Note: I wasn't planning on releasing this so early, but I'm a good few chapters ahead, plus I'm not sure when I'll get a good chance to post it if I don't do so now.

Thanks to the guys at the DLP forums for helping with this.

~HE~
A Chance Encounter, Chapter 4
~HE~

Elsa sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She managed to plaster one last, incredibly fake smile on her face and direct it at the members of her council as they left, bowing their heads to her before exiting her office.

The orange light of the setting sun filtered in through the open window of her working space. Her gaze fell on the star itself, slowly falling behind the horizon. Her chair and desk was in front of the open window, so all she had to do was redirect her chair and she was gazing out over the fjord.

Her office was situated at the central building of the castle, a few floors below but still relatively close to her private quarters, which lay at the topmost tower. Her office was a relatively large room, sporting the same dark red wallpaper as the rest of the castle, but most of walls' surfaces were hidden by the ceiling high libraries that lined them. Opposite from the entrance was her great oaken desk, and behind it the wide window. On the sides of the room, a pair of couches waited for guests and a pair of padded chairs also rested in front of Elsa's desk. On the right side of the room lay another pair of doors, smaller, that led to a refreshing area.

Her light purple dress felt rumpled over her body, the white sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her hair felt unmade and she felt sweat slick her skin, even though she'd had a quick bath before the flurry of meetings began. It had taken her most of the day to bring the issues anywhere close to solved. At least she had the presence of mind to cancel court for today. She didn't think that she'd have been able to take it, otherwise.

She felt drained and mentally tired. She had to meet each ambassador separately, and then at least a dozen other meetings with all kinds of combinations of ambassadors and council members, ending everything with a meeting between herself and her ministers to recap the day. She had yet to speak to Anna, she had no clue what mischief Olaf had unknowingly undertaken, and the gods only knew what Chief Hiccup and his dragon were up to in her absence. She'd have to deal with all of them before she got any semblance of rest. She didn't know who she preferred to tackle first.

A soft knock was heard on the door of her office, and the door opened slightly, not waiting for a reply. Her sister's face poked in, scanning the room for the Queen.

Well, the choice was just taken out of her hands. The first fell right into her lap.

"Yes, Anna, come in." She said, rolling her eyes with a soft smile. Her sister had the good grace to blush. She was wearing a dress matching Elsa's own, though with soft brown and light yellow as its choice of colors. Her brown hair was held up in a braid not dissimilar to Elsa's own.

"Sorry." She mumbled as she closed the door and walked closer. Elsa rose and walked around her desk, accepting her sister's brief but affectionate hug. The two sisters smiled at each other, years of pent up emotion spoken in the silence between them. Holding hands, they walked over to the dark red couch laying at the left side of Elsa's office. They sat down next to each other, softly holding their hands between them.

"I didn't see you today." Elsa said, a slight accusing edge to her voice. She had missed her sister, and some of her cheer would've helped tremendously during the long day.

"I'm sorry Elsa, but Kristoff came right before you did, and he had been away for three weeks! I had to go with him. And then when I looked for you I was told you were in important meetings and shouldn't be disturbed unless it was really important."

"Don't worry, I don't hold it against you. It's just that I could have used you in there. I swear days like these just seem to suck the life out of me."

"Oh you'll be fine. You've been saying the same thing for the last three years."

"And yet I still hold hope that you'll believe me one day."

"I will when you get married."

Elsa grimaced, not particularly enjoying this part of Anna's humor. "Speaking of marriage, where is our resident ice master?"

Anna unclasped one of her hands only to wave it at her dismissively. "He took Sven to the city for his deliveries. Never mind that, tell me all about your trip. What's this I hear about you, a Viking and a dragon?"

"What, didn't you hear the punchline to that one?"

Anna glared at her.

"I'm serious. I think I heard the staff telling it earlier. At least they work fast, right?"

"Elsa!" Anna said, drawing out the word to a whine. Elsa grinned.

"Fine, fine. I'll tell you. Everything was going fine until about three days into our journey, when we stopped abruptly and half my men went into the forest. The captain told me that there was a dragon sleeping in the woods and that he wanted it dead before we proceeded."

"Sounds reasonable," Anna said. "Though I'm guessing things didn't work out?"

"Not at all. We saw the thing fly off the treetops and let out this terrifying roar. It flew up, and then headed straight for us. A group of archers went ahead and unleashed a volley just as it was getting close. I have no idea how it saw the arrows in time, but it did. I've never seen anything move as fast, Anna. Ever. One moment it was there, then next it wasn't. It rolled out of the way. It flew up, higher and faster than I thought possible. After it reached the clouds, it turned and basically fell towards the archers. Thankfully I realized what it was doing and blocked the dragonfire. From that moment on, I was the sole recipient of its attacks."

