They get back to the Edge at last, landing on the runway they made in front of the Dragon Stables - where they keep the sick or very injured dragons, as well as a space for their dragons to sleep in if they really want to, and if necessary they act as a makeshift jail - and Heather and Mala dismount. The Berkians basically fall on their faces trying to get off the dragons they rode in on. Stoick crosses his arms and asks "Where's Bloom?"

Mala meets his gaze evenly, not intimidated at all by the larger man, and says "She's not here at the moment, Stoick. And I doubt she'd want to talk to you if she were."

"She-"

Heather deadpans"Got disowned by you when she tried to show you who she actually was and still is. Was ridiculed by the entire village minus Gobber for most of her life, everyone else you brought with hurt her one way or another, and you ignored her whenever she tried to talk to you. Yes, we've gotten to know her. Yes, we eventually got the full story out of her about what happened. No, we don't know when she or Dagur will be back."

Asher's brain latches onto one thing - Bloom and Dagur?! "Woah, wait a minute. Why are Bloom and Dagur alone somewhere?" He can only hope he doesn't sound too jealous - judging by Heather and Mala's smirks, he's utterly failed in that respect.

Heather says "Dagur and Bloom went on a recon mission. One of Viggo's shipyards. We were going to make a hit on it soon, destroy it even though we're pretty sure it's a very well-funded trap, but then Atali sent a Terror Mail saying you lot had ended up on Wingmaiden Island. Dagur offered to do another recon mission on the place with her, while we came to get you and get you off towards Berk before Bloom knows your in the area and loses it."

Asher relaxes at that point, and Mala adds "Besides, he's my husband. Or did you forget that?" There's a series of coughing - translation, yes, they did forget that detail.

Heather sighs, and says "Go home, everyone."

Stoick says "Not until we see Bloom." Not until he convinces her to come back to Berk!

Mala shrugs, and says "If you're planning on kidnapping her, it's a fool's errand. If she doesn't wish to be somewhere, nothing you can say or do will make her stay. We asked what she would do if she ever ended up on Berk without a dragon once, and she said she'd head to Dragon Island and get a ride back here." Plus, she's got magic - she can turn into a dragons, dammit, there's not a building or boat Berk has that would survive her breaking out if she really meant business.

Asher says "Please. We just want to talk to her." Well, he wants to talk to her. Among other things. He'd also like to kiss her senseless, but he figures that's one way to lose his lips and his life altogether.

Heather and Mala share a look, then stare at him like they're studying him, then Heather shrugs and says "Your cremation. Fine, follow me. I'll take you to the Clubhouse. After that, its all on you. Like I said, Mala, the only thing she ever learned from them was stubbornness. Or maybe she was just born with it and happened to end up with people nearly as stubborn."

As they walk from the Stables to the building at the center of the island, Asher spots the hut at the highest ledge again and asks "Who lives there?" Honestly, he can't think of anyone who would actually go that far regularly just to go to bed. Maybe its somewhere to keep unofficial prisoners.

Heather looks where he's pointing, and says "That's Bloom's. She usually flies up there."

Gobber whistles, and says "Quite the walk."

Mala just shrugs, and says "Yeah, well, you know. Best spot for taking off for a morning flight with Brightfire. She's not usually in there, though. Always doing something, never actually takes a break."

They get inside the Clubhouse, the Twins asking question after question about a Boar Pit, and Heather goes to find some of her Yak Chops. Asher corners Mala and asks "What happened to Bloom? She's…different. Really different." And he's not just talking about her personality changes. He's talking about the detail that she's so toned she might well be a dragon that looks human and speaks Norse.

Mala smirks at him, and asks "Liked what you saw? She grew up, was taught how to fight by Vikings - so, taught how to fight with weapons instead of just her body and her magic - and had a growth spurt. And got into a war with the Dragon Hunters, which contributed to her fighting experience."

Much as Asher would like to protest that she knew how to fight before...well, the dragons taught her to fight. Not Stoick, not Gobber, the dragons in the forest.


Hours later, Dagur walks in with an exhausted look on his expression. And then he fake-cheerfully asks "Guess who decided it'd be a great idea to take out twenty of Viggo's ships?"

Mala blinks, then asks "Viggo had twenty ships there at one time?"

"Yep. It was a trap, by the way. A very well-funded one. Bloom couldn't resist burning it down." While it was fun, and a big blow to Viggo's ships,

Heather shrugs, and says "We knew that. Where's Bloom?"

"She's coming. Brightfire's going slow for this flight. They're still here?"

