Fate of the Dragons

by ReclusiveShadows

With Hiccup's role of 'Chief' on the horizon and a new tension between Berk and several nearby tribes stuck in their old ways, Hiccup, Toothless, and Astrid already have enough problems on their hands. But when a spy from an enemy island 'accidentally' turns Astrid into a Night Fury, things are bound to get a lot more interesting!

7. The Explanation

There is a lot I want to say about this chapter.

To start, I'd like to apologize for its being a week late - that was another personal error of mine. Originally, I expected this to be a rather short chapter, but it ended up expanding into something a bit larger as I realized what I had to establish in it.

There's something else I should probably point out - I don't greet How To Train Your Dragon in the same sort of whimsical light that's addressed in the movies, even if it might seem that way. Put quite simply, I take this much more seriously than you might think. Aside from that, those of you who watched the TV show might have a bit of an advantage in this chapter, though for those of you who haven't, I assure you you don't need to, and you'll all be in the same boat by the end of this chapter. And before you make assumptions at the end of the chapter, I promise you that the story does NOT end there! No, we have a very, very long way to go. Just to give you an idea, in the original plan for this story, everything that has happened so far was supposed to be Chapter One.

Overall, I expect that we'll soon enter a sort of "new era" with this series, which really does sound kind of stupid, but I'll explain that in greater detail later on. It may or may not have a lot to do with summer vacation, and my overall time management skills.

Anyways, moving on to a lighter note, I apologize once again for the unexpected delay, be sure to comment, favorite, and follow, (Thanks to those of you who have, and are) and I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

How To Train Your Dragon is property of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.

---

It wasn't the first time two girls had been mad at Hiccup, but it was the first time one of them wanted to kill him, and the other was a spy.

"So, let me get this straight - the trap that I set to kill you somehow ended up turning your girlfriend into a dragon? That is messed up. Like, seriously. I mean, I wouldn't wish that on anybody. Not even you."

It had taken some convincing, but the girl - Syl, he remembered - had eventually gotten up and luckily hadn't run away on him, despite the fact that she had every right to. Luckily, once Hiccup had convinced her that Astrid was paralyzed at least momentarily, she had seemed to calm down some, almost immediately switching back over to her laid-back poise, like she had never been scared in the first place. Astrid, when she came to a few minutes later, was a bit harder to persuade.

The only difference between the last time a Night Fury had pounced on top of him and this one was that, in this case, Hiccup knew that he was much less likely to come out of the confrontation alive, if not with at least one leg left.

Astrid's eyes seemed to scream hatred at him - she had used the paralysis trick on plenty of other dragons in the past - several of them even on Stormfly - but for her to be tricked into it? By Hiccup? There was no doubt about it - he was a dead man. A dead boy, even.

Of course, he knew that the trick hadn't caused her any physical harm - in fact, it was probably an enjoyable experience overall - Admittedly, Hiccup had sometimes fantasized about it one day happening to him somehow, though he hadn't thought there was any way that could ever happen to him, up until that morning, that was. But to be immobilized and disarmed in that way, especially given what had happened to her uncle over a decade before… It was probably one of the worst things he could have done to her.

But what other choice did he have? She was probably about to kill the girl, and so he'd simply… Done what he had done with other dragons in the past.

Yes, in hindsight, it was a very, very bad decision.

Still scowling at him, she began to write something in the dirt next to his face with her right paw, the talons on her left split closely around Hiccup's neck. Of all of the things you could have turned her into, he thought to nobody in particular, it had to be a Night Fury. Why not a Terror, or even a Gronckle? I could deal with those. Gods, I really hope she can't hear my thoughts right now.

He cringed as he heard one of her talons scrape roughly on some rock next to him, causing him to reminisce of honed steel swords on the grindstone in the days of the raids. It was a peculiarly familiar, yet still haunting memory.

After a moment, without checking the words, Astrid grabbed the side of his head and forcibly turned it to look at the message. Though he already knew what it was going to say, he still read it, anyways.

The runes were scribbled onto the ground haphazardly, making it nearly impossible to understand. From what Hiccup could tell, it read:

DEAR GODS HICCUP!

I AM THIS CLOSE TO TEARING YOU TO SHREDS RIGHT NOW

YOU ARE THE MOST UNBELIEVABLY STUPID PERSON I'VE EVER MET

NEVER SHOULD HAVE FOLLOWED YOU INTO THE WOODS THAT DAY

AND THAT LITTLE DRAGON TRICK YOU PULLED?

GODS AS SOON AS YOU TURN ME BACK I SWEAR YOU WILL BE THE MOST SORRY VIKING TO EVER SET FOOT ON THIS ISLAND

YOU WILL WISH THAT YOU WERE BEING MAULED TO DEATH BY A DRAGON

I WILL END…

It went on like this for another two lines, before it devolved into angry, unreadable scribbles. A few lines down, the writing became somewhat legible again, and he found the one thing he had been hoping to see.

YOU BETTER AS HELL HAVE A GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THIS HICCUP

FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME

AND MORE IMPORTANTLY

WHY THE HELL DID YOU BRING HER BACK HERE?!

He looked back up at her, took a deep breath in, released it, and told her, "I can explain all of this. Just… Please, don't kill me."

Slowly, glaring at him with venomous eyes the whole time, Astrid pulled back her paw, her talons retracting back into her foot, before carefully crawling off of him. Her message was clear enough: "If you try to pull anything, I swear to the Gods I will end your puny life." If he hadn't been so terrified, he might've thought it was kind of hot.

As soon as she had completely gotten off of him, Hiccup slowly stood up, knowing that Astrid was prone to make a bad decision if he moved even a bit too quickly. Once he had, he brushed himself off and examined his surroundings.

He looked at their "prisoner" - Syl. She was staying more or less within the small clearing along the edge of the woods, but still putting as much space as possible in between her and the two other dragons in the area - Stormfly seemed to have flown off into the woods somewhere, no doubt looking for food.

In truth, she really wasn't their prisoner, considering that she had chosen to come with him willingly, and still could have run away if she wanted. Now that she had seen the problem, of course, she knew about their situation, making her somewhat of a liability, and even more dangerous if she chose to run away. It put them all in a tricky situation, not even taking into account what she had done.

