Gobber sighs in utter relief when Oswald finishes his tale, and mutters "Thank Odin, she's alive. That was the last you've heard of her?"
Oswald nods, and says "It is. Though, I've heard reports of a 'Dragon Tamer' that may well be her lately. Nothing to identify them but the fact that they've got dragons at their side. They're also a damn good fighter, from what the stories say. I'm planning on investigating them in the next year or two, and I'll make sure to tell you whether its her or not."
The sound of a rack of weapons getting knocked into has both Oswald and Gobber's heads whipping around, and they see Asher standing there with a dumbstruck look on his face. "B-Bloom's alive?"
Oswald sighs, then asks "How much did you hear?"
Asher gulps, then says "Everything after 'kicked the ground and made a gouge a foot deep and ten long.'"
Oswald sighs again, then says "Go find Dagur, tell him I said to tell you what happened. Alone."
Asher nods and runs out, leaving Gobber with a glare on his face and Oswald chuckling. "Let me guess…"
"The idiot likes her now. Wouldn't give Bloom the time of day before Stoick forced her into Warrior Training, but when she suddenly got good at taking down dragons she was suddenly popular with everyone. She hated it all, but nobody else actually saw it. Now, Asher's beating himself up over the fact that she's gone."
Dagur looks around the Great Hall - this place just seems dead without one more red-haired girl in it, as Stoick's in a horrible mood and nobody dares mention the fact that Gobber's the one that's been sitting in the place that Bloom usually sits in during the feast. He's been slightly more than slightly obsessed with trying to train a dragon ever since Bloom basically shoved it in his face that it can be done, and he's so busy trying to think of what dragon he'd like that he only notices Asher's presence when the blonde taps him on the shoulder.
"Dagur, can we talk for a bit? Outside, away from here? Maybe…in the forest?"
Dagur smirks at the boy he saw Bloom blush over many times over the years, then nods and says "Sure, Asher, sure."
As soon as they're deep enough in the forest that they can't hear the sounds of the village, Asher immediately says "Bloom's alive. She was on Berserker Island."
Dagur blinks, opens his mouth to deny it, but then Asher says "Your father said to tell me when we're alone. It's supposed to be a secret - and I don't wonder why, seeing as Stoick's been a completely different person since Bloom left."
Dagur crosses his arms and says "Actually, it's because Bloom asked us not to tell. Why should I tell you anything?"
Asher groans, then says "Because I'm getting eaten alive with guilt here. Because I want to know she's still alright. Because…"
Dagur chuckles, and says "Because you like her, but you pushed her away and then found she wouldn't be pulled back."
Asher nods, then his eyes go wide when he sees the look on Dagur's face. "You-"
Dagur waves a dismissive hand, saying "Relax, blondie. I've been as bad to her as you were. I've got no chance with her, and I know it. I saw her as a little sister at first, like Heather. Problem is, Berserkers show their affection…well, roughly. She didn't take to it so much. I'd have to be blind to not notice how pretty she's turning out to be, though. Or how talented. She's smart - nobody in their right minds would say otherwise - she's hot, and she's skilled. She's also long-gone. Oh, and she liked you but you were so blind you never noticed. You want the story Oswald was telling Gobber? She and a pack of dragons washed up on our island the morning after a huge storm."
Asher nods, and murmurs "The ones from the kill ring, probably. Blue Nadder? Yellow Gronckle?"
"Yep, same ones. All different kinds. A Light Fury, to. That must be the one she trained - she had a saddle on the Fury's back." Asher nods, the dragon's name flashing through her mind. "Anyway, she said she'd been disowned, and she was heading east with the other four dragons. Oh, and she killed this massive dragon that was apparently forcing the other ones to get it food. On threat of being eaten themselves."
Asher gapes at Dagur, thinking of the giant foot that washed ashore three weeks after Bloom left.