Stoick nods, and says "I want to speak to Bloom."

Dagur just shrugs, and says "Bloom probably doesn't want to speak with you. Honestly, if she did, she'd have done so a month ago when she ended up on Berk again. If I were you, I'd offer her some tea from Wingmaiden Island after she deals with her leg. A lot of tea. And start praying."

There's another thudding sound, lighter than Shattermaster's landing, and then Bloom walks in with an arrow sticking out of her leg. There's several gasps from the Berkians, which has Bloom staring in shock for a minute. When she snaps out of it, she says "Lovely to see you again, Gobber."

The hidden knife in her right hand slides out, and she points it at the other Riders and says "Explain, please." She then puts her injured leg up on the nearest chair, and cuts the arrow shaft away as close to her armor as she can - making all the Berkians sigh in relief.

Dagur chuckles at them, and says "If Bloom was going to threaten you with a blade, she'd have thrown it next to someone's head. So, it wouldn't have been that one."

Snotlout asks "You know that from experience?"

Bloom calls over "If your going to show them that old scar on your arm, tell them I threw it because you threw it at me first. Along with when it happened."

Asher moves over to Bloom's side to help, asking "What happened?!" Bloom rolls her eyes in irritation at him, slaps his hands away, and says "I got shot with an arrow. What's it look like?"

Asher mumbles "Like you got shot with an arrow…" He moves to help again, only to get his hand slapped away again.

Bloom shakes her head and takes her boot off, revealing the arrowhead still embedded in her leg. And it doesn't look good, to be honest, with blood still seeping out of the hold the arrow made

After a minute, he asks "How'd it happen?"

To his utter surprise, she says "It was meant for Brightfire. Dragonroot arrows knock dragons out of the sky almost instantly. All but Boulder Class like Gronckles and Hotburples. Which, in case you couldn't tell, Brightfire is not. I would've caught it, but my arms were a little preoccupied at the time." Crushing a ship each to splinters.

As they watch, her hand starts glowing orange and she holds it a few inches over her injury. And then jerks it back, with the arrowhead following just as quickly - that must've hurt - the arrowhead that hangs in the air for a moment, dripping Bloom's blood, before it suddenly gets consumed by fire at a motion of Bloom's fingers. Everybody visibly winces, Snotlout looking like he might be sick, but Bloom just glares at them and says "Deal with it, people. I do, all the time."

Stoick incredulously asks "You get hurt like this a lot?"

Bloom derisively says "I'm the Dragon Tamer, Stoick. And in the middle of a war with the Dragon Hunters. It's an occupational hazard."

Asher hears Stoick's breath catch in his throat, but ignores it in favor of moving to help Bloom again - she's currently got her hand over the hole in her leg. When he moves her hand, his nearly gets burned on contact - but he sees the hole is already closing. Healing, but not scarring like he'd expect. Well, there goes trying to clean it up.

By the time she's finished healing herself, she's gone paler than usual, looks exhausted, and her hands are shaking - seems this magic stuff takes it out of her. She slips her boot back on, and takes a step…then promptly hits the floor on her hands and knees, breathing like she just tried to lift Stoick. Asher's at her side in an instant, but he's faced with Bloom's hand as she pushes herself to her feet unsteadily. "Bloom you just about collapsed. Would you just-"

Bloom snarls "I'm fine, Asher. Just like I was fine back on Berk."

She turns to Dagur, Heather, and Mala, and says "Guys, I'm going to sleep for a while. Maybe a week. Get them" she jerks her head at the Berkians as she talks to her fellow Riders "sorted out please. Whatever it is they want, I'm sure Stoick the vastly-stubborn-and-set-in-his-Viking-ways will get it…without me or my lot that got thrown in with the dragons." Yeah, she's still so incredibly mad about that, its like bits of lava instead of words coming out of her mouth at that last bit.

She takes another few steps, then stumbles - before anyone can react, Brightfire catches her and puts her head under Bloom's arms to support her. They head out like that, right up until they get outside at which point they hear Bloom trying to get onto Brightfire's back. A good minute later, the dragon takes off. Presumably, heading to that nigh-on unreachable hut on the ledge.

Heather whistles, and says "I think that says everything she's going to say. Cranky, tired, and out of magic or not."

Snotlout asks "Huh? Out of magic? She can…run out?"

