A/N: Now that we have finally arrived at Tengan's integration into the Riders things should pick up a bit. In my mind, she arrived relatively soon after the events of Dragon Flower which would allow her to be just in time for The Heather Report. I'm not planning on going into super detail breaking down her role in each of the episodes. Just the ones I feel are important to her character growth or her relationship with the others. This chapter will focus on some of the events in The Heather Report and, if all plays out like I think it will, we should finally be seeing Dagur for the first time in the following chapter. If you're still reading along, thanks! Let me know if there is a specific episode you really want me to flesh out.
CHAPTER 5
Mornings on Berk were always cold. Too cold if you asked Tengan. More often than not she would start the day by slipping quickly out from under the covers and up against Toothless' side until the fire was banked high enough. At least mornings with the riders included lots of exercise more often than not. Between running combat drills to caring for the dragons, it was quite easy to work up a sweat before lunchtime. During the afternoons things tended to slow for her a bit when the Riders would often take off for patrol flights. Thankfully, between the Book of Dragons and Fishlegs' generous gesture of lending her his notes, Tengan was content to sit as closely as possible to the large fires in the great hall, a fan of papers spread out before her.
Before the flick of a Gronkle's tail a week had gone by. One would think it would be impossible to cause two explosions in such a short time but magically the twins had managed to destroy a cart of sheep wool and create a large crack in one of the statues in the town square. It was now customary for Tengan to duck the second she heard the telltale hiss of Barf's gas escaping. The only thing more impressive with the twin's appetite for destruction was the unflinching overconfidence of Snotlout. He had been more than happy to tell her a number of increasingly fantastical tales about himself, none of which she believed were true. Those were written on a separate scroll and may or may not have been the source of entertainment for her and Hiccup a couple nights before bed. Only Astrid still seemed distant. Despite several moments where Tengan swore they were starting to get along, the moment Hiccup joined them she'd close off again. It really was a shame, Tengan often thought, as she would have loved to spend more time with the clearly most talented warrior of the group. Pinning Snotlout during practice was only interesting the first few times.
Luckily, that opportunity arose on the wings of a very familiar Monstrous Nightmare during time trials over the sea stacks.
"Guys, come on! You're not going to believe what I found!" Snotlout called out, not even bothering to land.
"Climb up, Tegan." Hiccup held out his hand. "Might as well see what this is about."
"Actually I was hoping Astrid would take me on Stormfly!" Tengan said with a hopeful look at the blond. " I've been dying to feel the speed I've been seeing from her over the past few days."
Astrid couldn't repress the small, self satisfied smile, her recently improved time on the course still fresh in her mind. "Why not? I bet Stormfly can reach the beach before all of you even with two passengers."
Grinning, Tengan clumsily clambered up Stormfly's outstretched leg and onto her back, taking a seat behind Astrid. "Go go go go go!" She whispered through a giggle.
"Hang on!" Astrid bent low on Stormfly's neck as the Nadder leaped off the cragg and dove towards the waves,wings unfurling. By the time she leveled off, the rest of the crew had barely taken flight. As Astrid spun in the saddle to smirk at Hiccup and Toothless, a jolt of reasoning blasted into Tenga's mind. Suddenly the cold remarks and angry glance towards her borrowed sweater the first day they met made perfect sense.
Tengan chewed her bottom lip, weighing her options on the best way to approach the topic. "Hey Astrid, could I ask you for a favor?" She plowed on before the other girl could protest. "It's just that the people in my tribe are allowed to court while traveling, it's actually encouraged. But the problem is that there are no guys here on Berk that really catch my eye. Don't get me wrong! They're all great to hang out with, they're just not my type. So I was wondering if maybe one day we could have a girl's only trip? Maybe to nearby islands?"
Astrids's shoulders, which initially tensed at each word, relaxed considerably as she grasped her meaning. "I mean, if you're into that sort of thing, sure. There's not a lot of options nearby but Stormfly and I can take you out one of these days."
Tengan smiled. She considered telling Astrid that Hiccup became a stuttering mess whenever she was mentioned but decided to hold off for now. There would be plenty of time to bond and tease after they examined whatever it was that Snotlout had found.
Tengan would not have bet even her worst quill on the "interesting thing" being another human. Let alone a young girl orphaned by pirates. She was so enthralled with Heather's story that she almost didn't catch Asrid's mumble of "Yeah right, I don't believe her for a second." A cold tightness gripped Tengan's gut. She had just started getting along with the Nadder trainer. What if Astrid had been saying similar things about her to the others during those long afternoons? It was almost a relief when Hiccup turned to speak with her.
