Chapter 10: Hearthfire? What's a Hearthfire?

Two weeks flew by in the twinkling of Loki's eye. True to her word, Vica had sent Tinscale to Berk a few days after I met her, accompanied by a small flock of other Terrors. Back here, I quickly grew to enjoy my new life, attending classes ranging from dragon care to history, geography, alchemy, and weapon handling. Vica, Asgardnia, and I all met up as often as we could, having competitive fishing trips, forest foot races, and doing other random things around the island. I would have been completely happy, enjoying what seemed like a perfect new adventure- only it wasn't perfect, and I wasn't happy. Even with my new friends, things were still challenging. The teachers were wonderful, with interesting classes. The subjects were all enjoyable, and I was doing very well in all of my classes. The only thing that made this situation so gray was my old 'nemesis' from the hatchery- Scary-boy.

It started again in the first week. We were in our dragon care class, which is required for all new riders. Asgardnia and I sat together, chatting happily. Then he walked up, his sidekick standing next to him. "Hey, Northy, don't you know better than to sit with her? She's going to make you fail. Just take a look at her scrap of a dragon- he hasn't even grown yet!" He gave a disgusted sneer, his Whisper-toting companion just getting an awkward expression on his face. "Dark Thief could eat him in two bites." At this, his large Nadder bared his tiny-tooth stage fangs. I carefully tucked Oakheart into Asgardnia's lap, out of his sight. Asgardnia looked at me, surprised, and then up at Scary-boy.

Her eyes quickly trailed to the boy slightly behind him. Her gaze filled with the look of a question. "Hey, Gunnar, what are you doing hanging out with this trash? Don't you know that he'll cause you to fail?" I gave a grin, appreciating my friend's wit and support.

Gunnar glanced quickly from Asgardnia to Scary-boy, then onto me. His eyes had filled with a deep look of uncertainty. Scary-boy gave an almost unnoticeable kick to Gunnar's shins, causing his Whispering Death to shift on his shoulders, feeling his discomfort. His eyes grew hard, looking more like the steel that they shared their color with. "We may be from the same clan, but you have nothing in relation to me. Yarlo and I are going to become the greatest riders here, and help to... weed out the weaker vikings that obviously aren't cut out for this." His eyes strayed to me, contempt in them, with a small flicker behind them. At this Scary-boy, I mean, Yarlo, grinned, and they swaggered off to sit in the back. As they started away, I stood up, wanting to have some words with these bullies. Asgardnia quickly yanked me back into my seat, sensing what I was planning.

"Just ignore the half-trolls." She said, giving an aggravated glance back at the twosome. "We'll show them. Besides, Gunnar may think he's tough for hanging out with Yarlo, but he has to come back to share a cabin with me." She gave a devious grin, and Loki gave a sort of coughing dragon laugh, obviously pleased with the thought of some mischief.

I soon found out that she was holding true to her word- Gunnar and his Whispering Death always stayed back a few paces whenever Yarlo would come over to tease me. It seemed to be his favorite daily pastime. I did my best to just ignore him, but it was never part of my nature to take an insult lying down. He was in the middle of one of his teasing sessions when Vica came up on Nesa, thundering down to a sudden impact of a landing.

"Hey, barf-for-brains, don't mess with someone with a Nightmare!"

Yarlo let out a sarcastic laugh. "That's not a Nightmare, it's a leaf!" This brought a chuckle out of Gunnar, quickly turned to a glare by my dagger-sharp glance.

"Yeah? Well how about this one!" she shouted out. At this, Nesa leapt forward, letting out a furious roar, and getting right in their faces. They lost their balance, and fell backwards, where they quickly scrambled back to the cover of the nearby post office. My shoulders sagged as all the fight left me.

I looked up at my friend. "Thanks, Vica. I'm sorry that you had to come rescue me."

"No problem." She looked over at the retreating shadows of my assailants. "I hate bullies. So, how's Oakheart?" I looked down at the shape cradled in my arms.

"Fine." I said miserably

"Gruuroooo?" His large eyes looked sadly up at me, as if trying to apologize for something he could never control. I gently stroked his back. Even if he was a runt, and easily scared, I still loved him.

"It's alright, boy. I'm not upset with you." I buried my face in his warm back spines. Vica dismounted and walked over.

"For being a three-week old, he is rather small." I looked up at her, giving a 'that is really not helpful' look. She defensively held up her hands, laughing at my expression. "I just mean that, all things considering, he doesn't seem to have grown any larger."