He had suspected that she hadn't known what her trap had done from the start. He already knew before he met her that she was likely connected to the tribes that had recently started to riot against them. He had been told by his father that many people wanted to kill both of them, as well as Toothless and all of their dragons, and Hiccup knew they were probably going to send someone after him, sooner or later. Finally meeting the girl, he had expected her to be some dark conjurer in black hooded robes, casting evil spells in the forest, not some scared, teenage girl wearing torn pants and a faded green tunic, trapped under a landslide. And so, he had decided that she wasn't entirely to blame for what happened. Especially considering that he knew her, or at least knew where she had come from.

She was mostly as he remembered her looking the last time he had seen her - after all, it had been only a mere two years before. However, it was more than obvious that she had matured and… Developed, somewhat. Being the same age as him, he knew that she was bound to have grown a lot over the course of the few years he hadn't seen her for, and yet somehow, she seemed familiar. She reminded him of Heather somewhat, but by that standard any girl with black hair reminded him of Heather - he hadn't seen her in years, anyways. Though even then, it was somewhat ironic, considering his idea.

No, she had a much less innocent feel than Heather, one wrought by years of living in a murky, poor village, with her mother as chief, of all things - he understood the feeling. Still, her sunken eyes, and the subtle but still noticeable and healed scars on her face and neck hinted at something… Darker, in her past.

Still, he wasn't going to pry her about it, especially considering that she probably still wanted to kill him even then. He had always retained the idea that anyone could change, and that Syl - he hoped - was one who had.

As to his plan, there really wasn't much sanity behind it, and it all teetered on one iffy, unstable fact - They could trust Syl.

Hiccup knew that, whilst she was obviously a spy, she had also chosen to come with him, even after he had given her the opportunity to run away, back to her meeting place which she doubtless had planned and commanded to wait for her before hand. So, he had no idea what it was - she didn't seem like the sort of person who would feel guilty about it, but then again, she hadn't expected her trap to turn anyone into a dragon, obviously.

Whilst he was curious, Hiccup didn't care what was keeping her with them, as long as it meant that she would help them with what he had in mind - it was absolutely ridiculous after all, even by his standards, but it had also worked in the past.

But first… It would probably be a good idea to run it by Astrid, though Hiccup had a feeling it would be a bit more difficult to get her to warm up to the idea.

So…

There are two Night Furies now.

One of them is that girl.

A girl that was turned into a dragon - into a Night Fury - by a trap that I set.

By me.

Syl ran the same thoughts through her head over and over again, and yet she still couldn't believe it.

Was she some sort of sorcerer? Some kind of witch? It didn't seem likely, given that she had never displayed any other sort of magical talents when she was younger, though it was possible they had just come to light in her recent years - that was something that tended to happen in the legends, she knew.

But, whatever she was, she also knew she was not a hero. Whilst her turning a Berkian into a dragon was a score for her own traitorous tribe, and had quite obviously distressed the Dragon Conqueror, what she had done seemed almost… Too far, even for her.

Killing might have been a bit evil in its own right, especially in the way she had originally planned, but everyone knew that if they had lived the life of a warrior, they would dine in the Halls of Valhalla for eternity after they died. It was a simple fact, and she understood that it would likely apply to the Dragon Conqueror, considering that he had supposedly killed the monstrosity of a dragon in their volcanic nest a few years before then. So overall, she knew she wouldn't even feel a bit of remorse for killing him, or the girl, for that matter.

But to turn someone into a dragon… That was just cruel. To doom someone to a life of eternal hatred and be forced to wake up every day knowing that you were a wild beast… That was just inhumane - that, she felt bad for. Though not quite enough for her not to feel at least a sliver of satisfaction for what she had accomplished.

Besides, her village had abandoned her, anyways - what good did it do if she helped them - she might as well have been working with them, for all they cared.

Sure, she was standing with them at the moment, but that was far from actually working with them. Just because she had been exiled didn't meant that she needed to immediately switch sides, and so she had chosen not to. At least, not yet…

No, instead she was simply going along with what happened - letting fate take her where it wanted. After all, it seemed as though it couldn't have been a coincidence, all that had happened. To be trapped on the island, then rescued by the Dragon Conqueror? It seemed as though the Gods had guided them together, for whatever reason. But still, at any moment in time, she was ready to whip out her dagger and go down kicking and screaming, if that was what it meant to ensure her freedom. Above all other things, she never, never, wanted to die a captive. And given what had already happened, she had a feeling that she would have to, be it sooner or later.

Hiccup seemed to be entertaining the idea that his girlfriend still had her memories intact, though she found that somewhat difficult to believe, given the quite dragon-like way she had reacted when Syl had first walked into the clearing. Although, she did recall her being a warrior when she was a human, and given what Syl had done to her… It was almost understandable that she had tackled her. Almost.

As soon as he had crawled out from under the she-dragon, who had tackled him as well, he began talking to her, forcing Syl to work up the nerve to slink over and listen. Her mother had always told her that her curiosity would inevitably be her demise - though Syl had never listened.

She only caught parts of sentences at first, but as she moved closer, the sentences became easier to piece together. "... I have a plan, or a backup plan, anyways. And yes, before you ask, she was the one we found running in the woods, and that set the trap that turned you into a dragon... But she didn't mean to! I don't think so, anyways. Well, she did want to kill me, or at least severely injure one of us… But that's beside the point! Anyways, we need her for what I'm thinking of doing, and, I'm sorry Astrid, but you're going to have to trust in-"

At this point, Astrid, she remembered, seemed to notice the rapidly closing distance between Syl and herself, and began to growl under her breath as she narrowed her eyes and widened her stance. The black one, she noticed, also began to slowly make its way back over to the dragon conqueror, but didn't seem threatening to her just yet.

Hiccup glanced over at her, and raised an eyebrow. "Um… Listen, do you think you could leave us alone for this? It's kind of… Private, I guess."

Syl's jaw dropped open.

"Private? I'm sorry, but did I just hear you saying that you needed me for something? If you think you're just going to get me to do whatever you want, you've got another thing coming, bud. Do you think I want to be here right now, that I came here willingly?" She was about to go on, but she realized she had probably already said too much - what he didn't know and she did was the only advantage she had in this situation, and she intended to keep it that way.

