccup put a hand on my shoulder. My... left shoulder.
'Please, please don't let him feel it,' I silently begged of the Norn that determined my fate. She must have been in a good mood, because he didn't remark on it feeling off or anything like that, and my mind sighed in relief.
"Addie, are you sure you're okay with this? You just left behind your entire life to go with a strange boy you've only known for a week," he asked, a strange message in his voice. I shrugged in reply, dislodging his hand from my shoulder without him realizing that was my goal, and looked out at the pounding rain.
"Need I remind you that you were the one who offered to take me back with you?" I shot back, never glancing at his face while I spoke.
"Fair point. You still haven't answered my question." A harshly mocking laugh escaped from my mouth, and I clapped a hand over it.
"Sorry. But it's a little late to be asking me that. Even if I wasn't okay, it wouldn't change anything. We've still escaped from a horde of bloodthirsty pirates that want us either dead or stuck in that cell for life. There's no turning back the sundial to make it all better." I paused, my eyes sinking to look at my belt buckle. Well, I say buckle, but it's really more of a decorative fastener. I don't actually need it to keep my belt on, but it's one of the few Blackstone traditions that isn't terrible, and it's become a part of me. Without it, I wouldn't be me. But seeing this reminded me of another tradition, decidedly less benevolent than the Ghufehk Neda, one that took place in the middle of a storm like this.
"No matter how much I wish I could go back and save them," I murmured quietly.
"Save who?"
My heart skipped a beat. How did Hiccup have such good hearing? Well, I needed some alone time, and there was no way in Hel that I was going out in that tempest. I couldn't think straight when he was awake and watching me so intently. And thanks to Trainer Tavahca of the House of Stones, I knew one self-defense move that would help get me that time.
"Cunno," I said before reaching over swiftly and pinching the base of his neck, while simultaneously praying my hardest that Toothless wouldn't hurt me.
Surprisingly enough, it worked. Toothless growled shortly, then stopped in confusion just after I had knocked Hiccup out. He then narrowed his eyes at me and growled out a question to Frostwave, who replied in the shared dragon language that I couldn't understand. The two dragons continued to converse, and eventually my Silver Horror had pacified Hiccup's Night Fury enough that I could think without fear of being the subject of a miffed dragon.
Frostwave's POV
While I did not know why Addie had made the Hiccup sleep, I recognized the strange power she had. At first, I merely thought it was a side effect of bonding that she could sometimes make me do something without my consent, but with the recent events I knew this was not so. My bondmate had a natural ability to command dragons, and she didn't even know it. But it explained so much.
When we had first met, Addie had a slightly different scent than other humans I had encountered or smelled. It wasn't just the Grass That Pleases Us that had been worked into her clothes. Her body had radiated with some other smell than the pleasant fragrance of dragon nip, some faint odor that got in my nostrils and never left. And it wasn't merely a smell. The sound of her voice had that identical permanent quality as well, a cadence that made me pay attention when she spoke to me or any other dragon.
Why would I bring this up right now? Because just before she made the Hiccup sleep, her apology had amplified this normal frequency and focused it on Toothless, making him not attack her. And the strange thing was that it was completely unintentional. I knew my bondmate, and I knew that she would never force a dragon into doing something unless it was a life-or-death situation. Not knowingly, at least. Addie had faced enough trouble being forced to learn another language, another culture, and another set of rules that she could never do the same to another creature, human or otherwise.
It made me curious. In the annals of dragon history, there had been a few scraps of legends about humans that had such power over dragons, though never with such strength as my bondmate. It was supposed to be the counterpart of the numerous blessings She Who Created Us With Her Breath had contended upon her favored children, my own kind, and was given to humans by her own bondmate, She Who Stands On the Side of Lighte. The trait must have been intended to preserve a peace between humans and dragons in this land, though with the news of a dragon attack on a human settlement where an entire family that possessed this power came the belief that any hope of this had been annihilated. And those sort of humans were known as Sirens by my own kind, for their voices called to us to obey them.
Being one of Those Who Welcome With Claws Sheathed made me swell with pride. We were the closest to our creator, and as such had been chosen to receive many wondrous and terrible skills, along with the responsibility of passing on the history of the dragons from generation to generation. Though this gave us some power over dragons, it was not nearly close to that exercised by Queens, Alphas, or Sirens. No, it merely garnered their respect and a semblance of control over those around us. As guardians of dragon history, we had a duty to protect our flight, from internal as well as external threats, so being a lorekeeper with a Siren for a bondmate made performing this duty somewhat difficult.
"Frostwave, why is your bondmate so silent? Is she troubled by bad fish?" Toothless growled out worriedly, looking soulfully at Addie. I glanced at her, then huffed a cloud of mist at his Night Fury nose.
"She is alright. Addie is merely thinking, as she is wont to do," I replied calmly. But inside, I was troubled. Was she feeling guilt for making the Hiccup sleep? For leaving the people that had raised her? For trying to hide the truth from everyone but me? I would not know until I asked her.
