The sun was starting its descent from the sky when Freya finally stopped sketching, shaking out her hand to loosen the cramps that had returned. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It felt like she'd been out here for a week, marking trees and drawing every bump and hill she'd come across.
Not that she minded, really. She was out among the trees, alone and free to do as she pleased, provided she didn't forget the task at hand.
She looked down at the paper in front of her and grimaced; no one could say she wasn't focused.
"I'm going to need more paper," She muttered to herself, "Or just a much bigger sheet….."
She shuddered as a cool breeze picked up, tossing about the leaves around her, unprepared for the sudden temperature shift. She made a face, but couldn't deter it from eventually becoming a smile as a brief feeling of relaxation came over her.
Then she sneezed and stuffed her hand into her bag, withdrawing a light jacket with a high collar. She slipped the bag off her shoulders and shrugged into the wool-lined leather, buttoning up the front; mellow breeze or not, there was no point in causing herself unnecessary discomfort. With one last shudder, she flipped the collar up, shutting out the weather's attempt to harass her more vulnerable skin.
Freya sighed and knelt, starting to knot the small straps on her bag to keep it shut when the wind died down, dropping the leaves from the air around her.
Yet there was still a light rustling coming from the bushes among the trees around her.
Cautiously, Freya reached for her bow, an arm's length away. She'd placed it and its quiver on the ground so she could sketch the land around her, and now she was regretting not keeping it closer.
The rustling stopped and so did she, holding herself frozen in place with shallow breaths. The seconds passed by in silence and Freya shut her eyes, straining to hear even the slightest of sounds. And it was killing her.
Her bow was only a finger's length away, but now was the time for patience. If she moved too soon, she'd either alert the thing nearby and it would strike, or she wouldn't have a single noise to give her a general aim. One breath after another, she fought the battle to control the adrenaline that had her nerves as tight as her nearby bow string.
There was a slight shuffle in her direction and Freya rolled, bow in hand and arrow nocked by the time she reached her knees. She whipped her torso around and let it fly, guiding the arrow as closely as she could to the place from which the sound had originated. There was a hollow 'thwock' and she mentally swore, knowing the sound of an arrowhead connecting with tree bark.
A second later, however, she let out her breath in a sigh of relief as there was a scrambling and the thumping sound of heavy footfall retreating at an expedited pace.
Taking the chance while she had it, Freya scooped up her belongings and began to quickly make her way through the trees. That was enough for one day, thank you very much.
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Hiccup made a face and dropped his personal sketchbook in his lap with a final exasperated sigh and tucking his stick of charcoal behind an ear. Toothless turned his head and crooned soothingly at the man leaning against his side, implying that Hiccup needn't be as frustrated as he was.
"Regardless, I still feel like I need more ideas," The man explained, "At the rate things are going, we're going to need any edge we can get."
Toothless snorted and shook his head, causing the man's eyes to narrow.
"Look, we don't all breathe fire, you-" He broke off as Toothless' ears went up and followed the dragon's gaze to the slender figure hurrying towards them from the tree line.
As his daughter approached, a quizzical look spread across his face as he noticed the arrow already strung loosely in her bow and the nervous glances over her shoulder.
"Something I should know?"
"I don't know," Freya frowned, continuing to stare at the tree line, "Near the end of the day, I was starting to get the feeling I was being watched. And not by your usual birds and bugs, something a little more….. discomforting."
"Did you get a look at it?" Hiccup asked mildly, trying to ignore his heart crashing around in his ribcage as fatherly concern sunk in.
"Mm, no. I think I scared it off though. Shot an arrow at it, or in its general direction," Freya grumbled, "I missed. Gods cursed thing was hiding in the bushes."
"You can't hit the target every time. A shot like that would have been impressive."
"Still."
"So, you were expecting a blind shot to, not only hit the target, but take it down?" Hiccup's eyebrows shot skyward, "Someone has a high opinion of themselves."
"I do not!" She protested, blushing a light pink, "I just would have felt safer if I had."
"As would anyone in your position, I'm sure." He responded dryly.
"Upside is that it didn't feel human," Freya added, then her eyes narrowed, "Or that could be a downside. I don't know which is worse."
"Right now, we'll go with better. The scariest monsters of late seem to be wearing human skin."
Freya didn't grace him with a response, knowing that she was a prime offender for that type of fear. She allowed herself a brittle smile as Toothless butted her hand with his head, demanding attention. She tweaked an ear, then scratched around it, producing a quiet, contented hum from the dragon.