He sighed, rolled his eyes, then told her. "Look, I can take you back to our village, and back to my father right now, if you want. I could get them to lock you up for life, maybe even kill you if I said the right things. But I don't want to do that - I never want to do that. I gave you the option to run away earlier," - At this, the she-dragon's face dropped open in absolute shock - "and you didn't take it. So, for some reason, you're staying with us. We all know what you did - you don't have to pretend that you're going to suddenly run away because you're 'scared' of us."

She scowled at him. "Don't have to pretend I want to be here, either…" She mumbled.

The boy sighed again and continued to stare at her. "Listen, I'll explain this all to you in a minute - and you owe her this," -he pointed at the gray dragon- "You owe us this, along with a lot more. Just let me run it by her first." His hands out, and his expression desperate, he looked about as negotiable as a person could be - obviously a true diplomat at heart, but certainly not a warrior, nor a 'dragon conqueror', as some seemed to see him as.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine." She replied, backing away into the woods some. She wouldn't listen… Or at least wouldn't let them know she was listening. As soon as she was under the cover of the branches, she whipped back around and hid behind a tree as close as she could get to hearing them without them seeing her. Luckily, the forest was relatively dense at that time of the year, and so she could easily hide herself in the underbrush and bushes beneath the trees. She peered at them through the bushes once again, and strained to hear what he was telling her.

"First of all - I'm really sorry about what happened with the whole scratching-trick. I panicked and I didn't know what to do, and I just… Anyways, I'm really sorry, Astrid. I'd do anything to take that back."

She snorted at him.

He nodded carefully. "Now, onto why I brought her here… You're not going to like this..." At this, he glanced around to make sure she wasn't looking, though luckily he didn't go over her hiding spot. She doubted he would've been able to see her, anyways.

Still, he bent down and whispered something into the girl's ear, which seemed to take a few minutes. Why he did it, Syl wouldn't understand until much later.

If a dragon's face could go white, Astrid's did just then. Rather than breaking out in anger or contempt, her eyes widened and her mouth slowly fell open in pure mortification, as if whatever he had suggested was the most terrifying thing she had ever heard, which, Syl would later on come to realize, it was.

"Now, I know what you're thinking," Hiccup replied. This was followed by some desperate scribbling on the ground by Astrid, which Syl couldn't read for her life. Without looking at it, Hiccup replied, "It would only be for a few days. Or… Maybe a few weeks. However long it takes for me to figure out how to… Fix, this. Believe me, I don't want to do this either, Astrid, but it solves a lot of the problems we have right now. No… I… I don't know if we can trust her. But we have to have faith - she's stayed with us for this long, so she must want to be our ally… Or something like that. I know it seems unlikely, but… Why else would she be here? Yeah, I know she's a spy. No, I don't think she's still spying on us. At least not for her tribe, anyways. I think maybe she's defecting, and wants to make an alliance with us. I don't know why. Yeah, I know she probably would have told us by now, but… Well, I have no other choice, Astrid! I don't know what's going to happen if I tell my father, and we don't even know how the village would react, okay? I… I don't know what else to do, and we've pulled it off before, remember? Listen, we might not even have to do this - it's just a backup plan, okay? Now… Yeah, she's probably… Syl, you can come out, now!"

She stepped out of the forest a moment later, hesitantly. She quickly started to say, "I wasn't sp-" before Hiccup cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"You don't have to pretend, Syl. We know you were listening. Just… Will you tell us why you're doing this for us? I mean, just a few hours ago you were trying to kill us - why the sudden change of heart?"
She thought about it for a moment, trying to come up with an answer, before replying, "You were right. I'm defecting from my tribe." He seemed surprised for a moment, but let her continue.

She sighed, and tried to feign an empathetic expression. "After I set the trap, I realized how terrible my mother was, how my whole tribe was. I decided I didn't want to be a part of that anymore. I didn't want to be responsible for killing people"

She had to force herself to say the next part. "I… Thought I'd give you a chance. I panicked earlier and tried to run away, and I feel bad about it. I feel bad about the way our tribe treats you. Maybe… Dragons aren't so bad after all. Either way, I only want revenge against her and the rest of that wretched tribe." She tried to finish with the most malice she could, which wasn't really that hard. She wasn't exactly lying, anyways - she wasn't a part of the tribe anymore, and she did want revenge on her mother, something that she hadn't realized until she said it. And revenge was best served cold.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, skeptical, and Astrid seemed even more so, but he nodded slowly and replied, "Alright… Well, if you're just willing to hop onto-"

Her eyes widened. "Uh… Maybe we could wait on that?" She told him quickly. "I mean, I still don't know if I can trust you. I don't see why we have to go anywhere, either. If I get on that... dragon, you could just fly me back to the village and lock me up. If we walk, you can't trick me without me finding out before we get to the village."

Hiccup sighed. "Fine, let's just go. I need to see if there's any way we can get Astrid back to normal before the end of tonight. I just want to go back and pretend nothing ever happened, okay? And who knows? Maybe eventually we can get you to be accepted as part of our tribe, too!"

---

The walk was uneventful, for the most part. She knew it took longer than it might've, as Hiccup had to stop and fix his metal leg several times, which she somehow hadn't noticed he had until then, despite their long walk through the forest just a short while before.

The sun slowly descended below the mountains as they hiked, dying the clouds and treetops in hues of orange and gold. Normally, Syl might've noticed it, and even considered it beautiful, if she hadn't had her eyes pasted on the two Night Furies the entire time.

In truth, she wasn't even sure which she was more terrified of. Astrid, as Hiccup claimed she was, seemed to have kept her memories and sanity intact, but still Syl couldn't help but be wary of her. And yet, the more they walked, and the more Hiccup talked to her, the more Syl could understand how the dragon-girl almost killing her might be justified, considering the circumstances. But then again, she was already walking through the forest as a dragon like she had done so every day of her life, which couldn't help but make Syl wonder - what if she had wanted this? Their tribe was all dragon-happy, after all.

Then there was the black one. The male.

