Dragons and Eavesdropping

Okay, so I'm going lazy. I think about writing, but then I think, 'Nah, I don't want to,' and I read instead. But I'm gonna write now! Promise!

I've had that same feeling for too many weeks now.

I think you can tell from the title what's going on here. Enjoy!

Because our problems just got a whole lot worse.

Astrid made it back just minutes before the other girls. And even as she did, bits and pieces of the past few days flooded into her head.

When Mary had first appeared and Hiccup said she'd come from a flash of light...

Mary asking if the Bog-Burglars and Meatheads really existed...

Mary's one sentence when petting Blue, 'We don't have dragons in the-'...

Silkmouse's strange appearance with Fishlegs...

Them somehow knowing almost everything about dragons even though it was clear they'd never seen one in person before the other day...

Mary and Silkmouse claiming to belong to the Bog- Burglar tribe despite Mary not knowing if it existed or not earlier...

Mary saying that she was a tourist, not a Viking, but telling everyone she was a Viking later...

Their strange clothes, accents and habits...

Their disgust at what they called 'uncivilized plumbing' when they thought no one was listening...

How they could never eat much...

How Mary and 'Mouse knew Gobber's favorite catchphrase...

Mary's strange reaction to killing the bear...

And those last few sentences... 'We're not in our world anymore...'

What did it all mean?

Mary and Silkmouse walked back to the arena where Hiccup and Astrid were waiting for them. Hiccup was busy dealing with the dragons they'd be riding and only gave them a passing glance, but Astrid seemed slightly out of breath and gave them a strange look. They figured it was just because of Mary's flight earlier. And speaking of flight...

"Glad you're back, girls." Hiccup said, coming over to them. "The dragons are all set up; I gave you an easy bunch to start off with."

"Well," Silkmouse said without thinking. "At least there's less of a chance of us falling in a pond, unlike someone."

"Hey!" Hiccup protested. "Wait a second... How did you even know that?"

Astrid looked at them suspiciously.

"Oh, um... uh." Silkmouse looked over at her friend frantically.

"We, uh, heard a rumor." Mary quickly intervened. "I guess it's true than. Maybe you told someone, and they let it slip to someone, and then it just turned into a big rumor that reached us?"

"Maybe..." Hiccup pondered, staring at them before glancing over at Astrid. It seemed she didn't believe them either.

Hiccup brushed it off. He had a lesson to teach. "Anyway, the best way to start out with a dragon is to pet it and gain its trust. Then, offer it a fish and begin moving closer to the saddle. If it lets you on, it trusts you and you get to start riding it. But it may want to check a bit, and so it'll regurgitate the fish and you'll have to eat it."

"Ugh, I definitely remember that part." Mary mumbled so only Silkmouse and, unfortunately, Astrid, could hear her. "Yuck."

"Tell me about it." Silkmouse mumbled back "That was nasty."

"After it lets you on its back," Hiccup continued. "We'll start learning how to direct the dragon around in the sky, and, if you're really good, we'll end with a ride at the end of the day. Sound good?"

"Yep!" The two eager beavers chorused.

"Good!" Hiccup said. And with that, they began.

Silkmouse had gotten a Nightmare, and approached it cautiously, but with a slight fascination.

Mary, however, had gotten a Zippleback, and was busy trying to soothe both heads as she walked up. "It's okay." She assured them.

Hesitantly the Zippleback let her put her hand on their heads. "Yes!" she whispered triumphantly.

Hiccup handed them each some rope "You're gonna need something to help you hold on."

When Hiccup turned around to fetch something from the other side of the arena, Silkmouse laughed.

"What's so funny?" Mary Penelope asked.

"That's the exact same thing he said in the movie." She whispered.

"Oh yeah." She remembered, and started laughing a little.

"Okay." Hiccup said when he came back "Mouse I'll help you mount the Nightmare, and Mary; Astrid will help you mount the Zippleback."

While Hiccup showed Silkmouse the proper way to mount a Nightmare, Mary was asking Astrid if she was supposed to sit in the crook of the neck like Snotlout did when they were battling the Red Death and he jumped off the thing's head (although she didn't say that), or if she was supposed to get on one of the incredibly long necks. Astrid informed her that, when riding alone, one would usually sit in the crook of the neck. It was just easier to sit on the necks when there was more than one Viking riding it. Nodding, Mary slipped on it, feeling rather nervous.

