Everyone but Bloom is eating breakfast in the Clubhouse - and Bloom's absence isn't uncommon, since she goes out with Brightfire for a morning flight and they can lose track of time easily - when suddenly several small dragons fly in and start causing chaos. One is Smidvarg, the leader of the Night Terrors, a few others are Skyshot, Sleuth, and Sabo, there's even the Thunderdrum Bloom rescued from the Death Song and raised with his parent. Though, he's more like a teenager, now.
Stoick thunders "What in the name of Thor is going on here?!" He and Snotlout are trying to swat the dragons away from their heads, Fishlegs and Asher are trying to move their breakfast away from the chaos, the Twins are actively joining in on the chaos, and Dagur, Mala, and Heather have concerned looks on their faces. Dagur finally lets out a whistle strong enough to get the dragons' attention. Heather quietly says "Smidvarg, Sabo, Skyshot, Sleuth, Echo…why would they be…?"
Smidvarg flies up again, squawking and bumping into Dagur again and again, and Bloom's Terrors do the same. And Echo starts bellowing at everyone, apparently trying to ell them something - except they aren't Bloom and can't just understand them. Dagur says "Alright, something's happened to Bloom."
Asher immediately asks "What?! What makes you say-"
Mala says "These three Terrors usually always stay with Bloom. Smidvarg's the leader of the Night Terrors. And Echo likes Bloom a lot after she saved him and his parent from the Death Song. If they're here…and trying to get our attention this badly…" The three Riders are out the door in an instant, the Terrors almost pulling at their hair to make them follow.
Asher's close behind, only to stare in utter shock when they…zip-line down to the ground. There's a barrel of sticks sitting there, likely for that exact reason - Asher grabs one, gathers up as much nerve as he can, and takes a running start. He lands, stumbling a bit, and Dagur quickly pulls the blonde boy out of the way of Snotlout. Who doesn't let go, and ends up crashing into a tree. Fishlegs takes the long way down, which involves several bridges, along with Stoick, and the Twins end up getting stuck halfway down the zip-line because they got into an argument. Dagur growls in annoyance, and says "You've got to be kidding…"
Heather says "They'll sort themselves out somehow. Or the Night Terrors will. C'mon, Sabo and Skyshot are heading into the forest."
Asher glances around, and asks "And Sleuth?" Heather points towards the stables. "Why's he heading there?"
Dagur heads off into the forest, saying "Because Bloom likely won't listen to us. She's stubborn as a dragon, that way."
Asher nods, saying "Stubborn as her father. Adopted or not, he clearly taught her that."
Heather rolls her eyes, and says "That's the only thing he taught her, then. Because he sure didn't teach her the ability to understand dragons. Or heal herself. Or control fire. Or…"
She clears her throat, and Asher asks "Or?"
"Bloom's secret. You knew most all of those before, I think."
Seeing Heather won't give him any other anser, Asher switches subjects and asks "So, what's got the Terrors in such a panic?"
Heather snickers at his expression, and says "You like Bloom."
Asher glares at her at once, saying "I'm serious. If that's why-"
Heather outright laughs at the look on his face, saying "No, it isn't. It was just written all over your face. As for Sabo, Sleuth, and Skyshot, something must've happened to Bloom. She found them as babies, took them in and raised them. They're practically her kids, by now. They also go on the raids she does on the Dragon Hunter ships. She makes a distraction, they sneak on board in the confusion and free the captured dragons. Works amazingly well, honestly. Brightfire likely sent them to go get help while she stayed with Bloom."
They keep going for another few minutes, only to start hearing a sound that's definitely not natural - it's music. Asher's eyes widen as he remembers the instrument Bloom had - the flute, he thinks it's called - and he whispers "That's got to be her."
Heather nods, and says "She usually plays when she either wants to calm down…or when she's still tired from using her magic too much."
Asher mutters "Please let it just be that. Please, Thor, let it just be that…" He gets the feeling, though, that its not just that.
When they find Bloom, she's leaning into Brightfire's back and playing her small flute with several other dragons that appear to be completely wild laying in the small clearing in the forest. Sabo flies into Bloom at full speed, while Skyshot lands on her legs and starts sniffing her, resulting in the music getting cut off and Bloom gasping for breath while saying "Easy, boys, easy! What happened? And where's your brother?"
Dagur crosses his arms, and says "They came to get us. Rather frantically, really. Care to explain?"
Bloom rolls her eyes, and says "I'm not a hundred percent the morning after blowing up twenty ships and healing a hole in my leg, and they freaked. Yes, I've had breakfast, so don't ask."
Asher clears his throat, and nervously asks "Where, erm, where'd you learn to play? It was good."
Bloom deadpans "Taught myself. I taught myself a lot of things. How to heal myself, for instance."
Dagur frowns, and says "Something's wrong. Bloom, look at me for a minute."
Bloom tries to wave them off, saying "I'm fine, Dagur. Really. While I appreciate the brotherly concern-"
Dagur huffs in annoyance and stalks over, crouching down so he's at her level and taking her chin in one hand. After turning it this way and that, he curses under his breath and says "You're sick."
