"Here comes the rain again
Falling on my head like a memory
Falling on my head like a new emotion."
-Eurythmics, "Here Comes The Rain Again"
Author's Notes: As penance for doing a 14K chapter, I'm giving you a mini chapter! Booyah! It's gonna be fluffy, it's gonna have some girl drama, and it's gonna reveal a bit of Addie's past. Woot!
Sorry if I seem hyper. I'm just so excited to be posting again. That, and I may have some sugar and caffeine in my body while I write this.
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Kenraali – Oh, don't worry. They thought it was wonderful. And I'm kinda sorry about making the last chapter 14K words. I got a bit carried away.
MMM – Yup, and I might do Starfrost's adventures, too. Hiccup... well, let's just say I have much planned. Much... *evil laughter echoes through the speakers* ahem. Sorry 'bout that.
Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own How To Train Your Dragon. That is the property of DreamWorks. The only things I own are my OC's and dialogue.
*tear slowly trickles down face*
Adeline, narrating
It can be really hard to get used to a new home. Believe me, it's happened to me quite a bit. But sometimes, things happen and you want to go back to that old home, even if it's impossible for you right now.
Adeline's POV
That day dawned bright and early right into my face. My response?
"Go away, sun. No one wants you here right now," came the grumble from beneath my blanket. Frostwave chuckled sleepily and bumped her head against my foot.
"What's wrong with the sun? I like it," she asked, blowing a stream of cold air over me. I pulled back the covers to give her a pointed glare.
"It always wakes me up far too early, Frostwave. It's not right for people to get up so close to dawn. It's almost cruel," I replied, turning my glare to the window. Outside, I could see people taking care of livestock, gardens, and laundry. Just the typical Berk stuff. Naturally, I wanted to play in the leftover snow. There hadn't been much on Blackstone, and when there was, no one had been allowed outside, so this was fairly new to me.
"Come on, Frostwave. We're gonna have a little adventure," I told her, throwing off the covers and jumping out of the hammock. That was when I noticed something was gone. Starfrost had vanished overnight, which may have explained why I had felt a bit colder than I did last night.
"Hey, where's your son?" I asked, sitting down to pull on my boots and glancing at the remaining Silver Horror. She let out a cloud of mist and stared out the window.
"Starfrost has gone to heed the Call. The creator needs his help with something important, and no Silver Horror can resist the Call for long," Frostwave explained mournfully. I couldn't say anything. After our first eventful encounter, she had explained how the Call had brought her back to Blackstone, and how it had ended when she met me. I knew the Call was a serious thing to Silver Horrors, so when she told me about Starfrost, it wasn't hard to understand why he had to leave. I just wished I could have gotten to know him more. Yesterday, after that... thing... with Hiccup, he had decided to fly around the Great Hall snatching food from the plates of other people. If Frostwave hadn't growled at him to stop, I think he might have been run out of town.
"Oh. Well, I hope he does okay out there. The world is a dangerous place," I said at last, pulling back my two long locks of hair and tying them behind my head with a strip of leather, then standing up.
"How do I look?" I asked her. She gave me what must have been an appraising look and huffed some ice into my bangs.
"As well as ever," she replied vaguely. I rolled my eyes and sighed.
"Gee, that was helpful. Well, come on. I've got something to ask Snotlout's dad." And with that, we both set off on another exciting adventure.
You know, I should have just stayed in bed that day.
As soon as I took one step outside, it was obvious something was up. Most of my group of friends were slouching in the plaza, their dragons unusually sedate, and Hiccup was among them. I went up to him first.
"Hiccup, what's going on?" I asked, looking around. The only ones missing were Snotlout and Hookfang, probably sleeping in after the festivities of Snoggletog and my birthday. Vikings may not be the nicest people at first, but man, they can throw a party.
He smiled at me and waved a hand at the snow.
"My dad wants us to clean all this snow up and get it out of the village before it can pile too high," he explained. I nodded.
"Okay, that doesn't sound too hard." He shook his head.