He was what she had feared for years. When she was little, her brother had given her the 'dragon talk', and one of the dragons he had mentioned - that she had already heard about in the past, to be fair - was the dreaded Night Fury. It was said that it could trap a man's very soul within its scales, and lived off of the fear of the young. Her brother, of course, was kind enough to save her of the more gory tales of the Night Fury's victims, though even he knew it was inevitable that she would learn them when she grew older.

And yet… Here it was, pawing along less than fifty feet from her, (she was still keeping a decent gap between all three of the beasts, who wouldn't let her get close to Hiccup, anyways) no more vicious than a house cat. It was baffling, truthfully. Of course, she knew, especially now that she had seen two, that Night Furies might not have been as viciously terrifying as the old legends made them about to be, and yet still, being pinned down by Astrid in the forest, wondering for a few moments if that was it, that was the end of her story… It made the legends seem all too real. Aside from that, Hiccup seemed practically attached to his own dragon, leading Syl to wonder if the ancient beast really did have his soul trapped within his scales. Perhaps it was controlling his thoughts and actions in order to lure Vikings into a false sense of security around dragons. Maybe it was controlling the entire island… Maybe even her…

She brushed the thought off and continued walking. After all, they were just stories, and legends - nothing more. But then again, she had just turned a girl into a dragon…

---

She didn't start to panic until she saw the village.

"Gods… I should've known! You were just going to lead me back to the village and, WHAM, right into the prison." She tried to run back into the forest, only to have the black Night Fury appear seemingly out of thin air in front of her, blocking her path with a throaty growl. She gasped, and took a step back, looking for another exit.

"We're not going to the village, just Gothi's house. Our Elder, that is." Hiccup told her calmly. Starring daggers at him, she stopped trying to run, but held her ground. He sighed and closed his eyes. "It's just near the top of this next mountain. People don't usually go there past dark unless there's an emergency, so we should be fine. I just need to ask her some questions, see if she can fix all of this, then maybe we can… Get you back home, or acquainted with our tribe, I guess. If she can't, well… I'll explain when we get there."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You promised that nobody else would know I was here unless I agreed to it," she sneered.

He rolled his eyes. "Technically I didn't promise… Listen, it'll only be her, and we can trust Gothi, I know that. More than anyone else on Berk.

Astrid seemed to seethe at this, and looked as though she wanted to say something, but, of course, didn't.

"Fine," Syl replied, "But I'm staying hidden 'till I know you're not leading me into a trap." She replied.

The trek up the back of the mountain was nearly pitch-black, making it almost impossible to see the narrow trail winding through the crags. But Hiccup insisted that there be no light of any kind, or else someone from below might see them. It was windy, and a bit of snow even started to fall when they passed above the timberline, baffling Syl. The mountain was much higher than any place on her home island. Yet it wasn't even the largest one on Berk. Perched on the top, still a few hundred feet above them, was a small house.

Gothi's hut, on the other hand, did have something in common with her homeland - it was quite obviously old and practically in shambles, with only a few beams holding a large wooden platform out over a steep ledge, that supported the entire hut. The red-and-green paint on the trim had faded after being exposed to the sun for so many years, and the dragon's head at the top was missing the bottom half of its mouth. It was nearly impossible to tell what damages might have come from years of dangerous living, or just the storm the night before. It was crumbling, and old, and Syl had no idea why anyone as important as Hiccup made her out to be would live in such a place, but the hut's worn, weather-beaten sturdiness was also a small reminder of her home. Syl wasn't sure if she should've felt invigorated or depressed at the sight, and so she chose to just ignore the reminder altogether.

Hiccup was right about the night - though they had climbed up an old trail on the backside of the mountain, which Hiccup had claimed was well hidden and nobody used anymore, it was obvious that no one dared to climb up the mountain after dusk - it had been nearly impossible to travel up in the dark, and she could easily imagine getting lost without knowing the path by heart. Nearing the top, Hiccup looked at the black Night Fury and told him, "Alright, Toothless. We're almost-"

Syl blinked, and interrupted him. "Wait… Toothless?"

Hiccup stared at her for a moment, confused, then told her. "Well, yeah… I mean, that's his name."

Syl stared at him for a moment, dumbstruck. "Out of all of the names to choose from, you named your dragon… Toothless? Why the hell would you do that?"

The Night Fury stared at her for a moment, looking quite annoyed, then opened its maw, to reveal a pink, gummy mouth, startling her. Suddenly, in less than a heartbeat, a long, curved row of tiny, pointed teeth darted into its mouth and back out, sliding back up into his nose, and down into his jaw.

Syl stared for a moment, frozen, then burst out laughing.

"PHAHAHAHAHA! The great dragon conqueror riding into battle on his mighty Night Fury, Toothless! Oh, it'll go down into the storybooks, and everything! Oh that is hilarious! Toothless! Wow."

The Night Fury frowned, but Astrid seemed to smirk at him, for some reason.

A moment later, syl still hadn't stopped laughing, and Hiccup started to get nervous. The Night Fury growled as well, but she didn't stop. "Syl, yeah, it's funny, alright? Now please, quiet down, someone could hear us, which would be very, very bad for all of us!"

She giggled one last time, then told him, "Alright, alright, I'm sorry, I'll be fine."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and turned back up the slope, just in time for her to hear him say "Some spy you are…"

She frowned, and shivered. They continued walking up the mountain.

A few steps before they approached the dimly lit hut, Syl dodged behind a rock, and Astrid followed suit in front of her, hiding behind the largest boulder she could find, which only barely hid her girth. Surprisingly, she seemed to blend in quite well with the stone, and Syl even had to blink once to assure herself she was really there.

Hiccup rolled his eyes, turning around for a moment to smirk at them. "Nobody's going to see either of you. There's nobody up here, and Gothi's probably-"

The door to the hut burst open.

Hiccup whirled back around, as did his dragon, who seemed to be staring at Astrid for some reason. "Gothi! How nice to… Um… See you. You're looking… Well?"

