Chapter 2

The next evening the village was back to looking up at the sky for the Draconians. Hiccup had already asked Gothi if she could help Serenity. Gothi said she would. She wasn't too fond of the Dragon Healer. Serenity was very close to the dragons, even before she had been kidnapped. She wouldn't give them up for anything. Gothi found it out of the ordinary that a human would love dragons like family, and not humans.

At sunset the Draconians finally arrived. The riders and their dragons gathered in the plaza. The dragons were just wearing their crowns and saddles. Windwalker's bran new crown was black with a silver hurricane shape on the forehead. The four dragons landed and Chris and Serenity dismounted. The first thing the dragons noticed was that Re hadn't been kidding, Serenity did look very scared. She stayed super close to Tenor's side and her green eyes kept darting around as though afraid she was being watched by her next kidnapper. But the biggest thing they noticed was that she had cut her golden hair, clear up passed her shoulders. This was very odd as she usually had her hair go down to her shoulder blades.

"Hey Re," Hiccup said.

"Hello," Re said.

"Were are the little ones?" asked Astrid.

"They're on Dragon Island already," said Aurora. "Ruby and Harmony have agreed to look after them." Toothless carefully approached Serenity and nuzzled her shoulder. She didn't smile or laugh like she usually did, but she did look relieved. She petted him quietly. Her hand wasn't it's usual soft and smooth, it was cold, clammy and shaky.

"How are you doing?" Toothless asked softly.

"I'm alright," Serenity sighed. "I think." Suddenly Tenor moved his tail slightly making a slithering sound, she jumped, and looked over her shoulder. When she saw what made the sound she calmed down and leaned on Tenor's shoulder. Toothless licked her hand. She petted him again, the shaking had gotten worse.

"How about you go up to the tree, we'll get Gothi and meet you there," Hiccup said.

"Alright," Re said, he sounded tired. "You sure she can do something?"

"It's worth a try isn't it?" Hiccup said.

"I've been told before that Gothi has hit people with her walking stick," Re said.

"Don't worry Re, she won't hit Serenity, you have my word," Hiccup said. Re sighed.

"Okay," he said. He led the others up the hill towards the tree. Hiccup mounted Toothless and flew up to Gothi's house.

Up at the apple tree Serenity stayed right next to Chris. He put his arm around her shoulders, she was still trembling.

"You'll be okay," he said softly. "Nothing's going to happen to you, I promise." Serenity sighed. Being this close to him, it made her feel safer and she stopped shaking. It was when she was alone that the panic attacks came at full force. They often got so bad that she had trouble breathing. She startled very easily and sometimes fainted. But when she was around Chris and the dragons the panic attacks weren't so sever.

At that moment the Berkian riders came up the hill followed by Gothi. They also brought Gobber, as he was the best at translating Gothi's writings. The elder immediately drew in the dirt with her staff. Gobber translated.

"She says she needs everyone to stand back, she wants to know just how bad the panic attacks get. And she says no one can interfere." Re growled and flashed his teeth, but had everyone back off including Chris. The minuet she was by herself Serenity started shaking violently. Her eyes grew wide and afraid. Then Gothi walked up to her. She was going to try and calm the poor girl down. Serenity started to hyperventilate and backed up. She stared at the staff in Gothi's hands, afraid of it. Re was about to interfere when Aurora stopped him.

"Watch," she said. Serenity backed up right to the edge of the cliff. Her foot slipped and she turned to see the sheer drop behind her. She turned to see Gothi still approaching her. She felt trapped. Aurora began muttering to herself.

"Come on, come on, work," she whispered. Suddenly there was a loud crack and Serenity vanished. All that was left was her cowboy hat and a small, sand colored bird with vivid light blue wings. It gave a frightened chirp and flew off.

"What just happened?" asked Fishlegs, as confused the rest of the vikings.

"Well since you all know I have magic now," said Aurora. "Just before we left I put an enchantment on Serenity. When ever she feels trapped, cornered or threatened, she turns into a female mountain blue bird. It allows her to fly away and escape. She can turn back into herself but only when she feels safe enough. It was the only thing I could think of to put her mind a ease after what happened."

"Can't you just remove all memory of what happened?" asked Hiccup.

"Memory spells expire unfortunately," Aurora said. "I want to find a way to permanently clear her mind of all that." Gothi drew in the dirt again.

