XI

Dragon Riders

"Come on, bud," Hiccup said, patting Toothless' neck. "Let's get down before Astrid gets mad at us for coming too late."

Toothless groaned in complain.

"I know," Hiccup replied with a sigh. "I don't want to go back yet either, but, you know... We've got a job to do!" With that he steered Toothless back towards Berk.

When they were above the village, Toothless slowed down to a glide towards the Dragon Training Arena. They glided in through the gates and landed in the middle of the arena.

"Look who decided to show up!" Astrid eyed them with a teasing grin. "The teacher himself."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny," Hiccup replied drily and got off Toothless. "You know how Toothless is! Once he's got something on his mind, he won't stop!"

"Yes, we know," Astrid replied with a laughter. She came up to him and kissed him on the cheek. "We also know you've used that excuse plenty of times already."

"Hey!"

Ruffnut and Tuffnut snickered.

"Face it, Hiccup," Astrid continued. "You enjoy the morning flights just as much as Toothless, and you prefer being up there," she pointed up at the sky, "to being down here." She showed to the Dragon Training Arena.

Hiccup sighed. "Fine, I won't argue."

Astrid nodded with a satisfied smile.

"Yesterday you said we were going to another island," Fishlegs said. "One we haven't been to yet."

"Yeah, that's right." Hiccup came over to Fishlegs who was studying a map. "Guys, get over here."

Astrid and Fishlegs were the only ones who seemed to like the idea. Ruff and Tuff eyed the map, hanging from Barf and Belch, both looking rather bored, while Snoutlout was pretty much ignorant to the map.

"We've been to plenty of islands before, but there are still some we haven't been to," Hiccup began explaining. "I and Toothless discovered this island while we were out flying some days ago. I thought it could be interesting to see what dragons live there – if there are any. It's a long flight, so we won't be back before sunset. I'll give more information once we get to the island, so let's get going!"

Folded up the map, and the rest of them headed off to their respective dragons. In no time they were out of the arena – even though Meatlug and Fishlegs hung a little behind.

'

Their speed allowed them to have quite normal conversations with each other. Once Ruffnut and Tuffnut began fighting, and their dragon-heads decided to join in. It only took some moments to break them up, but they had been dangerously close to hitting the surface.

After Snoutlout tried to make an impression on Ruff – again – and nearly burned the hair of both of them, he stayed at the other side of Hiccup – beside Astrid. Had it been some years earlier, he would had complained, but not anymore.

When they finally spotted the island, the first they could see was the berg rising to the sky. The top was still covered in ice and snow, but once they got closer, they could see the trees and ground seemed more green than white and grey, and the lake in the middle of the island wasn't frozen.

The group lowered themselves to the surface as they glided towards the beach.

Toothless let down a paw which he ran through the water. Hiccup glanced over Toothless' side. The water was turning shallow. Some fish disappeared out on deeper water, scared away by the dragons. The water turned shallower. Seashells lay on the bottom. Scallops, clams, conchs. He noted that one day he would come back during the summer, just to enjoy the view. Maybe sketch something.

Toothless was the first one to land, but was soon followed by Stormfly. Meatlug was the last.

Hiccup easily slid off Toothless' back and called for a meeting. As soon as they were gathered, he pulled forth the map.

"We'll part into three groups," Hiccup informed. "Ruff and Tuff, Snoutlout and Astrid," Astrid glared at him, something he smoothly ignored, "and I'll go with Fishlegs. I've divided the island into three parts, so each group will have one area to search."

'

"Not good," Calypso muttered. She eyed the horizon with worry.

Beside her, Diana cooed in agreement, her yellow eyes turned towards the horizon. A cold, raw gust made the branches of the trees rustle and water washed up on the bank of the lake. It was coming from north, together with dark clouds. And they came quickly.

Calypso's gaze suddenly moved to something much closer. "Is that...?" she breathed. Her heart skipped a beat. "Look, Diana!" she exclaimed. "People! There are people here!"

Diana tilted her head and growled, unsure of what exactly her human was feeling.

"And they have dragons!" Calypso didn't wait for the green dragon. She quickly climbed off the boulder and ran towards the beach.

When she reached the tree line, she stopped to catch her breath and have a better look at the sight.

There were six people of which four were male and two female. Two of them seemed pretty similar, with the same long, blond hair and mischievous looks. Probably siblings. Then there was a rough boy with broad shoulders, dressed in black. The next boy was huge and dressed in simple brown. On distance both of them seemed scary...

The second girl had blond hair braided over her shoulder. By the way she acted and dressed, she reminded Calypso of every warrior she'd seen in Constantinople – and a bit of Abelardus' men.

