Siren

"Quicker, Toothless!" I yelled, as Berk came into view, partially obscured by clouds. People were walking about, carrying on with their daily business as I came closer to the docks. I could see Eret, son of Eret, repairing a ship as Magnus, the ugly daughter Gobber named, stood over him. I never understood how her parents wanted to name her Hildegard. She looked more like a Magnus to me.

Try telling that to her parents.

Toothless landed with a thud! on the docks. Vikings looked up, their eyes wide with curiosity and fury.

I dismounted my best friend and walked forward to Eret, who was holding his axe out self-defensively.

"We don't welcome dragons here," he growled, as more Vikings pulled out their maces and swords and axes.

"I know," I said, trying to keep my voice from trembling. "I was born and bred upon this island. My parents are Hiccup, Dragon Conqueror and Chief of Berk, and Astrid Hofferson. I am Siren, the daughter of Berk. I left five years ago with Toothless, formerly my father's dragon, and now my own. I wish to stay home for the next two weeks."

As I spoke, I remembered what Rukia said when I told her of my plan to return home.

"Siren," she said, speaking in Nordic, which I usually didn't hear her speak unless she was with Rupac, working on it. "Your people not able to recognize you. Mother and father won't know you. Viking clothes no more fitting, so wear kimono. Berk don't know kimonos. Berk think of you as frail, small, not a tall, strong. Berk know Toothless, but still not believe you. Berk no know Quetzalcoatl. No talking dragons.

"Only way you learn is to go back, no? Not listen to me or husband."

We argued for a bit, but that didn't convince me. It didn't show me the reality of my plan.

When I look back now, I think to myself, how could I expect them to know it was me? They may be able to recognize Toothless because he was my father's dragon, and because he was the only Night Fury they knew. It didn't hurt that he had an artificial tailfin with the symbol of Berk on it.

But me?

When they thought of me, they knew me as a small girl, with freckles and long blond hair, born early, with a Viking accent and an impressive ability to swordfight. They saw me wearing Viking clothes that fit me, and in a kraken. They also saw me as a pest, one that reminded them of my mother. My nails would be bare, I had a few bruises here and there, and I had a nice little yak skin glove with me. And I also loved to read. Everyone knew that. They saw me as a rude young girl with no respect to some.

What they saw now didn't fit what they knew before. What they saw was a stranger with a heavy Viking accent, wearing a kraken, an axe and many swords on the sash. They saw a stranger with a strange robe, and a Night Fury as a pet. They saw a tall, skinny girl, with freckles, blond hair that fell to the knees when down. They saw a girl with bruises on her arms, and a long yak skin glove on my right hand. This girl's nails were painted red, and she had some bandages from scars the Celts gave her. And she talked rather respectably.

And Rupac? Forget it. They wouldn't know a sleeping reptile around my shoulders because they never saw one.

I changed way too much for Berk to recognize me as Siren, daughter of the chief. My name is still Siren, but I was, and am now, a different Siren from what they knew. I think they thought I would look the exact same as I did when I was ten, small and naïve, but intelligent.

I can see that now. I can see why no one believed me to be Hiccup and Astrid's daughter.

"You?" Eret laughed mockingly. "Daughter of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and Astrid? No. There is no way his daughter would return back to Berk on her own. She wouldn't come back to Berk unless her father forced her back. Siren ran away on a dragon," Eret pointed to Toothless, "that looked like that. How do we know if it's the specific dragon for sure?

"And your dress? What is this?" Eret eyed my kimono.

"And what is that?" a woman with dark brown braids cried, pointing to Rupac. She was buff and muscular, like most Vikings.

"Leave, intruder," Eret said, swinging his axe in my face, "or we kill you, the dragon, and your reptile."

Rupac snorted at the end of his sentence, then slept without snoring.

I would've loved to have stayed and argued. I truly do. I even pulled out my axe to fight.

But I knew deep down, it was a bad idea to foolishly fight back, especially since they didn't recognize me.

That was why I lost the will to fight and put my axe back in my sash, turned around, and left Berk with Toothless and Rupac.

I think that if Daddy or Mummy were there, they would've known it was me. Daddy still tells me I look so much like Mummy, so I think he would've known. And as for Mummy, I really can't say why I think she would've known I was her daughter. I guess she may have seen herself in me.

This was one of those moments when I realized that I was kind of naïve about some things in life. I was naïve to think they'd know me. I'd changed so much that I was no longer recognizable to them.

I've learned so much since then. Especially in the following months, where life was changing as a whole.