"Alright, I'm following so far. So when does this viking king come in?"

"Chief."

"Excuse me?"

"Vikings have chiefs, not Kings."

Anna rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Fine! When does this viking chief come in?"

"He was always there."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean he was on the dragon."

She let her sister process this. When her eyes widened, she knew that she must have caught on.

"You don't mean..."

"I mean he was riding it. Saddle and everything. He was directing the dragon."

"Wow! So he attacked you?"

"We fought." Elsa allowed.

The Princess' eyes frowned at her.

"You froze a viking king?"

"Chief."

"You froze a viking chief?"

"Not .. exactly."

"Elsa! Isn't this sort of the worst diplomacy possible? We talked about this years ago. You can't go around freezing foreign royalty! Then again, he did attack you, so-"

"Anna, stop." Elsa cut her off. Anna closed her mouth and looked at her sister, noting the seriousness of the Queen's gaze. She waited. "You're missing something important. Backtrack, think it over."

The Princess took her sister's advice to heart, and Elsa saw her brow furrow in thought.

"You said he was riding the dragon. So it's safe to assume that he was nearby when your men attacked it?"

Elsa nodded encouragingly. "From what I saw the last two nights, he sleeps under its wing."

Anna blinked, filing the weird information away for later. "So, technically, he didn't attack you at all, did he?"

The Queen shook her head. "We attacked them while they were sleeping. One could say that they were defending themselves."

"So what happened? You say you didn't freeze him? But you brought him and the dragon here, so you didn't kill him. How did you end the fight?"

Elsa raised a delicate eyebrow and smiled despite herself. "What makes you think I won?"

Anna's silence was deafening and her open mouthed shock greatly amusing. The blond repressed a smile. It wouldn't do for her sister to think she was joking.

"You ... you didn't win?"

"No," Elsa shook her head. "I went full out, summoned a blizzard and everything. I lost."

"But-," Anna sputtered. "But, you're Elsa, the Snow Queen! You created a complete ice castle on a whim! You accidentally brought about eternal winter!"

Elsa grimaced again. "Thanks for reminding me."

"My point is, you can do almost anything. What stopped you from freezing them?"

"Oh, I tried. I tried everything, but they were just so fast, Anna. I couldn't land anything more than a glancing blow. I've never seen anything move like that."

"Okay," Anna said, breathing deeply. She was visibly trying to swallow the fact that Elsa had lost a direct fight. "So, you lost. How badly are we speaking?"

Elsa winced. "Pretty badly. You'd think that a man riding a dragon would go for the brute force approach, but no. I had to go pick a fight with what, if my luck is holding, must probably be the only devious dragon rider in existence. He had a plan and I fell right for it like a rookie." Elsa shuddered as she remembered the glint of the arrow's tip, inches away from piercing her brain. The heat of the fireblasts, chipping away at her barriers of magical ice.

"So how did you not get mauled or burned? Didn't the dragon get you?"

Elsa shook her head again. "It wasn't the dragon. It was the rider. I was disoriented from a fall -don't ask- and my attention was on the dragon. Before I knew it, the chief tackled me from the air."

Anna's confusion was palpable. "I'm not following."

"He wasn't on the dragon. When I noticed that, I looked around for him. He was flying, Anna. I have no idea how, but he was flying by himself. He tackled me and pressed this dagger in my throat."

She stopped when she heard her sister's gasp. Anna had brought her hands to her mouth in horror. Perhaps unnecessarily, Elsa raised her chin, showing off the miniscule line of scabbed blood that served as proof of her words. The princess gasped again.

"No!"

"Oh yes."

"And how did you escape?"

"I didn't."

"Well he obviously didn't kill you!" Wow, she was getting snappy. She must have been more upset than Elsa thought. She decided to not torture her any longer.

"He let me go."

Anna stared at her again, blinking.

"He just ... let you go? After you basically attacked him for what must have seemed to him as no reason at all and went full blizzard on him, he left you go?"

"Yup. he chewed me out for attacking him and his dragon, made me promise to not do it again and released me."

"Is he cute?"

Elsa's thought process ground to a halt, as she tried to make sense of her sister's reasoning.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Of course it has! It has everything to do with it, don't you see?"

"Don't you start again." Elsa said, pointing an accusing finger at her sister. "After the last fiasco, you promised not to interfere. I also remember that the angreement was that no teasing is allowed, either."

Anna raised her hands palms up in a show of non-aggression. "I know, I know. Not interfering or teasing in the slightest. But I'm just saying, by the way you didn't reply, you must find him cute!"

"I'm going to ignore that little piece of flawed logic and pretend that this particular part of our conversation never happened. Not to mention that even if I did, it wouldn't matter, because he doesn't seem to think I'm attractive."