"It isn't just that. He also wants us to help take down the decorations. And since Snotlout isn't here, we have to do his share of the work as well," Hiccup said exasperatedly. A groan escaped from the other teenagers, and I joined them wholeheartedly. I didn't want to clean up this snow. I wanted to play in it, damn it!
But, sadly, it was not to be, and soon we were all scooping up snow and dumping it into baskets. The dragons were helping by taking the baskets away and dumping them out far away from the village, and I was helping by getting the snow off of roofs with Frostwave. A few bits landed on the ground, and my brain started to go into devil mode. Reaching down, I scooped up some snow and patted it into a ball, then threw it at Tuffnut. It hit him in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground, and his head popped back up indignantly.
"Okay, who threw that?" he asked. When no one spoke up, Tuff made his own snowball and threw it at his sister, who had her back turned while she gathered more snow up. What ensued was the most epic snowball fight I've ever had, and the first one of my life. We all got into it, and woe to any villager that passed by!
Somewhere along the way, we formed teams, with me, Hiccup, and Astrid on one side, and Fishlegs and the Twins on the other, and my team was winning. It was a shallow victory, mostly because Ruff and Tuff kept attacking each other instead of us, and Fishlegs wasn't that good at throwing snowballs, but it was still fun. Of course, that's when I heard the man's voice.
"Snotlout, you call that sheep lugging?" Spitelout said derisively, his accent thick like many of the other adults. But despite that, his voice was really familiar. I knew it was impossible, but somehow I knew that voice. I had heard it when I was a little girl, before Blackstone.
Now I just needed to know if Spitelout had ever gone to Yurasted about 11 years ago.
My train of thought was broken when something cold and wet slammed into the side of my face. The force of it knocked me down, stunned me, and all I could think was, 'What the blazes just happened?'
"Addie? Are you okay?" Hiccup asked. I sat up, brushed the remains of the snowball off, and glared at the other team.
"I'm fine. Okay, which one of you fools threw that?" I replied, standing up and folding my arms across my chest. Ruff and Tuff pointed at each other, and I glanced to Fishlegs. His nervous glances at Tuffnut told me everything.
"Prepare to be annihilated," I growled eagerly, getting a snowball ready and chucking it at him. He yelped as it smacked his face, and I laughed evilly.
"That's what you get for messing with me. Let's get 'em!" I shouted a battle cry, and Astrid smirked with her own arsenal of snow. I could hear Hiccup sigh and almost picture him pinching the bridge of his nose, but I didn't care. Today was a good day to fight!
"What in Thor's name is going on here?"
...Or not.
I stopped mid-throw to look at the chief. He had his arms folded and a disapproving scowl on his face, and I realized I had screwed up.
"Cuh uv y vmebbehk ryssanrayt oyg aydehk vecr kidc eh y tnykuh hacd," I swore, dropping the snow.
3rd Person POV: Hiccup
Stoick was watching all the teens grimly, and Addie smiled weakly.
"Uh, hi, chief. We were just... um... relocating the snow," she offered up this as an excuse, but he wasn't buying it.
"Is that so? Well, then, I expect all this snow to be 'relocated' before any of you can have breakfast," he replied before walking away purposefully. As one, all sighed deeply and went back to work, the good mood driven away by the seriousness of his dad.
They were about halfway down when it happened. Addie had lifted her left arm up to toss a pile of snow behind her, and Tuffnut had said, "Hey, Addie, what's that on your arm?"
The entire group froze like Frostwave had breathed ice on them. She turned white as the snow around them, her eyes wide with shock, and looked at him.
"...What?" she asked, her tone very quiet and even. He went up to her and pointed at a slightly darker, stretched oval of skin on the underside of her left arm.
"This. Is it dirt?" he asked. The tension in the air drifted away like smoke, and she relaxed.
"No. It's a birthmark. See? Frostwave, come here and lick it so they can see it's not dirt," Addie replied, holding out her arm. Several brisk strokes of a black tongue later, all could see that it was, in fact, a birthmark. She pulled her arm back and dried it off on her shirt, then looked at all of them.
