Author's Note: Unfortunately I do not own a copy of Brave, a fact I did not realize till about a week ago so you'll forgive me if I get a few details wrong as they are all coming off the internet. Just to clarify, yes this takes place after the events of Brave which were fundamentally the same just gender swapped. Same for HTTYD. I own nothing.

2. The Market

Hiccup arrived at the town almost none the worse for the two miles she had walked. There was a small tear in her skirt from where it had caught on her prosthetic leg. But aside from that she didn't look at all like she had been walking for the past hour. The market was crowded, full of large strong men, warriors it almost felt like home. If they hadn't all been so polite to her it would have been just like Berk. Hiccup pondered this as she searched for the right shop. The people, the men at least looked very similar to the men on Berk. Tall bearded and muscular, they dressed differently and were nicer but they weren't that different when it came to looks. The women on the other hand were quite different. They all had an air of royalty around them, at least that's what it felt like to Hiccup. They were all being escorted by a man and cast anything from confused glances to pitying glares at Hiccup. Hiccup just shrugged it off, used to being the odd one out at home.

The only real difference between this place and Berk was the size. Berk was a relatively small village with a scattering of houses, a single forge, a great hall carved into the mountain of the island and a few scattered farms. This place was gargantuan in comparison. It had three forges spaced out around the market, each seeming to specialize in something different, one in weapons, another in everyday household metal items and another in specialty items, mostly for horses. There were several fruit stands and people selling baked goods on the side of the street. Hiccup paused at a small boy selling large red apples out of a small cart. He couldn't have been older than ten. What had caught her eye was that he was missing most of his leg. She crouched down and struck up a conversation with him.

Merad was annoyed again. He had arrived home earlier that morning, sore and slightly unnerved. He had spent the night at the old ruins and still couldn't shake the thought that someone had been watching him. But that wasn't what had him annoyed, no what had him annoyed was that he was babysitting his three younger brothers for the day. Harris, Hubert and Hamish were notorious for causing trouble and while they usually behaved around him he was not looking forward to explaining the trouble they were going to get into at the market. He hadn't expected that trouble to start by them practically running over a pretty young brunette as she stood up from in front of the young crippled boy, Conner who sold apples that he grew himself.

Hiccup had no idea what hit her as whatever it was bowled her off her feet. She closed her eyes and braced for impact but it never came. Instead something caught her around her waist just before she fell. She blinked and found herself face to face with the man from the night before who had caught her inches before she would have fallen to the stones of the street. He was actually quite handsome up close. Hiccup blushed to the roots of her hair as he set her on her feet.

"Sorry 'bout my brothers, they can be a bit of a handful." He glared at the three boys who stood with their hands behind their backs and slight grins on their faces. Hiccup shook her head.

"It's ok. It happens." Merad looked the girl over as she brushed off her skirt. She was a foot or so shorter than him with messy brown hair and the biggest green eyes he'd ever seen. She had a few freckles scattered over her cheeks and a small scar on her chin. There was a tear in her skirt and just visible beyond it was a metal foot in place of a real one. She was armed with a small dagger at her waist and had a small ouch on the other side of her belt. Her speech was careful and a bit fragmented, like she didn't know the language. She smiled slightly and Merad noticed that her two front teeth were slightly larger than the others. The overall effect made her something between pretty and beautiful. The closest word he could come up with to describe her was cute. But it was pretty clear that she wasn't from around here.

"I'm still sorry. What's your name?"

"My names Hiccup." Merad raised an eyebrow. The girl nodded.

"Yeah I know. Anyway I gotta go. Thanks." She turned on her false heel and walked away. When she turned the corner Merad knelt down and ruffled Conner's hair, handing him a few coins for an apple.

"So Conner who's she?" The young boy smiled.

"She's a nice lady. She bought two apples and told me an amazing story about how she lost her foot. She fought a dragon! She said I could be a warrior too if I wanted. But I like selling my apples, I meet nice people doing this. Like her and you Prince Merad!" The young boy grinned again and Merad ruffled his hair one more time as he stood and bit into the apple. He didn't believe that the waif of a girl he had met could take on a dragon, let alone walk away from it, one legged or not. But she did interest him, she was something new and he wanted to learn all he could from her. He glanced down at his brothers. They might be younger than him but he knew they knew the town better than anyone.

"So boys I've got a little mission for us."

A few hours later Hiccup had the fabric she needed and was headed out of the town. She had the feeling that she had been watched and she had run into that red haired boy a few other times but they hadn't had the chance to talk. Hiccup was worried he might have spotted her and Toothless the night before and managed to slip off every time she spotted him. She sighed in relief as she slipped back into the forest. Another blue light caught her eye. This time she paused and turned to see a small blue creature floating about three feet away from her. It was like nothing she'd ever seen before, it definitely wasn't a dragon that much she knew. She was curious but she knew she needed to get back to Toothless before she investigated. She hurried off down the path. She glanced back once and saw another of the blue flame creatures, she shook her head and walked faster.