Warning Signs

A/N: I don't really know what to say about this one except…when my friends start arguing, it's generally best for me to stay out of the way. For my own safety. XD (Love you guys! You know that, right…?)

It's short, but I hope you enjoy this story!

"Where are they?" Hiccup asked, looking over at Audun for an answer.

Audun shrugged, glancing over to the entrance to the Berk Dragon Academy. He'd been sneaking looks in that direction for the past ten minutes, waiting for Hillevi and Alva to show up. Granted, punctuality wasn't exactly their strong point, but they usually made an effort to be on time for dragon training.

Nearby, Snotlout grumbled, "How much longer are we gonna wait?"

"As long as it takes," Astrid replied, her arms crossed.

Snotlout groaned. "Can't we just start without them?"

Hiccup raised his eyebrows. "You really think that's a good idea, Snotlout? Especially after what happened last time you pissed Hillevi off?"

Snotlout visibly paled. He had once tried to court Hillevi, and it hadn't ended well. Indeed, his eyebrows still hadn't completely grown back yet.

"They might have decided to sleep in," Audun mused to himself.

"It's almost noon!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "And they're still sleeping?"

"It wouldn't be the first time," Audun replied, shrugging. He turned to Hiccup. "Why don't we go to their house? We may have to wake them up."

"Uh…are you sure that's a good idea?" Fishlegs asked nervously. Having been on the receiving end of Hillevi's ire before, he wasn't keen to find himself in such a situation again.

"We don't all have to go," Audun said. "Hiccup and I will go see what's keeping them and then bring them back here. Then we can get started. Sound good?"

No one had any objection to that, so Audun and Hiccup, with their dragons walking loyally alongside them, headed to a cliff a short distance from the village. Upon this cliff sat the house Hillevi and Alva shared.

It was a rather odd house. Actually, "odd" was a bit of an understatement. It sat more or less on the edge of the cliff. Or at least, the original structure did, the little one-story hut that had once been a cozy little cottage. But it had been added to and expanded so much that it was all but unrecognizable. The house was a huge, lopsided building that stretched up and out in no particular shape or pattern, its crooked walls and slanted roofs creating the most unusual shape on the entire island. One whole wing hung precariously over the cliff edge, held up by stout wooden poles dug into the rock and prayers offered up to every god the village could think of.

As Audun and Hiccup approached the house, they noticed the red Monstrous Nightmare reclining on the ground near the front (and only) door. Daydream opened her eyes lazily as the two boys drew nearer and rumbled a greeting. "Hello, Daydream," Audun said. "What are your mother and aunt up to in there?"

He wasn't really expecting the dragon to answer. And he certainly wasn't expecting her to burst into flame.

Yet Hillevi's Nightmare was suddenly and inexplicably ablaze.

Audun and Hiccup both froze in mid-step. Daydream didn't seem to be upset at their approach. So that could only mean one thing: Hillevi was angry about something and Daydream was picking up on it.

Their suspicion was confirmed a mere second later.

"ALVAAAAAAAAA!"

Hillevi's shriek shattered the early afternoon silence and made both boys jump backward, startled. Hiccup collided with Toothless, who grumbled irritably.

Alva said something that they couldn't make out, and Hillevi responded with, "You bitch!" (Although the way she said it made it sound like "Yoo beech!") Alva made some kind of startled sound that might have been a squeak.

And then the door flew open.

Hillevi stood on the threshold, and it was immediately clear why she was so upset. Her tunic was covered in little claw marks, evidence that at least one Terrible Terror had gotten its little talons into it and had a field day.

Hillevi's rage-reddened eyes fell on Audun, who went suddenly pale. "Uh-oh…"

"AUDUN!" Hillevi roared. "YOU GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Hiccup, who had been watching all this in open-mouthed shock and fear, turned around on the spot. "Well, see you later, Audun. It's been nice knowing you…"

Audun whipped around and lashed out, his fingers clenching around Hiccup's fur vest and stopping him in his tracks. "Oh no you don't!" he said. "If I'm going in there, you're going in with me!"

"But why?!" Hiccup yelped.

"You're the future chief," Audun explained as he began to make his way toward the house, practically dragging Hiccup along behind him. "You need to learn how to deal with such matters. Besides, it makes my chances of survival a little better if there are two of us. I have a fifty-fifty shot of her attacking you first, thereby giving me the chance to escape."

"Oh Thor…!" Hiccup moaned. "Toothless, help me out here!"

The Night Fury sat down upon the lawn and crooned what might have been an apology: Sorry, Hiccup. But she scares me. You're on your own this time.

"Great," Hiccup huffed. "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."

And with that, they crossed over into the house, the door slamming shut behind them.

A/N: If you're wondering why Hillevi and Alva's house is so unusual, stay tuned. It will be explained in one of the later stories. Although I'm pretty sure I've dropped a couple of hints already…