Anna brought her hands to her mouth, open in silent horror. "No!"

Elsa nodded. "Yes. He wasn't exactly rude about it, but he refused to ride with me, instead preferring to ride a supply horse, and later professed doubts that I would have marriage proposals by anyone."

"That brute!"

"I will also remind you that you'll be able to judge his 'cuteness' by yourself when you see him, although I'm not sure Kristoff would appreciate that."

Anna waved her off again. "He's a man. He'll get over it. I still don't get it though. So he got the jump on you, okay. Couldn't you have frozen him at any moment after that?"

"Of course I could," Elsa said dismissively, "I could have frozen him anytime from the moment the knife left my throat and every moment of our journey after that. Any minute he's not on the dragon, I can freeze them both. And even if the dragon is too much for me, I suspect that it wouldn't be as much trouble as it could with the chief on it."

"Exactly, so why didn't you?"

"You mean besides the fact that it would bring all of the Vikings down on our heads?" At Anna's encouraging nod, Elsa sighed and continued. "Because it would be pointless. He let me live. I'm not sure if you fully understand it yet, Anna. He had me, defenseless and at his mercy and he simply released me after trusting my word that I wouldn't attack him again. Besides, to attack him when he's not on his dragon would be like him attacking me if I couldn't use my ice powers."

Elsa saw her sister's wide smile and pointed a finger at her again. "Not a word." Anna closed her mouth, still smiling. "I know what you're thinking, we've discussed this. It's a bad thought. Take it, bind it up." Obligingly, Anna mimed fishing something out of her head with her hand and letting it fall into something she was holding on her other hand. Then she mimed tying the imaginary satchel with an imaginary cord. Done, she showed off the imaginary satchel to her sister.

"Good," Elsa approved. "Now throw it away." Anna complied and pretended to throw the satchel behind her back.

"Alright, thought forgotten, tell me more. You brought him here after that?"

"And believe you me, it wasn't easy. He would've left then and there if I hadn't persuaded him."

"Why didn't you? Let him leave, I mean."

Elsa glared at her sister. "Are you kidding? And let it be known that we attacked a viking chief unprovoked, who then proceeded to wipe the floor with me? Do you have any idea of the political ramifications of such an act? No, there was no other choice. We have to show him that we are anything resembling good people, so that he won't make fools of us in the international community, bring a flock of dragons down on our heads, or do something equally ridiculous."

"Fine, fine, point made. Good impression, got it. So, what is he like? I've yet to meet him and you've been traveling together for, what, two days now?"

"More or less." Elsa confirmed.

"So, spill!"

Elsa took some time to gather her thoughts. "We didn't talk all that much. He's very guarded and evasive, though I suppose it's not without cause. I didn't learn a lot."

"You don't seem to like him. Is he a bad sort?"

Elsa shrugged lightly. "I'm not certain. I get mixed signals, not all of which are good. One thing I know for sure, though, is that he's nothing like anyone I've ever met. We both have to get to know him a bit before he decides to leave."

"I'll bet we do."

Elsa glared at her insufferable sister again, who didn't even have the grace to stop smirking. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a soft knock on the door. She closed her mouth and turned towards the door, calling for whoever it was to come in.

A servant woman opened the door and got inside, bowing respectfully to the two royals. "My Queen, Princess."

The two sisters returned the gesture with nods of their heads. "What is it, Alisa?"

"Your majesty, some of the staff are getting ... restless, regarding the dragon."

Elsa exchanged a look with Elsa, before turning back to Alisa. "What's going on?"

"The dragon has been walking around the hallways your majesty. Poking inside rooms and startling the staff and the guests."

"Has anyone been hurt?"

"No, my Queen. But it's been going on for some hours and not everyone in the staff can handle the strain on their nerves. Also, I'm not sure how much longer the guards will keep their cool."

"How did it get out?"

"It, um, rattled the door until a passing servant opened it, my Queen."

"I see." Elsa replied.

"Are we going to the dragon?" Anna said, clapping her hands together with a wide smile. Elsa sent her a sharp look.

"We are definitely not going to the dragon. Not without Chief Hiccup there. Do you know where he is, Alisa?"

"Chief Haddock left in the morning, your majesty. Arnod is with him."

"Well, where did they go?"

"I do not know, your majesty."

"Find out where they went and send someone to notify me."

Alisa bowed her head. "Yes, my Queen." With that, she turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Anna turned to her sister, wide smile ever present on her face. "There's a dragon skulking around the castle?"

"Apparently."

"And we need to find the only one who can control the dangerous beast?"

"According to Chief Hiccup, the dragon Toothless is only dangerous when he wants to be."

"But?"

"It's not that I don't trust his word, exactly, it's just that ... " Elsa trailed off, unsure how to voice her thoughts.

"You'd rather not test it with lives at stake?"