"So, back home?" Hiccup asked, causing the girl to look up again. She twisted her mouth, looking deep in thought. When she finally resurfaced, she shook her head.
"Can we take one or two sweeps overhead? I want to see if I can spot what may be lurking around."
"That's fair. Toothless," The dragon straightened at the sound of his name, "Want to see if we can find anything?"
The dragon snorted, moving his wings aside for both riders, indicating that he was interested in seeing if they could locate any particular abnormalities around the island. Once they were properly settled, he shoved off the ground, pumping his wings to breach the treetops. Once he reached a satisfactory elevation, he skimmed just above the trees, joining his passengers in scouring the ground below.
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The sky was beginning to darken when the trio returned to the village, each feeling their own personal distress at their inability to find anything at all. Hiccup felt concern, Toothless annoyance, and Freya was slowly finding herself more and more frustrated. She was not a fan of feeling hunted while she was trying to work.
Oh right, work.
"Dad, can I get a sizeable piece of paper to start mapping with? The small sheet you gave me and the ones in my book won't cover it."
"You seem to think I haven't done my own mapping before," Hiccup raised an eyebrow as he pushed the door to their house open, "You realize how much there is to explore beyond the shores of this island, right?"
"Well, yeah, but-"
"I used to show you those maps all the time."
A fuzzy image found its way to the front of Freya's mind, and she tried hard to concentrate on the elusive memory.
As it surfaced, she remembered candlelight and a large desk in front of her. She was sitting on her father's lap. His hands had seemed so big back then, as he traced the lines on the paper before her. His voice was soft, telling her about each island and what he'd found there before. She'd never gotten the chance to go to those different places with him.
"Oh, now we remember," Hiccup tousled his daughter's hair, chuckling at the perplexed look on her face, "I already had a fresh piece ready for you in my work room. It'll be on the desk." He walked across the room to greet Astrid, talking with her quietly as Freya wandered upstairs, Toothless on her heels.
When she crested the stairs, she looked slightly to the left, seeing the door to her father's work room. She trotted to it, fingering the knots on her bag, and pushed the door open.
There were already candles burning around the room when she stepped inside, drawing her gaze to her father's drawing table. A wide sheet of paper was spread across it with, to her relief, an outline of the island already drawn in around the edges. All she had to do was fill in the rest.
Freya dropped onto the stool in front of the table, running her fingers along the ridge at the bottom. The wood was smooth from countless years of elbows resting on it and hands running back and forth to find runaway sticks of charcoal.
Speaking of such things, the girl found one and rummaged her notebook out of her bag. It would be best to get started before she was too tired to draw. She struggled for a bit, trying to find a good spot to place her book until she resigned herself to resting it on the bottom ridge.
"So," She looked back at Toothless, who was wandering into the room, "Where should I start? Coast and work my way in? Or the opposite and work my way out?"
The dragon gave her a half-shrug that implied he didn't care either way, and curled himself tightly next to her stool. She smiled and shook her head, turning back to the table.
"Thank you for such assistive input….."
Toothless snorted, giving her something related to a sarcastic 'you're welcome'. Freya's eyes narrowed at the large reptile briefly, then she began skimming her notebook for a start point.
Eventually, she decided beginning from the coast was best, and charcoal met paper. Line after line, one sweeping curve after another, she filled in hills and hollows. Occasionally she scribbled in trees for heavily wooded areas, and small squiggles to imply streams.
Every now and then, she would lean back to check her book, intermittently having to wipe something out or alter it. She hardly noticed when the first candle ran low, then snuffed out, sharply focused on the map in front of her.
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"You realize what time it is, right?"
Freya jumped, smudging a dark line across her work. After giving Hiccup a sour look, she tucked her third charcoal stick behind an ear and began to carefully wipe it out.
"No, why?"
A candle appeared in her peripheral vision and she blinked, confused. It was almost spent, sputtering weakly as it tried to stay lit.
"And I suppose you forgot to eat too."
I did….. not….," She frowned, "Or did I?"
"Pretty sure you did," Hiccup waited until she was done rubbing away the evidence of her inattention, "Should we fix that?"
Mind drawn away from her map, Freya felt a gnawing in her stomach.
"Food might be good," She smiled wryly, "Or I might wake up the whole village."