They suddenly hear singing, and see a head of black hair they both recognize as Heather walking back through the forest. Dagur asks "Heather? What are you…" He trails off upon seeing the bundle in Heather's arms, staring in shock as she carries a small metallic-looking dragon in her arms.
Heather just grins, and whispers "Shh, Windshear's sleeping. Found that grass we heard about." She then heads off to the Berserker ship, humming away to the small dragon she's obviously named. And obviously just found.
Asher just stares dumbfoundedly at Dagur, who then puts a finger to his lips and says "Not a word, Asher. Not a word."
Johann calls Gobber over, saying "I've got something for you, Meister Gobber. A shipment of leather, I understand you work with it often." He takes a look at the high-quality leather, and Johann says "Point of fact, I'm supposed to deliver it to you. Already paid for, an' everything."
Gobber nods, reminiscing on the past and not truly paying attention to what Johann's saying - it's been well over a year since Bloom left. Stoick's getting eaten alive by guilt, any rage long since faded…after about the first two weeks or so.
Fishlegs grew a spine and yelled at Snotlout that they're the reason Bloom chose a dragon over them, that their treatment of her is what drove her to them. It seemed to shock Snotlout speechless, before the arrogant boy decided to get back at the bigger - stronger - boy for his words. Fishlegs then proved he's got more muscle than fat on his frame at this point, mainly by punching Snotlout out in a single blow.
Asher's lost some of his pride and recklessness over the past year, going quiet and thoughtful as Bloom was.
And the Twins...well, they're the Twins. Still making chaos for everyone, they just don't even mention Bloom to anyone. Sometimes you just know they're wondering about her, though, as they'll stare off in the direction Bloom flew off in for a time.
It's only when Gobber sets the parcel of leather down that he sees the note tucked inside it, which brings him out of his thoughts quite thoroughly. 'Gobber, I know I said Snoggletogg. And I know this'll probably be late by far by the time it reaches you. However, I made a promise and I intend to keep it. Twice the amount of leather I used for Brightfire's saddle. It took me a while to find leather this good, I'll have you know. I'm a woman of my word. Bloom, DT. PS. Miss you, hope your doing well. We are. Brightfire says hello, and thank you.'
Gobber stares at the note for a while, feeling relief go through him in massive amounts. Bloom's alive. Or, at the very least, she was alive a few months ago - he remembered Johann telling him the one that bought the leather about three months before asked him to make sure he got it.
Though, what 'DT' means is beyond him.
Bloom's in the Northern Markets, with Brightfire at her side - she's become known as the Dragon Tamer, and people know enough about her style in fighting to not even think about laying a hand on her dragon. Mainly because the last time anyone was utterly stupid enough to do so, she broke every bone in their hand and then their arm. Before she beat them unconscious.
At the moment, she's just gotten supplies for a few more months- she then drops all other thoughts when she feels a hand land on her shoulder. She whirls around, pressing a Gronckle-Iron dao she made into the throat of whoever is stupid enough or crazy enough to- That explains it.
Crazy, definitely crazy. Even after she found Oswald and brought him back to his island, and was subsequently told she and her dragons were welcome anytime on the island.
"Dagur?! What are you doing? And doing here?!"
Dagur chuckles, even as she doesn't lose the angry expression all the way, and asks "If you could remove the knife your pressing into my throat…?"
Bloom sighs and sheaths it, saying "Your just lucky I didn't go for something else. I've got a lot more at my disposal than this Dao."
Heather chuckles, and says "We can see that. What all is that? Our dad says thanks again, by the way."
"I'll explain as we walk. Let's go. You two start - particularly with the detail of how you even found the Northern Markets in the first place. Did Oswald tell you?"
Heather nods, then grins and says "Flew. On Windshear."
Bloom raises an eyebrow, taking in Heather's armor - which looks suspiciously like Razorwhip scales like from Wingmaiden Island - and asks "Flew? As in…on a dragon?"
Heather grins excitedly, and says "Took some trial and error, but I raised Windshear. And, after you saved our dad back on that island…somewhere around here, we figured we might as well see how you were doing. You want to meet her?"