Before I could, though, Addie curled up against my side, cuddling the dragon toy with the hint of a friendly scent on it.
"Goodnight, Frostwave. Goodnight, Toothless. Goodnight, Hiccup," she said quietly before trying to sleep. I wrapped my tail around her and bowed my head toward Toothless.
"Goodnight, Toothless. May fish be abundant in your dreams," I told him peacefully.
"And may the skies of your dreams be clear and calm," he replied smoothly before curling up near the Hiccup. My head sank to its usual spot on Addie's side. Sleep was swift in coming, drawn in by the rhythm of the rain outside and trapped by the heat of the cave.
The next day...
When I woke up, it was dawn. We had slept through the rest of the day and all of the night, and now watery sunlight was streaming into our shelter, alighting on Addie's calm face like the delicate feet of faeries and waking her up gradually.
"Mmm... Frostwave?" she mumbled, her head a riotous bird's-nest of hair. I chuckled and blew a cloud of mist into her face to wake her up the rest of the way.
"Stop it," she grumbled sleepily, lazily waving her hand at my head before trying to fall asleep again.
"Wake up, Addie. The storm has ended. We will be leaving soon," I crooned. That got her up. Addie sat up and looked outside of the cave, then nearly flew out of her nest and out to see the new day.
Adeline's POV
The ditch outside our cave was now a babbling brook made of the leftover water from yesterday's storm. The air was nippy, but smelled clean after spending several hours in a smoky cave. The strange bowl in the ground that had made the ditch look like a spoon was now a small spring, just big enough for a person and a dragon to get clean.
"Frostwave! Get out here and help me take a bath," I ordered, my fingers working on getting the ends of my belt out of my buckle. The light footsteps of my Silver Horror told me that she had followed me out.
"Why do you want to take a bath? It is cold out," she replied bemusedly. I sighed, pulled up my sleeve, and held out my arm. It was not as clean as I would have liked it to be, but hey, at least I could control when I washed it now.
"If I'm going to Berk, I want to be clean. Today would normally be bath day anyways, remember?" I told her, my teeth chattering a little. I wasn't used to such cold weather. Was Berk going to be like this?
"Yes, and normally you would wash in the hot baths, and then I would groom you," Frostwave pointed out. "This water is not hot."
"And that's where you come in. Frostwave, get in that pool and heat it up. You can do that much, right?" I teased, pointing at the swollen pool a few feet away. She narrowed her eyes, then sighed.
"Fine. I will make the water hot. But I will be the one washing you, got it?" I held up my hands in surrender and nodded.
"Sure thing, girl. Whatever floats your boat."
A few minutes later, enough to make the rainwater nice and warm...
I was in Valhalla. There was no other way to describe it.
Frostwave had curled her body up in the pool, leaving part of her side out of the water so I had somewhere to sit, and once I had given her enough time, the water had started to steam lightly. When I heard her say the water was ready, I had pulled the ends of my belt out of my buckle, taken off my boots, blouse, and pants, and willingly climbed into the smaller circle of warm water inside her coils. She had given me time to soak and let out some of the tension in my body before cleaning me off.
I don't really know why she likes grooming me so much. Maybe it's because she also likes keeping herself clean, and when she has nothing left to lick clean, she turns to me. Frostwave also has this weird thing about making things neat. When I had been sorting out herbs I had gathered during a flight near Blackstone, she had made all of my careless heaps of plants into carefully ordered piles, with all the bad or rotten plants set off in another pile to the side.
Anyways, her narrow black tongue slipped out and started licking all the grime off of me. While I knew there were plenty of dragons with good senses of taste, Silver Horrors were not one of them. They have absolutely zero taste. No, really, she even told me so. Silver Horrors cannot taste anything, not even their favorite food. I guess that's part of the reason why she'll eat eels, even though she doesn't like them. It's more a matter of how they smell and sound (trust me, it's as weird as it seems).
On a side note, they also have no tact.
"Addie, you are filthy. You're lucky you have me to groom you," she grumbled after a brief mouth rinse. I folded my arms across my chest and flicked a bit of water at her nose.
"Gee, I wonder why? Maybe it's because I haven't taken a bath in a month," I countered sarcastically. Frostwave chuckled, like sandpaper on wood, and went back to delicately washing my back.
Frostwave's POV
There was a reason why I liked having Addie as a bondmate. It wasn't just that it felt right to be bonded to her, or that she was willing to put up with my grooming attempts. She didn't act like we were two different species. To her, we were family, no matter how different we looked or how damaged we were. Her tolerance made me feel cooler inside (A.N. Silver Horrors go cooler instead of warmer. It's their version of feeling warm and fuzzy), though I knew where it had come from. I could see the marks of this experience on her back.
Remembering that man made me think of what Addie had done yesterday, about her actions after that man had taunted her over the Hiccup's fate and what it meant for her.
"So, what was that with you and Hiccup? I thought the people of Blackstone only kissed when they had the intention of performing the Zue-"
"Stop right there, Frostwave. It was very spur of the moment, and I'm not sure how Hiccup feels about me yet," Addie interrupted, putting her hand on my nose lightly. I snorted out a cloud of mist toward her now clean, pink hand.
