Everyone was soon gathered at the table but their guest was missing. "Might as well start without her..." Hiccup said after a while but a few moments later the door was burst open by Fishlegs who looked quite distressed. "Hiccup! You, you haven't seen Meatlug have you?" He panted out of breath. "No, how do you loose a dragon?" He asked a little confused. "She's gone! I've checked everywhere but nothing! Nobody has seen her!" He said looking increasingly panicked. "Now, just calm down. We'll find her." Hiccup soothed as he got up from the table and went to get his boot.

Amara got up, knowing from the Urgency that the dragons would be needed, working on getting Toothless and Stormfly's saddles settled and securely fastened. After that was done, she went up and checked the guest room before coming downstairs again. "The Guest room's dragon flight window was closed before, Dad...but now it's open, and our guest is gone, too. She told me when I went to wake her that her name was Roxanna." She said, noticing everyone set to head out by now.

"Right, Amara you're riding with me." Hiccup decided. "But how'd she take Meatlug? She's so loyal and I thought others couldn't ride others dragons?" Fishlegs asked, hurrying behind Astrid. "Maybe she's figured out a way? Maybe she took her? Who knows? But we have to find them, there's a storm due tonight, the clouds are darkening already." Hiccup said once outside, getting on Toothless and waiting for the others.

Amara nodded, getting on Toothless with her father, holding his shoulders, knowing just how fast Toothless was. Fishlegs nodded, getting on Stormfly with Astrid at her insistence. As soon as everyone was settled, they set out to search for Roxanna and Meatlug, even as the storm moved angrily through the sky over Berk.

The girl wasn't too far from the shore. She was sat atop Meatlug and directing her as they flew. There was no resistance from the dragon at all which confused with Vikings as they edged closer. Then the rain hit. Hard. Hiccup was trying to edge toothless on, to break away from the others when a great glob on something the colour of honey narrowly missed them. "...Deathsong!" They could just hear Fishlegs shout. Looking up they realised he was right. The beautiful dragon spat another amber blob at toothless, who just dodged, and then dived at Stormfly. It turned, fired another shot and kept up its relentless attack. Its behaviour seemed to make no sense but, given that he had valuable cargo on board, hiccup turned back to the village. Stormfly followed suit and, surprisingly, so did Meatlug. The dragons landed on the beach and took shelter under a rocky outcrop. Hiccup waited for the girl to stop before hurrying out to her. Meatlug wagged her stumpy tail at seeing Fishlegs but walked calmly besides Roxanna as they headed towards the others. "What were you thinking?!" Hiccup demanded. "I was looking for my friend." She explained angrily as they stepped into the dray area. "There was nobody with you! What friend?!" He demanded. "Beau Bane. I lost him in the storm." She said, patting Meatlug's head gently. "You should have asked someone! We could have helped you... anyway, how did you manage to ride Meatlug?" He asked, curiosity quenching his frustration. "How do you ride any dragon? I just got on and asked nicely." She said, a bit confused herself now though she fussed over Meatlug for her obedience.

"Normally, dragons won't let anyone on unless they show trust... we train dragons here... my Dad is known as Hiccup the Wise because he was the first to find the wisdom in the discovery that everything we previously 'knew' about dragons was wrong... through bonding with Toothless... first thing Toothless taught him was to never look directly at a dragon and offer them your hand while looking away, to show you gave them your trust, and invite them to trust you..." Amara said, showing Roxanna by doing that same thing her father had with Toothless during that day so long ago for him, and Toothless pressed his nose to Amara's hand. "Once they trust you, they often let you ride them, but not always... their first instinct is to protect... Uncle Toothless can get overprotective sometimes." She said softly, causing the Alpha-ranked Titan Wing Night Fury to huff and shuffle his wings... before growling with his eyes to the sky, his roar seemingly surrounded by a purple cone as he attempted to find the attacking Deathsong with his power to see through echoes.

But by now the deathsong was now long gone. "Yeah, thanks for your insight... though isn't it a bit backwards giving me tips when I can do it but you guys can't?" She asked, tapping Toothless's shoulder and putting a finger to her lips. "But, seriously, thanks so much for your help." She added sarcastically. "If we hadn't got to you when we did then you'd have been deathsong food!" Fishlegs snapped. "Look, ok, I don't know what a 'deathsong' is. But you did a great job on scaring away my Scottish castle keeper! He comes when I whistle and I was looking for him. I'd heard him sing back when you all showed up and scared him off." She snapped back angrily.

"We don't know what a 'Scottish castle keeper' is... we just know a Deathsong as a dangerous dragon that actually eats... other dragons. It sings to lure them in, then traps them in shots of a sticky, fast-hardening substance that seems like ancient, hardened tree sap... and chooses a victim each day to eat." Amara said, offering a confused explanation. Hiccup and Fishlegs nodded, relating their time having to escape from one out by an island they called 'Dragon's Edge.

