OVERVIEW

The people of the Shimmering Shores prize collecting knowledge above all else. It is customary that once a child reaches maturity they travel to another tribe and document all they learn for at least two years. Upon completion of their studies they are to return to their homeland and present all their findings as well as a copy of their notes for the archive. Many choose to continue their travels afterwards as the allure of collecting knowledge can be overwhelming. Those who choose to remain on the shores after their rite of passage are held in high esteem as they are responsible for protecting all the volumes collected through generations. They earn the title Custodian and a new chief is chosen among them when the old feels they can no longer perform their duties.

Tengan is the daughter of the current chieftess, Makara. Her time of pilgrimage is upon her and yet she had not chosen which tribe to travel to. She has spent her childhood pouring over her ancestors journals and is eager to bring new knowledge to their family's shelves. The problem is most all tribes within sailing distance have been thoroughly documented already. She has almost resigned herself to deepening the knowledge of a few already known tribes in the area when a Viking chief and his son quite literally fall out of the sky.

A/N: This story is one I've been rolling around in my head for a number of years. I think I've finally figured out enough of the plot to finally put it to paper. While this will eventually be a romance between our main character Tengan and Dagur of the Bezerker tribe, it is going to be a slow burn with the first several chapters focusing on introducing Tengan to Berk and the Riders. Even then the romance will be a haters-to-lovers scenario over the course of both TV series. Rated M for language and eventual explicit situations.

CHAPTER 1

"Tengan! Are you up yet?" Makara tapped on the canvas wall of the three roomed tent-like structure they called home. "I told you not to stay up late reading, we have the clansmeet today. I'd like you present and pleasant missy."

"I'm up, I'm up..." came the mumbled reply. Tengan stretched, moaning into the euphoric feeling of muscles stretching out of their cramped position. Rubbing her eyes, she gathered up the leather bound copy of "Tools of the Trade", a recounting of her grandfathers time with a trading ship, the melted stub of her second candle this week, and her ever lengthening scroll on the pros and cons of studying under each available local tribe. Stifling another yawn, she packed the items away in her well worn trunk made from petrified wood and well oiled sealskin, another inherited item from her grandfather's time traveling with tradesmen.

"Why do I even bother trying to get you to bed on time?" Makara chuckled, eyeing her daughter's baggy eyes and knotted bird's nest of hair. Smiling softly, she kissed Tengan's forehead and pressed a lump of bread and half an apple into her hand. "Breakfast. Then go wash your face. A few of the chiefs made landfall already."

Tengan smirked back at the older woman. In between bites of apple she murmured "Has chief Leto arrived?"

"Yes. And I think he learned something from last year's incident. He hasn't made the same mistake of his father. From what I head he plans on leaving us one of his ships this time around." A glint appeared in the chieftess' eye as she absent mindedly palmed the hilt of her sabre.

Tengan snorted. While her people prized collecting and sharing knowledge above all, no one could ever call them weak or naive. While all were welcome to come and learn from their stores, originals were never to be taken from the library. Copies would be made of those who requested it and for a price. In order to receive knowledge, one must give in return. Decades ago it had become customary for all tribes within sailing distance to gather once a year to trade scrolls, blueprints, or even examples of craftsmanship for copies of their collected works. Last year, one chief, known at Mero, had decided that he would simply sneak into the library and take the volumes he desired. Makara had the pleasure of informing his son Leto the next morning that he was the new chief of his tribe. She had even been kind enough to let him take his father's body and head back to their homeland for a burial.

Makara nudged her daughter towards the opening of the tent. "Now don't you go mentioning that at the clansmeet. Leto has been brave enough to return and with proper compensation. Enough chat, go wash up and join us at the square."

"I'm going, I'm going!" Tengan stumbled out into the rapidly rising sun. Squinting towards the coast, she could barely make out a few ships drifting lazily towards the docks and the mess of peoples meandering into the village from those that had already successfully either docked or moored. Stuffing the remainder of her breakfast into her mouth she started towards the river that marked the eastern edge of the village. Several times she called out "good mornings" to the few stragglers that, like her, seemed to have a hard time rising early. Most of the village had already congregated on the shore to greet old friends and get a jump on documenting any changes or new additions to their guests' ships.

Without pausing to think of the chill in the water she knelt at the edge and plunged her face below the surface. Quickly, she scrubbed the sleep from her eyes and combed her fingers through the curly mass of thick tangles on her head. The gentle flow of the cold stream eased the knots as it flowers over her. With a gasp and shudder, she flipped her head back, sending hundreds of droplets down her neck and shoulders. While annoyingly chilly now, the water would rapidly dry under the harsh sun of the Shimmering Shores in next to no time.

Breaking into a trot, Tengan made her way back through the village, painfully aware that she was now officially the last person to make her way to the shore. Thankfully no one seemed to notice her tardiness. They all seemed fixated on a point in the distance. A few members had spyglasses trained on the subject of inquiry. As silently as she could, Tengan sidled up to her mother. "What's everyone looking at? Is there a new style of sail on one of the ships this year?"

"No." Makra responded quietly, eyes unblinking, unmoving from the same, now larger point on the horizon. Her intense gaze seemed hungry, almost longing.

Tengan brought a hand up to shade her eyes, squinting at the point. It seemed to divide into two now and was growing much too quickly to be a ship. Before she could ask again, Makara pressed a spyglass into her hands. Tengan pressed it to her eye, turning the center cylinder slowly to bring the two points into focus. "What…? OH!" She gasped, the spyglass slipping in her hands. She rapidly refocused, body tense. No, there was no way. Finding the points again she blinked rapidly to make sure it wasn't a trick of the light. One of the growing specks was blue, the other a pure black. The blue shape seemed oddly flat and wide while the black was longer, more streamlined. Both moved supported on wings of different lengths.