"You are still so dense, Addie. But that is why I love you," I crooned affectionately, running my tongue through her hair and gently working out the knots with the tip of my tongue. She let out a little gasp of pain as I slowly undid one particularly stubborn tangle, and I hummed apologetically.
"Sorry."
"No, it's okay. Make me decent, Frostwave. Then help me find some soapwort so I can wash my clothes. They've spent a bit too much time on me," she said bluntly, holding out a hand toward the white blouse and black pants. Her buckle gleamed on top of them, the thick, puffy metal and its etchings being one of the things Addie would never be able to leave behind. Not until the day she died.
3rd Person POV: Hiccup
"Ugh... my head," Hiccup groaned as he woke up. Whatever technique Addie had used on him, it had really knocked him out, not to mention left him with a headache like someone driving a wooden stake into his skull. He could see the dawn sunlight outside growing stronger, from its normal deep gold to a brighter yellow-white, then to simply white, and looked at Toothless. The Night Fury had woken up as well, though with considerably fewer head pains than his human rider, and was now looking at him hopefully.
"Hey, bud. You want breakfast, right?" he said warmly, stretching out his joints and listening to them pop in the chill air. The fire had died sometime during the night, but they didn't need it anymore, and so left the smoky ashes behind in their pile with the last few dying embers that had held on to the end.
That morning was very clear and bright thanks to the storm washing out the air, and he breathed the icy air in deeply. This was more like it. No more cramped, humid tunnels for him. Hiccup was sticking to tunnels that weren't overly hot and damp, like Blackstone's twisted paths deeper into the island. He had heard of springs that came out of the ground already hot, so maybe the pirates had managed to harness that for their own use. Even so, would it kill them to let some fresh air through the place every so often?
Toothless butted his head against Hiccup's back and looked out longingly toward the south.
"Don't worry, bud. We'll be back home soon," he reassured the dragon, patting him on the head to make his point. The Night Fury grumbled halfheartedly, but didn't try to push his luck. Soon they would all be treated to some delicious food courtesy of Berk, and Addie could start to settle into her new life on Berk. Hopefully, his dad wouldn't object too much to her staying. He had accepted the dragons, so maybe Stoick would do the same for an ex-pirate?
A stick broke behind them, and he whirled around. It was Addie and Frostwave, each slightly wet.
"What happened to you two? Cloudburst?" he joked, pointing at the sky. Addie rolled her eyes and spun around.
"Actually, no. We took a bath, and I washed my clothes. See?"
Hiccup could, in fact, see that she was cleaner. Her blouse actually looked white now, her black pants were spotless, her hair was damp, but no longer tangled and greasy, and her boots were good as new. Even the gems in her ears seemed to sparkle more than before, the little squares tilted a little onto one point to form a diamond, and her eyes had brightened as well. The faint scent of something lathery drifted toward him, more proof that she had washed herself and her clothes.
But the dim, murky light of Blackstone hadn't done her justice. After a bath, her long brown hair glowed warmly in its loose braid, and her eyes had a life to them that couldn't be seen in the pirate island's dismal illumination. Her face wasn't as grim or depressed as before, and now she seemed to be smiling with every part of her body. Even her clothes, which did seem a bit small for her, accented the animal grace with which she moved, that every member of Blackstone's society had moved with, he realized. A result of their training, and perhaps part of the reason they were so feared. But on Addie, it complimented her slim body, reflecting the bond between her and Frostwave.
Addie cleared her throat, a slight pink blush rising to her face, and Hiccup realized he had been staring at her for far longer than he should have.
"Oh, uh, sorry. But yes, I can tell that you're cleaner than before. Can I ask you why you decided to wash up?" he asked, gesturing to all of her. She sighed and followed Toothless's longing gaze south.
"I'd like to make a favorable first impression on Berk, and being a filthy rag of a person is not the first step to that. Besides, today is bath day," Addie explained pragmatically, as if this was a natural response to his question.
"Oookay, then. Can I ask you something else?"
"What?" Hiccup cleared his throat and turned a faint shade of pink.
"What was that yesterday? You said something to Gale and then you ki-"
"Shall we go?" she interrupted, turning a brighter pink and jerking her thumb toward her new life. Without waiting for an answer, Addie got on Frostwave and flew off. Hiccup sighed, only to Toothless to give him a smug look.
"What're you looking at?" he snapped warmly. The Night Fury hummed cheekily in reply, and together the two of them followed Addie and Frostwave.
A few hours later...
3rd Person POV: Stoick
Stoick watched the skies, nearly torn apart with concern. It had been a week since Hiccup and Toothless had gone missing. One long week of condolences, worried visits from his friends, and the feeling that he had lost the rest of his family. First his wife, and now his son? Whatever he had done to offend the gods this much, he was sorry.
"Any sign of them?" he asked Gobber, who had just hobbled up the hill to join him in his vigil. The other man shook his head, frowning sadly.
