Chapter 4: The Rise and the Fall

Astrid was true to her word about the lessons. She ambushed Mira as soon as she walked out of the forge with axe in hand, and dragged her to a clearing in the forest where they could practice. She showed her younger sister-in-arms how to hold the axe, and taught her techniques to strengthen her arms. The hardest of those, and the ones Mira hated the most, was to lie oneself flat on the ground and hold one's body straight while pushing up with the arms. She could only do four but Astrid did twenty while still giving her instruction about axe care.

Luckily, dragons didn't seem too bothered to attack except in the early morning hours, and they experienced no droughts. Her brothers seemed to think this was a sad thing though, for they had already composed a catchy poem about Mira's future victories.

Mira the Quick is her name
she's also known as dragon's bane
she'll fight them up and down the lane
bringing dragons pain!

They loved to waltz up and down the village, singing it at the top of their lungs. They'd even gotten some other kids in on it. The adults would tease her whenever she showed up with their deliveries, asking how many she'd brought down now. When Stoick came back from his meeting even he gave a short barking laugh when he heard the stanza.

It seemed that with having helped to bring down a dragon, even if she hadn't killed it herself, Mira was now considered a full adult in the eyes of the Vikings. If someone caught her practicing with her axe they'd give tips on footing, and new mothers would come up asking for tricks for babies and making arrangements to share babysitting duties with each other.

The only downside was the sudden bolstering of Tuffnut's crush on her, which she was totally clueless on dealing with. And since he was friends with her brothers, she could always count on seeing him at least once a day. He asked her on dates, got in fights on her behalf, and had developed a habit of bringing her flowers which was awfully sweet of him but he always gave them to her while reciting poetry he had written himself, usually in front of the rest of the village.

"I just don't know how to get him to stop, or to at least do it in private instead of in the middle of the village." She complained to her training teacher. Astrid was teaching her basic grappling moves today, and Mira had already wound up pinned to the floor eight times. Even as she thought this, Astrid managed to hook her left leg again and brought them both down, knocking the breath from her lungs for the fourth time that day.

Astrid patiently waited for Mira to stop wheezing before pulling her to her feet. She thought the whole thing was hilarious, and spent the better part of that morning laughing at Tuffnut's latest lyrics. Mira didn't think the poem was all that bad, it was even flattering, but she was uncomfortable with him doing it in public. He didn't seem to understand why she was so embarrassed either, and was now of the opinion that his poetry was slowly wooing her.

"Just tell him his poetry stinks!" She suggested unhelpfully.

"I don't want to be rude." Mira frowned. It was something they didn't really agree on. Astrid was a Viking, born and raised, and had difficulty understanding the concept of rudeness. Mira had been raised in the south though, and sometimes she couldn't let go of the mannerisms of her hometown. If anyone had been giving out flowers or reciting poetry in public there the townsfolk would have a few choice words about propriety for them.

She didn't even want to try explaining about propriety to Vikings. They never had any compunctions of being affectionate or violent in public. The violence was more common, but couples kissed in plain sight and there was the occasional problem with Snotlout and rain. She still couldn't look him in the eye!

"That's your problem, Mira." Astrid began, directing her to start doing more of those darned push-ups. "You're too nice unless someone threatens your siblings or your animals. Tuffnut's not doing either of those, so you're at a loss." It was completely unfair that she could do so many push-ups and still have the breath for speech.

"He's bigger than you are though, so if it really bothers you, just tell me and I'll deal with him." Mira shook her head. Tuffnut wasn't really hurting anyone and it didn't seem fair that he'd be penalized for trying to be nice.

"Just keep it in mind. Now, show me that you can get closer to the target with your axe than last time." Mira groaned goods naturedly, but jumped to her feet to obey. Anything was better than more push-ups.

Well, at least she thought so until they got back to the village on their way to the Great Hall for a bite to eat and Tuffnut met them there.

"Mira, hey! I brought you some purple flowers! Purple's your favorite color!" He'd found this out from her brothers earlier, who seemed to be in total approval of his plan to someday marry their sister. She blushed prettily, no normal Viking girls ever blushed, "And now, a poem for milady!"

"Pretty blue eyes, an awesome glare
Strong enough to wrestle a bear
Long black hair and a helmet with horns
She never ever scorns!"

"Oh, Tuffnut, t-that was very, um," Astrid's laughter was not helpful in the very least. Oh and her brothers were smiling at her and Tuffnut had gone to so much effort.

"Awesome, I know." He nodded modestly. "I'll bet you're falling for me now!" He gave her the flowers and walked off, followed by her little brothers and leaving the lady wanting more. He was so cool.

"Pfft, ha!" Ruffnut was groaning from laughing too hard. "You should've seen the faces he made while he was trying to come up with the last two lines! I thought he was going to explode!"

"Looks like the love birds are at it again." One Viking commented with a teasing smile.

"Leave her alone, Ruffnut." Astrid growled, taking her little sister and leading her away from the amused masses until her blush could die down. Only she was allowed to tease Mira.