"Would you mind sharing my room with Heather? It will be a bit cramped but…" Hiccup shrugged awkwardly.
"Why doesn't Heather stay somewhere else since you already have a houseguest?" Astrid spoke sharply, her eyes narrowing.
"I really don't mind moving somewhere else for a bit." Tengan spoke quietly, trying to diffuse the all too inevitable situation that was rapidly escalating.
"You ladies can always stay with me. Plenty of room at the Snot's Inn…" Snotlout smirked as he leaned on Hookfang's shoulder.
"No that is definitely not happening, Snotlout." Hiccup glared at the larger teen. "Heather can stay with me and Tengan-"
"Will bunk with me for a bit." Astrid cut in before the twins could do more than open their mouths. "My parents have the extra bunk they keep for my uncle."
Tengan nodded, smiling. No way Astrid would let her stay if she thought she was untrustworthy, right? "Thank you Astrid, that sounds great."
Thinking back, Tengan wondered if it would have been less uncomfortable if she had taken Snotlout up on his offer. The next couple evenings saw her bombarded with numerous questions from Astrid about Heather. Luckily most did not require an answer as they were along the lines of "Who does she think she is?" and "I'm not crazy to think she's suspicious right?". Tengan nodded along to most of these rants, trying to ignore the writhing snakes that seemed to have moved into where her intestines had been. While she was relieved Astrid had finally stopped seeing her as a rival, she was not enjoying taking part in gossiping about the newest addition to the group seeing as she was only Heather's senior by just over a week. Especially since she had a sneaking suspicion that most of Asrtrid's protests were due to the amount of attention Hiccup had been lavishing on the castaway. That was, until the pair walked over to Hiccup's house so Tengan could cross reference some of her notes against the Book of Dragons' chapter on Deadly Nadders. Trouble was, Heather was already pouring over it.
"What are you doing with that!" Snapped Astrid as she yanked the book from Heather's arms.
"Astrid, calm down!" Hiccup cried as he raced over to the three girls.
"She's trying to steal all of our dragon secrets!" Astrid cried, shielding the book from Heather.
"I'm sorry I took your book. It was wrong of me, I should have asked first." Heather spoke softly, head hung in apparent shame.
"Astrid, enough alright! You said the same thing about Tengan her first night here!" Hiccup glared at the blond and tugged the book back from her.
"You what?" Tengan asked quietly, her heart sinking a bit as she and Heather made brief eye contact. Both faces mirrored equal measures of discomfort with the situation.
"It's not the same! I was wrong about you Tengan, and you always ask to borrow the book. You don't go stealing things from other people and sneaking around at night!" Astrid waved her off with one hand while glaring daggers at Heather.
Tengan's hearing was replaced by a mild buzzing in her ears as the other three continued to argue. Astrid had said she was just there to steal secrets? Is that why she wanted her to stay over the last few days? To keep an eye on her? And she had been dumb enough to think that Astrid had wanted to build a friendship? Without looking at the others, Tengan turned tail and walked quietly out of the house, heading towards the great hall, papers in hand. Her notes were overdo to be condensed and transcribed into one of her journals anyway. The buzzing all but drowned out Hiccup's attempts to call her back.
"TENGAN!" He reached out towards her before thinking better of it and letting his arm drop to his side. "I hope you're proud of yourself, Astrid." He stated flatly.
Tengan made a point to arrive back at Astrid's after they all had gone to bed. It seemed pointless to have a conversation with someone who thought her untrustworthy at the moment anyway. Early the next morning she slipped out the door and stayed out all day, jotting down tales she collected from other villagers and only returning well after the stars had taken their place in the sky and everyone else was fast asleep. She had planned on doing the same thing again the following morning but was awoken by a very desperate Astrid.
"Tengan, I need your help! Heather stole Stormfly! She's got my dragon!" Astrid all but screamed as she shook her by the shoulders.
Any animosity Tengan felt towards her melted away when she saw Astrid's terrified expression. Within moments they had collected the crew and divided up responsibilities. Apparently during Tengans self induced exile Astrid had spotted Heather speaking with someone from an opposing force based in Outcast Island. The other riders would follow the most likely flight paths Heather could have taken towards the island while Tengan stayed behind to distract Stoick from realizing their absence.
