A/N: Good thing I have this story saved. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from How to train your dragon
Chapter 11: Heather Report I
Up in the sky, Hiccup and Toothless were soaring at top speed as they made sharp turns around the island of Berk. "Yeah! Come on, bud! Here we go, buddy! Come on, Toothless! Yeah!" Hiccup cheered as they raced at their fastest.
Their flight was being monitored by the rest of the dragon riders on foot. "Here they come!" Astrid said to Fishlegs, Fishlegs, who was timing Hiccup and Toothless' flight, marked the sundial in front of him.
"Let's go!" Hiccup shouted as they nearly finished their course.
"Please be slower, please be slower." Hicca muttered, not wanting her brother and his dragon to be faster than her and Midnight. The female Night Fury was in agreement.
'If they beat our time, I'm not going to hear the end of it.' Midnight warbled.
"Yep! It's a new course record for him." Fishlegs noted.
Hiccup and Toothless finished their course and landed in the Academy. They looked at Fishlegs, awaiting the result.
"So? How'd we do?" Hiccup asked.
"Technically you're both still tied with Hicca and Midnight as the two fastest, but someone, and I won't mention who, is gaining significant ground." Fishlegs informed them.
The auburn haired twins were surprised by this.
"What?"
"Who?"
They turned to the Thorston twins, who were busy fighting each other again. They paused when they noticed the Haddock twins staring at them. "Not us!" Tuffnut said, before he continued fighting his sister.
Hiccup and Hicca then looked at their best human friend, Raeda. "Nope, still the fourth fastest." She admitted.
That left them with the only other person present in the Academy; Astrid. The smug look on the blonde girls' face confirmed their suspicions.
"Should have known." Hicca said.
"How can that be? How can Toothless and Midnight be getting slower?" Hiccup asked, turning to Fishlegs.
"They're not. Stormfly's getting faster." He answered.
"Oh, really?" Hiccup said, turning back to Astrid. "Is that so? Anything you'd like to share, Astrid?"
"Especially to your fellow Nadder rider." Raeda said.
"Let's just say I'm experimenting with what she eats. Apparently, it's working. And making you mad." Astrid explained, gesturing to Hiccup. Stormfly let out a burp.
"Looks like we're getting another competitor." Hicca said.
"And it looks like I need to start experimenting with Sparkfires' diet." Raeda said.
Suddenly, Snotlout and Hookfang flew into the Academy. "Whoo! Ha-ha! Whoo!" Snotlout shouted in excitement. "You will not believe what I just found!"
Tuffnut and Ruffnut started guessing.
"A severed head?"
"Our cousin, Lars?"
"Our cousin Lars' severed head?"
"Lars died?" Fishlegs asked in shock.
"Who said that?!" Tuffnut said, forgetting his previous guess.
"Um, hello? Do you guys want to see this, or not?" Snotlout asked.
The other teens got on their dragons and followed the Jorgenson boy to the beach where they saw a wrecked, upturned boat.
"Huh. A wrecked boat on Berk? Yeah, there's something new." Tuffnut said sarcastically, not interested in Snotlouts' new discovery. But Snotlout still guided them to what was underneath the boat.
"Just remember, I saw it first, so it's mine." Snotlout reminded them. They looked inside and saw that there was an unconscious, raven-haired girl around the same age as the teens, in the boat.
"Whoa! Now I like the boat." Tuffnut said in a daze.
"Remember, I get to keep her!" Snotlout said.
"Snotlout, it's a person!" Astrid said in disbelief.
"Right?! How lucky is that?" Snotlout said excitedly.
"You and I are going to be having a talk when we get back to Berk." Raeda said sternly.
Hiccup crawled underneath the passage of the boat, trying gently to wake up the mysterious girl, who seemed to be regaining consciousness. "Eh, hey. Hey there." The girls' green eyes shot open as she took in her surroundings. She immediately moved back in fear.
"It's okay. We're friends." Hiccup reassured her.
"D-Do you have any water?" She asked in a raspy voice.
As soon as she said that, Hicca, Raeda, Astrid, Ruffnut and Hiccup moved out of the way as Snotlout, Fishlegs and Tuffnut each held a mug of water, shoving each other out of the way to offer the water to the girl.
"Allow me." Snotlout said, holding his mug to her. Heather took it gratefully and drank it.
"Thank you." She said, giving the mug back. "Where am I?"
"This is Berk." Hiccup answered. Toothless then stuck his head in the boat, curious to see the new girl. Clearly frightened of the dragon, the girl moved back.
"Uh, do-don't be scared of him! He's friendly. He won't hurt you." Hiccup said reassuringly as he tried to get Toothless to back away. "Hey. Come out. It's okay." Slowly and cautiously she came out and the others moved back to give her space.
"Easy, bud. Give her some space." Hiccup said, as he moved his dragon back and made him sit.
"How did you do that?" The girl asked in awe.
Snotlout was starting to get jealous of the attention his cousin was getting from the new girl. "That? That was just an amateur trick. Watch this." He bragged. He then turned to Hookfang. "Hookfang, get your butt over here!"
'Uh, how about...NO!' The Monstrous Nightmare snorted. He decided to do the opposite and flew off without hesitation. "Heh heh heh. He'll be back. Jokester." Snotlout lied to cover his embarrassment. "Oh! And just so you know, I'm the one who rescued you."
"And I would be Hiccup." Hiccup said, walking up to her.
"And I'm Hicca. As you can see, Hiccups' twin." Hicca said.
