Author's Note: See previous laughter. I own nothing. Review please.

5. Teaming Up

Merad grasped his bow tightly as he closed his eyes, preparing for the end. He heard his mother scream and his father roar with anger. Then suddenly he wasn't falling anymore. Something had grabbed him by the shoulders and was carrying him through the air. A voice above him growled a question to the dragon that had caught him and then suddenly he was in the air again, landing behind the female rider he had spotted the night before. The dragon under him gained speed and he grabbed hold of the girl on instinct not wanting to fall off. There were cheers from below.

"You alright?" The voice came from in front of him, slightly muffled by the helmet but he could swear he'd heard that voice before. But he couldn't have.

"Yes, I think so." The rider nodded then seemed to switch back to the language the people on the ships were using.

"Snotlout, Fishlegs! Take out those catapults! Aster, Ruff, Tuff keep them on the ships, take out as many as you can." The tall blonde one on the blue dragon nodded and led the twins on the two headed dragon to the other ships. The rider in front of Merad switched languages again.

"What's your name?" As she asked the dragon they rode blasted another ship. The girl didn't seem to notice.

"Merad, firstborn son of the clan Dunbroch." That seemed to make her pause for a second as they zoomed past another ship drawing fire away from the town.

"Well ok then Merad, you know how to use that bow?" He nodded a bit incensed but still slightly shell shocked that he was on the back of a dragon to do much.

"Good, then you should use it." The rider's speech was slightly broken, like she didn't know much of the language and that made Merad look down at her feet, the idea he'd had moments before taking hold once more as he saw her false foot, the left one. But he didn't have much time to contemplate that as they swerved to avoid a volley of crossbow bolts.

Merad had had a lot of practice shooting from atop a moving steed. One of his favorite pastimes was to ride Angus through the forest and shoot targets he'd set up. But this was something entirely different. He had never been on a mount that went as fast as this beast. But he was not one to back down from a challenge. He drew back his bow and took aim, firing at the man who was yelling orders at the others on the ships. He missed but only by inches and only because they had taken a sudden sharp turn down. The girl cursed in the language she was using to instruct the others as they started to drag down. Merad looked over his shoulder and saw a hook caught in what appeared to be a false fin attached where the dragons left fin should be.

"Shit. Take the reins." With that she pulled her right foot off the saddle and swung it over the dragon. Merad shifted forward unsure of what he should do, that was when the girl dropped off the dragon entirely. Grabbing hold of the rope on the way down she pulled a knife out of her sleeve and sliced the rope. The black dragon took off and Merad grabbed hold tighter, trying to position his feet but the left stirrup still had the false foot attached to it. Then Merad spotted the chords and rods connecting the stirrup to the false tailfin. He glanced back to see the blue dragon swooping to catch the girl before she fell into the water.

"Nice catch Stormfly! Now get me back to Toothless so we can finish this!" The dragon nodded and flew up to where Toothless was circling unable to change course. Hiccup waited for a second before patting Stormfly's claw. She dropped her and Hiccup landed on Toothless's back in front of the boy who still clung there for dear life. She felt a searing pain in her side but ignored it as she hooked her false foot back to her leg and they sped off.

Merad flinched and grabbed hold of the girl around her waist as another ship blew, then another, then another. As the fourth blew Merad noticed something warm and wet on his hand. He glanced down and saw a slice through her side, blood pooling on his shirt and in his hand.

"Yer' hit wee lass." She didn't seem to notice he had even spoken. The dragon however did. The rest of the ships, save one, were on fire, men either dead or treading water near the beach where the warriors of Dunbroch were waiting for them.

"Snotlout, pick up Dagur!" The boy on the large red dragon swooped down and snatched up the last man on board the last ship standing. One last blast from the black dragon and the final ship blew and the girl wobbled on her dragon.

Aster was slightly confused as Hiccup turned Toothless to the town and set him down on the beach. That wasn't part of the plan. He expected her to take back off into the woods like they had planned but then he saw her wobble and slump down in the saddle as the boy behind her got off Toothless. He and the other dragon riders landed around her. Aster vaulted off Stormfly and snatched Hiccup from the red haired boy. She was almost unconscious, a deep cut in her side still leaking blood. She smiled at him weakly.

"Hey. You look really handsome when you're scared." She giggled slightly as he took off her helmet tossing it to Fishlegs who almost dropped it.

"Yes and you're adorable when you're bleeding a lot, just stay awake ok?" Hiccup nodded slightly.

Merad spotted the girl's face as the blonde ripped off her helmet and threw it. She was the girl from the marketplace. The black dragon nuzzled his rider. Merad was frozen for a second before he remembered that they were on the beach with his father and the warriors of Dunbroch. She had saved his life it was his turn.

"We need help! Someone get a healer!"