"Well, whatever, all I know it that you scared him off. He's probably scared and lonely without me." She sighed. "He's never left my side." She added as toothless tried to comfort her. "I was going to say that we'd have helped you look for him but given the different names, we probably wouldn't have understood you. But, it seems you're quite talented at riding so, how about this: if you teach Amara to ride then we'll keep looking for your dragon...?" Hiccup offered. "Beau Bane. He also answers to Beau or Bane." She said. "What do you think Amara?" Hiccup asked her.

"It's worth a shot. I know that the dragons trust me... but I don't get why they won't let me ride... maybe with her help, we'll have better luck." Amara said, willing to accept help. "Maybe if we can get me able to ride other dragons, I'll be less of a misfit... one of the only villagers period who doesn't have their own dragon."

"If you'd picked just one egg to raise then maybe things would be different." Hiccup told her firmly. "Besides, it's not like you're an isolated case. I've not been able to ride any tame dragon other than toothless for a decade now at least. She got on meatlug with no problems and at their first meeting." He added. "Fine. I'll try but you have to promise to get me as soon as you get sight of him ok?" She asked.

Hiccup nodded. "We promise, we'll come get you when we see him. Let's try to get a meal in... maybe after your lesson tomorrow, Amara can show you around the island outside of the village." He said with a smile, and Amara nodded. "I'd be glad to do that, Dad... we'll probably have to reheat dinner now, though."

'I didn't ask or want them to follow me so it's not my fault.' Roxanna thought to herself as the group started making their back. She let Astrid fuss over getting her dry and getting her dry clothes once they got back while Amara and hiccup sorted out the dinner again. This time their guest joined them. Hiccup asked a lot of questions as did Astrid, about other dragons and where she was from. She didn't give much away but imitated the deathsong's call perfectly which give hiccup enough reason to believe that the deathsong they had seen was indeed hers. She also taught hiccup the whistle and explained that, while he'll come when he hears it, he will either attack or flee once he sees it isn't her making the call. If they could trap him without harming him until she got there then that would probably be best.

"Well, best way to do that would probably be to lure him with that whistle to the academy, and then send one of our dragons to get you." Hiccup said softly. "Do you know about Dragon Nip? It's an herb that dragons love and that calms them... we used to use it a lot in taming dragons. We try our best not to harm dragons... we haven't attacked dragons out of anything but self defence in decades."

"I've never heard of it even though I'm getting top grades in herbiology... but he loves lavender. Though, I dare say, you probably have a lot of different names for things here." Roxanna mused.

"Yeah... winter hasn't yet touched the meadow where dragon nip grows... I can show you after lessons tomorrow, Roxanna." Amara said with a smile. "There's another related species we try to keep dragons away from, though... we call it Dragon Root, and it has the opposite effect on dragons from Dragon Nip... dragons love it... but they get in full-blown aggressive battles over it... only Gronckles, like Meatlug, are immune to that effect."

"Meatlug? So that's her name. She is very sweet and caring. We have a similar breed back home called the Welsh green, who sleep for years and are often mistaken for hills. All the dragons I've heard of back home are huge and vicious. They all eat meat, especially humans, cows and pigs. I think the Welsh dragon is the only one to eat vegetables." Roxanna said.

"Most dragons around here eat various fish, or cooked meat from sheep or poultry... very few dragons will eat eels... they actually fear them. Something in an eel's blood makes dragons VERY sick, making them contract an illness we call 'Eel fever'. They sneeze unlimited shots of their fire or other offence, and have trouble recognizing their rider... we had an outbreak among humans one devastatingly cold winter, and the only ones not sick were me, Fishlegs and Astrid, and the dragons... we helped get the ingredients for the cure, but Toothless swallowed one of the blood eels and caught it himself... we had to mix up a single dose of the other cure ingredients to cure him... and he was able to spit out the half-digested eel that made him sick." Hiccup told Roxanna. "One of the only species we know of who don't fear eels, and actively eat them, was discovered by us when we were barely older than Amara... we call it a Typhoomerang."

"I'm not surprised. Dragons seem to be incapable of throwing up because the fire within is kept so close to the stomach. When they produce flame, they close the opening to the stomach. Opening the other part causes the flames to chase after the oxygen. They can close the part to the stomach but not the other side. The medicine you're talking about probably blocks the flames passage temporary so they can throw up." She replied. "Besides, Eels are disgusting so I'm not surprised they don't eat them regardless of getting sick." She added.

"That's the thing, Typhoomerangs actually prefer to eat Eels... and can do so without getting sick. Normally, dragons have a set number of times they can shoot their flame a day... for many species, it's 6, but some can shoot up to 10 times. Another strange eating dragon is actually the Gronckle... instead of eating fish or meat... they eat rocks."

"Like I said, most dragons. But all I've known are our native dragons at home." Roxanna said.

They nodded and soon finished dinner. They then stood up and Hiccup smiled. "Well, we start the day early... but that means everyone should go to bed early too."

"Do you need help clearing up?" Roxanna asked as she got up from the table.

"Could do. We wash the dishes every evening... we can't buy more until Trader Johann comes in his trading ship."Amara said.

