GENDERBEND! HTTYD!

The Viking and the Dragon Maiden.

Chapter Eleven; Fly Through the Storm.

Ash was sleeping in his hammock, thinking over everything.

He now knew how to survive against any unruly Dragons, and also knew how to harmonize with friendly ones.

But he also knew that this meant it was now the big leagues. Soon he would learn how to really fly, as Hookfang put it.

Ash was currently fiddling with his mother's necklace that she gave him as a parting gift when he went to find the legendary Dragon Rider, that was said to be their worst enemy, when really, she was just a young woman that was trying to protect the ones that took her in and raised her.

Much like how mom and uncle Fin had worked together to raise me since father left.

Yeah, he left because he just didn't feel at home at Berk and left, promising his mom that he would be back. But he never did.

I came to the conclusion that he left on purpose with another woman, leaving his pregnant wife to raise him on his own, with only her brother, who had his doubts about his father from the beginning, to help her, before his death.

The necklace was a simple but well made one. It was covered with blue and yellow beads, then in the center was an Eagle's feather, which in ancient times was meant to bring good luck and fortune to the wearer's life.

Well, he met Hicca and Stormfly. That was a good start.

Ash was going mad for Hicca. He knew he needed to be patient with her. He didn't even know if she liked him back, for Thor's sake!

He took a deep breath. Be patient Ash. One day, when your a little closer to her, you'll tell her how you feel, and maybe and hopefully, she'll return his affections.

"You ready?" he looked towards the cave entrance, where Stormfly was there and waiting. Oh, right. The Storm test.

With a sigh, he got up and climbed onto her back.

"Nervous?"

"Scared, actually."

"Don't worry. Your with a Dragon who's name is literally 'Stormfly'! What could go wrong?" He smiled and they took off.

Time to really fly!

The Northern Waters.

"Feel the wind!" Hicca shouted over the harsh wind and the pouring rain on Toothless, as the other Dragons, minus Stormfly, were breathing hard as they struggled to keep up with them. "The currents in the rain!" the gang were having trouble seeing through this massive storm that Hicca had the Storm Division roll out for them.

"Ha ha! YES! This is the way to learn!"

"Oh, yeah!" Snotlout complained as Fishlegs and Meatlug nearly bumped into them in the air,"This is exactly how I want to learn! IN A THUNDERSTORM!"

They all seemed to be at differing odds. Fishlegs and Meatlug were being pushed around by the merciless storm, her tiny wings useless in this troublesome winds. Snotlout and Hookfang were getting drenched and tired as they flew through the high winds, and their expression stated that they wanted to go home back to their nice and cozy den. The Twins and the Zippleback weren't that bothered by the storm, even asking, and being denied, if they could go higher and higher, to the bigger winds. Ash and Stormfly weren't having that much of a problem, as Stormfly had flown through tough storms like this before. The only thing she was having trouble with was the rain, as it kept getting into her eyes, making it hard to see. Toothless was doing pretty well too, but not as well as Stormfly. He was used to just starry night skies, not stormy ones like her.

"The air currents warm and differ away from the sky to the ocean!" Hicca called over the winds, as a massive tornado, the same kind of one that crashed them, started to form. "You can't fight them. You have to ride with them, or get pulled into the Eye of the Storm, and drown! You have to trust your Dragon in these kind of situations, when you don't know what to do! Into the tornado!" her words steeled Ash with confidence and he caught up with her as they entered the tornado!

This was the hard part.

This is something that all Dragons had to do eventually. To prove their strength and prowess. They had to ride against the tornado and reach the top, to the much calmer skies, or they would be pulled down towards the raging waters, where the Thunderdrums and Scauldrons and other Tidal Dragons waited to help them through the waters and take them back to the Nest and rest and heal any wounds they would for sure gain.

It was the hardest mile stone in a Dragons life.

It was the test of a Dragon Heart.

But that was why they were here.

Ever since they were hatchlings, and first came to the Nest, they had dreamed of being part of the Dragon Heart. And they may not get the position today, or the next, but one day, they will. They were sure of it.

So far, it seemed it wouldn't be today.

Meatlug was honestly trying her absolute hardest to fight the winds, but her wings were built for hovering, not thrusting through such treacherous winds. She and Fishlegs were pulled by the storm and towards the waters, where a unhappy Thunderdrum caught them.

Snotlout and Hookfang were fairing pretty well, before nearly getting bowled over by Ruff, Tuff, Barf and Belch.

"What are you guys doing!? Your supposed to go the other way, UP!"

"But it's too hard!" Tuffnut complained as they started coming towards them again, this time, hitting them for real, and causing him to be swept up by the storm, and crash on some Scauldrons.

Now it was just Hicca with Toothless, and Ash with Stormfly.

"Come on, girl!" he encouraged her, "You can do this! Your name isn't Stormfly for nothing!" she squawked and went faster and faster, even getting past Hicca and Toothless.

"That's it guys!" She cheered behind them, and it made Ash's heart beat with determination. Maybe if they did well, it would impress her enough to at least talk to him! They went faster! "That's it Ash! Go for it! Use your Dragon, Ash! Trust her! Fly inside!" Hicca's voice seemed to echo in his ears, as he found himself inside the tornado, flying upward towards the blue sky above.

This felt amazing. Instead of terror, that he should sensibly be feeling in this storm, he felt a impossibly thrilling pull to go deeper and deeper, like nothing can touch him. He felt invincible.

"He sees it." Toothless whispered, that even Hicca might not have heard him, but somehow, she did and smiled herself. "He sees it."