"Not even a scale," came the grim reply. The chief of Berk sighed and returned his gaze to the blue sky. If only he could have warned Hiccup about the Blackstone pirates, and how the patrols had mentioned seeing more than usual recently. Maybe he would have been more careful and not gone missing, instead of being captured. Bucket and Mulch had seen him go down and be taken by one of the damned lydlr-crebc of the pirates, but by the time they got to the site, the ship was long gone. Since then, no one had seen hide nor hair of boy and dragon, and he was beginning to give up hope.
"Face it, Stoick. By now, the Blackstone pirates have either killed him or initiated him," Spitelout's voice said from behind him, near the steps to the Great Hall. Stoick sighed and slowly spun around to face him. The head of the Jorgenson clan was eyeing him; his son, Snotlout, was conspicuously missing from his side. Hiccup's cousin was probably busy helping the Twins cause mayhem on that Monstrous Nightmare of his, or privately mourning his missing cousin. The former was the most likely of the two.
"No. We send out another ship. We haven't checked all the islands to the north yet. One of them is bound to be Blackstone. When we find it, we'll strike and get Hiccup back."
"There's no guarantee that it'll work, Stoick. We don't even know if they're still alive," Gobber reminded him.
"Don't you think I know that? But we can't rest. I won't lose Hiccup... like I lost Valka," he replied bitterly. The two men shared a knowing look, then Spitelout reached out a hand to pat his shoulder. His comforting gesture halted halfway there with excited cheers coming up from the village. Fishlegs ran up to them, out of breath from both the news he had to share and from the sprint to share the info.
"Sir, you'll never believe it! Hiccup's come back!" he squealed happily. They stood there in shock, and slowly their lines of vision rose to regard the sky.
There. Stoick could see a black speck getting larger with every passing moment, and a silver blur next to it. He only knew of one black dragon in the archipelago.
"Hiccup!"
Adeline's POV
I had been able to see Berk several minutes before we arrived in the village, and I had to admit, it seemed nice. All the houses were out in the open, scattered across the hilly island like a child's toy blocks, and they were a lot larger than the healers' quarters on Blackstone. Smaller dots ran around excitedly among the toy houses; the villagers must have seen us and were preparing to welcome Hiccup and I. Well, probably just Hiccup. They'd be getting a bonus in me.
"There it is, Addie. Berk. Twelve days north of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery," he deadpanned. I grinned uneasily at that. Was that how bad it had been for Hiccup? I mean, sure, there was actually a town called Hopeless a bit less than two weeks southwest of here, but seriously? Knowing that there were people out there that had made Hiccup's life miserable made me want to fight and fight and fight until I couldn't fight anymore, and then keep fighting just to stop them. I guess living with a dragon for three years with limited human contact had its effects on a person's mind. I had picked up on Frostwave's protectiveness, and it had slowly become a part of myself. Right now, that tiny dragon part was shrieking at me, telling me to shield Hiccup from more hurtful words like that, even though the larger human part was shouting back that he didn't have to worry about them anymore. Besides, Hiccup didn't need some outsider ex-pirate girl to fight his battles.
He had Toothless for that.
We landed in a plaza near the center of the village, a crowd of joyful and curious Vikings around us. One man in particular came forward, and the people in his way stepped out respectfully. I blinked in surprise at his size. Hoo boy. I had never seen a man that big before, mostly because the men of Blackstone were usually a lot slimmer, like the jungle cats Trader Johann had told me stories about. His beard was just as large, a huge expanse of braided red hair that covered most of his chest, and his arms were beefy. Whoever this guy was, I would not want to tackle him. I probably wouldn't even be able to budge him if I tried.
Hiccup dismounted first, only to be swept up in the arms of the man. The look on his face was priceless: surprise mixed with joy, and a smidgen of embarrassment for good measure.
"Thank the gods you're all right, Hiccup," the man said. I got off Frostwave warily, the spear-chain ready to defend myself against a horde of angry Vikings, only to be met with the fierce glare of the man holding Hiccup. He let go of the boy and turned to me.
"And who's this?" he boomed suspiciously, glancing at him for clarification. Hiccup groaned quietly and started to introduce us.
"Uh, Dad, this is Addie. She helped me get out of there. Addie, this is... my dad, Stoick the Vast," he said awkwardly. I nodded. It wasn't hard to see how he got his name.
"Nice to meet you, Stoick, sir. I'm Adeline the Agile, child of the House of Lights," I told him, bowing elaborately. The entire village had the same reaction I had expected.
Enough weapons were lowered to my throat to furnish the entire armory of Blackstone, and then some. Hiccup's reaction this time was even more entertaining, as was his father's.
"House of Lights?! As in, the House of Lights... of Blackstone Island?" he asked. I shrugged.
"Well, formerly. I left. Didn't really like some of the laws, like how I had to kill my dragon to rejoin the village," I explained casually. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something red and shiny, and twisted around a little. It was a cart full of ripe apples, left unattended by the owner so he or she could welcome Hiccup back. Oh, they looked so good, so ripe and juicy and delicious and- DAMN IT! I just needed something to eat!