Gothi, as Syl presumed she was, didn't have the most reassuring appearance. Shorter than ever herself, Gothi appeared to be a frail old woman, with bags under her eyes and shaking hands, and a dented helm. With her, she carried a long staff, with several tiny skulls and trinkets attached to the rounded top by tiny, thin hairs. When he greeted her, Hiccup seemed to be acting incredibly courteous and respectful, putting on the largest smile his face could possibly manage. Syl, quite frankly, couldn't figure out why. She didn't appear to be a healer - in fact, she didn't appear to be much of anything at all, just wasted space. On Syl's island, if someone got old to the point where they couldn't work anymore, they would generally send them into the mountains to live on their own, if they didn't die in the village. Wisdom was age was a little sought-after thing in her tribe, and if becoming what this woman was what it required, she could understand why.

Rather than greet him in kind, she began to write in the dirt, which Syl couldn't help but find somewhat rude, scumbag that she knew the dragon conqueror was. Rather than asking for a verbal reply, however, he just read the text - she couldn't see what it said - and replied, "Uh, it's kind of complicated. Well, I guess not if you step back and look at it, but… Anyways, I know the Village has probably been burning down the forest looking for us, but… Well, Astrid and I went out patrolling for spies yesterday, and… We found one. Toothless and I crashed trying to catch her, Astrid went out to look for her with Toothless, and she tripped some trap in the forest the spy had set, some acid dumped on her, Toothless ran out to find me, and... Well, you can come out now, guys…" Hiccup motioned for them to come out, a worried expression on his face.

Astrid stepped out from behind the rock. Hesitating for a moment, Syl followed behind her, arms crossed, glaring angrily at the ground - how had she gotten herself stuck in this mess?

After a second went by in silence, Syl looked up. Where 'Toothless' was nearly impossible to see in the dark aside from his eyes and tail, Astrid was, whilst not necessarily bright, much easier to make out. Gothi, despite her no-doubt failing eyesight, could obviously see clearly enough to know that something was very, very wrong. As she stared at Astrid, her eyes widened, and her mouth slowly fell open. Blinking after a moment, and shaking her head, she quickly scribbled something in the dirt, motioning towards Astrid and Syl, who were still standing behind Toothless and Hiccup, away from the dim light coming through the door of the hut. Syl edged closer to try to read it, but Hiccup responded as soon as she could see it.

"Yeah, that's Astrid, she… I… Agh, please, Gothi I don't know what to do! I… She's not sure what happened, and… It's been a really long day… Oh, and that's, well… She's the spy…"

Gothi's eyes narrowed, and she sneered at Syl, raising her staff like a weapon. Hiccup quickly waved his hands, and said, "But she's okay! She was forced to set it and spy on us against her will, like Heather was. I found her under a landslide this morning. She said she wants to be part of our tribe. She's from the, uh… Veiklaðar… Tribe…" He finished awkwardly. Gothi lowered her staff, but still stared at her.

"Please," Hiccup told her, desperation in his voice. "I don't know how to fix this, and neither does she. I knew that if there was anyone on this island that could help her, it would be you. So… Can you?"

The Elder turned her chin up and stared at Astrid for a moment. Astrid looked down at the ground in response, embarrassed, as if she were somehow ashamed of what she had done, and Syl could understand why. For a moment, she felt pity for the girl, and something she hadn't felt in a long time, as well - guilt. But she couldn't afford to feel that way - as soon as this all went south - which she was sure it would, sooner or later - she needed to be able to get out of there as fast as she could, with no lingering regrets.

A moment later, Gothi broke her gaze, and scribbled something else on the ground. This time, Syl could read it.

HAVE YOU TOLD YOUR FATHER ABOUT THIS?

"Uh," Hiccup replied, taking a sudden interest in his shoes, "I figured that you might be able to fix this before I had to tell-" -She whacked him over the head with her staff- "Ow! I'm sorry, I thought maybe you could fix this without him having to finding out. I.. I just want her back, Gothi. I want everything to go back to normal."

She stared at him for a moment, evaluating him. Then, she humphed, and walked hobbled back into the the house, motioning for them to follow. Hiccup glanced back at Toothless, who seemed to shrug, before following her into the house.

A moment later, after closely observing the relatively human-sized door, Toothless nearly knocked Syl over, even over twenty feet away from her. With a huge flap of his wings, he jumped up onto the roof of the house with what Syl had to admit was incredible grace, before disappearing back onto the other side. She looked up at the roof in awe for a moment, before she heard a timid whimper beside her. Astrid looked oddly panicky, contrasting the rather threatening demeanor Syl had seen for as long as she had known her. Or at least, known of her. She looked up at Syl after a moment desperately, her breathing becoming a bit rapid, before turning back to stare terrified up at the roof, and that's when Syl realized - she was afraid to jump. Of course! She had only been a dragon for a few hours, of course - it was surprising she had even walked as far as she had. If the same thing had happened to her… She didn't even know how she would react.

Syl shrugged, taking a step back instinctively - she wasn't going to forget how she had tackled her just a few hours before, after all. Human inside or not, that girl was a predator, and couldn't be trusted - no more than the black one. Toothless, she remembered.

Astrid narrowed her eyes at her and huffed, turning back to the house. Steeling herself up, she backed up from the house, walking back as far as she could, all the way against the cliff wall behind the building. As soon as she had assured herself that she was as far back as she could go, she started running, then leapt less than ten feet away from the house. Before she even landed, Syl knew it wasn't going to be nearly as graceful as Toothless's. A quarter of the way off the ground, she made a half-attempt to flap her wings, but the ends slapped against the ground almost uselessly. Going into another panic, she tried desperately to grab onto the curved roof of the house with her front paws, and was just barely able to keep herself there, as her claws dug into the wood, leaving deep gouges in the half-thatched roof. Syl watched as she slowly pulled herself up onto the roof for a moment, which was almost comedic, before quickly stepping into the doorway of the house.