"Well, we wouldn't want that." He nudged Toothless with his artificial foot, causing the dragon to stir. The man jerked his head, prompting them both to follow him. Freya returned her charcoal stick to its allotted place and hopped off the stool, Toothless drowsily on her heels.
"Where's Mom?" She asked, grabbing the doorframe and swinging off it to stay behind her father.
"Night watch," Hiccup shook his head, "While we may have bought ourselves some time, she's still itchy. So, she trying to burn off the excess energy before she drives herself, and everyone else, insane… If that's even possible."
Freya hopped lightly down each stair, a grin slowly crawling across her face.
"Now Dad, we all know Mom is a perfectly well-adjusted, calm, reasonable Viking woman."
"That does not stop her from having a restless itch when she's stirred up."
"Mom? Stirred up?" The girl's grin widened, "Nah." She dropped into a chair at the table, politely refusing to meet her father's narrowed eyes.
"You weren't down here while she was pacing a trench in the floor."
"Excellent job filling it in," Freya shielded her eyes and looked around in mock curiosity, "I can't even tell there was one."
Hiccup snorted and ruffled her hair, not gracing her with a comment. Even Toothless rolled his eyes.
"Are you going to drop me off in the same place you picked me up tomorrow?"
"If you want me to," Hiccup placed a plate with bread, cheese and mutton in front of her, "Why? Worried about your prowler?"
"Not overly," Freya frowned, peeling the crust off her bread and nibbling at that first, "I just figure it'd be easier to pick up where I left off. If my prowler comes back, I'll handle it."
"By yourself?"
"Y'know, last time, I was seriously outnumbered," She growled, fixing her father with icy green eyes, "I can deal with a single prowler without help, thanks."
"What if it's not what you think?"
"I am a pretty decent runner."
"And if it has advantages against you?"
"Would you please stop being so fatalistic? I can take care of myself. I do know how."
Hiccup sighed and fixed her with a hard stare. After a minute, Freya started to squirm, disliking being stuck under it.
"I am your father. My job is to worry. And I'm not a fan of leaving you out there by yourself, especially when I'm beginning to get as worried as your grandfather."
"That happens when you get old." Freya said tartly, focusing on her food.
"I love you too." Hiccup pulled a random strand of hair out of her braid, scrunching it. Freya growled and batted at his hand, driving him back until she had the space to fix it again. When she was done, he pointed at her plate, indicating she should eat the rest of what was on it. With an eye roll and a small smile, she brought her attention back to it.
"And when you're done, bed. You're getting up early again," Hiccup smirked at her dismayed groan, "Hey, you volunteered."
"I know, I know," Freya grumbled, "The early mornings are going to kill me though."
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"So, riddle me this."
"Hm?" Adrian looked up from the damaged rivet he was trying to pull, then sighed as Ariela held out a hand for the tool. He handed it over, scowling lightly.
"Thank you. Now- What?" The sandy-haired girl raised an eyebrow, digging the fine-tuned bar into a gap in her dragon's saddle.
"I was using that."
"What?" She walked over to Adrian's side and saw the damaged shield he had been bent over, "Oh….. Apparently you were."
"What did you think I was- Never mind," He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands, his voice becoming muffled, "What did you want to ask?"
"Oh, well…. I was just wondering-"
"That's dangerous." Adrian grumbled, producing a scowl from Ariela.
"-If there was a reason those foreign guys keep calling you 'Scorpion's child'."
Adrian looked up from his hands, then groaned and put his face back in his hands; Ariela tried not to laugh at the defeated way his shoulders slumped. She waited patiently, returning to her project as he took a deep breath, then another, finally dropping his hands.
"It's really stupid," He shook his head, "Just ignore it."
"See, but with an exasperated reaction like that, I can't help but be curious," She grunted as she put her weight, which wasn't much, into prying at the obstruction in between the belt and the seat of her saddle, "I don't want to pressure you, or-urgh- anything."
Adrian's hand found its way over hers and he gave the bar a sharp pull. There was a dull popping sound, answered with a hollow ring as something flew across the room and bounced off a large melting pot.
"Okay, you want to know?" The boy crossed the room, crouching down to see where the object had gone, "Short version is that it's because they aren't sure what else to call me. I'm not actually royalty, which is a favorite among the gossips, but not enough is known about my actual people to be accurate."
"So….."
"So," He ducked under a table, searching around its legs, "They name me after the one thing they can associate me with: My mother."
