Author's Note:

Hello everyone and sorry for the long wait since the last update. Unfortunately, this chapter is quite a bit shorter than the others, but I felt it was best to leave it where it was. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

I own nothing.

Chapter 12

"I know a song that'll get on your nerves, get on your nerves, get on your nerves. I know a song that'll get on your…"

"Snotlout!"

Hiccup shouted telepathically in frustration at his cousin, he turned and shot a glare at the boy, but the other rider just smirked. Hiccup sighed and looked forward once more.

They'd been sent on a patrol around Berk and Snotlout had decided to make the monotonous task more interesting by mentally annoying his cousin. Since none of the others could hear what was going on, Hiccup couldn't really react, and he hadn't been able to do much to stop the boy.

He then smirked himself.

Two can play that game.

He sent across a memory and waited for the reaction.

"Ergh!"

He looked round once more, and saw Snotlout pulling a disgusted face, the other riders also glanced at him, confused as to his sudden outburst of disgust. Snotlout noticed and quickly scowled, "What!?"

The others immediately looked away again, some rolling their eyes at his attitude, and Hiccup grinned as his cousin glared at him.

"Really Hiccup, you had to make me see that!?"

He didn't respond.

"And how do you have that memory anyway!?"

Hiccup answered this time, "I'd arrived early at the forge one day and Gobber hadn't realised."

"I think I'm now scarred for life."

"Isn't that slightly overdramatic?"

"I saw his underwear Hiccup, his underwear!"

Hiccup was hard-pressed to suppress his laughter at the horror in his cousin's voice, but he still manged to respond, "Then maybe you shouldn't keep trying to annoy me telepathically."

It had been a couple of weeks since 'the link', as the cousins were calling it, and Savage, and the other Outcasts, had been fairly quiet. In that time, they'd been further investigating just how much of Snotlout's magic Hiccup could use. It seemed that Hiccup could quickly get a handle on any spells that Snotlout already knew, but new ones were impossible for him unless Snotlout learned them first. So, not only did his magic use depend on his cousin's reserve of power, but it also depended upon his store of magical knowledge.

In short, if Snotlout couldn't perform a spell, then Hiccup couldn't either.

In this regard, the connection between them was more parasitic in Hiccup's favour than symbiotic. Hiccup gained magical abilities with little effort on his part, but they were limited to what Snotlout could do.

Due to the way the link worked, Shiva and Ifrit had changed focus from spellcasting to increasing Snotlout's magic reservoir. With two people drawing from the same source, it had to be larger to accommodate the strain so the more power available, the better.

Of course, they had to balance this training with the Dragon Academy and their friends, resulting in a very difficult balancing act.

Having completed their patrol route, Hiccup nodded in satisfaction, "Okay guys, everything checks out, let's head back and tell dad."

"Finally!"

He ignored Snotlout's telepathic response and guided Toothless to turn his flight towards Berk, the others following suit behind him, when there came a whooshing sound.

Whipping his head in the direction it came from, Hiccup saw a strange object flying towards them. Shiva's voice resounded in his head, "Hiccup, get everyone out the way of that thing, NOW!"

Immediately, he shot out the command, "Evasive manoeuvres!"

Snotlout had heard Shiva, so he and Hookfang were already diving, the others promptly responded to Hiccup's command, and all of them were well out of the way of the projectile. It flew into the space they'd just been, and they just had time to recognise it as a slightly strange fireball before it exploded.

"Is it a dragon!?"

Astrid was already scanning the area below, searching for their attacker, but Hiccup still nodded, "It has to be."

"Not this time."

Ifrit spoke confidently, "That was definitely came from a summoner, though I don't think it was meant to hit us."

"Are you kidding!" Snotlout snapped, "How was that not supposed to hit us!?"

"It came too obviously." The fire spirit responded, "Plus, even if it had hit, it wouldn't have hurt you, those flames aren't meant for attacking."

"What are you talking about?"

"Hiccup!"

Astrid's shout pulled him out of the mental conversation, and he quickly refocused, "Astrid, you, Fishlegs and the twins take hang back as cover, me and Snotlout will head down to where that fireball came from. We'll see if we can identify what flung it at us."