"He's never going to stop, is he?" She moaned, still holding the purple flowers he'd put in her hands. They did look nice, she could put them in a mug on the dining table, and the poem really wasn't that bad, and as always rather flattering even.

"Oh Astrid, what do I do if he tries to kiss me?" She asked, mildly horrified.

"Then you deck him, obviously." The older Viking girl shrugged.

"I'm being serious, Astrid!" She protested.

"So am I." Mira was expecting the punch that followed, and very carefully did not rub the new bruise. It only incited further blows to that region. "You're just too nice, Mira."

There was another raid that night. Mira groaned, as once again she had untied her hair before going to sleep, intending to brush it the next morning. She tied it back out of her face and instructed her brothers to stay inside, as always. Unless of course the ship caught fire, in which case they were told to run to the docks and hide.

She grabbed her axe and helmet on the way out and joined the teens in getting water to fight the fires. Luckily there was no call to leap onto the backs of fire breathing lizards, although she did have a close call with a Hideous Zippleback, a two headed dragon. She had luckily doused the head that sparks the green gas and gotten out of the way when some Vikings came to subdue it.

Hiccup did get into trouble again though, and there was nothing she could've done to prevent it. Apparently he'd been trying to save some sheep, and knocked over a bunch of barrels. The barrels had tripped up some Vikings, and Mira had narrowly avoided the same fate by bounding over them. The Vikings that had fallen had previously been carrying some sheep and goats to safety. The dragons took them.

She winced in sympathy when Stoick scolded him very publicly. Hiccup was meant to stay inside the house or the forge during a raid, and he'd broken the rules again. The dragons got away with a lot more livestock this time though, eight sheep and three goats. Astrid managed to find her before going home, having heard of the accident and wanting to make sure the dragons hadn't made off with her little sister-in-arms.

Repairs were needed again the next day, and she chafed when calls of lovebirds and dragon's bane filled the air. By the time she could give Betty over to Nolip, Gustav's mother, for her turn at babysitting Mira was ready to scream if it were not entirely rude. Windstreak was tired, but she loved a good run just as much as Mira did, and they were off.

She galloped down animal trails, jumping fallen trees and leaping over creek beds. They wove between the trees, as wild as the forest itself. Nothing could stop them, nothing could stand against them. They rose and fell on a tide of passion, of adventure. She was leading an army into battle against the dragons; she was staring into the eye of a great storm at sea!

And then part of the ground broke away, and she was falling.

Mira quivered on the ground for some time, listening to the mare's whinnies that carried down to wherever she was. Her right leg hurt, badly, and she was having a bit of trouble breathing and moving in general. She whimpered weakly as she tried to move her arm out from under body. She was hurt, on the far side of the island.

And Windstreak had been with her.

Her eyes shot open in the darkness that wasn't really dark. A shaft of light fell around her, from wherever she'd fallen from. Cautiously, she turned her head, trying to see above her. Windstreak's head was poking through the opening, blocking most of the light. She whinnied down to her misplaced foal, but seemed unhurt.

"Get help, please." She whispered, unsure if the mare could even hear her let alone understand. The horse disappeared from the hole. Mira was eleven years old and alone in a hole. But she couldn't stay there. She had no way of knowing when help would come, or if they'd even be able to find her. She needed to figure out how badly she was hurt, and if there was a way out.

Sitting up hurt too much, so she had to settle for rolling over which hurt almost as bad. Now on her back and able to breathe easier she figured out her nose was broken, which was why she tasted blood and couldn't breathe. Nothing she could do about it now, and it had mostly stopped bleeding anyway, so she tried to get a good look around her hole.

It was big and dark, that was all she could tell from her prone position. Well, this wasn't doing any good. What was it Astrid was always saying after she'd knocked down Mira for the tenth time in a day? No pain, no gain? Well, she was in a considerable amount of pain, so now it was time to see what she could get out of it.

She found she could sit up if she used the wall, and did so. Now she looked at her leg, and felt faintly ill. The ankle was swollen, but it was the calf that she felt was broken. It was twisted, and was the source of the greatest bit of her pain. She had a broken leg and nose, in a hole on the other side of Berk, and no one knew where she was. Well, things could only get better from there.

The wall had handholds. And it sloped, given it was steep but it was still a slope. The only problem was that the wall in question was on the other side of the floor, and she had a broken leg. She had a bit of rope, and her axe, but not much else.

Mira managed to stand using the wall she was leaning against, and more or less hopped on one foot to the other wall by circling the hole. From there she had to drag herself up with her arms and other leg, slowly. By the time she reached half way her arms had started shaking, but the slope began getting easier at this point, and she could see a tree.

Awkwardly, she tied the rope to her axe handle, and threw it. It stuck in the trunk, and she tugged the rope a few times, gingerly testing it against her weight. It held. Now she just needed to pull herself out of there.

Getting up was difficult, but doable, and she gratefully collapsed on the ground. It had broken right in front of them and Windstreak had balked, trying to stop from falling in headfirst. Mira had gone end of end over the mare's head, and must've landed on her bad leg. Windstreak was nowhere to be seen, which was too bad. Mira needed a ride home.