"Heather." The girl said, introducing herself.
"So, Heather... What happened to you?" Astrid asked.
Heathers became upset. "My family and I were on our way home to our island when our boat was attacked by pirates." Raeda was about to give her a sympathetic look when she suddenly frowned.
"I wanna be a pirate!" Tuffnut interjected. The others, especially Raeda, looked at him with expressions of shock and disbelief. "Or maybe a fish cleaner. Or maybe both. Ugh, I can't decide." He said. The others turned their attention back to Heather, deciding to let Tuffnut be Tuffnut.
"Ehem! You were saying?" Astrid asked, wanting Heather to continue.
"They attacked our boat and took us back to our island, laying siege to it. I was able to escape, but my mother and father, they weren't so lucky." She said sadly.
"Stupid pirates! I'm definitely gonna be a fish cleaner!" Tuffnut said.
"It took you that to come up with that decision." Hicca asked the blonde male twin.
Hiccup turned to Heather. "Hey, everything's gonna be okay. Hicca and my dad's the Chief. We'll figure something out." He said.
"Yeah, you're also welcome to stay at our house." Hicca added. Heather gave the Haddock twins a grateful smile and went with the teens as they got on their dragons. Only Astrid and Raeda stayed back. The former because she decided to check the upturned boat out of curiosity and the latter because she was looking at Heather, feeling that something was off about that girl.
After Astrid finished looking at the boat, she got up and noticed that the Henderson girl hadn't gone to her dragon yet.
"Hey, Rae." Astrid said, getting Raedas' attention. "Is something wrong?"
"Um, no. Not at all." Raeda said, before she and Astrid joined the others. Heather got on Toothless' saddle behind Hiccup.
'Why does she have to ride with Hiccup? Why couldn't she ride with someone else? There are five other dragons to choose from.' She thought. She then shook her head. "Hey, don't forget we're meeting tomorrow to work on our times. Unless you want Stormfly to be the fast one in the Book of Dragons." She casually said to Hiccup, trying not to show signs of jealousy in her voice.
Thankfully, there wasn't any. "Yeah, that's definitely not gonna happen. We will be there." Hiccup replied. He then turned to Heather. "Okay?" He asked. Heather nodded in response. He then gave a nudge to Toothless and they flew off.
"Whoa!" Heather said, trying to hang on tight. The other dragon riders followed them, except for one.
"Uh, can I get a ride from someone...?" Snotlout called out. Seeing the others disappeared, the Jorgenson boy grumbled as he began his long, long walk back to Berk.
When Hicca and Hiccup reached their house, they took Heather to meet their dad and told him about her situation. The chief welcomed the newcomer to Berk and their home and it was decided that she will sleep in Hiccups' room while Hiccup and Toothless sleep in the living room downstairs. "Alright, just this way. Watch your step. And, here we are." Hiccup said as he and his sister guided Heather to his room.
"It was nice of your father to let me stay here." Heather said.
"Well, until we can find you a safe place to go, consider Berk your home." Hiccup said.
"And consider us your new friends." Hicca added.
Heather looked around Hiccups' room and saw his designs for a saddle "Wow! What are these? They're really cool!"
"A new saddle for Toothless. We're trying to get some extra speed so we can stay on top of Astrid and Stormfly. Astrid's very competitive." Hiccup explained.
"For Hiccups' safety, don't tell Astrid he said that." Hicca said.
"Okay, so, uh, do you need anything? Some warm yak milk? A nice fish stew?" Hiccup offered.
"No. But thank you both. I'm just really tired. It's been a long day." Heather said yawning.
The twins took this as their cue to leave. "Right! Okay, uh, we'll let you rest. Come on, Toothless. We're sleeping downstairs." Hiccup said to his dragon, who was also in the room.
"Oh, and we know what it's like to have crossed paths with pirates. So if you need someone to talk to, we're here." Hicca offered. Heather nodded and the twins and Toothless walked out the room.
"Hey, Hiccup? Hicca?" Heather called to the twins before they left.
"Yes?" The twins replied.
"Thanks." Heather said.
The twins smiled at her.
"Sleep well, Heather."
"Good night, Heather."
The Haddock twins went to sleep. Little did they knew that if they had stayed awake and snuck to Stormflys' stable, they would have discovered what Astrid gives to her dragon to make her faster.
"That's it, girl. Finish up your chicken." Astrid said, pushing the barrel of chicken to Stormfly. "By the time Hiccup and Hicca figure out this is what's giving you all that energy, they'll both be eating our dust!" Stormfly eagerly ate her food, but her ears perked up and she suddenly became on high alert, alerting Astrid. "What is it, girl?" Astrid then noticed a figure running in the distance. "You stay here." She said to Stormfly, before she went to follow the figure. "Hey!" The figure didn't seem to hear Astrid and kept running. Astrid got a closer look and discovered who it was. "Heather?" The blonde shield maiden watched as Heather quickly and quietly made her way back to the Haddock household.
Astrid is starting to get suspicious of Heather.
The next day Hiccup and Toothless were at the forge, the former was working on improving the latters' flight speed before they have to meet with Astrid and Stormfly.
"You're up early." Heather said as she walked up to the forge.
"Yeah, Hicca is usually the twin that gets up early, but I just wanted to get the jump on this." He explained, gesturing to the prosthetic tailfin.
Heather walked closer and observed the prosthetic. "You know, with a shorter connecting rod, it'll push you back in the saddle and make you more streamlined."