Bloom nods silently, as Brightfire sniffs every inch of Heather. "So, how'd you find me? Brightfire and I travel a lot. We're sorta in a bit of a scuffle with this one group."
Dagur grins, and says "You, Bloom, are incredibly hard to track down. But, we managed. Rumors of the Dragon Tamer abound. For one, you attack any group that dares to harm dragons in more than self-defense. And you've stopped pirates from attacking innocent villages."
Bloom chuckles darkly, then says "I'm nice to dragons. People…not so much. At least, not the guilty people or bigots. So, why track me down?"
Dagur gulps, then quickly says "Bloom, please oh please teach me how to ride a dragon of my own!"
Bloom blinks, looking angry like she's about to refuse, gives him a long and hard stare like she's looking for any sign of deceit or ulterior motive, then yells "Fine! Fine! Follow us. Brightfire and I are heading to some friends of ours anyway. By the way, you hurt the dragon I find, you die, Dagur."
He quickly nods, holding up his hands in surrender. Bloom was 'scary' back when she threatened to impale him on his own knife when they were younger. She's graduated to 'terrifyingly deadly' at some point since she left Berk.
Dagur's jaw drops in utter shock when he sees Mala, and leans over to ask "Um, Bloom? Who's she?"
Bloom rolls her eyes, and says "That, Dagur, is Mala. Queen of this island, leader of the Defenders of the Wing, as deadly a fighter as me when I don't use my magic…and prophesized to meet a man who will save her life and then marry her. She hasn't found him yet."
"Wow…"
Bloom rolls her eyes as Heather snickers at Dagur's expression. Its going to be a looong time before they head back to Berserker Island.
Dagur, Mala, and Heather stare in utter shock - fascination, in Mala's case - as they watch Bloom spar with Throk - she's quite honestly whipping his butt every five seconds or so. Not that hard when you can toss people the size of Ryker Grimborn around like ragdolls with a wave of your hand, though.
Not that she's doing as much.
Heather asks "How, exactly, is she doing that? I thought you said this guy's the head of the guards or something."
Mala chuckles, and says "Throk is. He's also my second-in-command. Bloom's got a unique fighting style, however. She also claims to have been trained to fight by dragons. Do I believe it?"
Bloom takes a running start at Throk, jumping up almost impossibly high, landing both hands on his shoulders, and throwing him into the wall behind him when she lands on her feet.
"Yes, yes I do. I've seen her wrestling with Hookfang, and seen her win more than once. And not by chance either. She's also got some interesting, if highly unconventional ideas for fighting groups of people."
Dagur asks "Such as?"
"Pins coated with Speed Stinger venom. Relatively harmless, but it'll make a person go limp for several hours. Smoke bombs, made from condensed smoke collected by being around Smothering Smokebreaths. Arrowheads carved from Nadder Spines - still got the poison, and deadly if left untreated. And then there's the stuff she puts on her knives - condensed Flightmare spray. It'll paralyze someone for about ten minutes. All from dragons, and all collected without harming any of them. The metal armor she made for her Light Fury, as well as her weapons, she calls Gronckle Iron - made from a mixture of rocks eaten by a Gronckle. Again, completely harmless for the dragon - she can work a forge like nothing else, though. And work with dragons even better."
Dagur chuckles, rubbing the back of his head, and says "I bet…"
AN: Hey, everyone! Yes, Bloom has gotten very deadly since she left Berk. Poor Dragon Hunters! Fair warning, I'm sorta screwing with the timeline just a bit - there's been no war with the Berserkers, Bloom found Oswald and brought him back instead of Dagur taking over. Which was after the signing, since Oswald said he'd tell Gobber she was alright. After that, Oswald declared she was welcome on Berserker Island anytime, as well as Brightfire and the other dragons she washed up with.
At any rate, enjoy! More chapters coming soon! Please review, they make my day.