"She says Serenity won't get any better if you Draconians keep being so overprotective of her," said Gobber. "She says Serenity should spend a night in the tree by herself. The rest of you sleep outside. It will show her that she can still feel safe when there's no one in sight." Re narrowed his eyes. He didn't like leaving Serenity alone, especially at a time like this. All the Draconians exchanged a worried glance. At that moment the bird came back and perched on Toothless's head. Aurora looked at the small bird.

"Serenity, you're going to be spending the night in your tree," she said. "All by yourself." The bird tweeted in surprise. She looked at each individual in turn, as though asking for someone to get her out of this. She chirped desperately.

"You're going to be okay," Aurora said. "We'll be outside the whole time, we won't let anyone get you." The bird flew over and perched on Gothi's helmet. Gothi mistook it for any old bird and swiped at Serenity with her stick. The bird flew off again, frightened. All the dragons hissed. Gothi then realized her mistake and quickly scribbled an apology in the dirt.

Serenity came back after a while and perched on Belch's nose horn, even higher up than before. She did not feel safe enough to turn back into herself. She didn't want to be separated from her family, not ever. Belch lowered his head so Serenity was no longer up high. She looked him in the eye and Belch could sense fear.

"Sorry," he said. "No one will hurt you, I see no reason to hide." Serenity reluctantly hopped onto the ground. She looked at the ground and let out a series of rapid chirps. A second later they realized she was crying. Aurora lowered her head. She gently nuzzled the tiny bird.

"Serenity it's okay," she said soft enough so only Serenity could hear. "You don't have to be afraid. It's just going to be one night, just one. Can you do that for us?" Serenity looked up at her queen. She blinked a few times. Then she nodded. Aurora smiled.

"We won't be far," she promised. Serenity walked to a clear patch of grass and turned back into herself. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Chris stood next to her and she hugged him. After a few minuets she finally started to calm down.

"You think this will work?" Tenor asked Gothi. Gothi nodded confidently.

"If it doesn't we'll try something else," Re said.

"Well, we should let you guys get settled," Hiccup said. "We'll come up tomorrow." With that the Berkians left. Serenity sat in her chair, Chris said in his, and all the dragons laid down in the Dragonnip. Serenity was calming down more and more, but she was far from her normal self. She was very nervous about sleeping by herself. She always had a dragon beside her bed or Chris right next to her. It was especially nerve racking now because she suffered from terrible nightmares. She dreamed about being paralyzed while in mortal danger, and not being able to run, scream, or even wake up.

"Do I really have to sleep by myself?" she asked. They all nodded.

"Just for one night," Re said. "That's all."

"What about my nightmares?" Serenity asked.

"They're just in your head," said Aurora. "Nothing will hurt you." Serenity sighed.

"Okay," she said. "Then can we go to Dragon Island?"

"Yes," Re said. "Weather or not it works, tomorrow we'll go to Dragon Island."

"Alright," Serenity said. She felt a bit better. "Well, I might as well get this over with." She got up and the others followed suit. Chris hugged her again and she held on like it was her only life source. They separated after a few minuets. Then Serenity turned and went into the tree. Chris sat back down.

"I really doubt that this will work," Tenor said, laying down next to Windwalker.

"Well, we don't have a lot of options," Aurora pointed out. "And if this doesn't work, I don't know what else to do."

"What's the worse that can happen?" asked Windwalker.

"Suicide," Re said, glumly. "She feels so trapped that she sees no other option."

"It's so sad," Windwalker said. "After all she's done with her life, all the lives she saved."

"I know," Re agreed. "I wouldn't still be here if it weren't for her."

"Neither would I," Windwalker said. "Nor would a good chunk of my friends."

"I feel like if we hadn't sent her into the woods that day, she wouldn't be like this," Re said.

"We can blame ourselves all we want," Aurora said. "But it won't make her better. We just have to keep trying."

"You've been awfully quiet nephew," Tenor said.

"I'm trying to remember the last time I saw her smile," Chris said. "Or heard her laugh." They all fell silent trying to remember the same thing. All they could remember was sheer terror in her eyes. This started the seed of an idea in Aurora's mind.

"I can't remember the last time she smiled either," Re said. "Must have been months ago."

"What I was forced to say and do to her probably didn't help," Chris said. "I scarred her for life, just like that shovel."

"I was the one who had to shoot her," Windwalker said, grimacing. "She never let us down, and now we're letting her down. It's just not fair."

"This aint over yet," Tenor said. "We're going to fix this, no matter what it takes." They all couldn't agree more. They all turned in for the night, all worried about Serenity.