"I also have another one right here," she added, pointing to a spot just below her right armpit. This one was darker, about the size of a coin, and a bit more awkward to look at. When they had looked their fill, she gestured to the others.
"Anyways, let's stop looking at me and get to work. I'm a hungry girl," she said, blushing a bit and depositing more snow into a basket. They all agreed, and work began once again.
Adeline's POV
Oh, that had been close. I thought Tuffnut was asking about my scars, and there is no way I'm telling these guys how I got them. Not yet, anyways.
I was about to finish up one plot of snow when I felt someone tap me on my left shoulder. It bothered me, but not as much as if they'd placed their hand on it, and so I turned. It was Astrid.
"Can we talk?" she asked in a hushed tone. I glanced at Hiccup, Fishlegs, and the Twins, hoping one of them would see me, but they were all facing in other directions. No help from them, anyways. I sighed and nodded.
"Sure. Let's talk." The blonde girl shook her head.
"Not here. Follow me," she said, putting down her shovel and leading me into an alley behind several houses. We stood there quietly, and I wasn't sure what to say. Finally, Astrid sighed and looked at me grimly.
"Addie, what is Hiccup to you?" Astrid asked me, folding her arms in front of her. I looked at her serious face, stunned.
"W-what?" I sputtered, trying to understand where this was coming from. She sighed and repeated the question. My mind raced as I tried to figure out how to word my answer. What was Hiccup to me? Easy to think about, hard to talk about.
"Hiccup... is the one I love," I replied finally, never taking my eyes away from her. She scowled.
"Why? You barely know him," the blonde girl shot back. That got me really thinking. Why did I love Hiccup? There were the obvious reasons, like how he was smart and loved dragons, but there was more to it than that. If I only liked him because of those qualities, then Fishlegs could easily have been someone I liked. Why did I love him?
Once I realized it, it was almost pathetic how long it took me to find the answer.
"Hiccup is one of the people that understands me, and one of the people I never want to lose. I've lost a lot in my life, Astrid, but I refuse to have him be next. So if you want him, I'm sorry, but you'll have to fight me," came my answer. My rival was silent, and I didn't dare say anything else. The air was thick with tension, so much so that it seemed like I could just take my knife and cut it, and it dragged on with the silence until I nearly couldn't take it anymore. Naturally, right when I was about to say something I would probably end up regretting, she chose to speak.
"Okay, then. I'll be seeing you around, Addie. Thanks for the talk," Astrid said evenly before walking away. I stared at her in shock, mostly because I hadn't expected that, and that was how Ruffnut and Tuffnut found me a few minutes later.
"Hey, Addie. Hiccup is looking for you," Ruff said, grinning widely. When I didn't answer (for obvious reasons), the two of them shared a look and glanced back at me.
"Um, Addie, are you trying to be a statue right now? 'Cause you're doing a really good job of it," Tuff asked, waving a hand in front of me. My head slowly turned to look at them, and I tried mouthing words. Only mush came out, but I finally managed to regain my tongue.
"Did you see that?" I asked disbelievingly, pointing after Astrid. They shrugged and followed my finger.
"See what? We didn't see anything. Oh, and Hiccup seemed kind of upset. You might want to hurry," Ruff said devilishly. With that cryptic statement, the two of them ran away like the co-conspirators they were. Still somewhat in shock, I managed to find my way back to the place we had been working, where Hiccup and Fishlegs were waiting. In the time it had taken Astrid and I to have that heart-to-heart chat, they had managed to get rid of all the snow here, leaving a clear road for carts and people. Hiccup was scowling at the sky, Toothless right beside him, and Fishlegs had his nose buried in the Book of Dragons. I swear, that guy always has it. Not that I can blame him. Sure, the whole "kill on sight" thing got old really fast, but the illustrations are nice, and the information is useful.
When he saw me, Hiccup walked up and put a hand on my right shoulder.