Dagur glares at him, then says "Sort of. That exhaustion's the price she pays for using too much of it at once. Along with waking up hungry as a dragon. She sunk twenty ships and burned a shipyard-turned-ambush to the ground earlier, then just yanked a Dragonroot arrowhead out of her leg and healed it. Yes, she's utterly exhausted. No, I don't recommend trying to see her. With or without some tea from WIngmaiden Island. She gets really cranky when she's that tired. And has at least a dozen different weapons on her body at most times, along with an excellent aim and reflexes. And, by the way, she's still mad about being disowned and all."

Stoick's shoulders sag, and he says "I want to apologize and all…"

Mala asks "And you waited all this time, why?"

Fishlegs says "We didn't know where she was! If she was even still alive or not!"

Mala deadpan asks "Did you even look for her? Did you ask around the Archipelago, looking for anyone matching her description?" From their expressions...no, no they didn't.

Heather snorts, and says "She's the Dragon Tamer. You ask anyone in the Northern Markets, they'll have some warning about crossing her - especially about laying even a hand on Brightfire. Half of them think she's a demon, which she's happy to let them think, and the other half think she's been blessed by Freya."

Snotlout asks "Why's that?"

Dagur grins, and says "The only time someone was a big enough idiot to do that, she broke every bone in their hand, their arm, and then beat them unconscious. Nobody messes with her or her dragons anymore except the Dragon Hunters." There's a round of gulping, but Ruffnut and Tuffnut grin to each other.

Heather shakes her head, and says "Don't even think about it, you two. Unless you want your arms in splints for a few months, that is. Then, by all means, go bug a cranky girl with a vicious temper, little patience, a smashing headache at the moment, and a history of killing Dragon Hunters and severely hurting anyone else dumb enough to mess with the only friend she had for mmm….I'd say at least seven years."

Asher groans, and says "Look, I…"

He lets out a breath, and Dagur grins and says "Want to make up seven years' worth of ignoring her, picking on her, and putting her down all at once. Good luck with that." The 'you're going to need it' hangs silently in the air, and Asher groans again.

Gobber claps his hand to his prosthetic, and says "Well, I'm going to check out that forge. Looked good."

Dagur shrugs, and says "Bloom's stuff. Something tells me you're the only one she wouldn't object to having a look. Just be careful in there, its not just a forge." Its a forge, lab, and saddle-repair and upgrade workshop, where she makes and repairs weapons, armor, and dragon saddles. Along with her more...interesting items. Like her Speed Stinger-coated pins, or her Nadder-spine head arrows. As he learned the hard way, when he accidentally tripped, hit a wall, and spilled six different vials onto the floor and the contents mixed. Were it not for Bloom, he'd be really dead.

Heather laughs, and says "Last time Dagur was in there, he nearly got himself killed. Bloom banned him from trying to help her in there after that."

Gobber snickers, and says "Sounds familiar."

Stoick groans, and says "She hasn't let that lot comment go, has she?"

Heather says "Nope. Or the disownment. Or, well, anything else, for that matter. What would you do if it were you?"

Fishlegs deadpans "Gotten eaten, that's what."

Dagur shrugs, and says "Probably. Us to, in all likelihood." Mala opens her mouth to protest, but Dagur says "On Berk, they were killing every dragon they came across. That, or putting them in the arena for training new warriors. The dragons there had absolutely no reason to trust a random Viking living there. Of course, Bloom would point out the detail that she was the most unviking-like Viking on the island."

Stoick winces, and says "Hasn't forgotten that either…"

Mala says "Nope."

"I meant it to be encouraging."

Heather asks "You told her you nearly gave up on her! How, in the name of Thor, is that encouraging?!"

Gobber gives Stoick another glare, and says "Well, I, for one, am going to find a place to sleep. I'm the only one here who she'll maybe want to see, and I plan on doing exactly that tomorrow."

Heather shrugs, and says "Chances are she'll want to talk to you. Fair warning, she gets up at the crack of dawn and goes on a morning flight with Brightfire. If anyone gets woken up to a sound like catapults exploding, its them blowing everyone's ears out with their insane speed in a daredevil dive they love to do so much."


AN: Hey, everyone! So, I know its been a while since I last updated Dragon Tamer...oops. Again. I'm getting really bad about this, aren't I? Sorry!

As for Bloom's reaction, I know everyone was expecting her to blow up at the Berkians - minus Gobber - but I figured I could drag out their punishment for a while. Plus, I sent them to Viggo's shipyard. Of course she was going to blow it up, it was just a matter of how many ships he'd send in at once.

Enjoy! More chapters in the works!

PS. A quick question. I've got an idea where Bloom does go back to Berk...and what's left of the Dragon Hunters allies with Krogan and the Outcasts. Leading Bloom to Drago, eventually. Think its a good direction?