"Dragons! Mother, how? I thought they never flew this far south?" Tengan gasped, eyes still focused on the approaching reptiles. "Do you think they'll attack?" She spared her mother the briefest of glances.

"No, I don't think they will." Makara responded, eyes still trained on the dragons with all the focus of a hunting cat. "Look closer Little Scribe."

Tengan pressed her eye to the glass for a third time. The dragons were much closer now. Their speed ws truly as incredible as their tomes described. At this distance she could make out two individuals on the dragons. A much larger man sat astride the blue, squat one while a spinly boy looking to be a couple years younger than herself saw low over the black one's back. Tengan's heart swelled with excitement. "Are those-"

"Dragon Riders." Makara finished, a wolfish grin on her face. "This meet is going to be one to remember; I'm sure."

It took nearly an hour for Tengan and Makara to make their way to the front of the crowd of people. Both the members of their tribe and the unencumbered members of the visiting groups had gathered enmasse around the riders the moment their steeds touched the sands.

"Mother, why aren't you advancing? Surely they would allow you to the right as host." Tengan bounced on the balls of her feet, desperately craning her neck to peer at the dragons and riders.

"I'm sure they would. Patience, Tengan. Our people have not had the opportunity to study something so new on our own shores for many decades. The meet will last a few days. We will have plenty of opportunities to question Stoic and his boy while they are here."

"Stoick the Vast? From Berk? Are you sure? I thought they never came to the meets." Tengan craned her neck further, catching a glimpse of a ginger beard before the crowd thickened again.

"I'm sure, and they rarely decide to make the month long trip overseas, but Berk does occasionally make the journey. The last time they came was when you were first learning to walk. Stoick and I had long discussions of parenting as you were newly mobile and his wife had recently learned she was with child. If I had to guess, I'd say that's his son. I remember you became rather attached to Stoick on his last visit. He crafted the tiny wooden sword you used to carry around before departing." Makara squeezed her daughter's shoulder before waving mildly at the two celebrities as Stoic made eye contact.

"That can't be Makara! You look the same as you did fourteen years ago!" Boomed the viking chief as he slipped in between the mass of people, his son and the two dragons following with some difficulty and a few trodden toes.

"And you've somehow grown ever vaster you salty old man." Makara pulled the chief in for a one armed hug, the grin of two reunited friends mirrored on their faces.

"Always so quick to insult." Stoic chuckled, good naturedly. "May I introduce my son Hiccup?" He stepped to the side as the small boy squeezed his way between the beasts to stand before them.

"Uh, hi." He smiled before almost being knocked off balance by the black dragon's impatient snout. "This pushy reptile is Toothless." He patted the dragon's scaly snout. "And my father's partner is Thornado." The blue dragon keened in response to his name. "Uh is there anywhere we can scrounge up some fish for them? They've had a long flight."

Makara nodded. "Of course, my daughter, Tengan can show you to the pen we keep stocked in the river." She turned her attention to the pulsing crowd of mixed peoples encircling them. "I'm sure you all have plenty of questions for our guests but I pray you all return to your preparations for this evening." Her tone was light but the hardness in her eyes left no question as to whether or not this request was to be honored. In twos and threes the members of the Shimmering Shores peeled off with several long backward glances. Following their lead, the members of the visiting tribes followed suit. "Come Stoick, it has been much too long since our last conversation. Why don't you join me in our tent for some refreshments while the children tend to the dragons. I fear come this evening's storytelling circle you will not be left unmolested until the conclusion of the meet."

"Aye, I think your right. Very well." Stoick conceded with a chuckle. "Hiccup" he addressed his son, "Follow Tengan and take good care of Thornado." He scratched his dragon's chin rather gently.

"Comeon dad, you're talking to the best dragon rider on Berk." Hiccup chuckled before turning to Tengan. "Tengan was it? Lead the way."

Tengan grinned and nodded, struggling to keep her eyes on the spindly boy and not the dragons as she addressed him. "Of course right this way!"

It was fortunate the salmon had spawned so plentifully this year. Tengan estimated that between the two dragons their stock had been depleted by nearly two hundred. She had lost count around one hundred and thirteen. Sated, both reptiles lay basking in the early afternoon sun. "So you were the one that gave Toothless this wound? And he forgave you?" Tengan asked as her fingers trailed along the uneven edge of where the tail fin once was. Toothless' lips curled back and his body wiggled as her fingers danced along the scales. "Sorry! Didn't realize dragons were ticklish!" She quickly withdrew to jot down a few quick notes in the small bit of folded paper she kept tucked away in her belt pouch.

Apparently she had spent too long focusing on her work as both dragons decided to bump her hands with their snouts in a silent plea for more attention. "Wow, who knew they were so…. cuddly."

Hiccup chuckled. "Right? None of us did. Now I can't imagine life on Berk without them. But to answer your question, yeah, that was me. To be fair, I think we're pretty even now after the encounter with the Red Death." He held out the metal prosthetic, turning it slightly.

Tengan earned noises of discontent from both dragons as she abruptly shifted her attention away from them to Hiccup's leg. "Red Death?" She queried while sketching a rough approximation of the leg. She hadn't even noticed the artificial limb during her obsessive observations of Toothless and Thornado.

"Ah, Dad wants me to save that story for the circle tonight. But I promise it's a- ARGHH TOOTHLESS GET OFF!" he hollered as the Night Fury promptly sat in his lap and pressed his shovel-shaped head into Tengan's chest.

"Tengan laughed and butted heads with the dragon while reaching behind his leathery ears. "Who knew dragons were such attention hogs?"

She could have sworn she heard a bark of muffled, sarcastic laughter somewhere underneath the dragon's bulk.