Hiccup saw where she was going with this. "Which will increase our speed!" He finished excitedly, pulling a connecting rod out of the furnace. He then turned to Toothless. "Yeah! Oh, you hear that, bud? Stormfly's gonna be seeing a lot more of your tail." The male Night Fury warbled in excitement.
'Yay! Then I'll be faster than both Stormfly and Midnight!' Toothless warbled excitedly.
"So, when can we test it out?" Heather asked.
"How about right now?" Hiccup suggested. They both got on Toothless and flew off.
Unfortunately Hiccup seemed to have forgotten something.
On one of the sea stacks, Astrid and Stormfly were waiting for Hiccup and Toothless so that they could go on their flight race. Astrid was getting impatient until she saw Hiccup flying with Toothless and another familiar passenger...
"Whoo! Yeah!" Heather yelled in joy as they soared into the air, oblivious to a fuming blonde who was watching them.
"You have got to be kidding me." She muttered. Realizing that their plan is cancelled, Astrid got on Stormfly and flew to join the others in the Academy.
In the Berk Academy the rest of the dragon riders were with their dragons waiting for their exercise to begin. Raeda was laying on Sparkfire working on another sketch while Hicca was with Midnight reading her healers book. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were lying comfortably on Barf and Belch, who laid on the floor.
Fishlegs was giving Meatlug a good scrub behind the ears. "Oh, ho! She loves getting her ears cleaned! I know just the right spot."
Snotlout was busy trying to calm down his agitated dragon. "Hookfang! Will you just calm down?" Frustrated, he turned to Hicca. "Are we training, or not?"
"Not until Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless and Stormfly come." Hicca answered, looking up from her book.
"We're here." Astrid said as she and Stormfly flew in.
Raeda put her sketchbook down and immediately went to Astrid as she got off Stormfly. "Good, you're back. You need to settle a bet between me and Hicca; who won the race, you or Hiccup?"
"Obviously Hiccup. Even with the special diet, Stormfly couldn't beat Toothless." Hicca spoke up.
"We didn't have the race." Astrid said bitterly.
"Hey, where's Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked, noticing that Hiccas' twin is missing.
"Giving a private lesson." Astrid said with the same bitterness. She gestured to the sky where Hiccup and Heather where still flying on Toothless.
"I didn't know he gave private lessons! Can anybody get in on that?" Fishlegs asked excitedly, not detecting the bitterness and the tension.
"Uh, Fishlegs..." Hicca said, trying to warn him.
"Apparently, just her." Astrid said, referring to Heather.
"Uh-oh! Looks like there's another hen in the rooster house." Ruffnut taunted.
"Uh-oh. Yeah. Another rooster in the hen house." Tuffnut tried to repeat. He then got confused. "Wait, what?"
"Nothing. She thinks I'm jealous, which is completely ridiculous. And completely wrong." Astrid said.
"Oh, right, right." Tuffnut said. He got confused again. "Wait. Of who? Me? Wait, am I the rooster, or the hen?"
Astrid rolled her eyes. "Trust me. The last thing I am is jealous."
Hicca and Raeda exchanged a nervous glance, having a bad feeling about what's going to happen.
Hiccup, Heather and Toothless flew into the Academy.
"Top 'o the morning, class!" Hiccup greeted, unaware of the tension. "How's everyone doing today?"
"Oh! Nice of you to show up." Astrid said sarcastically.
Noticing her brothers' confused expression, Hicca spoke up. "Did you forget something, bro?" She asked, hoping he would take the hint.
"What?" Hiccup asked. He then realized the answer and slapped his forehead. "Oh, we were supposed to meet up. I'm so sorry."
"Awkward!" Snotlout said in a sing-song voice. He quickly dived as an arrow was shot in his direction. (Guess who was responsible for that.)
Tuffnut finally understood what his sister and Astrid meant. "Oh, Astrid's jealous of the pretty one, right? Why talk about hens and roosters?"
Astrid ignored him and turned to Heather. "So, Heather? Sleep well?" She asked innocently.
"Very well. Thank you, Astrid." Heather answered with the same innocence.
"Really? No problems at night or anything?" Raeda asked, walking up to her.
Heather shook her head in response and looked around the Academy. "So... This is it? Your Dragon Training Academy."
"No. Our Dragon Training Academy." Tuffnut spoke up trying to get Heathers' attention. "Remember, I called you the pretty one."
"We've been training the dragons to become part of our everyday lives." Hiccup explained.
"And it all goes right in here." Fishlegs said, holding up the Book of Dragons.
"Really? Everything?" Heather asked, too curious for Astrids' liking.
"Mmm, yep. I'm kind of the Log Keeper. Log Master, really." Fishlegs bragged.
"He writes down what Hiccup and Hicca tells him to." Snotlout said.
"I give it my own spin, thank you." Fishlegs defended.
"This is going to be interesting." Hicca whispered to Raeda, who nodded in agreement.
"I feel like getting something to eat while watching this." Raeda whispered back.
"Can I see it?" Heather asked.
Fishlegs was about to give her the book when Astrid suddenly snatched it out of his hands.
"I'll take that, thank you." She said. She then grabbed Hiccup by the arm and motioned to Hicca to follow them. "Excuse us." She brought the Haddock twins to the other side of the Academy before she spoke up. "Hiccup, Hicca, I don't think we should be showing her all our dragon secrets."
Hiccup brushed it off "Astrid, it's fine."
"She's just curious, like everyone other outsider who visits Berk." Hicca added.