The inside of the Elder's abode was slightly surprising, but nothing that she hadn't seen before. The interior was similar to the average design used around Berk and her own village, with a small loft and a lower floor with a firepit in the center, and a kitchen and bedroom farther in. The differences were the subtle things - a bookshelf was stocked mainly with bottles of faded but still colorful liquids, along with a few scrolls with pictures of flowers and grasses in them, with text in languages she had never seen before. A few candles were all that lit the room, with a few arranged in a star-pattern on a nearby table, blue paint connecting all of them. A large cauldron was hung over the firepit, though the kindling itself was unlit, which Syl considered odd, considering how cold she knew it must have gotten at night, especially so high up on a mountain. For a moment, Syl entertained the idea that maybe this lady was actually an old witch, who boiled parrot's feet and dog's tongue to create evil brews and hexes, though she knew it couldn't be true. After all, Hiccup claimed that she was only the town's healer, and they wouldn't just let a witch live amongst them… Right?

She didn't have the chance to think about it. A large crash came from above, followed by a screech. Instinctively, she looked up at the ceiling instinctively, and a sudden boom shook a bunch of dust and sand down onto the ground, as if a weight had just been dropped on top of the roof. There was another screech, and suddenly she saw a large shape crash down onto the platform outside of the house through a window, and Toothless jumped out of the way just in time, splitting several of the boards as it landed and threatening to collapse. Luckily, it held, and Astrid seemed to be relatively fine, though she still groaned as she tried to get up - she had landed on her wings.

Hiccup ran outside, followed by Gothi, and he tried to help Astrid back onto her feet, nearly getting his face whipped by her flailing wings and tail in the process. Then suddenly, Toothless… Said something to her, she realized - they must have had some sort of mind-link that humans couldn't hear. Did that mean that the dragon had some sort of influence over Astrid? It didn't seem likely, but she didn't rule it out, either.

As Hiccup helped Astrid slowly climb back onto her feet, Gothi quickly dashed back into the hut back into the hut, going to one of the bookshelves to gather up a few flowers and grasses. Once she had, she moved back over to one of the several workbenches, her feet dangling off of the stool, and began to grind them up with a mortar and pestle. Glancing outside one last time, Syl slinked over to the table to watch.

"So, uh, is this some kind of po-" she started to ask, but was cut off suddenly when the elder stuck the top of her staff up against her jaw, forcing it closed, still staring intently at the mixture. A moment later, she grabbed a nearby piece of parchment and quill, scribbled something down on it, then shoved it in front of Syl's face.

WHAT WAS IN THE ACID?

Stuttering, Syl replied, "Uh… Just some table salt, melted iron, copper, a few other things…" Her voice quickly trailed off.

Gothi looked at her for a moment, confused and bewildered. Once again, she wrote something on the paper, then shoved it into her face.

WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO DO THAT? HOW DID YOU KNOW IT WOULD WORK? WHERE DID YOU GET THE MATERIALS?

"Well," she shrugged, "I've been messing around with that stuff for as long as I can remember. I was just glad it didn't melt through the vase. Had to coat the inside with two layers of wax - went through a few containers before I found a good one."

Gothi raised an eyebrow, and she realized her mistake. "And by glad, I mean, glad because otherwise, my, uh… Mother would have killed me…" She felt like slapping herself, but then realized something; this was an old woman, who couldn't even talk, what could she possibly give away?

Gothi rolled her eyes and went to another bookshelf. This one had an assortment of clear and colored liquids in various bottles and containers on them. Some had caps, whilst others didn't. She slowly moved her hand up to a shelf just a foot taller than herself to a bright red glass, then quickly pulled it back, and selected one just two rows below it. This glass was purple, and murky on the inside, and almost seemed to be swirling around the glass on its own.

She brought it back to the table. Then, ever so carefully, she began to pour the mixture into the glass. Out of the corner of her eye, Syl noticed Hiccup come walk into the room, and his dragon poked its head through one of the windows. Astrid remained outside, staring intently at the Nadder from earlier, that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

Suddenly, the liquid flared a bright green for a moment, then faded back down to its normal dull purple. Syl stared at in in awe for a moment, before turning to look at Hiccup and Astrid, who were both watching it with equal apprehension.

Gothi seemed more or less unphased by the occurrence, but still pulled a pair of tongs out of a nearby drawer, and ever-so carefully lifted the vial. Hobbling, she carried it outside to Astrid. Syl followed behind, as did Hiccup.

Standing in the doorway, as far away as she could from the dragons, whilst being able to see, she watched Gothi pour the liquid into a small bowl, a smaller version of the cauldron in the house. She set it on the ground, a few feet in front of Astrid. A steady stream of steam floated out of the top, quickly dissipating in the cold winter air.

Gothi pointed to Astrid, and then to the liquid. Astrid raised an eyebrow, as did Hiccup.

"Um," Syl broke the silence, and everyone's heads turned to her. "I think she wants you to drink it."

Astrid looked at her for a moment, then turned back to Gothi, who was nodding.

Her jaw dropped, and she turned to her boyfriend, desperately. Gothi just rolled her eyes, and wrote in a small patch of dirt on the ground,

YOU ARE A DRAGON. YOU HAVE FIRE IN YOUR BELLY.

THIS WILL BE LIKE NOTHING.

Syl decided she liked this woman.

Hiccup sighed. "Astrid," he told her, "This could turn you back! I know you've been through a lot in the past few days, but… Please, Astrid. This might be our only chance to change you back!"

Astrid continued to stare at the liquid, without looking up. After a moment, she took a deep breath, approached the liquid, and slurped it up with her tongue.

Syl had never seen a dragon drink before, but she was pretty sure Astrid was doing it wrong. Most of the liquid ended up falling on the floor, hissing as it made contact with the wooden planks. But, she got most of it in, and nearly gagged as she swallowed it all.

Nothing happened.

"So, uh," Hiccup began, "is… Is this going to take a little while, or…?"

The elder continued to stare at Astrid for another moment, then slowly shook her head. She began to write in the dirt again.

DID NOT THINK THAT WOULD WORK ANYWAYS

WILL NEED DIFFERENT MATERIALS FROM JOHANN

DON'T KNOW WHEN HE'LL BE HERE

COULD BE TOMORROW, COULD BE FEW WEEKS

WINTER COMES SOON

GO TELL YOUR FATHER ABOUT THIS

HE MIGHT KNOW WHAT TO DO

IF NOT, I KNOW

HE WILL DO EVERYTHING HE CAN FOR HER.