Quickly, I estimated the distance. It was about fifteen paces, give or take a couple of steps, easily within reach of my skills. I threw the spear-chain, narrowly missing a bald man with a fine, bushy blond mustache, and piercing my target.
THWOCK!
With a flick of my wrist and just a flash, the apple was in my hand, some of the juice leaking out through the hole in the skin and down my arm. I took one big bite and nearly moaned with rapture. It tasted so good, and I quickly swallowed that chunk of flesh and ate more ecstatically.
That is, until a man came up quickly and clapped my hands in some wooden shackles, making me drop my half-eaten apple. His mustache was really, really long and unevenly braided, he had a hook for a hand, a wooden right leg, and a metal tooth in his jaw, but that didn't stop him from restricting my movements and taking my spear-chain.
"Put her in the prison!" Stoick commanded, pointing toward the dark building a short distance away. I sighed with disgust.
"Seriously? Another cell? And I had just gotten out of the last one!" I exclaimed loudly, glancing at Hiccup. He shot his father an irritated look, but I could tell he couldn't do anything right now. Frostwave started snarling at the man who had cuffed me, and I turned to face her.
"Stop it. We just need to sort out this misunderstanding, okay, Frostwave?" I scolded her. Her eyes lowered, then lifted to meet mine again.
"Fine. But if they hurt you, I will not hesitate to free you and leave this place. They all smell of dragon death, though it is several weeks old," she growled grudgingly. I nodded and managed to lightly punch her shoulder.
"Hey, don't be such a worrywart. Everything will be fine," I told her brightly. Naturally, this was just me putting on a brave front. Making Frostwave worry is not a good idea, mainly because it puts her on edge, and she starts lashing out, and then no one's happy. But she wasn't the only intended audience of this statement. I shot Hiccup a confident look before they took me away.
3rd Person POV: Hiccup
Hiccup angrily watched Addie be taken away to the prison. It wasn't her fault she had been raised among pirates. She shouldn't be treated like this. Before he could talk to his father and get her out, Stoick picked him up and dragged him away to the Great Hall, just like two weeks ago. When the door had slammed shut, he began the assault.
"You brought one of them back to Berk?" he roared, and Hiccup winced.
"Dad, I can explain. Addie's a good person! She's not like the other pirates," he said, trying to make his case. Stoick shook his head in disappointment.
"Not like the other pirates? She's got the mark, the earrings, the clothes, the buckle! How is she not like the other pirates?" he replied, gesticulating wildly with his hands. Hiccup put a hand to his face and looked at his dad through his fingers.
"Addie helped me out when I was going to die! Without her, I wouldn't be here!" His father paled and grabbed his shoulders.
"What? What happened?" Hiccup looked down at his side, where the cut had healed over. It had been two days since Addie had proclaimed him free of all poison, but every now and then it would twinge. Phantom pains, like those of his leg sometimes, striking when he least expected it.
"There was an incident involving one of the heads of the island, a guy called Gale of the House of Winds. He cut me, although I'm pretty sure he wasn't supposed to do that, and there was poison on his knife. If Addie hadn't given me the antidote, I would have died, Dad," he explained quietly, pressing a hand to the spot. Stoick was silent as he absorbed this, then let go of his son to turn away. There was a pause as the chief came to his decision, a few apprehensive moments that made Hiccup sweat with worry.
"Okay. We'll put her on probation, but Hiccup? She's your responsibility. And... Adeline will stay in her cell at night. Just... show her around, or something. Introduce her to your friends," Stoick conceded gruffly, never facing his son while he spoke. Hiccup smiled.
"Sure thing, Dad. I won't let you down," he said confidently before running back outside. Stoick watched him go, a small smile on his face. His son had grown up, and seemed to be stronger for his experience in Blackstone. Maybe this Adeline wasn't all that bad. That didn't mean he was automatically going to trust her, simply because Hiccup thought she was good. People he loved had been known to have poor judgment regarding enemies...
Adeline's POV
Berk's prison isn't the best, but there is one thing going for it. There are benches in each cell for the inhabitants to actually lie down on something other than the floor.
When I had been pulled away by the man and dropped off in my cell, Frostwave had learned that sometimes being twice the size of a person didn't help when your bondmate was locked into a cell meant for humans only, and so she was forced to wait outside. I could hear her growl softly at anyone who got too close, though I knew it was just for show. I wasn't the only one who put on a front in this partnership.
"Addie, are you okay?" I heard Hiccup call from just outside the cell. I got up from my bench and hurried over to the door. You know, sometimes I think the Blackstone guards are smarter than most, mainly because they make sure the locks can't be picked easily. This door was almost too simple. It would have been beneath me to pick the lock and bust out. Right now, anyways.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit ticked off, is all. What are you doing here?" I asked him, smiling as he unlocked the door and took off my shackles. Honestly, I was treated better on Blackstone. At least their cuffs were made of leather and didn't leave splinters in my wrists.