That didn't satisfy Astrid "I just don't trust her. You two shouldn't either."
"Well, we do and you should trust us." Hiccup said before walking off.
Astrid turned to Hicca, hoping she would listen. "She hasn't done anything wrong, Astrid. You should give her a chance." She then walked off to join the group when Raeda stopped her.
"Can I talk to you for a minute, Hicca?" The raven-haired girl asked.
"Sure." Hicca answered.
"Is Heather really fine. I mean with what happened with her encounter with the pirates did she gave signs of post traumatic stress disorder?"
"No, not any visible signs at least. Maybe she is a suffer-in-silence type." Hicca suggested.
Raeda raised her eyebrows "I'm a suffer-in-silence type. And you remember how I handle the trauma the first time."
"Well, people have different ways of coping with trauma. Who knows?" Hicca shrugged as she walked off. Raeda still didn't seem convinced.
After training Heather went to Fishlegs and Meatlug. "So, Mr. Fishlegs, 'Log Master of the Book of Dragons'- I can call you that, can't I?" She asked sweetly.
"Absolutely." Fishlegs answered eagerly.
"Tell me, what would one find in the Book of Dragons about the... Magnificent Gronckle?" Heather asked.
"Well, the Gronckle is a member of the Boulder Class of dragons. Fourteen feet long, eighteen foot wingspan, five thousand seven hundred and twenty-four pounds of pure love." Fishlegs stated, hugging Meatlug.
"She's so cute! But how does she perform in battle?"
"Well, feel her skin." Heather did as told. "It's thick. Impenetrable. Like armour." Fishlegs then picked up a pebble and threw it at his dragon. The pebble bounced back and hit Fishlegs in the face! "AH! It's also quite springy." He said, rubbing his face.
"What about her tail? It looks like it could be a weapon." Heather asked, looking at Meatlugs' tail.
"Oh, it is. Tough, bulbous, deadly. It can even be used as a bludgeon." Fishlegs answered.
"Oooh! She sounds so fierce."
"Oh, she's fierce alright- on the outside. But on the inside, she's as soft as a bed of rose petals. Aren't you my little baby?" Fishlegs said, cuddling his dragon.
Later on, Heather was at the docks with Tuffnut, Barf and Belch. Heather was sitting on Barfs' head while Tuffnut sat on his dragons' head.
"So, Tuff, tell me how this works again?" Heather asked.
"Okay, you yank on his head, he barfs up this really nasty gas, and I spark it. But, don't breathe it in." Tuffnut warned.
"Why not?"
"You don't want to know. Just give me the signal."
"What's the signal?"
"Ah... man, I always forget that." Tuffnut said, smacking his forehead.
"How 'bout: fire?" Heather suggested.
"Wow, you're really good at this. Much better than my sister, who I can easily get rid of, by the way. I mean, easily. She looks a lot like me. Sometimes I impersonate both of us." Tuffnut said.
"Yeah. Why don't we focus on the task at hand?" Heather suggested.
"Right. Okay. Ready?"
"Ready."
"Signal! Ugh, darn- I mean, FIRE!" At that Heather yanked Barfs' head, letting out the gas and Tuffnut yanked Belchs' head, igniting the gas. The result set fire to a nearby ship.
"What do we do now?" Heather asked, worried about getting in trouble.
"Usually we hide... until the Chief finds us. Then we get in trouble." Tuffnut said, as he lowered Belchs' head. Heather followed.
As soon as her session with Tuffnut was over, Heather went to Snotlout and Hookfang.
"I have to say Snotlout; your dragon really is the most impressive." Heather praised.
That was exactly what Snotlout had wanted to hear as he stood proudly. "Yeah, I know. So, let's talk about you and me. You never did get to thank me for saving your life."
"You're right. Thank you, Snotlout." Heather said with no hint of sarcasm in her voice. "So, how much does he weigh exactly?"
"Well, him? Five thousand pounds give or take. He's monstrous. Remember? Sort of like his Rider so... heh." Snotlout bragged. "Tour of the island, you and me, what do you say?"
"Actually, Hiccup took me on Toothless. It was beautiful." Heather said, to Snotlouts' disappointment. "So, Snotlout, how does this whole fire-thing work with Hookfang?"
"It's his spit. It coats his whole body." Snotlout explained. "That's what lights him on fire, okay? Between you and me? I use it on date-night. The ladies seem to love the smell." He said, rubbing some of the saliva on himself.
"Can he flame up on command?"
"Oh, he can. But he won't. Pig-headed dragon."
'Who are you calling a pig-headed dragon, you pig-headed viking!' Offended by this comment, Hookfang blast a line of fire, right behind Snotlout! Heather gasped. "Could you give me a minute?" Snotlout asked calmly, before he ran to look for a trough full of water. "Just one minute!"
"Take as much time as you need!" Heather called to him.
At the Haddock household, Hiccup was working on Toothless' saddle while Hicca and Midnight were at the forge. "There we go, bud. Oh, that's gonna work perfectly." What Hiccup didn't notice was that Heather was watching before going to his room. She then looked around the room as if she was searching for something. She looked under the bed and found what she was looking for; the Book of Dragons.
"Gotcha. The Book of Dragons." She pulled the book out and started reading. "Monstrous Nightmare... the Gronckle... here we go." She muttered as she read through the pages. Her eyes stopped at one chapter "The Deadly Nadder. Piercing spines, loyal, powerful..."