Elsa nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, at the very least, this viking is making things interesting already. I was beginning to get bored."

Only a groan replied to that, causing Anna's smile to widen even more. A minute later, Elsa thought of something else.

"If you're going to speak with him, there are a few things you should know so you can avoid the pitfalls I fell into."

"Ouch?"

"Quite. First of all, no matter what you think of it, refrain from saying anything that could be taken as offensive regarding the dragon. Chief Hiccup is very defensive of him and seems to view him rather like a family member or a close friend."

Anna frowned. "Okay, I suppose I'll find out why soon enough. Next?"

"I'm serious. If you treat the dragon like a normal animal he'll clamp down immediately. He talks to it. And from the looks of it, the thing replies back."

The princess rolled her eyes. "I have experience with people overly attached to their animal friends. I'll be fine. Next?"

"He has a prosthetic foot. When I asked, all he told me about it was that he lost it on a battle. I'm not sure how sensitive a subject it is, but be cautious."

"Alright, noted. Anything else?"

"Yeah. He's the leader of his tribe, but he acts nothing like any royal I ever met. He was dressed like a warrior, he did everything by himself, he slept on the ground next to his dragon. I'm not sure what to think."

"Now I want to meet him even more."

Elsa was saved from replying when the door was knocked. Once again she prompted whoever it was inside. The composed form of Arnod entered, bowed and folded his arms behind his back.

"My Queen."

"Arnod." Elsa nodded. "It's good to see you. How has Chief Hiccup been today?"

"Hiccup has been ... interesting, my Queen."

Anna raised an eyebrow at the young servant. "Hiccup?"

"Hiccup insisted I call him that, in return for calling me Ernie."

Elsa and Anna blinked, turned their heads to look at each other, before looking at Arnod in synchronization. Equal grins split their faces.

"If you don't stop it now, Ernie, I'm afraid it's going to stick." Anna informed him amusedly. Ernie bowed his head.

"I am aware, your majesty. It is ... not as unfortunate as it could be."

Elsa decided that, funny as this was, perhaps they should get to business.

"Ernie, where is your charge?"

This seemed to make Ernie a bit nervous, as he shuffled his legs a bit and looked around.

"With your permission, my Queen."

Elsa nodded her head and the young man moved closer, leaning over to whisper in her ear. Elsa turned her head to let him lean closer and listened attentively. Anna watched closely as Elsa's brow furrowed more and more.

After Ernie stopped speaking and returned to his straight posture, Elsa brought her fingers higher to rub at her eyes, feeling the headache that had been building all day finally bloom.

Eventually, she stopped abusing her eyes and got up from the couch. She looked at Anna and jerked her head towards the door.

"Come on, Anna. Let's go find us a Viking."

~E~

Fifteen minutes later, Anna, Elsa and Arnod had left the palace and wandered through the roads of Arendelle. Anna did not know where they were going, but Elsa didn't doubt that this only added to her fun. As they walked, people bowed and stepped to the side, letting them pass with jovial greetings, which they returned.

Eventually, they left the main roads of Arendelle and approached the outskirts of the city. Here was the craftsman's district. The traders were situated in and around the port, the center of the city held most of the houses, and the outskirts were the various builders, craftsmen and workers.

They turned the corner and there, two buildings down, was the blacksmith's shop. It was a stone building like the others, but not as tall, having no more than one floor. It was, however, wider. The front of the shop, the part customers could enter, held the seller's booth and row upon row of tools, weapons and other loose ends for buyers to browse. Through a door on the back of this room, lay the actual smithy, taking most of the building.

They reached the entrance and Ernie opened the wooden door, bowing his head as he waited for the sisters to get inside. As they did so, they eyes fell upon the rows of swords, halberds, the barrels of arrows, the hammers, nails and various other for-sale items. The repeated sound of steel hammering against steel could be heard, but the booth, however, was empty.

"Where is the seller?" Anna asked.

"Hiccup rented the smith for today, so technically they are closed." Ernie informed them.

"He rented it? The whole day?"

Ernie nodded. "He's been here ever since, though he did visit the leatherworker to buy several pieces of tough leather."

Elsa pursed her lips and opened the door that led deeper into the building.
Inside was a different world. The oppressing atmosphere got to her immediately, the heat hitting her like a physical blow. She let out a harsh breath as she got used to the higher temperature, feeling her sister do the same.

The smithy was an organized mess. Several tables were arrayed around the room, tools and half-finished projects laying there. Equally, the walls were all full with either tools, products, or machinery. Parts of the smithy were separate rooms, probably storage rooms. There were three different sets of forges, each with its own anvil, water barrel, and other assorted equipment.

Two of the forges were lit. In one, a small piece of metal was heating up. The other was empty, but the pounding on the anvil in front of it was almost deafening.