She had hit the mark as squarely as Thor's hammer. This same fact had been bothering me for the past week-and-a-half. While all the other hatchlings were growing quickly, Oakheart was staying the same size- that of a Terrible Terror, or even smaller. I worried for my dragon. What if he never grew? I closed my eyes and sighed. I could just picture it- laughingstock of the school, well, more of a laughing stock, with a permanently miniature dragon. What would Yarlo say about that? I couldn't bear it. I would catch the soonest Timberjack ride back to Berk, and back home, rather than stay with a permanently small dragon.

Vica's seemingly distant voice snapped me out of my daydreams. "I am in advanced Dragon care classes, and I think I know something that could possibly help you. It would be hard to do though, as we don't have access without permission, and don't think that anyone would help us out, unless the situation was dire." She paused thoughtfully. "Well, there is one person you could ask about this... but you're not going to like it..."

She was right, I didn't like it. This was one of my worst case scenarios, right after having to help Yarlo with his homework. I looked over the storeroom, at the viking directing the sorting of new crates and barrels of supplies. He was the one viking most likely to help, and one of the few with access. After showing where he wanted some sacks of flour to a group of younger vikings, he looked up from his checklist, directly at me. A broad grin immediately split his face, causing him to shine. He walked over, still with that sunny smile. I felt my stomach flip over, and my nerves shoot down my spine. Why was I here talking to him? Why had I ever agreed to this? Oh, if only I had had a better idea! As I stood frozen to the floor, his smile started to fade. He looked over at the youngsters still moving things. "Do you want to go outside?" he asked gently. I could only manage to nod. He hesitantly put a hand on my shoulder, and guided me out the door and over to a nearby rock. I still felt as if my brain had shorted out. Okay, so first he startled me, and now he brainwashed me with his smile. Would he never stop causing unexpected side-effects? He gracefully settled on the rock next to me, his gentle smile returning. "So, what can I do for you, Miss Dragon Nip?"

I swallowed, so that I could regain my voice. "Frostfire, my name is Frostfire."

He seemed slightly startled by this answer. But, his dramatic nature quickly took care of any unexpected situations, his mind quickly getting back in character, like a well-trained actor. "That's a beautiful name. Now, I can ask after you." He laughed as I blushed, embarrassed at the thought of him asking others about me. "So, do you want anything, other than getting me out of work?"

I looked into his eyes, the color of freshly-turned soil. I knew that this was one of the few probable chances to help Oakheart, but really, ask Arlan for help? "Vica said, that I, that we, could come find some help. I... I am worried... about Oakheart. He's not growing. He was.. small to start with, and everyone else's dragons are almost to the Shortwing stage by now." I pulled the sleeping dragon out of my satchel, so that he could see what I was saying.

He thoughtfully rubbed his chin, looking at little Oakheart, less than three times the size of the other Nightmares, including our roommate, Flash Fang, who was the same age. "Well, there is always the Hearthfire..." he seemed to be saying this more to himself than to me.

"Hearthfire? What's a Hearthfire?"

He seemed to notice that he had said that out loud. He gave a quick look around, checking if the coast was clear. "There is a special room off of the Hatchery, with another pool of lava in it. When you take a dragon there, the heat and lava help them to grow."

I perked up, and instantly felt hope blossom like a snowdrop. "Why haven't I heard of this before? I know that I am only a few weeks in, but I would think that if it was so important, more people would know of it." I looked down, embarrassed. "Also, I am ahead in my classes, so I would have thought I would have come across something like that in my studies."

He gave a small chuckle at my embarrassment. "Well, not many know about it, as it's supposed to be secret. This is a little-known method of helping dragons to grow. It stimulates growth, so normal dragons don't need it, or else it would cause them to grow at an accelerated rate. But, as yours is smaller, I would think that it isn't really accelerating, just... catching up." His face filled with a look of mischief, which brought about a slight grin of my own. He looked around again, still checking if we were being overheard. He motioned for me to give him my dragon. "Hand me Oakheart. I'll use my access to get him into the Hearthfire. I'll meet you at your cabin at dawn, to give him back."

I suddenly realized that this was most probably something against the rules. I looked around myself, then gravely into his eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, just risk, dragons, lava, and rule-breaking, what could be better?" His joke quickly faded into a serious look, as he read the nervousness in my face. "Don't worry. Nothing will happen. I promise." His comical and winsome personality returned, as he said "Besides, who could ever punish what they can't catch?" He gingerly tucked Oakheart into his jacket, and walked off towards the hatchery. Looking after my beloved dragon, and the confusing-yet-handsome-yet-aggravating-yet-something-I-don't-know-yet boy, I felt that same stab of nervous energy.

"Just, be safe. Both of you."