The last one was a tall, lanky boy with brown, messy hair, clothed in black, brown and green. He seemed to be the leader of the group.

There were five dragons. One huge, red, one brown, one green with two heads, one blue which reminded her a little of a bird, and a black one. The last was similar to Diana in some ways.

"Where do you think they come from?" Calypso asked and glanced at Diana.

Diana seemed just as confused as Calypso felt.

"If they're from around here, they should've known better than coming here when a storm is approaching," Calypso continued, eyeing the group once again. "Want to talk to them?"

Diana barred her teeth and growled.

"Well, at least I want to know what they're doing here."

'

"So, are you sure you remember it?"

"Remember what?" Tuffnut asked.

"The signal!" Ruffnut hissed.

Tuffnut seemed thoughtful for a moment. "What signal?"

Hiccup ran a hand over his face and sighed.

"Hey!"

Everyone's attention turned towards the tree line. A girl was coming towards them. She was about their own age, had brown hair gathered in her neck and slightly darker skin. She was dressed in a pale blue tunic with fur at the edges, dark pants and winter boots. None of it was too clean.

"Hi," Hiccup said. The last thing he had expected, was for people to live on the tiny island. He tried to remember if he'd seen any houses.

The girl stopped a few feet from them. "What are you doing here?" she asked with an accent Hiccup couldn't really place.

"We could ask you the same," Astrid replied, eyeing the girl suspiciously.

The girl tilted her head slightly. "I live here," she then replied.

"We didn't see any houses," Astrid shot back, her eyes narrowing.

"Of course you didn't," the girl retorted.

Astrid opened her mouth to say something more, but Hiccup put a hand at her shoulder. "Easy," he muttered. She shut her mouth, but still seemed suspicious. He turned to the girl. "These are Astrid, Fishlegs-"

"I'm Snoutlout," Snoutlout quickly said. He was eyeing the girl as if she could be the equal of Ruffnut.

Hiccup cleared his throat lightly. "The twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and I am Hiccup."

The girl blinked. "'Hiccup'?" she repeated. "Are you serious?"

"I-I know... It's stupid," Hiccup said awkwardly.

"No, it's fine! It just took me by surprise." The girl smiled. "I am Calypso. It's a pleasure to meet you." Then she turned serious. "But why are you here, and why come together with a storm?"

Hiccup frowned and turned to the horizon. Dark clouds were coming towards them. Why hadn't he seen it before?

"We were planning to explore the island and maybe find new species of dragons," Hiccup replied, once more turning to Calypso.

"You won't be able to explore much before that storm comes," Calypso said. "I don't think it's a big storm, so it'll probably pass during the night, but you won't be able to leave before tomorrow."

"She's got a point," Fishlegs commented.

"True," Astrid muttered.

Hiccup frowned.

"You can stay at my place over the night," Calypso offered. "I can also introduce you to the dragons living here."

"That sounds great!" Hiccup replied relieved. One worry off his shoulders.

"We'd shoot two birds with one stone," Fishlegs said, clearly eager at the idea of discovering new species of dragons.

'

Calypso smiled. "Come on!" She turned and headed back to where Diana was hiding.

"Can our dragons stay too?" Hiccup asked.

"Sure! Diana would love that," Calypso replied.

When she came to the tree line, she had to search for a second before she spotted Diana laying crouched down in the grass. Calypso headed over to her.

"Can you go find Lives and meet us by the cave?" she asked quietly.

Diana cooed, sending a worried glance towards the others.

"I'll be fine," Calypso assured her.

Diana nuzzled her head against Calypso, before disappearing in between the trees. Calypso stared after the green dragon. She made no sound, just vanished as if she never had been there.

Calypso led the others through the forest. It wasn't that far from the beach to the cave, despite the fact that she had used an hour getting there the first day. She was pretty sure that back then she'd walked around the lake, instead of straight towards the berg.

Soon enough they reached the rocky area below the berg.

'

Astrid eyed their surroundings. After the episode with Heather, she was always suspicious to strangers. And especially after she and Hiccup became a couple. The fact that Calypso appeared shortly after they came, that she 'lived' at the island and all of that... Astrid didn't get it. For all she knew, it could had been a lie. And she decided to keep on to that and thread carefully.

She eyed the rocky area they'd come to. Trees of different sizes shot up between the rocks and boulders, moss covered most of the ground, and some places the rocks and boulders lay up against each other, creating caves. Perfect places to hide.

When her attention returned to Calypso, she was gone. Astrid was immediately at guard.

"Hiccup-" she began.

