A/N: This is a double update, so if you've reached this point and haven't read chapter 11… though I'm not sure how, exactly, but it's possible, I think… you should probably read that first :)

The next morning, there was snow on the ground. I woke up to white everywhere- on top of Iceflame as well. He looked a little like a dragon-shaped snowman, but mostly blended in with the landscape. After looking over himself and stretching experimentally, he heated his skin and melted it off.

"Hey!" I protested as some of the slush dropped onto me. I brushed it off, frowning, then I got an idea, and a smile spread across my face. I grabbed a bucket we had pilfered from the ship and scooped some of the slushy melting snow into it. I then stepped quietly to the snoozing Starfire, and upended the bucket on her head.

I jumped out of the way as she leapt up and yelped in surprise. She turned and saw me, eyes narrowing, and stalked towards me. I tried to scramble away, but was quickly backed against the cliff.

Starfire opened her jaws and released a cloud of mist, thoroughly covering me with water vapor. She backed off a moment later with a huff of satisfaction.

I shivered suddenly as a cold wind hit me and my now slightly-damp-all-over clothing. I supposed I deserved it, but I couldn't help briefly playfully glaring at Starfire, who had curled up again by Halfrida.

Halfrida, however, was no longer covered by the dragon's wing. I scooped up another bucket of snow and tiptoed towards her. Unfortunately for me, Starfire was still awake. An eye snapped open and she swept her tail under my legs, causing me to fall as the slushy snow was spilled all over me and my sister.

Halfrida sat up, awake and spluttering, then her eyes fixed on me. She grabbed a handful of snow and charged, tossing it at me. I ducked and grabbed my own handful, throwing it back. She dodged and ran at me again, and I danced away as she snatched more snow. I dropped to my knees and gathered another handful. She threw it at me, I leaned to the side and threw my snow at her. She dropped and rolled, then sprang up again and tackled me into the snow. She held me down and clutched another handful over my face threateningly.

"Wait!" I yelped.

She paused. "What?"

"See? You can fight!"

Halfrida rolled her eyes, and stood up, deciding me being pushed into the snow was punishment enough for now. I got to my feet and brushed off the white powder.

"I didn't say I have terrible reflexes. I just don't fight."

"Well, you're going to have to." I reminded her. "To start our training, we are going to run around the edge of the valley ten times before breakfast!"

My sister raised an eyebrow but humored me. We jogged around the valley, hugging the cliffs, but not too closely on the open side, trudging through the half foot or so of snow, but after we had run around once, it got easier as the snow had already been cleared from our path.

The dragons watched us in confusion and amusement as we ran, then flew off halfway through, presumably to find food. When we finished, we were both breathing a little harder but not too badly.

The dragons had taken pity on us, and brought back food for us as well.

"Thanks," I said cheerfully as Iceflame dropped a rabbit in front of us, and Starfire dropped a bird. I grabbed the bird, pulling out one of its limp wings. "See these feathers? We can make a bunch of darts and arrows with these."

Halfrida groaned and put her head in her hands. "Please don't go all weapon-obsessed on me."

I shrugged and grinned apologetically. "It's different when you have to make your own."

We cleaned the animals and roasted the bird, smoking the rabbit for later. After we had eaten, I dragged Halfrida into the cave.

"Now," I proclaimed, "We choose our weapons." I laid out all we had taken from the ship- bows, swords, spears, axes, hammers, and various knives and daggers.

My sister stood back, eyeing the impressive layout uncertainly. "How do we know what to pick?" she wondered. It was a good question- most Vikings had one weapon they used for almost everything. When you chose a weapon you had to make it good- if you were heroic enough that bards would sing about you, they would sing about the battles you won with that weapon. Not that I expected to be sung about by bards. It was just something to keep in mind.

"Um… I guess try everything and see what you like best… Whatever fits your fighting style…"

"My fighting style is duck and run," Halfrida muttered, but she stepped forward anyway.

"I'm guessing it's not with a hammer, at least," I said shrugging.

My sister reached down and hefted the weapon, then snorted. "Definitely not… probably not an axe either." We had a single-bladed axe and a double-bladed axe, and we were both more likely to drop either of them in battle than hit someone.

"That leaves swords, bows, spears, and knives," I reasoned. "I think we should both have a couple of daggers as backup no matter what we choose, if we ever get captured or need to stab someone…"

Halfrida looked a little uneasy at the idea. I rolled my eyes and handed her a knife. "Here. Stick it in your boot." I did so as well, then handed her another. "And stick this… somewhere else."

