Thieves

I can remember my father telling us of a time before dragons were our friends, a time when they were our enemies instead.

He spoke of a queen that commanded them, forcing them to bring her food. The Red Death, they called her. A monstrous beast. He talked of raids on the village, dragons coming at night to steal their food, burn down their houses, and take away their children.

Perhaps not burning down houses, but dragons were dirty little thieves.

"The hell?" I muttered, turning in a circle as I looked for the boar I'd shot down not ten seconds ago. A small splatter of blood stained the ground from where I'd killed it, but the corpse was gone. I hadn't seen anything.

"Magical fucking pig, of course it's gone," I scowled, kicking a bush. "My rotten luck never gets me anything."

I heard crooning laughter coming from behind me. Turning around, there was nothing in sight. The forest rustled to my right but again, the spot was empty.

"Show yourself, you coward!" I shouted, spinning around as I looked for whatever trickster thought it was funny to steal my dinner. "Face me like a Viking!"

A loud thump came from behind me and I turned around to see a familiar dragon sitting innocently in the exact spot where I'd killed the pig. Bits and pieces of red around his mouth was enough proof for me.

I pointed an accusing finger at him. "You stole my pig."

He cocked his head innocently.

The bastard.

"Come on, give it back!" I shouted as he fled back into the undergrowth, disappearing from sight. I could hear him laughing at me as he paced. "Stop juking me out!"

Ooook, he mimicked, jumping onto a branch above me. Ooook.

"Yeah, juke," I said. "That's what your little tricks are."

Ooook. He smiled his toothless grin at me. Ooooka.

"Alright, Juka, bring me my pig." He reached down with his tail and nudged the body of the boar out from the leaves. I brushed it off and picked it up by its tusks when the dragon jumped down and grabbed the back legs of the boar.

I frowned. "Get your own pig."

He pulled at mine. I pulled right back.

You can probably guess where this is going.

He pulled the pig to him, tugging me along with it. I yelped as I was yanked forward, holding onto the pig to keep myself from faceplanting. I regained my balance and pulled it back to me. He dropped the pig and jumped on top of me.

I couldn't help but laugh as he licked all over my face. "Juka, stop!" I said through my fits of laughter, trying to roll away only to be pinned beneath his foot. I curled my feet up and pushed him off of me, scrambling to my feet only to be knocked down again.

I rolled over and reached for his face, scratching his cheeks. He purred, laying down on top of me and shoving his face into my neck, ears twitching this way and that. I rubbed his neck and stared into his impossibly blue eyes.

I hugged his head to me. "You know, you're probably my closest friend now."

His ears flicked up.

"Really. I love Signe, I do, but she isn't the one I'm keeping secrets with, now is she?" I said. He warbled happily, getting off my chest and bouncing around me. I laughed, slinging the boar over my shoulder. He stopped, looking at me with big, sad eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go." He whined, nudging my hand. I scratched his chin. "I'll be back, don't worry. After all, you are my best friend."

He grinned.

Raids

I stood behind my father as we watched a fleet of ships sailing toward our harbor, unfamiliar sigils flying on the sails.

Behind us were rows of catapults, armed and ready to fire should signs of aggression arise. A smallship was docked and ready to sail out to discover the intentions of these unknown sailors. My father had wanted to sail out himself but instead had been convinced to stay behind in case their intent was harm. Instead, Eret, son of Eret was manning the ship.

Hiccup pursed his lips. "Berk hasn't seen a fleet of more than a dozen ships since Grimmel."

Gobber, the old man he was, conked him on the head with his hook. "Aye, we haven't! No excitement in years! I haven't seen any new faces since this little nutjob was born!" He smacked my brother on the back as he said this. Hiccup sighed and Astrid rolled her eyes.

I felt a hand clasp my shoulder. "You are worrying."

I let out a breath. "We've never seen anything like this."

"Berk has defeated enemies more formidable than this."

"With what? Your army of dragons?" I said spitefully. Perhaps I did know that dragons weren't mere fairytales anymore, but I did know that there hadn't been an attack on Berk since the dragons had left. We were more vulnerable than the older generation had been.

Valka looked down. "I know you don't feel the same way we do about our dragons, but they do not matter in this fight. This is between us and them, whatever their intentions might be."

I focused my eyes on the smallship that was heading out toward the fleet.

We watched in tense silence as the ship slowed and knocked against the side of the larger ship. It was too far out to make out any action, but it didn't take long for our ship to be coming back our way.

My father went down to meet with Eret. I went with him. I was anxious to hear about the mysterious ships.

Eret looked pale as he disembarked the ship. "My chief, I have urgent news. The leader of the fleet refused to hear us out, only telling us to pass on a message or he would set our ship alight."

Hiccup was taken aback. "And the message?"

"Abandon the island or die defending it."

I couldn't help not interjecting. "Did he say why?"

Eret shook his head. "He gave no reasons, but I have my suspicions. The men look half-starved. They have likely been lost of a home for a while now and are looking for new land to claim as theirs."

"Do you think we could take them?" My father asked.

"Doubtful. They may be weak, but I saw their stock. If we took them head on they would blast us to bits."

As I looked between the two men, I couldn't help but feel a sense of hopelessness. Berk hadn't faced a single threat in almost two decades. How could we fend off something so powerful?

Hiccup nodded slowly. "Time limit?"

"He wants a response by the week's end."

"Alright. We'll tell him we're leaving the island."

"What!" I cried. "We can't abandon our home!"

"We won't be," he said. "We can outsmart them. Just give me some time and I'll have a plan ready."

In front of us, Eret nodded. "You'd better. We can't withstand an assault."

"Don't worry," he said, face steeled in determination. "When they come for us, we'll be ready."