Syl expected Hiccup to look devastated, defeated, even, but he didn't. Instead, he crossed his arms, nodded, and kept staring at the dirt. After a moment, he bent down to Gothi's height, and whispered something in her ear, pointing at Syl as he did.

Gothi's eyes widened for a moment, but then went back to their normal, wise gaze, and she smiled at Syl for a moment, surprising her. Then, becoming serious again, she began to write in the dirt again, wiping away most of her previous message with her staff before she did.

HICCUP

BY ALL MEANS, I SHOULD

WARN YOU AGAINST DOING THIS

YOU HAVE ATTEMPTED IT IN THE PAST

AND IT ENDED IN NEAR DISASTER

BUT THIS ONE TIME, I WILL HELP YOU

BUT IF YOU WISH TO DO THIS

I DO NOT KNOW HOW LONG IT WILL BE FOR

IT COULD BE WEEKS

EVEN MONTHS BEFORE I CAN FIND A CURE

I AM ASSUMING ASTRID HAS AGREED TO THIS

Astrid, who had been staring at Syl, looked down at the words, growled, then nodded slowly, glaring at her as she did. Gothi curtly nodded back.

AND HER?

She pointed her staff at Syl. Hiccup looked down at the ground. "I'm going to ask her in a few minutes. I need to go get something, first. Besides… She does kind of owe us this." Gothi stared at him for a moment, almost angrily, then rolled her eyes.

FINE

BUT YOU MUST REMEMBER

IF SHE ACCEPTS

YOU MUST NOT LET ANY HARM COME TO HER

YOU ARE AS RESPONSIBLE IN THIS AS SHE WILL BE

DO NOT DISAPPOINT ME IN THIS, HICCUP

YOU WILL BE CHIEF SOMEDAY.

I WILL PREPARE WHAT YOU WILL NEED.

"Thank you so much, Gothi. I knew we could count on you, and I promise I won't let you down." She smiled, nodded, then hobbled back into her hut.

Suddenly seeming quite happy, Hiccup ran over to his Night Fury. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Just need to grab a few things. I promise I'll explain everything, Syl!" As his dragon lifted off into the starry night sky, he yelled down one last thing, as if he had just thought of it.

"Oh, and don't kill each other!" Then he was gone.

---

Astrid didn't know what to think.

Sure, she was still mad at Hiccup for literally paralyzing her when she had pounced upon whom she knew must have been her enemy. It had been an… Interesting, experience. Truthfully, it had been the most blissful feeling she could ever recall having in her life, but she chose to ignore it - Hiccup had crossed a line.

But on top of that, he had immediately approached her with the most insane, unrealistic ideas that he had ever come up with. Sure they had pulled it off in the past - when they were younger, with Astrid, who Hiccup had known and trusted for his entire life. And now, he told her that he wanted to do the same once again with a girl who they knew was spying on them, knew tried to kill him, and knew turned Astrid into a Gods-damned Night Fury. And now, he had the audacity to tell her he trusted this girl.

Astrid certainly didn't - there was no good reason for her to still be with them, aside from the fact that she owed it to Hiccup for nearly making him break his leg, and Astrid for, well, turning her into a dragon. As far as doing it "against her will" and running away from her tribe went, she didn't believe that, either. She had met Veiklaðar Vikings before. They were rough around the edges - which was saying a lot, coming from a Viking - but they were loyal to their tribes, even throughout the hardships she knew they went through. Either this girl was still spying on them, or something else was keeping her there.

There was one thing Astrid believed - she had no idea how to make Astrid human again. At first, it had seemed likely that this had originally been her plan - to turn her, or Hiccup, into a dragon, then come back with him only to ensure that her plan had succeeded. But when she had tackled her - which had felt surprisingly good, after years of being looked down on for being known as a little girl - she had seen something in her eyes besides fear: confusion. She wasn't just afraid of Astrid - she had never even expected this to happen. No, the trap was intended to do something different. Something very different, by the sound of it. When Hiccup told her he had found her trapped under a landslide, and not just waiting in the woods for him to find her, that had confirmed it - there was no way this girl had turned her into a dragon, and so there was no way she knew how to turn her back.

And so, Hiccup had come up with an idea of how she could be useful. She should have been proud of him - after all, she was always the one telling him that everyone has a purpose, and they should dedicate their lives to it, no matter what. So of course, he had to find the use for her that Astrid truly and genuinely believed was the worst he could possibly come up with.

She examined the girl.

Ironically enough, she did remind her of Heather - her dull green tunic and jet-black hair was similar to what she had had - what she had worn once, even. But her face and jawline lacked the innocent look that Heather had, even after they learned what a traitor she was. No, this girl had obviously received a harsh upbringing, she knew. Always wondering if her family would have enough wood for a fire, if there would be food at the table - she knew for herself what it was like. During the winter, the village would often be snowed in for days, or even weeks, leading people to stock up huge piles of fish and lamb before the ice set in. Luckily, their village had been lucky enough not to experience one such since they had made peace with the dragons, but still some wondered - what would happen when they ran out of food, as well?

Suddenly, Astrid realized Syl had mumbled something under her breath. Due to her newly heightened sense of hearing, she had been able to understand it just fine - she just hadn't been paying attention.

"... Anyways, I just wanted you to know… I'm sorry I turned you into a… A Night Fury. That really sucks. I mean, you seemed pretty cool when I saw you in your village. Of course, I've still never really talked to you. And… I guess we probably won't unless your boyfriend and that old lady can find a way to get you back. I… I know you probably don't trust me, and you have a right not to, but. I… I do feel really bad about that. I have no idea what I would do if that happened to me, but…" Her voice trailed off.

Astrid glanced back at Stormfly, who was staring off over the village from the edge of the platform. Her dragon had seemed to have tried talking to her earlier, obviously trying to do the same as Toothless had that morning. He had told her that she could send mind-messages to her, as well, but she had decided to refrain from doing it - it seemed to personal, given that she couldn't say anything back. If she ever wanted to talk to her, she decided, she would have to learn the dragon-language, which was something she didn't plan on doing anytime soon.