Chief Hiccup wore the tunic he was given, but over it he had placed a heavy leather apron, and his hands were gloved with equally tough material. On his right hand he held the tong, which in turn kept the glowing piece of metal he was working on still, while his left held a medium sized hammer, raining down blows with the face of the hammer and slowly shaping the metal as he wished.

They watched him work for a minute, all three of them aware that he was so focused on his work that he did not notice them entering, as the door was slightly behind him and to the right. Elsa studied him, noticing the furrow of his brow as he concentrated, along with the long lines of sweat from standing so close to the furnace. Scouring the tables around him with her eyes, she saw several weird things. The saddle he had used on the dragon was taking up a table almost by itself, immaculate and clean, and discarded pieces of ruined leather lay around it. On another table, several pieces of what she assumed was steel were placed. They must have been pieces, for they had no discernible use that Elsa could think of. She recognized the small rings, but she could not guess as to what the other pieces were for. There were slim and long pieces, others were curved, some had hooks or twists other patterns. A dagger and a sheathed sword also lay on that table, as well.

Elsa cleared her throat during a lull between strikes. Chief Hiccup startled and nearly dropped his hammer, but saved it at the last second. He turned his head and looked at them.

"Hello." He said.

"Good evening, Chief Hiccup." Elsa replied. She saw the chief's eyes go from her to Ernie and then finally land on Anna. She was sporting a small smile and a speculative look in her eyes.

"Princess Anna, I assume." He said before turning back to his work, straightening his hold and resuming his pounding. "Excuse me for not being able to greet you properly, but this needs to be done now." He said, his voice strained from the exertion.

"Fret not," Anna replied. "It was us that intruded upon your work. I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunity to get to know each other."

The chief glanced at them and briefly returned Anna's friendly smile, before focusing his gaze back at the piece of metal.

"What are you doing, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Some long overdue repairs. I haven't seen a smithy in weeks. Some pieces needed replacement altogether. I also fixed Toothless' saddle, which was getting pretty frayed. There's still the harness to do, the tailfin, and my prosthetic."

Elsa and Anna exchanged looks. Ernie looked not at all surprised. He must have had a similar discussion earlier. Anna peered at the prosthetic curiously, studying the metal contraption. Rather than being a single piece of metal, it was comprised of several smaller pieces connected together. Three parts touched the ground. The middle one was the widest, and though slim, it covered in width about as much as a regular foot would. Two smaller pieces were in front and behind it, and these pieces would move whenever the chief leaned forward or backwards, up to a point.

"What's wrong with it?" Anna asked, not able to contain her curiosity.

"Can you see the three springs, above the pieces touching the floor?" He asked, moving his foot closer to them, but not looking away from the anvil. Anna studied it, and noticed the springs he was talking about. She saw two of them, contracting and lengthening with his movement.

"Yeah."

"They're close to their limit. I need new ones. That and some general maintenance."

"Why did you not commission the blacksmith to do it for you?" Elsa questioned. The Chief turned to give her an incredulous gaze.

"Are you kidding? I don't trust anyone else with my gear. Well, maybe Gobber, but he taught me everything I know. Plus; mister Frey, for all his expertise, does not know how to make what I'm making."

Argus Frey was the blacksmith, Elsa suddenly remembered. Who this Gobber character was, she did not know. Probably the blacksmith of Berk. Why the future chief felt it necessary to learn such things as metalwork and leatherwork, Elsa did not know.

"I have to admit though, it's nice to work in a place with such an abundance of steel. Iron is good, but not always the best."

They had nothing to say to that, knowing nothing about the ways of the smith. They watched him work for a minute in silence.

"Dinner will be soon. Everyone will be eager to meet you." Anna said. Dinnertime at the castle was a grand affair, with all nobles that stayed at the castle currently invited. It wasn't a daily event, but these days the castle was full of visiting diplomats and noblemen from around the kingdom.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to make it. This will keep me well into the night." The Chief said, as he stopped his work on the small steel piece. He released the tong and placed the hammer on the table next to him. He got another tong from the tool table and moved to the other forge, where a long piece of metal shimmered in, glowing a light orange. He picked it up carefully, and moved to the water barrel. With one swift move, he plunged the hot metal inside and left it there. Hurriedly, he returned to his hammer and anvil.

"Did you come here solely to introduce me to your lovely sister?" Chief Hiccup asked, sparing her a quick glance.

"No, as a matter of fact. We need you to reign in your dragon."

The viking chief paused, hammer raised above his head, but collected himself swiftly, resuming his work, turning the hot piece this way and that as he drew it out.

"What's he done this time?" He asked, exasperation in his voice.

"Nothing, exactly. He's just been prowling the castle and the staff are getting restless with an unchecked dragon moving around unsupervised."