"You okay? You and Astrid disappeared and no one knew where you had gone," he asked. Underlying that, I could tell he was also asking if I was okay with the whole birthmark thing. I nodded and managed a smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It didn't bother me that much, and we were just talking," I replied vaguely. He furrowed his brow, took away his hand, and folded his arms.
"Talking? What about?" he asked curiously. I thought about it and blushed furiously.
"Um... nothing you need to worry about. Just girl things. Anyways, are we done cleaning? Because I am very hungry right now, and I have a few things I want to ask Spitelout before the day is out," I said quickly, hurrying toward Fishlegs. The boys looked at me in surprise.
"Why do you want to talk to Spitelout?" the stockier boy said. Before I could answer, someone interrupted.
"Duh, because she understands that the Jorgensons are the best," drawled the son of the guy I was looking for. Stifling a disgruntled groan, I turned and looked at Snotlout. The most egotistical person I've ever met – and that's saying something – was sitting on Hookfang and was watching us with mild interest. When he saw me looking, he started flexing. It took all the strength I had not to gag.
"Actually, it's 'cause I need to ask him something important," I corrected. He ignored me and glanced at Hiccup.
"I guess Addie has decided she likes real men, right, Hiccup?" Snotlout jeered. Okay, that was going way too far, even for him. Hiccup was just about to answer when we heard a mocking laugh behind us. All four of us humans turned, while the dragons just watched impartially, to see Astrid and the Twins had joined us while we were talking.
"Yeah, because you're a real man, Snotlout," Astrid replied. Tuffnut and Ruffnut snickered at her statement, and a smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. If nothing else, I could always rely on Astrid to put Snotlout in his place. Of course, he seemed unfazed by it (probably because he couldn't detect the sarcasm) and grinned at us all.
"Of course I am." With that, he dismounted his Nightmare and walked up to us. Hiccup chose this time to speak.
"So why are you looking for Spitelout? I thought you avoided him," he asked me, leaning up against Toothless. Frostwave hummed in agreement.
"Hiccup has a good point. You usually avoid the loudmouthed father of this idiotic hatchling," she growled. I smirked at that, but then my face went serious again.
"Well, you know I wasn't born on Blackstone, right, Hiccup? The thing is, before I went to Blackstone Island, I lived in this small town called Yurasted with my parents. While I was playing one day with some kids there, a man with brown hair and these weird brown clothes ran by, with a redheaded woman going next to him in some really weird clothes, and all I could hear him saying was something about getting to the tardis, whatever that is. His voice sounded a lot like Spitelout's, so I was going to ask him if he ever went there or had relatives there," I explained quickly, ignoring the surprised exclamations of the other teens. I hadn't told them I was an Ytubdaa, or why I lived on Blackstone, so I was just going to let Hiccup explain. It would be easier for everyone.
"Okay, when did you live in Yurasted?" Snotlout asked. I raised my eyebrows skeptically, and he gave me a wounded look.
"Hey, just because I don't seem like I pay attention, doesn't mean I don't," he retorted. I sighed resignedly and told him it was about eleven years ago, because I was five when it happened.
"Then no, he didn't. That was back when we killed dragons, so he would have stayed on Berk for that. Besides, I would have heard if I had some relatives in you're a stead, or whatever that town was called." Well, that was a load off my chest, metaphorically speaking. Although... who had those strange people been, then?
When Stoick came by to see our handiwork, he gave us a rare smile in reward and let us eat breakfast. While we were eating, Hiccup decided to pry into my past a bit more.
"So, uh, why did you go to Blackstone, Addie? And why weren't your parents there?" he asked casually over a mouthful of yak stew. We seemed to be having that a lot. I nearly choked on my bite of the meal, and it was only because Frostwave slammed the back of her fin into my back that I survived. I took a few relieved gulps of water before answering.
"I just did, okay, Hiccup? That's all. End of story," I replied harshly. I didn't mean for it to come out that way, but the story of how I went to Blackstone was always a touchy one, much like my scars. It was better if you just ignored it and moved on. That was how I had lived for the past eleven years, and that was how it was going to stay.