Night had fallen when the rescue party found her. Gobber carried her over one shoulder while Windstreak worriedly lipped at her hair and clothes. She explained what had happened, and he told her she must've galloped over a weak part of the Earth and caused it to break open, and she was lucky she hadn't hit her head worse than breaking her nose.

She was covered in blood, tired, and would now have a crooked nose. So no, she wasn't happy when she was taken to Gothi's house to be healed up and then carried home. Phlegma was the one who brought her brothers and sister home to her, and they all tried behaving the best they could for her since she was hurt.

Perhaps the worst part about being injured, beyond having to rely on Astrid to work with Windstreak, was the fact she now could never escape Tuffnut, and by association, Ruffnut. Five and a half weeks later she welcomed freedom, celebrating her mobility and Betty's, who had begun crawling and was now into everything all the time.

Windstreak seemed glad to have her back on her back. And Astrid worked her even harder in training now, payment she said for making her worry. Mira groaned, wishing she could break her leg again to escape the push-ups. Knowing Astrid would probably kill her if she tried.

She helped again in dragon raids, darting between fires and trying to put them out. Hiccup came outside again, her first night back, but this time he only distracted some Vikings. Everyone quickly forgot about Hiccup in favor of the new threat that had revealed itself.

"IT'S BACK!" Someone screamed. A high pitched whine filled the air, and the tower exploded in purple fire. People scrambled to find cover, and Mira only narrowly avoided a falling piece of burning timber. This dragon had only showed up once or twice, and no one had even really seen it. It came, it blasted, it vanished, and that was more terrifying than anything else.

The dragons seemed to rally in the confusion. Mira yelped and tried tossing her water buckets to distract a Nadder from taking some sheep. It rounded on her, roared, and began the chase. Mira did not stand her ground, though she did draw her weapon. She darted away, rounding around one of the torches to come up behind the beast, which was apparently a mistake. She was nearly gutted by some spines.

Still, her axe struck its wing and its pained roar called the attention of some nearby Vikings. They saw Mira retrieve her axe and dodge a pillar of fire. She ducked under the beast, coming up in front of it, but the creature had eyes only on the sides of its head, and could not see her. They cheered when they saw her about to strike another blow but the cheers got the Nadder's attention and it moved. It swiped the human girl with its tail, knocking her into the torch. The Vikings were furious and rushed to her aid, and then the dragon was dead.

"It was thanks to Mira the Quick, you know. She got its wing so it couldn't fly away!" People began saying.

"You should've seen the way she danced around the beast, why if she'd been only a mite faster she would've taken its head!" Someone said the very next day.

"She got some spines from it, I heard, and the hide from its wings." One mother began discussing the uses of wing hide. Her brothers' song had a new stanza.

Mira the Quick is clever as a mink
There and back in just a wink
didn't give the Nadder time to think
There and gone in just a blink

Mira was able to finally make herself a new dress, and a breast band for her now developing bosom. Astrid congratulated on her victory and began complaining about how Mira was younger but at this rate she'd get to kill a dragon first. Mira hadn't been thinking about glory when she'd attacked the dragon. She'd been thinking of a long cold winter, and how the wool from the sheep made it so much easier. And then she'd been thinking of how much she really didn't feel like dying, thank you.

Tuffnut grew ever more amorous, even asking her out a couple of times though he usually got distracted by fighting with his sister. Other boys began taking an interest in her too, but though Ruffnut thought his crush was hilarious she still fought beside him when someone thought to challenge his claim. Not many people wanted to face both twins at once.

"How you do it, I mean," Hiccup complained. She had come to the forge to have her axe sharpened and they'd gotten into a conversation about her supposed prowess.

"You make it look so easy. You've already taken down two dragons!" He ran the axe over the grinding stone again, checking the balance before shaking his head. Either at her luck or the balance, she wasn't sure.

"Well, the first time I was worried you might get hurt, and the second time I was thinking it might get the sheep." She never went out of her way to attack them, things just sort of happened. "On my first raid a Nadder actually landed on my ship, and I was terrified because my brothers and sister were inside and would be trapped by the flames."

"Aw… but man, everyone loves you. You're the hottest topic on Berk!" He went on like she hadn't said anything. Mira sighed but smiled, Hiccup sometimes had trouble with listening. "If I could do that, I'd finally get some respect."

"You would get people stopping to clap you on the back so hard that you bruise, teased about, and have small children write silly songs about you." She corrected him softly, knowing he wasn't listening anyway so she could say what she pleased.

"Someday I'm going to be out there." He told her firmly. "Killing a dragon is everything here."

"I haven't killed one." She pointed out.

"Well yeah, but everyone knows you're going to. It's only been luck so far that you haven't." She shook her head, accepted her newly sharpened axe, and bid him a good day before leaving. She was going fishing now, with Mulch and Bucket actually, and needed to drop Betty off at Nolip's house again.


I'll update tomorrow at 2: 00 pm