Elsa noticed his frown form and spoke again, before he could. "I understand you have full faith in Toothless, but give the staff some time to share your views before you let him stroll around like that, would you?"

He didn't speak for a few seconds.

"You're right," he said eventually. "However, I cannot come now. All you have to do is get him to our quarters, tell him to stay there until I get back and close the door."

Elsa glanced at Anna, her sister doing the same. "And if he doesn't want to come?" Anna asked.

"Nah, he'll come." The Chief said confidently. "Just bait him with a few fish and he'll follow you around like a hungry puppy. He's crazy for the stuff."

"Any particular preferences?"

"Don't mind about his favorites, any kind of fish will do. Big fish, but not too big for him to swallow whole."

"You are certain he will follow without aggressive moves?" Elsa asked, images of the dragon lunging and eating her whole hand along with the fish flashing through her eyes.

"Yes, I'm certain. He won't go for it until you give it to him."

"Very well. Are you absolutely certain that I can't convince you to come to dinner?"

He flashed her an apologetic smile, his face flushed from the heat and the exertion.

"Sorry, but no. I have to finish this. Flying with Toothless was getting dangerous, the gear needs repairing."

"Then I insist that you take breakfast with us, tomorrow morning." This would work better, considering breakfast was a much more private affair, usually consisting of only herself and Anna, with the occasional minister, royal, or close friend joining in.

"What time will it be?"

"Usual time is eight thirty."

"Huh. I usually get up at dawn. Alright though, I'll make it." Elsa got up that early, too. It was no surprise, really. People like them did not get to sleep in. The time of breakfast was set more for her sister's sake than hers.

"We'll be looking forward to it," Anna warned, her eyes dancing with humor and completely ignoring Elsa's cautioning look. "I really want to get to know you."

The Chief smiled at Anna again. A wide, genuine smile that Elsa had not seen directed at her at any point before. She felt a stab of something which she couldn't discern. Annoyance, irrational irritation ... maybe jealousy?

Ridiculous.

It was just that he seemed so open with everyone except her that was setting her on edge. She'd sacrificed a lot to be so friendly, and he'd better appreciate it, damn it all!

"I'll be looking forward to it as well, Princess Anna."

Everyone feeling the obvious dismissal, Elsa and Anna bid their goodbyes and left the smith to his work, the steady sound of his hammer following them out. Ernie straightened and faced them.

"Apologies my Queen, Princess, but I'd better stay here. Who knows when Hiccup finishes. It wouldn't do for him to get lost on the way back."

"It's alright, Ernie." Elsa assured him. "Just make sure he gets there tomorrow."

Ernie bowed. "Yes, my Queen."

"Bye, Ernie!" Anna waved as they walked away, back towards the castle.

"Well? Impressions?" Elsa prodded. Anna looked into the distance, speculative look on her face.

"I'm not sure. Too early to tell. He seemed ..." she fished for words and Elsa let her think in peace. "... busy." she finished lamely.

"Indeed. I have to say, I've never seen a royal do something so ..."

"Hands-on?" Anna guessed.

"Yes. Goes to show how much we know about the Vikings."

"Well, Arendelle is far enough away that we haven't had raids, nor trade. We can't really be blamed for it. He didn't know anything about us either, right?"

"Right." Elsa nodded. They were approaching the bridge now. Soon, it would close for the day, to be opened again at dawn.

"And now?"

"Now we have a dragon to feed." Anna's excited squeal made Elsa roll her eyes, a fond smile gracing her features at her sister's antics.

For a few minutes, they walked in silence, before Anna broke it.

"I knew he would be cute."

"Anna!"

~E~

They headed deeper into the castle, but westwards, towards the working areas. Therein lay the kitchens. Elsa had quickly found and employed one of the servants to fetch her three big fish. If her request made the woman curious, she didn't show it. She only bowed and headed deeper into the kitchens, towards the storage rooms and the cold rooms, where the fish were kept, constantly on ice.

Soon, the Queen of Arendelle was walking next to the Princess, carrying a tray with, to her great amusement, three large haddock fishes. She drew weird looks from the people they passed in the hallways, but no one questioned what she was planning to do with the fish as she walked confidently to where she had been told the dragon was last.

"Why are we doing this ourselves? Not that I mind, but I'd have expected you to send someone else. You're not used to personally feed every visitor's pet."

Elsa's face hardened. "I'm doing this personally because no one else will be able to properly defend themselves in case the dragon gets aggressive."

Anna didn't ask again.

Two floors up, they found the dragon. Anna stilled the moment they turned the corner of the corridor and saw it. The Princess' hand found her sleeve and held it tightly as she took the great beast in. It was turned slightly away from them, inspecting a vase full of flowers set on a windowsill, nostrils flaring as it sniffed at it. Its wings were folded in on itself and its tail was lazily flicking left and right. Even its expression seemed, well, bored.