Hiccup decided to back off for now, and I was grateful for that. I had noticed he had avoided touching my left shoulder for a while now, so he understood that there was something going on that really bugged me. Every now and then, though, he would do something like this and try to find out more about my past. The past didn't matter. It was over and done with, and the only thing that counted was what I did now and what I would do.
"Addie..." he began, but at this I pushed back my chair and looked at Stoick. He had remained silent the whole time, merely watching us passively while we spoke, and when I moved his eyes followed me curiously. Eyes had always been important to me. With dragons, you could tell how they were feeling. With humans, you could see who they really were. Most of the people on Blackstone, except for Simon and a few older people, had cold, cruel eyes that scared me. The chief of Berk did not. They were harsh, sometimes, but they could also be caring. That was how they were now.
"May I be excused, please?" I said loudly, overriding Hiccup's protests. He nodded.
"Of course, Adeline. Just make sure you don't get into trouble today," Stoick conceded. I thanked him and stormed out of there, Frostwave following me closely.
3rd Person POV: Hiccup
Hiccup knew he had pushed too far. Whenever mention of her parents or her childhood was brought up, Addie always did this. She closed herself off and removed herself from the conversation. But who could blame him? He wanted to know what had happened to her. He wanted to know who caused her scars, both physical and mental, and go right up to them, and... well, he wasn't sure what he was going to do, but it would be drastic and potentially violent.
"Son, sometimes it's better to wait until a person is ready to tell you something," his father said sagely. Hiccup looked at his father, then sighed, placing his forehead on the table in defeat.
"I just... I want to help Addie, but she isn't making it any easier," he replied, his voice muffled by the table. He didn't see his father get up and come over to him, but the reassuring pat from his huge hand told him everything.
"Don't worry, Hiccup. She'll tell you when she's good and ready. Until then, you have to be supportive of her. Give her time," Stoick told him. He lifted his head and gave his father a confused look.
"Since when did you know all this?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. The older man harrumphed indignantly.
"I'll have you know that many people have come to me for relationship advice. It's part of my job as the chief, you know, to make sure potential partners are on the same page. Now get going. I think Gobber wanted you to work in the shop today," he said gruffly. He took a few steps toward the door, but stopped halfway.
"Hiccup, be careful. Addie may not be like the other pirates, but she's still had their training, and she knows how to hurt people," Stoick said cryptically before leaving in the same way as Addie. Hiccup sighed and looked at Toothless, who had been watching this whole exchange bemusedly.
"Well, bud, looks like we're just gonna have to wait," he said affectionately, scratching Toothless behind the ear flaps and making the Night Fury hum pleasantly.
Later that same day...
Hiccup was flying toward the cove with Toothless. Fishlegs had seen Addie and Frostwave go in this direction, and he wanted to apologize to the girl. As they passed over the hole in the ground, he could see a flash of silver that wasn't water. He realized, with a start, that Addie and Frostwave were fighting, and not just play fighting, but real combat.
"Come on, bud, we need to get down there," he said worriedly. Toothless growled in agreement and dove, the shriek of air rushing past them the only sign of their passing. It made Addie and Frostwave stop their battle, just for a moment, then they went back to trading blows. Hiccup watched, confused, as he realized they were both dodging the others' attack, then dismounted and stepped forward.
"Addie, what's going on?" Hiccup asked in confusion.
"Can't talk. In the zone," Addie grunted, ducking as Frostwave's tail slashed over her head and kicking out. The dragon just jumped back a bit and swiped with her front legs, briefly rearing up a bit to do so. The girl took her chance to dodge the claws and tapped her Silver Horror's chest. With that, they stopped fighting and looked at him.
"What is it?" she asked, a lot calmer than when she had left this morning. He pointed in the direction of the village.
"It's nearly dinnertime. Have you been fighting Frostwave this whole time?" he asked incredulously. She blinked in surprise.