"This way," Calypso called. She was peering out from a cave close to the ground. Snoutlout didn't seem to hesitate with following. Hiccup was about to continue after him, but Astrid grabbed his arm.

"Wait," she told him. "How do we know it's safe?"

She stared into Hiccup's eyes for a moment, and then he smile, placing a hand lightly at her shoulder. "This isn't another Heather-case. I'm positive we can trust her."

"You said that about Heather too," Astrid pointed out.

"But in the end she turned out to be friendly."

Astrid noticed the others already had followed Snoutlout. Even some of the dragons were trying to get inside. She frowned. "You know what I mean."

"Trust me. I am not judging by looks this time."

She held on to his arm for a moment more, and then let go. Hiccup nodded, and then entered the cave. Astrid glanced up towards the sky, and then followed him.

She had to walk crouched about 10 feet before the tunnel opened to a cave. She got to her feet. Calypso must had lived there for quite a while, as different things laid spread across the floor or hang in ropes along the walls. At the far end of the cave a pile of wood was laying. A fire was burning in the middle of the cave, and different tools lay around the fireplace. A blanket and something which probably had been a coat once, was laying in a heap by the fire, and some books were laying there.

The others were already sitting around the fire. Toothless was exploring the cave, as he was the only of the dragons who managed to get inside.

"What about our dragons?" Astrid asked. Her voice came out a little sharper than she had planned – not that she cared.

"Diana and Lives will show them where to sleep," Calypso replied. She was carrying some branches over to the fire.

"Who're Diana and Lives?" Astrid felt a little more suspicious.

"My friends." Calypso dropped the wood by the fire and sat down in her heap of blanket and coat.

Astrid didn't ask more. Instead she went over to Hiccup and sat down beside him. This meant she'd placed herself between him and Calypso.

She glanced at Hiccup. He was holding a book in his hands. A children's book. As he flipped another page, Astrid could see the picture of a warrior pointing a sword at a dragon. Hiccup had a frown at his face.

"What book is this?" he asked.

"What -" Suddenly Calypso had snatched the book out of Hiccup's hands. She quickly shut the book and held it close to her chest. Silence filled the cave, except from the cracking of the fire.

"Sorry," Hiccup said softly. "For looking."

It seemed as if Calypso was brought out of something, as she blinked, before tucking the book away into the blankets. "It-it's fine," she replied. "It's just... Very important to me."

New silence settled. Even Ruff, Tuff and Snoutlout were quiet. It was as if her words had brought some kind of a sadness over them. As if all of them had realized that whoever or whatever she had thought of, probably was gone.

'

Calypso didn't know why she had acted so suddenly. All she knew, was that the book was very precious to her. It was probably her only reminder of Briskir. And she didn't want anything to happen to that reminder.

A scratching sound broke the silence. Calypso pushed aside her thoughts and smiled as Lives appeared. The tiny dragon chirped as soon as it spotted her. It ran over to her and jumped into her lap.

"What... is that?" the female warrior, Astrid, asked.

"Well, obviously it is a dragon," the boy named Fishlegs replied.

A second later Diana was standing beside Calypso. The dragon had taken a nice green colour as she cooed and nuzzled against her arm. Calypso threw her arm around Diana's neck. The dragon laid down beside her, clearly at peace.

"I didn't know green Night Furies existed," Tuffnut said.

"Maybe he's sick," Ruffnut pondered.

"She," Calypso quickly interrupted the twins. "It's a female, and her name is Diana. This is Lives." She motioned to the dragons as she spoke. "They represent the only dragons living here – at least as I know."

"But Tuffnut has a point," Fishlegs pointed out. "She, Diana, actually looks a little like a Night Fury. Um... Except from colour... And a few other things..."

"Could someone tell me what a 'Night Fury' is?" Calypso glanced at the Fishlegs.

Fishlegs pointed at the black dragon laying behind Hiccup.

"Toothless is a Night Fury," Hiccup explained. "He's the only one we have seen yet. Some believe he's the last one, but I don't."

Calypso nodded slowly, lightly rubbing Diana's neck. "So there are many different species, then," she eventually said. It could sound a little like a question, but it wasn't. She only concluded what she'd learned.

"Of course there are," Snoutlout said. "The Monstrous Nightmare is the most terrifying."

"And the most stubborn," Astrid shot in.

Snoutlout glared at her, and Calypso got a feeling that the two of them had something going on between each other.

'

As the storm approached, the group spent the rest of the evening discussing dragons and facts about them. When darkness finally settled, most of them went to sleep, even though Calypso, Hiccup and Fishlegs stayed awake an hour or so more, talking.

Next chapter up 1. November...