The dragon abruptly sneezed, its head snapping downwards. It snarled at the offending flower and backed away a few steps, body bent at the back like a cat, as it hissed at the vase.

It was all quite comical, but neither of the royal girls were even smiling.

"What do you think?" Elsa whispered to her sister, not sure if the dragon had noticed them, but unwilling to give them away in case it had not.

"Its terrifying alright but ... I don't know. I expected something a bit ... bigger."

"It looks much bigger with those wings open." Elsa said.

The dragon snapped its head towards them, its various ears standing straight up, a look of great interest on its face as it sniffed the air, its nostrils flaring visibly. When the beast's eyes landed on the haddocks its eyes widened and it practically bounded towards them, closing the distance between them in five long strides.

Anna started shaking next to her, but Elsa stood firm, magic coursing through her body, preparing to freeze the beast where it stood at the first sign of aggression.

It seemed an unnecessary precaution, because as soon as it reached them, the dragon stopped. Its gaze was locked on the haddocks, its mouth open and tongue lolling out, panting like ... a hungry puppy.

The beast's eyes alternated between the fish and Elsa's own eyes, obviously smart enough to understand that they were for him but unsure of what she was going to do. Elsa had never been this close to the dragon before and his deep, inquisitive look made her hesitate for a few seconds.

She shook her head to clear it and took a few steps back. The dragon let out a sad little croon and dogged her steps, looking pitifully at the fish.

"Follow us." Elsa commanded. The dragon's eyes snapped towards her instantly, and she saw intelligence in that gaze. "You understand me?" She spoke again. "Follow us."

With that, she took a few more steps. The dragon obligingly followed her, not letting the distance between them grow, still drooling over the fish. Anna had overcome her slight panic attack, but was still glued at her side, watching the dragon avidly, though the Night Fury was completely ignoring her.

Elsa felt sure enough to turn her back to the dragon, but still held the tray to the side so he could see it. She started walking and could feel the dragon's surprisingly light steps as he followed them.

Within minutes, they had arrived to Chief Hiccup's assigned quarters and Anna pushed the doors, which were unlocked, open. She and the dragon moved into the spacious room, Anna closing the wide doors behind them.
Elsa stopped in the middle of the room and turned. The dragon had sat on its belly, staring up at her through sad, wide eyes, ears flat against its hide. Chief Hiccup really wasn't kidding with that puppy quip. How a dragon could look so pitiful was beyond her.

"Here." She said as she set the tray down, before taking a few steps back, closer to the bed. She watched the dragon sniff at the fish. Then, he opened his mouth.

By Winter! She thought inwardly. He really was toothless! But, she could've sworn she'd seen-

The dragon's mouth was suddenly full of razor sharp teeth, and he snatched up a fish, tossing it in the air and gulping it down in one smooth move.

Teeth.

So the beast had retractable teeth. Now the name Toothless made much more sense. Elsa shook her head and left the dragon at its meal. She watched him lick his lip-less mouth with his tongue, clearly satisfied.

She looked around the room, to see how the chief had settled. It was still their first day here, so the room was pretty much the same as before they got here, but traces of their presence could be seen. Over by the desk, the few books that had been stacked there, consisting of a basic history book on the kingdom of Arendelle and some of the more famous literally works, had been moved around and probably skimmed. Approaching the desk, she saw that the ink pot had been moved and that one of the paper sheets had lines on it. Reaching the desk, she inspected it more clearly, taking the sheet and bringing it to eye level. It was the castle, surprisingly. It was an angle that she recognized as the one from the hill above Arendelle. Though the sketch was rushed, it was surprisingly detailed. The castle was only half-formed, the sketch obviously unfinished.

So the chief could draw, too? Interesting.

Elsa took another look around, her eyes finally landing on the chief's luggage, which consisted of four saddlebags. Standing there on the ground, they seemed surprisingly solid and heavy. How much faster would the dragon have flown without them?

Her eye caught something poking out one of the pockets of the dark leather bags. It seemed like the edge of a notebook. She approached with measured steps, held the notebook between her fingers and tugged. The bag gave and the notebook was released.

Elsa inspected it. It was made of dark leather and it lacked a hard back or front cover, to the point where it could be flexed this way and that without tearing. Practical, she thought.

She really, really shouldn't. She shouldn't have removed it from the bag in the first place. It was unbecoming of a queen to snoop around the belongings of her guests. She was not a gossip, she shouldn't do this.

She looked at the notebook, carressing its soft leather cover with her fingers. What secrets lay inside? What insights into the man that confused her so?