Turns out that Stoick was holding an open town hall to hear all the complaints of his residents. While Tengan knew she would kick herself for not being present to record such an interesting bit of life on Berk, she found herself unable to concentrate on anything other than pacing the shore near where they left, eyes trained on the horizon. Her relief upon seeing the group return was short lived as they informed her of the loss of the book.
"It's awful!" Fishlegs cried, collapsing forward on Meatlug's back. "Alvin is bound to learn all of our dragon secrets now!"
"I say we lock her up until we get some answers!" Snotlout yelled. He seemed particularly disgruntled upon learning the apparent interest from Heather had been staged from the start.
It took a surprisingly short period of time for the normally somewhat disjointed group to decide on a plan for search and retrieval of the book. None of them were particularly happy with the thought of sending Astrid undercover but it seemed like the only logical choice.
"Now we just need someone to stay behind to watch Heather." Hiccup sighed, glancing over his team to see who could be spared.
"I'll watch her." Tengan spoke up, desperate to show that she still had her new friend's best interest at heart.
"How do we know YOU aren't working for Alvin too, huh?" Tuffnutt advanced on her, one finger poking into the center of her chest. Behind him, Ruff nodded enthusiastically, reaching for what looked like a dagger hilt.
"Because I say she can be trusted!" Astrid shoved her way between them, glaring the twins down. " And if you two muttonheads disagree you'll have to answer to me!"
Tengan fought back the misty feeling threatening to pool into her eyes. Whether from frustration at being accused or relief that Astrid finally seemed to be accepting her, she could not tell. "You guys are my family for the next couple years. I'd never betray you. Besides you'll need all available riders for this to work safely. I'll watch Heather and keep Stoick occupied. Just hurry back ok?"
Hiccup nodded once before climbing into Toothless' saddle. "Thank you, Tengan. We'll be back soon."
Heather was, without a doubt, the most gifted actress Tengan had ever seen. If she had been back on the Shimmering Shores, Tengan thought she would make a wonderful dramatic reader for festivals. Her story of her parents being alive and being held captive was almost believable.
"Heather, please, save it." Tengan sighed as she poked her head out to scan for Stoick or Gobber. "I can't believe you would take advantage of these people. They care for the dragons that live here. And you're working with the person trying to destroy everything."
"I told you already, he has my parents!" Heather rattled the bars before resting her head against them. "And I'm not sure why you even care. Astrid didn't even trust you until twelve hours ago."
"They promised to take me in and treat me like one of their own for two years. They've made me one of their family. Like they did for you." Tengan spared her a reproachful glance before returning her attention to the path from the village.
"Oh really? Then why do they always leave you behind?" Heather snapped.
Tengan opened her mouth to retort when an echoing roar shook the room followed by the dull thud of Thornado's feet making contact with the hard packed earth.
"There you are lass! Was wondering where you all got off to today!" Stoick boomed as he spotted Tengan.
"Stoick!" Tengan squeaked. "I was just looking for you! I wanted to ask you to help me decipher the legends on the tapestries in the great hall!" She jogged past the chief and beckoned to the center of town, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Thankfully, Stoick had a vast well of knowledge surrounding the several unfortunate vikings whose grisly ends had been immortalized in the woven yak wool. After the third story she managed to slip away under the pretense of needing more paper for note taking. She snuck her way back to the makeshift cell to find it… empty. "Shit."
Thinking back on that day later on, Tengan had no idea how she managed to keep Stoick in the dark until the crew came sailing back just before sunset with Heather and her parents in tow. It turns out her second story was actually the real one and it was only with minimal glares of disappointment from Stoick that the newly reunited family was outfitted with a small ship and enough supplies to get them on their way.
"Ok so how exactly did you convince that Monstrous Nightmare to come back for you?" Tengan asked behind a pile of parchment, eyes glowing in the firelight as she jotted down every little detail she could coax form the teens.
"Ugh, we've gone over it like a million times already!" Groaned Ruffnut as she threw her head back.
"Yeah, T" Tuff smirked knowingly, his chin propped on his hand. "I guess you kinda had to be there."
Tengans smile stiffened a bit, her quill pausing mid sentence as Heather's comment rang in her head once more. "..Yeah Tuff. Guess I should have been there."
"I mean," he continued, chuckling. "It's not like it did you any good to stay back. Heather still got out and around you somehow!"
"Tuff, enough!" Snapped Astrid as her eyes flicked between Tengan and the twins. "It's not her fault we left her with guard and Stoick duty."
"Thank you" Tengan mouthed silently to Astrid as she returned to her notes.