Meanwhile, Hiccup was trying to coax Silkmouse on to her Nightmare.

"C'mon, 'Mouse!" He called to her. "It's not like it's gonna eat you."

"Oh, sure." Silkmouse mumbled under her breath as she carefully inched closer towards the formidable looking creature. "So you say, Mr. Dragons–Always–Attack–Me.(1) " All the same, she let Hiccup help her on.

"Good!" Hiccup praised the two. "Now, let's work on how to control it. First, pull on the 'reins' to make the dragon rise up."

After giving the girls instructions, Hiccup mounted Toothless and Astrid climbed onto her Nadder.

"Now we're going to take this nice and slow." Hiccup said "And don't worry, me and Astrid will be there if something goes wrong."

"If something goes wrong?" Silkmouse said nervously but sarcastically "Oh yeah that makes me feel so much better."

"Hey." Mary said to her "Nothing's gonna go wrong."

"Still, it's not exactly reassuring." Silkmouse muttered.

And with that, they took off.

For the next couple of hours, Mary and Silkmouse learned how to direct a dragon around in the air, how to perform a few small, easy tricks, and how to fall without hurting themselves too much. And trust me, there was a lot of falling.

However, by the end of the day, they were able to ride the dragons well enough to manage a very short flight around Berk with Hiccup and Astrid. Then, finally, the day was over. Thanking Hiccup, the Silkmouse and Mary left for Astrid's house while the two Berkians made plans for tomorrow's 'lesson.' Because they spent so long talking, it was quite a while before Astrid got home. She had to walk past the younger girls' room to get to her own, and as she did, she heard a small snippet of conversation.

"I think Astrid's onto us."

The warrior stopped cold as she heard those words. Quickly glancing about the hallway, she leaned up against the door and listened.

"What makes you say that?" That had to be Silkmouse.

"Well, when I first met her, I almost told her we didn't have dragons in the you-know-where, and then, and I completely forgot about this until now, I asked her if the Bog-Burglar and Meathead Tribes really existed, and I told her I was a tourist, not a Viking. Plus, she was looking at us kinda funny when we came back from the woods." And that had to be Mary.

"Well, you did go running off in a flurry." Silkmouse reminded her.

"Yeah, I know. But still. I feel like she knows something."

What are they talking about? Astrid wondered. She continued to listen.

"That's ridiculous. I mean, what person in their right mind would think that two seemingly normal girls come from another dimension where their whole world is just an extremely popular story?"

Astrid's head began to spin. Just a story? What did that mean? She squished her ear against the door, desperate to hear something, anything, that would make the whole sentence seem like a joke.

"Shut up! Do you want someone to hear you? We can't let them know yet!" Astrid's heart sank. That means that... It has to be true. I mean, it's not like they would lie when they don't know I'm listening.

"Fine, fine! Calm down, sheesh! Anyway, I gotta go to the bathroom. Be back in a jiff." Astrid was still trying to wrap her mind around what she had just heard, and so, didn't process what was happening until it was too late.

The door came flying open and knocked Astrid down. She gave a small yelp as Silkmouse came walking out.

"Huh?" Silkmouse looked over in Astrid's direction to see the elder girl sprawled out against the floor.

"Oh, shoot. Um, Mary? Yeah, you might wanna get out here."

Phew, done! Man, that took forever! Anyway, no one kill me, 'cause Silkmouse had the file forever! But don't blame her either, 'cause she had stuff to do!

I'm really sorry readers! I'll try to do it sooner, but my mom has pretty much banned me form the computer until my room is clean.

Anyway, I've decided to turn this into a series called 'Traveling Fans' where I run around with fellow fans to different fandom worlds. I've already talked to one of my other friends about co-writing the next one with her (since she loves the fandom that I'm planning on doing next) and she agreed. So, the next story will be about the wonderful world of Danny Phantom!

I remember watching that show, it was a really good program. Why is it that people cancel all the good shows?

So, Review, and tell me what you think!

Penelope, over and out!

(1- Remember how, in the movie, Hiccup was always getting attacked by the dragons? Like the Nightmare {beginning and end} and the Gronckle, and so on and so forth? Well, that's what 'Mouse is referring to.)