"My dad says you're on probation, and that you're my responsibility," Hiccup informed me as we left the dark prison with Frostwave and Toothless accompanying us. I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Is that so? Who's he to have such power?"
"He's... my dad is the chief," he admitted resignedly.
3rd Person POV: Hiccup
Addie stopped dead in her tracks, her mouth forming a small "o" and her eyes wider than a Gronckle's mouth.
"Wha- How- WHAT?!" she yelled, grabbing the front of his tunic and giving him an accusing glare. Hiccup tried to find the words, but he was just as confused as Addie. Her reaction was the most surprising.
"Your dad... is the chief? You mean I- oh, kutc ryja sanlo!" she swore, letting go and backing away with her hands to her face.
"Addie?" he asked concernedly. What had happened to her previous composure? Was finding out that he was the chief's son so shocking that it made her lose control? She seemed to regain her usual confident exterior after a few deep breaths, and lowered her hands to look at him.
"Huh? Oh, um, it's nothing, Hiccup," she said distractedly. Addie shook her head rapidly and smiled at him.
"Well, let's go! Show me around, Hiccup," she commanded, holding her arms wide to indicate the entire village. Hiccup grinned at her and started the tour.
Adeline's POV
One hour later...
After the tour, and during a discussion about dragon habits (like the rather strange one of regurgitating their meals), we came upon a group of teens sitting by a catapult. The five teens looked up with interest and surprise at the sight of me and Hiccup.
"Hiccup? You're back!" a blonde girl said happily, standing up and hugging him tightly. I did my best to hide my disappointment. Oh. So this was the girl Hiccup was talking about. She looked... nice. There was this intimidating air to her, kind of like Kiynt back on Blackstone. I guess she was my competition for Hiccup. The girl let go and we all sat down, myself on the edge of this little circle.
"Who cares about him? How about her? Where'd she come from?" a beefy boy with black hair and a helmet with large curling horns asked, leaning forward over one leg. I looked at Hiccup for guidance. Were these his friends? He saw my cry for help and put a hand on my shoulder. My... left shoulder. Again.
"Snotlout, this is Addie. Addie, that's Snotlout, Fishlegs, the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Astrid," he introduced the five of them. I dipped my head to each of them briefly. So the blonde girl was Astrid, huh? And the rest had... interesting names. Compared to them, Hiccup's was completely normal.
"Snotlout Jorgenson, at your service," he said, flexing his arms. I grimaced slightly.
Maybe it was just me, but I preferred guys that weren't walking fortresses. I guess it was a side effect of growing up surrounded by guys with the bodies of the jungle cats Johann had told me stories about, all lithe and quiet – but lethal – strength. They had become my standard of beauty, and as far as I was concerned, that was good enough. I did not need a guy that could lift two yaks on his shoulder and pull a cart full of rocks. All I wanted was someone fast enough and flexible enough to give me a fair fight. Was that too much to ask?
Right now, Hiccup was the closest to that I would find anywhere in the archipelago, at least, that also liked dragons and wouldn't try to kill me any time soon.
"Uh, charmed," I replied, slowly inching more toward Hiccup and less toward, um, Snotlout.
Okay, who in their right mind names their kid "Snotlout"?
Frostwave chose that moment to finally pop up over the edge of the catapult platform and see my new friends.
"Addie, who are these people? They smell of dragons," she growled curiously, sniffing deeply. I shrugged.
"They're Hiccup's friends, Frostwave. Please don't kill them. I kind of like knowing more than two people who don't want to kill me or you," I replied dryly. She huffed a cloud of mist into my face and jumped up the rest of the way, coming to sit behind me, Hiccup, and Astrid. One, um, large boy, Fishlegs, looked at her with awe.
"Is that a Silver Horror?" he asked, amazed. I smirked. Finally. Here was something I could actually talk about.
"Oh, yes. This is Frostwave, my dragon. Or, as she prefers, I'm her rider-slash-bondmate. Don't ask. It's complicated," I said, holding up a hand to silence the question I knew was coming. He bounced in his seat with excitement.
"I can't believe it! They really do exist! But wait. If Frostwave's a Silver Horror... taking into account what you were speaking just now..." he mumbled, counting something out on his fingers.
"You must be from Blackstone Island!" Fishlegs finally deduced. I hung my head and sighed.
"Yeah. And let me tell you right now, most of the rumors are true," I said incredibly seriously. My efforts were rewarded with shocked and horrified expressions, with the twins giving me wide grins.
"So the story that they eat dragon brains for dinner is true? And that they have hearts as cold and black as the rocks the island is named after? And that taking on a Blackstone pirate is as good as a death sentence?" Tuffnut asked, his voice growing more intense with every question. I just gave him a blank stare for a few seconds.
"...What? Are those really the rumors? Jeez, what is it with people and blowing things out of proportion?" I groaned, putting a hand to my head and leaning back against Frostwave's warm side.
"Humans frequently embellish stories and legends. It keeps them interesting, which makes them be remembered," Frostwave said helpfully. I rolled my eyes.