Ash felt so at peace in the terrible storm. He could see why Stormfly was named after it. He closed his eyes in absolute bliss, not noticing that his carefree attitude was getting Stormfly off course.

"Hold it. Hold it." Hicca noticed though. And knew the outcome wouldn't be pretty.

Ash opened his eyes and realized what he was doing and ,too quickly, tried to get Stormfly back in position, but only succeeded in throwing her off, and made her get swept up by the tornado, then thrown out, away from the Tidals as they spun out of control and towards the dark waters!

"ASH!" the others cried out in shock from a small sea stack, as Hicca and Toothless broke away from the tornado and dive bombed after them. He got to them just in time.

Just as they were about to hit the treacherous sea, Toothless swooped under them and corrected Stormfly's flight pattern, saving them both.

"Ash, you and Stormfly to my den."

Ash struggled to keep eye contact.

He was in deep trouble now.

With Windshear.

A wounded and battered Windshear was flapping her wings as hard as she could as she clutched an unconscious Monstrous Nightmare Hatchling in her claws. He was male, and had corn and eggplant colored scales and was quite small, even for his age.

His mother had giving him to her to keep him from becoming another slave for Red Death, and sadly, she heard her roars of pain as she flew away with her only hatchling. She told her his name was Fanghook. Huh. Hookfang is gonna get a laugh out of this.

But that was the least of her concerns. She was weakened from her fight with Red Death's Soldiers, and her strength was starting to fade. No doubt that as soon as she crash, exhaustion would take over, and she would stay that way from hours, no doubt giving Boars or Rouges enough time to have their way with her, and the hatchling.

But she had to keep moving.

At least until she can find someplace to re-

No. No rest.

Her wounds could possibly be fatal, and if she did sleep, she might never wake up again.

She had to keep going. She had to get this hatchling to the safety of the Northern Nest.

Even if it meant her life.

With Ash and Hicca.

Hicca was poking the embers of her fire bowl as Ash shook from the cold and the nerves. He almost died out there. He and Stormfly almost got killed out there. And he had no idea why.

"I-I don't know what happened." he stuttered, afraid that he might possibly be in trouble for nearly getting them killed. He looked over to Stormfly, who was lying down, curled up, shaking with her hatchlings with her, and Toothless lying beside her, a wing wrapped around her body to comfort her and keep her warm.

He looked back to Hicca, who was muttering to herself as she wrote down pieces into her personal journal.

"We sailed a good bit of it out there and there was nothing like.."

"Don't worry, Ash. I'll be honest. I guided you into that twister on purpose." WHAT!? "I wanted to test you. See if had the guts to do it. Turns out you did. You were pretty good out there for your first storm."

"'Pretty good'? No, no, I nearly got Stormfly's wings ripped off. My head was telling me to do one thing, while my heart was saying to do another."

"And you trusted your head. Not your heart, or your Dragon. That's when you failed." she said, placing a mark onto the page she was writing on. As he looked at it, he noticed that it looked a little familiar. It was the Viking Symbol for Peace, with Dragon wings spread then curled it with a wreath circle around it. It looked familiar.

"Is that your mark? Or crest or something?" he asked, and he noticed her stiffen.

"Yeah, I suppose so." she mumbled, pulling out a small pendent, and he noticed that it was exactly the same as the symbol. If she had that Viking Symbol, and with what she said about not being born here, then how did she get here? Where did she come from?

"Do you know where you came from?" he asked, and he saw a bit of witty.

"Well when a boy meets a-" "That's not what I meant!" he guffaws, whacking her around the head playfully, making her giggle, before she quietened down.

"The thing is, I'm not sure where I came from. All I know from Father Snowy was that I was born in a Viking Village, before I Cloudjumper took me away. My Father has a unique ability to see into bits of the future, and apparently, if I stayed there any longer, my life wouldn't be as peachy as it is today. Wanting me to have a good life, he got Cloudjumper to bring me here. I don't hold it against them though. If anything, I'm really happy that they basically kidnapped me." she giggled.

But Ash was processing everything that she just told him. A familiar Viking name. Familiar forest green eyes. Taking by Cloudjumper, a Stormcutter. Being born in a Viking Village. And now, a Viking crest that he can't seem to place.

'She couldn't be... Could she?'

"Are you even listening?" Ash snapped out of his daze and noticed her forest green eyes glittering with humor.

Ash chuckled sheepishly, "Sorry. Just thinking." put that aside, Ash, he thought, for now, at least.

She giggled, and they both seemed to stare at each other for a bit. And the hatchlings noticed. And got cheeky little grins on their faces.

"Come on, guys!"

"Get em!"

They started to circle around them, making them look on in confusing, before Treeroot leaps up with the help of his wings and hits Hicca in the back, pushing her towards Ash, her hands ending up on his chest. They coughed awkwardly as they blushed and pulled away, despite how much they wanted to stay that way for a little longer. Apparently, Freefall had the same idea, as she leaped up and shoved Ash into Hicca, causing him to accidentally pin her to the wall, as he lifted his arms up to stop his collusion on reflex.

They looked at one another, eyes blown and wide, both breathing heavily at the sudden closeness. Before both of them started to calm down when they realized that they actually liked the fact that they were so close to one another.

A rumble snapped them out of their trances and looked to see both Toothless and Stormfly looking at them with amused expressions. They jumped apart, coughing awkwardly, before going off to do their own thing. Ash looked over to the two Dragons, who were now grinning their wings off.

"Don't look at us like that when your in that position." he told them, gesturing to Toothless's wing, which was still wrapped around her body, and they shuffled apart, looking embarrassed.

Ash barked a laugh.

Don't go away! They'll be more!