Giving in to her curiosity, she opened the first page. On the left side, a single line of runes that she couldn't read. The writing was, surprisingly, with charcoal. She couldn't recognize the runes, but it must have been a declaration of property, like with most personal notebooks or journals. The actual first page was filled with such runes. While they were fascinating in their shapes, she couldn't read them, so she turned the page. This one was also mostly filled with runes, but there was also the diagram of what appeared to be a piece of equipment. Arrows directed explanations to various parts of the object.

Turning another page, she saw that this one was mostly sketches, with a few lines of runes here and there. It was a detailed side view of the dragon Toothless, wearing a set of harness and saddle different than the one she'd seen on him. She admired the expertly drawn sketch for a minute, before turning another page.

Goldmine. This was full of sketches of people. She recognized the chief, standing in the middle. She couldn't mistake him because of his prosthetic and body structure, but it was a surprisingly inaccurate sketch. She guessed that it was harder to draw oneself that it was to draw others. The other people she couldn't recognize, so she began to inspect them.

A growl interrupted her before she could really take the drawing in, and she froze on the spot. She looked to the side and there was the dragon, eyes narrowed and ear flaps raised in a show of aggression. His mouth was half open as he growled and his name was grossly inaccurate, in this instance. His stance was drawn back, like a cat ready to pounce, as he glared at her.

"Elsa?" Anna asked, clearly alarmed and worried, from the other side of the dragon.

"Stay there." Elsa said. She saw the dragon's eyes alternate between her and the notebook in her hand. The dragon once again looked at the notebook, before snorting.

Elsa closed the book and raised it to eye level. The dragon followed the movement with his head, still growling lowly.

"Is this about the notebook?" Elsa asked. The dragon snorted again, which Elsa didn't know how to take, before jerking its head to the side. Elsa looked to her left where the dragon had pointed. He had jerked his head towards the bags.

"I'm sorrythat I took your master's property." Elsa said, slowly, ignoring Anna's gasp. "I'll put it back now, okay?"

The dragon obviously did not reply, but it didn't make any other move as she approached the bags again and slowly replaced the notebook where she found it, not taking her eyes off the beast in case she needed to freeze him.

Once the book was safely where it had been and Elsa had straightened, the aggression left the dragon's posture. His eyes widened innocently again, his left ear flap lowered, his brow lost the hostile frown and he sat back on his two back limbs and tail. He regarded her with open curiosity. Elsa didn't waver from the stare, landing the same on the Night Fury. How could an animal go from a posture that radiated menace and hostility to one of a child inspecting something shiny in the span of a few seconds?

The dragon stopped staring at her, instead bringing his head lower, to the empty silver tray. He sniffed and crooned sadly. He raised his head again to look at her, before sniffing again. He started moving, getting closer to her. Elsa tensed, ready to unleash her magic, but she sensed no threatening intent from the dragon.

Nevertheless, she instictively stepped backwards as the beast approached her. Its head was snaking this way and that as it sniffed the air. Elsa's vision was suddenly covered with a barrage of fire and she flinched as memory overtook her. She backpedaled faster, striking the front of the bed with her rear and unable to walk any further. The dragon reached her and its head was inches from her. His mouth was closed, but he was sniffing her and trying to look behind her and in the folds of her dress.

"I think it's looking for more fish." Anna whispered, having followed Elsa's movements from the side.

Elsa saw the dragon's clearly inquisitive look and eager sniffing and decided that Anna must be right.

"I don't have any more." She declared, hoping the dragon understood her. He must have, because he abandoned his search. The Night Fury brought his head to her eye level and cocked it to the side, giving her a look she couldn't figure out.

After half a minute of this, the dragon moved. It rose higher and sat back, balancing on its tail, which was bent at what she thought must have been a painful angle, but obviously wasn't, else the dragon wouldn't do it. Sitting back like this, the dragon was nearly twice her height.

She saw the beast's eyes roll back into his head. His throat let out choking noises and his head moved back and forth, as if it was trying to spit something out.

Elsa yelped loudly when something plopped with a loud 'splat' on the ground in front of her. The dragon was looking at her, and she thought it looked satisfied, if expectant. She looked to see what the dragon had spat.

It was fish. Or at least, part of a fish. The head of a haddock along with small part of its body, half-eaten and covered in slime and other things Elsa really didn't want to know about.

"Oh gods." Anna exclaimed, disgusted. Elsa's face had turned slightly green at the sight of the fish and she could feel her lunch making the trip up her throat.

She moved from her place at the edge of the bed, making a run for the doors, Anna hot on her heels. They threw the right part of the door open and burst out, closing it behind them.

Elsa leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths and holding a hand up to her mouth, trying to stop herself from getting violently sick.

"That was absolutely disgusting." Anna said.

Elsa would have agreed, if she wasn't sure that, instead of words, her lunch would have come out.

Dragons were weird.

~E~