"Nobody asked you, Frostwave," I replied sarcastically. She blew some ice at my bangs. I brushed it out mechanically, and before I could be asked about how I could understand exactly what she had said, I looked at all of them.
"So, Frostwave here says you guys smell like dragons. Mind if I see them?" I asked, cutting off Fishleg's question. They all shared a look and nodded.
"Of course, we'll start off with mine," Snotlout said arrogantly. I rolled my eyes in response. Now I understood why Hiccup hadn't mentioned his friends before now.
Together, all of us set off to wherever they kept their dragons.
Several hours (and a few buckets of water) later...
3rd Person POV: Hiccup
Well, Addie had been quite happy to learn about all the other dragons. Her admiration of all of the species made Hiccup feel good, and her joy at discovering there was a Book of Dragons was amusing. Though the brief incident involving Frostwave, a couple of sheep, and one poor yak had also been fun to watch, even if it wasn't fun to fix. Everything had turned out better than he expected. Right now, she was flipping through the old pages, completely absorbed in the main source of knowledge on dragons of the Barbaric Archipelago, and he was sketching out the image of Addie and Frostwave reading the book together. They had gone up to his house once it was clear that the other teens had chores to do before they could hang out some more, and now they were waiting for Gobber and Stoick to return from their work in the village.
"Hey, Hiccup, can you tell me what this says?" Addie called from her comfy dragon heap. Hiccup set down his pencil, his paper, and stood up and walked over to see what page it was. It showed an unfriendly-looking dragon covered with spines, with a large round mouth filled with teeth.
"'Whispering Death'. That's what it says," he told her. She nodded slowly and turned the page to point at another name.
"And this?"
"Timberjack."
Okay, that was weird, but not overly important.
Flip.
"This one?"
"Skrill."
Why did she keep asking him what they said?
Flip flip flip.
"How about this?"
"Snaptrapper."
By now, Hiccup was starting to get suspicious.
Flip flip.
"And... this?"
"Boneknapper. Addie, why are you asking me what they say? Can't you read them?" he snapped, a bit irked at her attitude. She gave him a sheepish grin and flushed a tiny bit.
"Um... no." Hiccup sighed, then gave her an incredulous look.
"Then what have you been doing this whole time?" Addie shrugged and pointed at the pictures.
"I can't read, but I can see. Some of the artwork in here is really fun to look at," she said defensively, closing the book with a soft thud.
"And I was hoping you wouldn't realize I couldn't read," she added under her breath. But Hiccup heard it. He hears a lot more than others think.
"Why can't you read? You can read Benydeyh, right?" At this, Addie held up a hand to give her some time to speak.
"Yes, but that's because there was actually a reason to learn how. I needed some way to write down and read recipes and labels, and for ten years that's all I really needed. Besides, with all my training in the forge, healing, gardening, and fighting, it's a miracle I had the time to learn one language," she said, like an adult trying to explain something to a mulish child.
He did have to admit that she had a point. And there were few people on Berk that willingly read, like Fishlegs and himself, so her not knowing wasn't that big a deal. Still, looking through the Book of Dragons then claiming that you couldn't read was just a bit much.
"Okay, how about I start teaching you how to read it? Then you're going to teach me how to read Benydeyh, okay?" he proposed, holding out his hand. Addie looked at it cautiously, then took it and gave it one hearty shake.
"Deal. You go first. Show me what each thing is," she said imperiously, pointing at the words below a picture of a Zippleback. Hiccup rolled his eyes, but began the lesson, teaching Addie how to read and write like a true Viking (okay, like a true educated Viking).
One hour later...
Stoick and Gobber walked in to see the two of them bent over a piece of paper while Addie laboriously wrote down the simple sentence Hiccup had given her: My name is Adeline.
"What's this? Hiccup, didn't I say she had to be in her cell at night?" Stoick asked pointedly. Addie finished scratching out the last of the runes and turned her head.
"She has ears, thank you very much. Besides, Hiccup's teaching me how to write. That's hard to do when you're in a dark cell and have nothing to practice with," she answered, showing him the piece of paper. He took it, and had to stifle a chuckle. The paper read, Mai naym ar Adeline, with a few smears where the pieces of burnt stick had been rubbed by her hands.
"Is that so? Well, time to go. You can teach her more tomorrow, Hiccup," he said sternly, looking intently at Hiccup.
"Hold on, Stoick. The poor lass needs something to eat before she gets locked up. Look at her! She's all skin and bones! Wouldn't last a night without something hot in her belly," the other man said.
"Gobber's right, Dad. Addie should eat dinner before she goes back to her cell. It's only fair," Hiccup agreed. She smiled winningly at the chief.
"Please?"
"Don't worry, Stoick. I'll escort her back and make sure she actually gets there," the guy called Gobber promised, putting his hand on Stoick's shoulder for good measure. He sighed deeply and put a hand to his forehead.
"Oh, fine. But no funny business!" he ordered, pointing a meaty finger at her. Addie's answer was a cheeky grin.
"Sir, yes, sir!"
Adeline's POV
Once Gobber has made dinner...