"Intelligent, and, of course, deadly." A voice from behind her said. Startled, Heather turned around and saw Astrid right behind her, not so happy. "What do you think you're doing?"
Astrid had gotten Hiccup and Hicca and told them what happened. "Well, are either you gonna say something?"
"I am so, so sorry, guys." Heather apologised. "I was cleaning up Hiccups' room and I-I found the book. I couldn't help myself."
To Astrids' disappointment the twins didn't give the reaction she was hoping for. "You don't have to apologise Heather. It's not a crime to read a book." Hicca said.
"Yeah, it's okay, Heather." Hiccup reassured.
"It's okay? What do you mean 'okay'? She's reading the Book of Dragons." She pointed out.
"So? Do you know how many times I went to Gothis' house and just pick up a book to read without asking. Like I said, it's not a crime." Hicca stated.
Hiccup agreed with his sister. "Astrid, come on. Lighten up."
"Me?" Astrid asked incredulously. "She's the one sneaking around! Looking at... our stuff!"
"Really? Sneaking around? Wha-what are you talking about?" Hiccup asked.
"I'm talking about last night. Near my house." Astrid said.
"That was me. I couldn't sleep so... I went for a walk. I was having terrible nightmares." Heather explained.
"I can imagine." Hiccup said as he and Hicca sympathised with Heather."
"Is this really happening?" Astrid asked in disbelief.
"Astrid, what is so bad about walking around at night? Hiccup and I both do that sometimes." Hicca said.
"She's not just walking, she's sneaking around!"
"Okay, Astrid, that's enough." Hiccup said sternly.
"You're right, Hiccup. It is." Astrid said storming off.
Hiccup turned to Heather. "We're sorry about that."
"No. I'm sorry. I was wrong to look at your book." Heather said.
"It's no big deal. We trust you." Hiccup said and his sister nodded in agreement.
Later on, Stormfly was about to sleep in her stable when she heard someone approaching.
"Approach the Deadly Nadder slowly." Heather whispered to herself as she slowly and carefully approached the Nadder. Alert the blue Nadder raised her spine filled tail, prepared to shoot the spines. "Spines. Just like the book said." Heather noted nervously. She walked in front of Stormflys' snout so that the Nadder won't see her. "Stay in the blind spot..." She looked at the nearby basket full of chicken and took a piece out. "I hear you like that." She gave the chicken to Stormfly, who ate it instantly.
"What are you doing with my dragon?!" Astrid called from behind, making Heather turn around to face the Hofferson girl.
"Huh. You really like to sneak up on people." Heather said innocently.
"Only the ones who deserve it. And don't give me your innocent routine." Astrid said, folding her arms.
She wasn't surprised at all of Heathers' reaction. "I wouldn't think of it. You're way too smart for that, Astrid." The raven haired girl smirked. Stormfly nuzzled her new friend to thank her for the chicken. "I think your dragon likes me. See you later, Stormfly."
Trying to surpress the urge to kill Heather, Astrid turned to her dragon. "Really? Where's the loyalty?"
'Sorry, but she seemed really nice.' Stormfly squawked.
Annoyed by the situation, Astrid got her axe and headed to the forest.
Meanwhile, Heather was trying to find the Book of Dragons in Hiccups' room but couldn't seem to find it. "No, no, no!" She decided to ask one of the auburn-haired twins where it was when she stopped and saw Hiccup giving said book to his sister before she left. "Great. Now what?"
Back in the forest, Astrid was furiously throwing her axe at the nearby trees, venting out her anger. She got her axe and was about to throw it again when she saw that someone joined her.
"Raeda? What are you doing here?"
"Well, I saw you storming off with your axe and I knew that Astrid plus anger plus axe is not a good thing, so I followed you to make sure you don't do anything reckless." Raeda calmly explained. "So what's wrong?"
"Heather!" Astrid said, gritting her teeth. "'I think your dragon likes me.'" She mocked.
"So you're mad at her because she befriended Stormfly?" Raeda asked confused.
"She is up to something! I know she is and I am going to find out what!" Astrid exclaimed, determination filling her eyes. "And I know what you're thinking, I'm not jealous!"
Raeda listened to everything Astrid said. "No, you do not know what I'm thinking of, because I believe you."
Astrid was surprised by that. "You do?"
Raeda nodded her head. "It's just a feeling, but whenever she talks about her past with the pirates and what happened to her parents, the look in her eyes seems just too...calm. We need to keep an eye on her."
Astrid was in agreement "No one messes with us and our friends!"
Both girls froze when they heard a noise in the distance. They looked and saw a familiar figure sneaking around in the forest. "Heather." Raeda whispered. Astrid immediately shushed her and gestured to her to follow. They were finally going to get some answers.
They followed closely behind Heather, doing their best to make sure that the green-eyed girl doesn't spot them. Unaware that she was being followed, Heather continued on her path until she reached a beach. She sat on a log and stared at the ocean while Raeda and Astrid watched her from a boulder.
"Maybe, I was wrong. This could be Heathers' way of grieving with the trauma." Raeda whispered to Astrid.
Astrid agreed with her. "This was stupid." She was about to leave with Raeda when she saw something that made her stop herself and Raeda. "Wait..." They both looked and saw a small boat approaching. But the symbol on the sail told them that it wasn't an ordinary boat.
"Please don't tell me that that's what I think it is." Raeda whispered as her eyes widened.
Astrid wished she could deny it as well but they both they knew they couldn't. "That's an Outcast boat!"