"What! Hiccup, that's a terrible idea!"

He shot the protesting Snotlout a quick grin, "I thought you liked terrible ideas."

Even as he said this, he quickly sent a different message through the link, "Since it's a summoner, its probably better if we handle it."

Snotlout glowered, responding to his cousin's spoke retort, "Not if they're going to get me killed!"

However, his telepathic response was quite different, "Fine, but if they want a fight, then I'm taking the lead."

"Okay."

Carefully, they guided their dragons down towards the fireball's point of origin, the others reluctantly taking on the role of back-ups. As they flew slowly down, Ifrit gave them his theory on what was going on. "I've seen those flames before, they're the work of the summoning known as Phoenix. However, unlike my flames, Phoenix's fire isn't used for fighting, in fact, they're very good at healing wounds and bolstering people's physical abilities. That's what I meant when I said the fireball wouldn't hurt you."

"But they're also very good for attracting our attention." Hiccup answered.

"So, this summoner wants our attention." Snotlout continued, "Why?"

"Let's ask them."

Hiccup nodded downwards, and Snotlout turned his gaze in that direction, seeing the girl stood waiting for them.

"Wow!"

Hiccup sighed, knowing exactly why his cousin had said that, but didn't comment. As the two dragons landed, the girl backed off slightly and Hiccup held up his hands placatingly, "Its okay, they won't hurt you."

She seemed to settle slightly and Snotlout slid off Hookfang and grinned at her, "Hey, Snotlout Jorgenson, answering your message."

"Oh, please no." Ifrit groaned, "I do not want to suffer through teenage flirting."

The girl spoke hesitantly, "I…I don't know what you mean."

Hiccup frowned, "The big fireball that was just flung at us, that was you, wasn't it?"

She became noticeably nervous, "What…what are you talking about?"

Snotlout just grinned, "Its okay babe, look." He held out his hand and spoke confidently, "Candleflame."

Immediately, a flame appeared upon the palm of his hand. The girl gazed at it in awe, "You're one as well…" She smiled, "I didn't think I'd meet another summoner out here."

Snotlout extinguished the flame with a flourish, "No sweat babe. What's your name?"

"Heather, and my summoning is Phoenix."

"Well, mine are Shiva and Ifrit."

She stared at Snotlout in amazement, "You have two summonings?"

The teen postured, "Well…yeah, I am kind of awesome."

"Really, do we really have to put up with this." Ifrit grumbled, "Seriously kid, tone it down a bit!"

Heather looked to Hiccup, "And who's your summoning?"

Snotlout was about to cut in and answer, but Hiccup quickly responded before he could, "Oh, I'm not a summoner. I just know about them because of Snotlout."

Snotlout looked at him in confusion and Hiccup answered his look telepathically, "Snotlout, I think we should keep our link a secret from her. Just pretend I can't do any magic at all."

The boy frowned then shrugged, before turning to Heather, "Anyway, what are you doing out here?"

She looked down, "I was…shipwrecked here. I've been using my magic to help me survive for the last couple of days, but its only really good for scaring things since Phoenix's flames can't actually hurt anything. That's why I threw that fireball at you, I thought you were a group of wild dragons and I was trying to scare you off."

Snotlout smiled, "Well, no harm done. You should come back to Berk with us, we might be able to help you get back home, or whatever."

"Really?"

Both of them looked at Hiccup, and the teen stuttered, "Yes, yes you should. It'll be better than staying here."

She beamed thankfully, "Thank you, thank you so much."

Snotlout waved his hand casually, "Its nothing." He quickly remounted Hookfang and held his hand down for her, "Want to ride with me? Don't worry, it's safe."

She hesitated, then smiled, "I'd love to Snotlout."

He pulled her up behind him and she wrapped her arms around him, causing the teen to grin stupidly in delight. He sent a telepathic message Hiccup's way, "Hiccup, isn't this awesome! She's totally falling for me."

"Yes, I'm sure your boundless charms will win her heart."

The other teen seemed completely oblivious to Hiccup's sarcastic tone, "I know!"

Hiccup sighed.

PS-Enter Heather, who has the summoning Phoenix. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.