We sat down at the large wooden table, Hiccup at one end, Stoick at the other, with me and Gobber between them and facing each other. He had made some sort of yak stew with actual vegetables and milk – carrot and cabbage pieces – and when Stoick had taken a spoonful I gratefully dug in. It was nice to eat a hot meal that wasn't just the leftovers of the island's community meal – like I had been doing for the past three years – especially in a well-lit room with people that didn't want to kill me. Yet.
"So, uh, Adeline, what did you do on Blackstone? And what in Thor's name is this contraption?" Gobber asked, trying to break the ice by holding up the spear-chain. I shrugged and took another sip before answering.
"Well, because of the specific training I chose at my Beanlehk Neda, I was a blacksmith and healer for the island. I spent four years learning the tricks of the trades, and when I was twelve, I went through my Syngehk Neda and got this tattoo. The color shows which jobs I took. It's supposed to be a mixture of blue, for blacksmith, and white, for healer," I explained casually, showing them the star above my eye.
"Why a star? Isn't that supposed to signify the best?" Gobber replied, waving his hook at me. I shook my head.
"Not on Blackstone. It's to show that I'm an Ytubdaa, an Adoptee, and the reason is that 'it symbolizes that an Ytubdaa is not of this world,'" I replied, adding emphasis to the quote of Trainer Recduno, teacher of Blackstone's history.
"I see. And what about this? I've never seen anything of the sort before, or seen it used like that." He handed the weapon I had "liberated" from the clutches of Blackstone back to me, and I held it up appraisingly.
"It's a spear-chain, a weapon developed only on Blackstone for the people that don't like getting up close and personal with their opponents, or that need to hit something from far away. You throw it like a knife, and then you pull it back with the chain. If the thing you hit is light enough, you'll bring it back as well. If it's a person, then you leave behind a deep wound, and you have to pull a bit harder to get it out of them. Of course, this is not a good specimen. The guy that made it was an idiot. He didn't even make the head right!" I complained, showing them the offending part. Gobber took back the head and examined it closely.
"She's right. The head's uneven. I'm amazed you even managed to throw it that accurately." I smirked proudly. At least someone appreciated my skills.
"Thank you, Gobber. It took me a while to learn how to do it, but about thirty pieces of wood later, I could hit it and bring it back easily. You should see me when it's properly made. Hey, speaking of which, can I use your forge to fix this thing? Eteud's skills are terrible, but I know how to salvage something like a spear-chain," I asked hopefully, looking only at Gobber. He shot a look at Stoick, who shot another look back.
"Fine, fine, but only when I'm there. And you have to do some other things for me as well," he replied grudgingly. I nodded eagerly.
"Sure thing! Might as well make myself useful, right?" Stoick nodded curtly.
"Gobber, make sure that when Addie here is released tomorrow morning, you give her some assignments from me as well. I think the whole village would rest easier when she's doing something helpful," he added, folding his hands in front of him. I shrugged.
"Hey, as long as I can stay here and be fed, I'll do almost anything."
My motto was "you take what you get and you don't throw a fit." Worked wonders for my attitude on Blackstone, and now it would help me on Berk. Funny how things work out.
Ten minutes later...
Gobber, Frostwave and I walked out of their house once dinner was over, he making sure I didn't try any funny business, she making sure he didn't try anything, and I admiring the view of Berk at night. I had never seen the moon so clearly before, all huge and pale in the sky, and its cold light made Berk look like something from a story told on the Cajah Hekrdc uv Fiends.
Eventually, we returned to my cell, with Frostwave taking up her post in front of the prison.
"Good night, Gobber," I said cheerfully. He smiled at me and locked me in, then doused the torch in front of my door.
"G'night, lass. See you in the morning," he replied amiably before walking away.
"Good night, Addie," Frostwave called quietly. I smiled and leaned back against the bench.
"Good night, Frostwave," I called back, curling up on the wooden planks just before I fell asleep.
Author's Notes: Translations are served. Bon appetit!
Dnaycina-puq – Treasure-box
Cunno – Sorry
Zue- – Joi-
lydlr-crebc – catch-ships
kutc ryja sanlo! – gods have mercy!
Beanlehk Neda – Piercing Rite
Syngehk Neda – Marking Rite
Cajah Hekrdc uv Fiends – Seven Nights of Fiends; a Blackstone holiday held once every four years, during the last week of summer. I'll go further into that in Burnt Ice.
And so, Addie's new life on Berk has begun. But it won't be a bed of roses. No sirree. I'm a terrible, terrible person, going by what I have planned next. Let's just say, the Vikings of Berk learn a lesson about not judging a book by its cover, or by its upbringing, you might say. Heh heh heh.
Hey, MMM and Ninamory! Thanks for reviewing last chapter! I hope this chapter answered some of your questions.
Let's all give a warm welcome to the new additions to the Fire and Ice community, yesboss21 and giant goldfish! Yes, that's what I'm calling my series, the Fire and Ice trilogy, consisting of Frozen Flames, Burnt Ice, and Wings of the Future.
Mata ne! Wild Cat 214, out!