"Really? I didn't know we had spent so long. But that's what happens when you're trying to break a tie, right, Frostwave?" Addie replied, rapping her knuckles against the neck of her dragon. She crooned in reply, and Addie blushed.
"Frostwave, I am not practicing for... for that! Jeez! I outta wash your mouth out with soap," she grumbled, her face a furious pink. Hiccup didn't bother asking. Whatever it was, she wasn't going to tell him, and besides, he really didn't want to know. But he still needed to say something.
"Addie, look, about earlier..." Hiccup began, but Adeline shook her head.
"It's okay, Hiccup. I know you weren't trying to do something bad. It's just that I really don't want to talk about that part of my life right now," she said calmly, going up to Toothless and rubbing behind his head. The Night Fury crooned happily as she sighed.
"Just... please don't ask again. Please." Hiccup let out the breath he had been holding and nodded.
"Whatever you say, milady. Now come on. It's gonna be roast chicken tonight," he told her, climbing into Toothless's saddle. Frostwave growled something to her rider, and Addie nodded. She turned back to him and grinned sheepishly.
"Um, Frostwave wants to spend some more time here, so she wants me to go back with you guys. Is that alright?" she asked, holding her arms behind her back. Hiccup smiled and held out a hand.
"Well, come on, then. With the state everyone else is in, we better hurry before the food is all gone," he said, pulling her up behind him. Frostwave dipped her head and growled, Toothless did the same, and the Night Fury flew off toward the village.
Frostwave's POV
Was it my fault Addie had rejected the Silver Horror method of mating? What was wrong with catching a tuna and bringing it to your prospective lifemate before taking a flight and mating? It had worked for me and Cloudstar, and it would work for Addie. She might have to borrow my wings, though, for the last part.
Why were humans so complicated sometimes?
No matter. I was going to give them some time alone, and Toothless understood my need to stay behind. There was something... off... about the cove, and I was determined to find out what.
I sniffed the air. It was cold and crisp, as always, but there was something underlying the scent of the pines and the water and the rest of the forest. Something... darker.
My nose led me to a patch of dead grass, gone for weeks, but with no signs of new growth. That was odd, as was the fact that it was very close to where Addie and I had sparred the first time. If I tried, I could still smell the metallic tang of my bondmate's blood, and with it, a faint trace of Darknesse.
She was moving again. She Who Serves the Darknesse had tried, before, to defeat She Who Stands On the Side of Lighte and She Who Created Us With Her Breath, but the war had come to a stalemate with their imprisonment in the Place Between Life and Death. Now she was seeking to make her influence in the world known again, and even if she could not interact herself with these things, there were other ways of manipulating the world. Her agents were everywhere. Now she was interested in Addie, but for what? Why would she seek to control Addie?
All these and more cluttered up my mind like the nests of Those Who Hunt For Metal, but still I could not reason why She Who Serves the Darknesse would want to influence Addie. Maybe it was because of her Siren blood...
Author's Notes: Piping hot translations, here! Ready to be read by viewers like you!
Cuh uv y vmebbehk ryssanrayt oyg aydehk vecr kidc eh y tnykuh hacd – Son of a flipping hammerhead yak eating fish guts in a dragon nest (I'm gonna get really weird with Addie swearing, so bear with me)
I'm just shameless, you know. I tried, but I couldn't resist a Doctor Who reference here. What can I say? The fangirl side of me slipped through.
For those of you wondering, Hiccup and Addie aren't gonna have a smooth relationship. Things happen, and have happened, and will happen, and it's gonna be a roller-coaster of drama and dragons. Frostwave isn't gonna be much help, either. Being a dragon, and one that considers itself superior to many humans and dragons, she thinks Hiccup and Addie should just get together already and cut out all the human drama.
But Frostwave, that's where the fun is! *cue dramatic musical climax*
As always, reviews are welcome. Next time, we're getting into the Riders of Berk episodes! Woot woot!
Wild Cat 214, out!