"Your mother was a scorpion?"
"What- No! No, my mother was a human, just like you and me. They called her 'the scorpion' because that was the image on her shield. A scorpion. Ah." He straightened and crossed the room again, holding out a closed hand. Ariela put her hand under his and he dropped the runaway object into her palm.
"So, um, forgive the backwater island girl," She held up the item and inspected it, "But what, in Hel's name, is a scorpion? Tooth, by the way."
"One of Feather's?"
"No way, too short."
"Hm," Adrian shrugged, "Well, to be honest, it isn't an easy creature to describe. Give me a second." He ducked into the small room at the back of the forge that Gobber had given him, returning with a sheet of paper.
Ariela continued to inspect the tooth while Adrian grabbed a darkened coal from the quieted fireplace. After scraping it down to a point, he began to draw, brows knitted together in concentration. Every now and then, the girl would glance over his shoulder, trying to see how far he'd gotten. Eventually, her glances became a fixed stare, waiting for him to erase or alter some part of the creature appearing on the paper, because what she was seeing made no sense at all.
"What….. is that?"
"That's a scorpion," Adrian said matter-of-factly, "Pretty weird, right?"
"There is no way that is an actually creature," She glanced at the spidery figure again and shuddered, "It's not possible."
"They're more common than dragons." He tried to hide his smirk as Ariela's face began to pale.
"No."
"Oh yes, they are."
"But-but…. how? The way it looks- How is that possible?"
"Nature has her ways," Adrian shrugged, "Don't worry, they only like warm climates. They wouldn't survive here."
"Thank the gods….." Ariela exhaled a lungful of air.
"Lucky for you guys too," Adrian picked up the paper and pointed at the end of the crab/spider's tail, "They're usually poisonous."
"Every now and then, I ask myself 'wouldn't it be fun to leave Berk? See the world?'," The girl scowled, "Now I'm regretting ever having those thoughts."
Adrian laughed and shook his head, tossing the paper back onto the table he'd been using.
"Done with that bar?"
"Knock yourself out," Ariela gestured to the abandoned tool, "I'll let you finish with it next time. Maybe avoid a lesson on creepy creatures."
"Ha."
The girl narrowed her eyes, but didn't grace him with a response. Once he began to go after the rivet he'd previously been pursuing, Ariela returned to inspecting the tooth they'd liberated, pondering how it might have gotten there.
She wandered outside of the forge, getting a breath of fresher air and seeing how close they were to sunrise; the smudge of pink in the East gave her a pretty good idea. She looked to the northern side of the island in time to see a dark shape launch itself away from Freya's front door. It flew low to the rooftops, preparing itself to catch the breeze coming off the ocean.
As it started to glide overhead, Ariela waved, smiling as Toothless flicked his tail enough to acknowledge her. From the dragon's back, Freya unwrapped one arm from her father's waist to wave back. To be honest, Ariela was impressed at the fact that she had noticed; the girl wasn't much of a morning person.
At that moment, Toothless hit the waterline and spread his wings wide. The air raced to fill them and launched both dragon and passengers high into the air, turning them sharply back towards the island. She watched until they faded from view then frowned thoughtfully. She hadn't heard him approach as much as felt his presence.
"You know, one of these days, you're going to have to be ready to tell her everything." She turned to fix Adrian with a stern look.
"When Berk is safe," The boy never took his eyes off the skyline, "But Berk isn't safe, and I'm not ready."
"Can't hide forever," She pointed out, and he frowned, "I'm just saying."
"I'll get there."
"Uh-huh…. Oh," Adrian's gaze draw back to her as she tapped her palm with the opposite fist, "Baby Nightfury. Must have been gnawing on the….. Oh dear."
"Might want to check the rest of your straps," Adrian advised as the girl headed back into the forge, a look of growing concern on her face, "Saddles are only so tough."
She stopped and raised an eyebrow, looking him up and down.
"If my saddle is already in danger, what happens when they find out you're Berk's favorite chew toy?"
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I'm sorry guys, this is way shorter than you deserve, especially with the long wait. But, I say this hesitantly, I hope I can be better this time. You know how writer's block is when your imaginary friends refuse to talk to you? Well, mine decided they wanted to put me in a deep freeze. Hopefully we're on speaking terms again.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I'll start working on the next one as soon as I can.
As always, read, review and enjoy!
-Birdi