"Sure. Show me the sink and I'll get straight to it." Roxanna said.

Amara nodded, helping gather the dishes and showing Roxanna to the sink. "Toothless? Would you mind heating the water to wash the dishes clean, please?" Toothless cooed, shooting a focused stream of his fire until the water was hot enough to steam, then heading to bed as the girls worked on cleaning the dishes.

Roxanna let Amara wash and she dried up as things were passed to her, placing them on the counter in a neat stack. She'd done enough washing and drying back home to know how to do it.

With them alone now, Amara spoke quietly, having noticed something about Roxanna's eyes. In the starlight, they looked to be black with white specks in them, but in the firelight, they had a dull orange glow, and she asked her about it, her tone conveying pure curiosity, having never seen such a phenomenon before.

"Just curious and you don't have to answer if you don't want to but... well... what colour are your eyes anyway? I've never seen anything like them. They seem to change colour depending on where you are." Amara said quickly and softly, hoping her new friend wouldn't get offended.

"Well... that's probably because I'm blind. I was cursed as a baby and nobody really knows how to reverse it. I mean, I see like, shadows and wispy ghosts but otherwise nothing." She said, drying a plate.

Amara nodded, trying to avoid staring now she knew. She handing Roxanna the last bowl and carrying the wash tub to dump out down the cliff behind the house. "I could help you around until you learn were all the stairs are in the house and village, if you'd like."

"It's fine. Nobody has ever catered to my 'needs' so no point starting now. I keep forgetting people can see to be honest. But once Bane is back it'll be easier. He's always been like a guide dog, er, dragon. Up until last month when he had a growth spurt and couldn't sneak inside." Roxanna said. "Thanks for the offer. But if you ever come across a counter spell, let me know, ok?" She smiled. It was a weak smile and easy to tell that doing so in public was a rarity.

"Yeah, no problem... anything you could tell us about his colours might be helpful... individual dragons within a species can vary quite a bit in markings. I'm actually curious as to what you might call the dragons we know back where you come from... would you be able to tell if you were able to 'see' their form through touch?"Amara asked. When it came to dragons she was full of curious interest.

"Breeds vary depending on where they live. The knight's wrath is a nocturnal dragon that migrates a lot so they're all black, quite small and endangered because no more than seven have been seen in the wild over a twenty year period. I couldn't tell you what colour Bane is, unfortunately. By the time I got him I was already blind. But I think someone mentioned red and possibly black? I'm not sure. I'd know him if I heard him. He tweets like a bird when he wants attention and coos a sort of purr when he's happy." She replied. "I probably don't know a lot of your dragons because they're not native to my home but we could try."

"The 'knight's wrath' sounds a lot like Toothless... he's a Night Fury..." She smiled as her Mother's dragon came in, nudging Amara with her nose. "We'll go to bed soon, Stormfly. For now... can you do us a favour? Roxanna can't see with her eyes... will you let her see you with her hands?" The dragon let out a cute sort of chirping growl, and stood still. Amara showed Roxanna over. "This is my mother's dragon, Stormfly. We call her breed a Deadly Nadder." She said, standing back to let Roxanna familiarise herself with the dragon's form by touch.

"Feels like a spiked quill finch. Finch try to copy the sounds other birds make to lure them into a false sense of security before roasting them." She said, finding a tickle spot under stormfly's chin. "Yeah, definitely a finch with that beak." She said.

"One thing Nadders do for self defence is actually shoot spines from their tail, and they have some of the hottest burning flames... 6 burning magnesium shots." Amara said proudly as she patted her mother's dragon.

"I've heard about the finch doing that but obviously never seen it first hand." Roxanna replied.

Amara giggled. "You should see it when another rider, named Snotlout, talks back to Mum... it's so funny, Stormfly pins him up against walls with her spines in his clothes." She said with a giggle, kissing Stormfly goodnight and showing Roxanna up to bed. "Careful, stairs start here."

"Yeah, thanks. Sorry again for causing so much trouble earlier. I just thought that if I could find Bane then I wouldn't have to be a bother." Roxanna said as she climbed the stairs. From a young age she'd learned to walk up by trailing her toes against the vertical part of the step to find the next horizontal footing.

"It wouldn't be a bother... we treasure guests and friends on Berk. We're a very helpful people... we make our living honestly, not pillaging like the Outcasts or the Berserkers. We grow food, raise sheep and animals, and fish, and our extra produce gets sold to merchant ships that go to the mainland, and then we can buy speciality items from Trader Johann. Dad's especially fond of the ink he sells... when he's not busy with his duties as chief, he likes to draw maps and log his encounters with new dragons in our dragon cultural book, unoriginally called the Book of Dragons. But Trader Johann doesn't have the ink very often, so he usually has to use charcoal." She explained. "Sleep well... looks like Toothless decided to bed down in your room tonight. We have a sleeping platform for him in every room of the house, and he picks where he wants to sleep."

"I see. Good night." Roxanna replied, going into the room and getting ready for bed before settling down for the night, being careful not to disturb the sleeping Night Fury.