She scoffs and twists out of his fingers, saying "Never been sick a day in my life, Dagur. Not counting that time we found out I'm allergic to Blue Oleanders. I'm not about to start now."
Dagur raises an eyebrow, and says "You've also never been shot with a Dragonroot Arrow before, you know."
Bloom protests "I healed that last night!"
Asher quietly asks "What happened with…what'd you call them? Blue something?"
Heather crosses her arms, and says "Blue Oleanders. They're a kind of flower Scauldron's love to eat. Poisonous to reptiles though - so, poisonous to other dragons. And, for whatever reason, to Bloom. Lets just say it was an experience for everyone involved and leave it at that."
Asher takes in a short breath through his teeth, then walks over so he's kneeling next to Dagur - Bloom's cheeks are flushed a bright red, and he could swear she looks a bit paler than she usually does. He can't particularly tell if she's got a fever though, since she's always warm thanks to her magic. The biggest worry for him, though, is the way her eyes are slightly glazed over. Before he can say she's sick, she glares at him and says "You say I'm sick, I'm telling everyone what you did the last time you were sick with Eel Pox and I was stuck playing nursemaid for the entire village."
Asher's face goes bright red on its own, and he says "I, uh, don't know what you're talking about…"
Bloom deadpans "I'm not surprised, you were delirious, hallucinating, and completely out of it. Half the village was, to, the other half was sleeping. Gobber thought he was his own aunt, Stoick was giving rambling orders that didn't even make sense, and Snotlout tried to kiss me because he thought I was 'a hot, axe-wielding babe' from his hallucination since I had your axe at the time to keep you from accidentally killing someone with it. He also called me 'Brunhilde' so I'm assuming he thought I was the leader of the Valkyries."
At Asher and Dagur's glares, the other boy holds his hands up and says "Hey, I don't remember that! Besides, wasn't the time the entire village got sick with Eel Pox when we were ten?"
Bloom irritably snaps "Yeah, it was. I was the only person not sick, and so got stuck caring for everyone that was." Her raised eyebrow in Asher's direction says she's got some blackmail material on him as well, making him blush even more - right up until the Nightmare from the Kill Ring, didn't she call him Hookfang, appears. With another Terror, which must be Sleuth.
Bloom groans, and mutters "You've got to be kidding me…Sleuth, I'm fine. Really. All of you, in fact." She starts arguing with Hookfang, saying she's fine and everyone is overreacting. Which now includes Hookfang, after he sniffs her and apparently comes to the same conclusion as the others. Hookfang rolls his eyes - they all swear it - and then motions towards the hut they can see on a cliff.
Dagur nods, and says "There goes any plans Bloom had today."
Asher asks "Why's that?"
"That's her hut."
He knows that, thank you very much! "…and?"
In answer, Hookfang picks Bloom up by the back of her armor - in his teeth, though he seems to be very careful about that detail - and flies up towards her hut. Not without Bloom protesting, though - saying she's fine and is neither sick nor a child so put her down already! "And he's taking her there himself. Bloom's stubborn as a dragon, with ease, but Hookfang and Stormfly are protective of her. Right along with Brightfire. Parents and sister she never had, basically. She's under hut-arrest, I'm guessing."
Brightfire gives Dagur a lift, and Asher nearly sprints all the way up to Bloom's hut - it's only the knowledge that Mala's married to Dagur that keeps him from doing so. Well, and the detail of just how far her hut is - if he tried to sprint all the way there, he'd collapse not even halfway there. When he gets up there, he's just in time to hear "-fine, Dagur! All of you are overreacting so badly…"
When he gets in, Dagur's just saying "You're not fine, Bloom. Your just used to taking care of yourself all the time. Which, admittedly, I did play a part in."
Bloom drily says "And you've apologized for that, a lot. And made up for it, helping me with the Dragon Hunters and all. Its not like you made my very existence nigh-on unbearable for years, so relax about it already." She's sitting on her bed, tucked away in one corner of the open room, and Asher sees her try to get up - Dagur catches her around the waist, keeping her on the wooden frame of the bed easily enough.
"Bloom, you're sick. For the second time in your life, you're sick. And this time, you're not going to tough it out. I thought Throk was going to go ballistic when he realized you were sick and sparring with him."
Bloom looks away, crossing her arms, then jerks her chin forward and asks "What's he doing here?"
Asher looks away, and says "Wanted to see how you were doing. You do know there's a dragon sitting on your roof, right? And another three in various places nearby?"
Bloom groans, though she tries to disguise it, and mutters "Dammit, guys…"
Dagur says "They're going to make sure Bloom doesn't try to leave. Go flying, go eating, anything."
Bloom moves to stand, saying "Really, I'm fine-"
Dagur pushes her back onto the bed, and says "No, you're not. And saying it a thousand times won't make it true! Magic or no magic!" At her stubborn glare, he sighs and says "Alright, didn't want to have to do this…boys?" Sabo, Sleuth, and Skyshot come out of nowhere and tackle Bloom all at once. She's knocked onto her back in an instant, with the dragons all but holding her down. Dagur takes advantage of her current distraction to throw the fur she keeps on her bed over her.