And sure enough, a familiar man walked out of the boat and walked to Heather. "Savage..." Astrid hissed, narrowing her eyes. She held her axe while Raeda got her bow and arrows ready.
"What have you learned about the dragons?" Savage asked Heather.
"I've learned a lot, Savage. But there's something else. Something that's going to make Alvin very happy." Heather explained.
"I'm listening."
"They have a book. A Book of Dragons. It's got everything in it. Everything Alvin could hope to learn about controlling dragons." Heather said. Astrid and Raeda could not believe what they were hearing. They were right! But right now they really wished they weren't.
"Where is this book?" Savage demanded.
"I don't have it." Heather admitted. "But, I will! I promise. I just, I just need a little more time."
"Alvin isn't known for his patience! He won't be happy having to wait." Savage pointed out.
"Please! You have to trust me! When I get back to Outcast Island with that book, the wait will be worth it."
Hearing enough, Astrid and Raeda ran back to Berk to warn Hiccup and Hicca about what they just discovered. As soon as they reached Berk, they split up with Astrid going to the Haddock household to warn Hicca and Raeda going to the forge to warn Hicca. Astrid flung the door open and made a beeline to where Hiccup was sleeping.
"WAKE UP!" She yelled, kicking him awake.
"OW! WHAT-! I thought my sisters' method for waking me up was bad! Why would you do that?" Hiccup asked, rubbing his stomach where he'd been kicked. "What are you doing?"
"Saving our butts! Raeda and I just saw Heather talking to Savage! She's working with the Outcasts! Raeda's gone to warn Hicca." Astrid exclaimed.
Hiccup was surprised to hear that. "What? Heather's upstairs, sleeping."
Astrid scoffed at that. "Oh, yeah? Let's go find out." She pulled his arm and dragged him upstairs to his room, hoping to catch Heather. Little did she know that Heather had just climbed into Hiccups' room through the window and laid down on Hiccups' bed, pretending to be asleep. A second later Astrid and Hiccup barged in 'waking' her up.
Heather turned to them. "Hey, guys. Is everything okay?" She mumbled, trying to sound sleepy.
Astrid stared at Heather in shock and disbelief. How did Heather beat her and Raeda here? Hiccup spoke up. "Yes, Heather. Everything's fine." He ushered Astrid out the door allowing Heather to have some peace.
Hiccup and Astrid then took their conversation outside the house. "Astrid, don't you think it's possible you and Raeda saw something else? I mean it's pretty dark out there." Hiccup suggested.
"You think both of us would make that mistake? I know what we saw. The girl is not who you think she is!" Astrid said firmly.
"So, who is she, then?" Hiccup challenged.
"I-I don't know... nobody knows! She just mysteriously washed up on our beach. You don't find that strange?" Astrid pointed out.
"No, because her ship was taken over by pirates. Her whole island is under siege." Hiccup defended.
"The only thing 'under siege' is your brain! You're not thinking clearly!"
"Oh, really? Me?"
"Hiccup, the Outcasts could be attacking any minute!"
"Astrid, if there's one thing I know, it's this: Heather... is not working for the Outcasts." Hiccup said before he went back inside. Frustrated, Astrid went to the forge, hoping Raeda would have better luck.
Meanwhile, at the forge, Hicca was visited by Ruffnut.
"I'm sorry, you did what exactly?" Hicca asked Ruffnut.
"I locked Tuffnut in an outhouse." Ruffnut said smiling proudly at herself.
"I'm afraid to ask, but why?"
"Because he was being in idiot." Ruffnut said. "Not that he wasn't before but since Heather got here, it's worse. Did you know that he let Heather sit on my dragon and they both blew up one of the ships? The nerve of that guy! I'm the only one who can get Barf to set off the gas for an explosion!"
"That explains what happened to that ship." Hicca muttered.
"So as a punishment, I locked him in an outhouse and replaced him with you as my twin. We both could take a break from our brothers fawning over Heather."
"Hiccup is not fawning over Heather."
Ruffnut ignored her. "Anyways, what are you doing here? Creating weapons of mass destruction? Can I help?" The blonde girl asked excitedly.
Before Hicca could answer, Raeda came running into the forge running out of breath. "Rae, what's wrong?" Hicca asked, noticing her best friends' distress.
"Hicca, we have a problem! You will never believe what Astrid and I have just found out!"
"Don't worry, that's just Tuffnut. He will be fine for a while." Ruffnut said casually. "You didn't let him out though, did you?"
Raeda, who missed out the earlier conversation, was confused by this. "What? No, that's not it. Heather is working for the Outcasts!"
"What!" Hicca said alarmed.
Even Ruffnut was surprised. "Whoa."
"T-that can't be right. Heather working with Outcast?" Hicca said in disbelief.
"Astrid and I saw it ourselves. She met up with Savage at the shore and told him about the Book of Dragons! She is going to steal it for him."
Hicca turned to Astrid, who just ran in. "Tell me it's not true."
Knowing what the Haddock girl was talking about, Astrid shook her head. "It's true Hicca. Raeda and I are witnesses to that."
A thought then crossed Hiccas' mind. She turned to Ruffnut. "Ruff, you said that Tuffnut showed Heather how to operate Barf and Belch." The Thorston girl nodded her head. "Do you happen to know if the other guys told Heather anything about their dragons?"
"Sure they did. They were just arguing about who's dragon is more impressive to Heather."
"Oh, boy." Hicca muttered. It was starting to fit together like a puzzle.
"I tried telling your brother, he didn't believe me." Astrid said.