Astrid looked back at the girl, who was sitting with her arms over her legs near the hut. Then started to walk towards her. She watched as the girl's eyes widened for a moment, and she scooted backwards towards Gothi's hut, until her back hit the corroded wooden wall. Despite her earlier statement that she believed 'dragons weren't so bad' it was obvious that she was still terrified of them, and Astrid was no exception, given what she had done earlier. Still, she continued to move towards her, until she was just a few feet in front of her, and could even hear the poor girl's rapid heartbeat, and quick breathing.

She stared into her eyes for a moment - they were a faded blue, like the gray, murky waters of morning only fishermen like Bucket and Mulch saw. And they were terrified - not just of her, but… Of something else. Astrid was sure of it now - this girl hadn't joined them by choice - something had obligated her to do it, but Astrid just couldn't quite figure it out.

She could see some of the logic in Hiccup's plan - they had pulled it off relatively well in the past, and nobody else in the town could do it. In a way, Hiccup probably thought they had been incredibly lucky to have her show up - they might not have been able to do it, otherwise. But all of it rode on one small fact, and it was one that Astrid did not believe could work, until Syl had spoken out.

Staring at her for only a moment longer, Astrid looked down at the hard-packed dirt in front of her, and began to write another message. Syl seemed relieved, but still worried - that was something they would have to change.

HICCUP DOESN'T WANT ME TO TELL YOU

WHAT IT IS HE WANTS TO DO YET

BUT IF WE DO THIS,

YOU'RE GOING TO NEED TO LEARN TO TRUST ME.

Abandoning her fear for a moment, Syl gave a nervous snort. "Trust you? You tried to kill me earlier - and almost did! I don't know what this plan of yours is, but it's not going to come quite so easily if you think this is that simple."

Astrid sighed, then wrote,

WITH ALL DUE RESPECT

YOU COULD KIND OF USE A

FRIEND RIGHT NOW

CAN WE AT LEAST START THERE?

Syl sighed, and looked away, mumbling, "I don't really make friends..."

WHY NOT?

"I just…" she looked back up at her. "Friends don't really work for me, I… I wasn't very popular back home. I used to get into fights, 'cause all the boys used to tell me I wasn't doing what girls were supposed to. My brother…" She stopped suddenly, and jerked her head up. Her face lost the vulnerability of a moment before, replaced quickly by a tough resolve. "I… I've said too much. I shouldn't even be talking about this stuff."

Astrid had struck some sort of nerve - and she knew it. It was a small amount of progress - but they had a long way to go if they were to follow through with Hiccup's plan, especially given the incredibly short time they would have to build it up with if they were going to succeed. But if there's anyone to do it, Astrid thought, she's perfect. And yet, she was somewhat glad that the conversation had ended - she still felt ready to pounce on this girl at any minute, and getting people to talk peacefully had always been Hiccup's thing, anyways.

NO, IT'S A GOOD THING

Astrid wrote.

"No…" Syl slowly shook her head back and forth, staring at Stormfly. "I'm not even supposed to be here. I… I should've left when he gave me the chance. I should-" Syl was suddenly cut off as Toothless and Hiccup landed on the platform, her best friend looking at her worriedly. He had a faded brown pack slung over his arm. Astrid already knew what was inside, though she wished she didn't.

She turned around and moved over to them, though Syl remained pasted to the hut - one of the many habits she would have to break, if they went through with it.

YOU FOUND IT OKAY?

Hiccup nodded. "Little hard to get in, but I got it, yeah. I stopped at the… Um… Trap site to see what happened, too. I don't think anyone saw me, though I can't be sure. Are… Are you sure you want to go through with this, Astrid? We could always just bring you back to my father. I don't know how the village would react, but… You never know. We could always just hide, or run away, as well... And this girl - Syl, I… I don't know if we can trust her, to be honest. And I know we've just met her, but we have to do this now if we want it to… To..." His voice trailed off. She looked back at the girl, still leaning against the house. If she squinted enough, she almost thought she could see Gothi smiling at them from the inside of the house, as well. Syl was apprehensive, but had a certain determination in her eyes that was rarely seen. It wasn't the battle-prowess or glory-of-victory look she had seen in the past - it went deeper than that, delving into a lifetime of put-downs and taunts, a belief that even if she never amounted to anything, she still had to try. They had discussed at length what they would have to do during the walk to Gothi's house, and Astrid slowly became convinced that they might just be able to pull it off. Either way, she would be perfect.

Turning back to Hiccup, she wrote out in the dirt,

YOU KNOW I HATE THIS PLAN

IT'S EMBARRASSING AND RISKY

I DON'T TRUST HER AT ALL

WE BARELY KNOW HER

SHE COULD RUIN MY REPUTATION

SHE'S AN ENEMY SPY

YOU'LL NEED TO BE

WATCHING HER CONSTANTLY

WE'LL NEED TO TEACH HER

IN A VERY VERY SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME

AND I THINK THIS ONLY DELAYS THE INEVITABLE.

She turned to look at Toothless. "What do you think about all this?

He stared at her. "I think you're both crazy. But I trust Hiccup, and so it's up to you. I'm not helping you with this one, though, so good luck." She sighed. He was right, of course - they were both absolutely crazy for even thinking of doing this. The sheer fact that Hiccup even thought to suggest this only moments after he had found her was mad in itself. Overall, the very notion of what they were about to do was quite possibly the most harebrained of all.

She turned to look at the girl, then back to Hiccup and Toothless.

LET'S DO IT.

Hiccup nodded, and took a breath, then turned around to look at Syl.

Her eyes flicked up to him, defensive. "So am I finally going to hear this big plan for me you have in store? Because I swear to the Gods if you turn me in I will run straight back to my island."

Hiccup sighed, then began to pull something out of his pack. "It's not like that. Though… You will have to go into the village. For quite a while actually. And, well…" He finished unpacking it, and threw the bag on the ground.

In his hand, he held a crisply folded blue tunic, a leather-and-iron circlet, two steel shoulder pads, a spiked-skirt, a skull-encrusted belt, some cloth strips, a pair of boots… And her axe. He held it out to Syl.

"Uh…" She looked up at him, confused. "What's this?"

"Oh," Hiccup replied, smiling sheepishly. "It's just your clothes..."

She couldn't help but squeeze her eyes shut at the next part.

"... Astrid."