My sister raised an eyebrow but, after some experimentation, tied it with a strap of leather to her pants under her skirt. I slipped mine through a loop on the inside of my vest.

"And we should each grab a bow," I mentioned. We both knew how to shoot, of course.

"We're going to need to have weapon straps added to the saddles at this point," Halfrida grumbled.

My eyes lit up. "Brilliant! We can do that later."

We each grabbed a bow, drawing back the strings to test them and find ones that hadn't been damaged by time or the elements on the ship.

Next, I grabbed a spear, tossing it from hand to hand and stabbing it at an imaginary foe, but I couldn't really see myself wielding it.

Halfrida picked up another spear, examining the hardwood shaft and the metal head, then stepping back and twirling it around, using it both for stabbing and like a staff.

"Nice," I complimented. "I think you should use it."

Halfrida nodded, running a hand up and down it. "I don't think I would like a sword much… this wood is strong, a sword wouldn't break it too easily… I might have to sharpen the tip a little." She held the weapon out to Starfire, who sniffed it before giving an approving hum. Halfrida climbed onto her back and experimented with her reach from dragonback, before just sitting, spear held in a ready position.

I wouldn't mention it to her, because she would probably disagree, but she looked as nearly as fierce a warrior as Astrid or Ruffnut with that spear astride the dragon, a determined look on her face.

I turned to the swords. There was a stunning variety of swords. Many were chipped or broken so I tossed those to the side for melting. I picked up the sword nearest to me. It was a good weight, just a little heavy. I would need to get used to it. I played around, stabbing, slicing the air. I swung at a nearby tree and it bounced off with a small dent. I examined the sword closer.

"Much too dull to use," I muttered to myself.

It took me awhile but I finally sorted out the dull swords. I picked up a nice sharp sword that did not have any dents. It was about three feet long with a steel blade. I swung with it a couple times. It was a little lighter than the first sword. The handle felt nice and smooth. I looked down at the handle to see what it was made of.

I looked down and almost dropped it. The handle was plated with red dragon scales, along with the sheath that matched the pattern.

"Hey Iceflame!" I called out. "Does it bother you that my new sword will be decorated with dragon scales?"

The dragon jerked his head up and narrowed his eyes as he sniffed the blade.

"It's awful, really, but it would be sad for this dragon's sacrifice to be wasted… At least this way I can put it to use freeing and avenging other dragons."

Iceflame growled in anger, but I could tell it wasn't directed at me.

"I'll take that as a yes, then," I said, buckling the sheath around my waist. "I'll call it Scaleblade. Now… We should practice."

Halfrida eyed her spear and my sword, frowning.

"We'll take turns using swords and spears," I clarified. "We can use different weapons later."

"Alright… What first then, battlemaster?"

"Spears and staffs," I decided. I grabbed another decent-looking one from the pile, then faced my sister. The dragons backed up a little.

"Go," I said, stepping forward. I jabbed my spear at her, and Halfrida quickly knocked it aside with the shaft of hers. I jabbed at her again, which she blocked, then swung the other side at her, which she blocked again.

"C'mon, swing back," I encouraged. Halfrida rolled her eyes but did so, and I blocked it.

We swung back and forth a couple more times before I landed a hit on her, with a quick tap of her legs.

I handed her a sword, which she swung cautiously. "You know I've never used one of these before… At least I've used spears and staves to defend sheep."

We started slicing and jabbing at each other, and, sure enough, I had my sword pointed at her chest after only a few strokes.

We kept practicing for most of the day, and improved a little, but I could tell this was something that we wouldn't master overnight.

A/N: Thanks for reading so far! Review if you have questions, comments, etc…

Sooo, I've been writing this on a laptop that technically belongs to my school, and I have to turn it in tomorrow… We have an old desktop computer here, but it doesn't like me. If I must write from my phone, then I will, but it might take a while. I do have this nice ten-chapter cushion, so if I can, I'll have updates continue to be sorta frequent but irregular. Or at least that's how it feels to me.

Also, I'm going on vacation for a few weeks. I think I'll have wifi, so I'll write during car rides or something as long as the scenery isn't too pretty and I don't get a headache.

On a happier note, I will also post the first chapter of the Hiccup-centric time-travel story I mentioned a few chapters ago. This one does not have a nice ten-chapter cushion, because I want to get it out there with all the craziness about to start, so updates on that will also be fairly irregular but hopefully without gaps of more than a week or two.