"Did you show him that Heather wasn't in his room?" Raeda asked.
"I tried but by the time we got there, Heather was back in bed. Hiccup thinks we saw something else."
"It's just like my brother to give the benefit of the doubt." Hicca sighed. "Especially with a good alibi involved."
"You need to believe us, Hicca. We know what we saw. We need to warn your dad." Astrid said.
Hicca shook her head. "Guys, I believe you, but we can't go to dad for this. Is there any other proof you have that Heather is working for the Outcasts?"
"No." Raeda and Astrid admitted.
"Then its' just your word against Heather's. She can easily deny it and make up something like you two accusing her for no good reason." Hicca said.
"Plus, the boys will definitely defend Heather 'cause she's pretty." Ruffnut pointed out.
"So what you're saying is that we do nothing?" Astrid asked in disbelief.
"I never said that." Hicca said. She pulled out the Book of Dragons she borrowed to add some notes and gave it to Astrid. "Here, guard this for the night. Make sure Heather doesn't come anywhere near it."
Astrid took the book with determination in her eyes. "I'll be sleeping with this under my pillow and an axe in my hand."
"Ruffnut, make sure Tuffnut doesn't tell Heather anything else about any other dragon."
"No problem, I'll just keep him locked in the outhouse." Ruffnut said smirking.
"Raeda, you do the same for Fishlegs and Snotlout."
"Don't worry, I'll send the message pretty clear to them." Raeda said firmly.
"I'll talk to my brother about this tomorrow. For now, keep a sharp eye out. If Heather does anything suspicious, report to me immediately." Hicca ordered.
The four girls agreed to that and went to their houses to get some sleep.
Meanwhile, outside of Berk, on Outcast Island, Alvin and Savage were observing a captured Monstrous Nightmare flame itself up just like that. "Interesting... There's really no rhyme or reason to that thing, is there? Just catches fire at will?" Alvin wondered.
"That's why we need the book! She says everything the boy and girl know is documented in its pages. If we have it we can control any dragon." Savage explained.
"Eh? Then why aren't I holding this book in me hand?" Alvin asked, narrowing his eyes.
"You will be." Savage said nervously.
"Good! Because your life depends on it..." Alvin said, walking away.
"I hate it when he says that." Savage muttered.
The next day on Berk, Hicca was in the forge waiting for her brother to come. She decided to guard the book while Astrid went to check up on the dragons. Hicca quickly grabbed something out of the closet in the forge before turning her attention back to the book; afraid that if she looked away then the book will vanish and end up in Alvins' hands.
"Hey." A voice called, causing Hicca to look up. She found Heather putting on her innocent act. The raven haired girl seemed to be unaware that the other girls were on to her. "How are you doing, Hicca?" She asked, sneaking a glance at the book.
Hicca noticed the glance "I'm fine." She said, trying to sound casual.
She seemed to have succeeded. "You know, I was thinking. This whole training dragons thing. It sounds amazing. I was wondering if I could find a dragon of my own. I could borrow the book for a while to learn all about the dragons and maybe you or Hiccup could help me."
When she heard her brother being mentioned, Hicca stiffened. 'This girl has been lying from the start. She's betraying Hiccups' trust; she's betraying all our trust. I can't let her continue on like this.' And if it was one thing she knew, she definitely wasn't going to watch her brother get deceived by this traitor.
"Drop the act, we know Heather." Hicca said bluntly.
"Know about what." Heather asked, still acting innocent.
"We know that you're actually working for the Outcasts and that you're going to steal this for them! There is no way I'm going to let have it!" Hicca said with determination.
After hearing this, Heather dropped her smile and narrowed her eyes. "Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way." She said. She suddenly charged forward and punched Hicca in the face, sending the Haddock girl back! Luckily, Hicca recovered and punched Heather back before shoving her to the wall. She got enough training from Raeda and Astrid in hand-to-hand combat and was ready to fight. Hicca gave another punch to Heather before the latter grabbed her a tried to knock her into the wall! Hicca managed to kick the wall, stopping Heather and sending them both back. Heather saw the Book of Dragons in front of her and tried to grab it but Hicca was faster. The Haddock girl shoved the book out of Heathers' hands. Quickly Heather grabbed her, gave her another punch to her face and threw her into the open closet. Before Hicca could recover, Heather shut the door and locked it, trapping Hicca inside. Pounding sounds suddenly filled the air, but Heather ignored, grabbed the book and ran away. Outside, from the distance, Raeda saw Heather run out of the forge as fast as she could. She immediately ran into the forge, hoping that the nagging feeling in her mind was wrong. She heard the pounding coming from the closet.
"Hicca!" Raeda shouted.
"Raeda, quick! Get the keys and unlock this door!"
Wasting no time, the Henderson girl retrieved the key from the table and freed her best friend.
Raeda got worried "Please don't tell me..."
"Heather took the Book of Dragons." Hicca finished. "You need to find her and stop her and I'll go warn my brother!"
At the Haddock household, Hiccup was trying to find the Book of Dragons, unaware that his sister took it for safe keeping. "Hey, Dad, have you seen the book?" He called out
"You'll have to be more specific, son." The chief answered from upstairs.
"The Book of Dragons. I can't find it anywhere."
"Maybe Hicca has it."
As if on cue, Hicca came running in. "Hey, sis. Do you have the Book of Dragons with you?"
"No." She panted. "But I know exactly where it is."
Before she could say anything else, Astrid came running in with Raeda behind her. "She's gone!" She shouted.