Once Dagur leaves, after threatening Asher if he tries anything, the blonde boy walks over hesitantly - with something of a good reason, as Brightfire's laying down next to Bloom's bedside and she's got three Terrible Terrors laying on her in various positions. "Um…"
Bloom rolls her head to the side, not being able to sit up due to the detail that there are three Terrible Terrors currently curled up on top of her, asking "What do you want, Asher? Really?"
"Can…can I sit down?" Usually, he's more confident than that - but usually he's not standing three feet in front of a Light Fury. She couldn't miss if she closed her eyes! Also, he's quickly come to the conclusion that Bloom's in a bad mood thanks to being sick...and he'd rather stay on her good side instead of risking getting burned.
Bloom sighs, rubbing her temples with her free hand - since one arm is currently wrapped around the Terror Asher thinks is called Sabo - and says "There's a chair at my desk…" He takes the chance to look around the room - there's a desk that clearly gets used a lot, some bookshelves filled with books of all kinds, various kinds of drawings and a gigantic map pinned to the walls almost everywhere, and a large flat rock which must be Brightfire's bed. All in all, it certainly looks like Bloom lives here.
Once he brings the chair over, Asher finds himself lost for what to say. But, really, what is he supposed to say? 'Hey, I haven't seen you in three years until you showed up at Berk out of the blue, but life as a vigilante dragon-lady seems to be treating you well.'? It sounds ridiculous even in his own head. Brightfire makes a warbling noise, which Bloom responds to with "Oh, quiet. As if. I got over that ages ago."
Asher tilts his head, asking "You really can understand them, huh?"
Bloom nods, saying "Ever since first seeing the Red Death. The dragon that was controlling all the others that were sent to raid Berk. Before you ask, we killed her. Brightfire, Hookfang, Stormfly, Meatlug, Barf, Belch, and I. We also freed all the dragons she had basically trapped there when they weren't out on a raid."
Asher shifts in the seat, asking "Controlling them how?"
Bloom shrugs, and says "Mind-control, with probably a healthy dose of fear. For a size comparison…think of Stoick next to a newborn chicken. The Red Death would eat any dragon that didn't contribute enough to feeding her. We weren't even supposed to be there, but neither of us knew which way the nest was. We picked a direction, and it happened to be the wrong one."
Asher blinks again, then brushes a piece of hair out of Bloom's face - earning him an unreadable look from her. After a long minute, she asks "What are you even doing here, Asher? You and the others?"
Asher blinks, then asks "I need a reason?" Somehow, he gets the feeling telling her about the Prophecy Gothi gave would be a good way to set her off spectacularly.
Bloom hisses "Nobody but Gobber was ever there for me just because! Stoick was always too busy being the chief of Berk to spend any time with his daughter, adopted or otherwise. And nobody else that came did anything but pick on me. You just ignored me after it all started, preferring to play the cold, tough, silent Viking act! So, really, why are you here? Why now? Why not keep the act up?"
Asher grimaces at the reminder of how they bullied her so much, how he let her down so many times, then says "Things changed after you left, Bloom. A lack of raids meant more time, and, well…Stoick was beating himself up not a week afterwards. Gobber didn't speak to him for a good month other than anything strictly necessary. I can't speak for the others, but…"
"But?" There's an edge to Bloom's voice, but he doesn't blame her for that. He doubts she could keep it out if her life depended on it.
"But…I had time to think. I grew up, to. Mentally, at least. I don't think my brain had caught up with my body when we were in Training." True, but not the whole truth. He can only hope she buys it.
Bloom hums, but doesn't say anything about that particular matter - he can only imagine what she'd say, though. It's not particularly comforting. Frowning, he puts a hand to her cheek and says "Your burning up, Bloom."
She smacks her hand against his arm, but it isn't actually strong enough to knock his hand away, and mutters "I've got power over fire, Asher. I'm always warm."
There's a screeching sound that startles Asher away from her, the sound of something very big landing next to the hut…and then a dragon's head he doesn't recognize comes through the window right above Bloom's bed - which is likely why that window is there, honestly.
Bloom grins, reaching up an arm and saying "Hey, Torch…" Sabo, Sleuth, and Skyshot all get up at once, chattering like mad, and Bloom sits up despite Asher's protests. "Stormfly brought you, huh? Or Echo? Because Hookfang hasn't left the roof yet."
'Torch' pushes Bloom back down with his head, resulting in more grumbling from the fire-haired girl - then then he growls at Asher, and motions for him to head towards the door. And growls at him warningly when he hesitates.
AN: Hey, so...yeah, this story still isn't dead. I'm just bad at updating everything regularly. It does NOT help that I literally dreamed a new idea and it won't get out of my head - in case anyone's wondering...yes, this is how I get inspiration sometimes.
Anyway, as to the story...just how bad of a patient do you think Bloom is? I've heard somewhere that doctors are the worst patients...so what about a girl who can heal anything with a little concentration? Its not gonna be fun for most of them! Enjoy! Please review!