Hiccas' eyes widened. "Oh no."
"Heather?" Hiccup asked.
"No! Stormfly!" Astrid said angrily, "'Little Miss Innocent' stole my dragon!"
"And she also has the Book of Dragons." Hicca said.
Hiccup was shocked by the sudden turn of events. Heather betrayed them.
They immediately gathered the other dragon riders and told them what happened. They got their dragons ready and set out to stop Heather before she reaches Outcast Island.
"Oh, this is bad. This is bad, this is bad, this is bad!" Fishlegs said frantically. "This is catastrophic! I-If Alvin gets that book-!"
"He won't." Hiccup said. He was still trying to grasp the truth. "Heather... I can't believe it."
"Me either. How could she walk away from this?" Snotlout said, gesturing to himself.
"How could I not have seen it?" Hiccup wondered.
"There wasn't really any sufficient proof until now." Hicca said.
"Also because your brain was 'under siege'." Tuffnut said, learning this term from Astrid.
"So was yours Tuff, you showed Heather how to operate a Zippleback." Raeda pointed out.
"Do you even know what 'under siege' means?" Hiccup asked the male Thorston twin.
"Yes... no..." Tuffnut said, trying to think. "It's not good, right?"
"No, it's definitely not good." Astrid said bitterly, still upset with Hiccup for not listening to her.
Hiccup was aware of that "Astrid look..."
"Save it!" Astrid said, cutting him off. "You can apologize when you get me my dragon back." She climbed behind Hicca, riding with her and Midnight.
Accepting this, Hiccup jumped onto his saddle. "Alright, let's go!" The eight dragon riders took off and the chase begins. "We can't let her reach Outcast Island!"
A bit of distance away, Heather was flying steadily on Stormfly. It didn't help her that this was her first time riding a dragon on her own. "Whoa, whoa- E-easy girl! Whoa...!"
"We're never gonna catch them! Stormfly is too fast!" Astrid complained.
"When you're riding her, definitely. Not with a stranger." Hiccup said.
"Especially not with a stranger who is flying a dragon for the first time." Hicca added.
Snotlout narrowed his eyes as he saw something in the distance. "What's that? Up ahead!" He pointed.
"It's Heather. And is she ever gonna be sorry she helped me with Toothless' speed." Hiccup said. He turned to his sister. "Come on, sis!"
"Let's go!"
They had their dragons fly ahead of the group, catching up to Heather and Stormfly.
"I'll get you in close." Hicca said to Astrid. Heather saw them coming and gave Stormfly another piece of chicken to increase her speed.
The Haddock twins were surprised by this.
"That's how Stormfly's getting faster?" Hicca asked.
"I-is that chicken?" Hiccup asked. "Is that what you've been-?"
"Really? You two wanna talk about that now?" Astrid exclaimed to the twins.
"I'm gonna pull right above her!" Hicca said. They flew up above Stormfly and Astrid carefully stood on the saddle.
"O-okay, okay... hold her steady." Astrid said, getting her balance. She jumped off and thankfully landed on Stormfly right in front of Heather.
"Going somewhere?" Astrid asked, narrowing her eyes. Heather kicked her and pushed her off, sending Astrid flying back! Fortunately, Astrid grabbed on to the tip of her dragons' tail. "Stormfly! Tail-flip!" She commanded. Stormfly obeyed her riders command, sending Astrid flying back to the saddle. She then got in a fist fight with Heather.
"This is gonna be awesome!" Tuffnut said excitedly as he and the others watched the fight on the blue Nadder.
Fishlegs then noticed they were crossing a certain territory. "Uh, Hiccup? Hicca? I really hate to be the voice of doom, but we just crossed into Outcast waters!"
"Hey, Astrid?! You might wanna move this along!" Hiccup shouted.
"Give me a minute! She's stronger than she looks!" Astrid shouted back.
"Yeah, no kidding." Hicca said, remembering her fight with Heather.
They got close enough to Outcast Island that they were spotted.
"Incoming!" One of the Outcasts yelled. They got their catapults ready and torched the boulders before launching them at the dragons and their riders. "Fire!"
Astrid was struggling as Heather wrapped her arm around the blonde girls' neck "Don't you EVER... touch...my dragon... AGAIN!" She growled as she kicked Heather, knocking her and the Book of Dragons off Stormfly and onto Outcast Island.
"AH! NO!" Heather screamed as she fell.
"I'm going after the girl!" Snotlout shouted before he and Hookfang dived down.
"I'm going after the book!" Hiccup shouted before he and Toothless followed suit.
Snotlout and Hookfang got Heather just in time "Gotcha! Knew you couldn't stay away."
Hiccup Toothless flew after the book at high speed. "Come on, bud! We need to get that book!" Hiccup extended his arm, hoping to catch the book in time. "Come on! Come on, come on, come on, come on, bud!" Toothless was forced to turn, however, when a flaming catapult came right in their direction! Luckily, Toothless swerved just in time to avoid that, albeit the burn Hiccup got when his arm got his. But what was worse was that the Book of Dragons fell right into Alvins' hands! "NOOOOO!"
With the flaming boulders still being launched, Hiccup and Toothless were forced to retreat empty-handed. Defeated, Hiccup couldn't even look at the others, who were looking at him with hopeful expressions.
"Please tell me you got it." Fishlegs begged.
Rubbing his burnt arm and looking down, Hiccup spoke up. "I was too late. Alvin has the Book of Dragons."
TO BE CONTINUED.