A/N: I usually put these at the bottom, but I should warn you: this is an original story. Sorta. This isn't an episode rewrite. I'm trying something new, following a favorite author of mine, where I'll insert these original stories occasionally. Mani will have interactions with the characters on their own, which will slowly reveal Mani's character to you. It's considerably shorter than the previous chapter, but hopefully that will change with other characters. We'll see.

Stoick landed Thornado in the middle of one of the few clearings the woods had. They were deep inland on Berk, looking for a specific archer and dragon. Stoick had words to give to the teen.

With a large hand on the Thunderdrum's snout, the chief ordered him to stay behind, and stay alert. He headed into the woods, towards where he had seen some fallen trees, cut from above. He hoped he would be able to find his target there, or at least some clues pertaining to their whereabouts.

"Hey, there!" A voice called from above.

Stoick whipped around, battle hammer in hand. Apparently, his prey had come to him. "Lad," Stoick growled at the smiling blonde sitting on a shaded limb, "it's not wise to sneak up on someone like that."

"No sneakin' involved, sir," came the reply. "I've been sittin' here for a while, waitin' for Hati to come back from huntin'. Figured you're lookin' for me, and I thought I'd let ya know I wasn't far." Mani slipped through the branches, and shimmied down the pine's trunk, dusting off faded clothes before approaching the bearded chief. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Stoick scowled. "Your midnight dragon-flying the other night," he answered.

Mani's smile faded, as a look of understanding replaced it. It was two nights ago when Stoick had caught the Dragon Academy fliers riding their dragons, and Mani had led him away from the rest.

"Ah. And I suppose last night's battle doesn't exactly counter the fact that I ignored your ban?"

Stoick frowned deeper. "No, it really doesn't," he said.

"Well, then, sir, let me first point out that you are, quite literally, not the boss of me," Mani said, crossing thin arms. "As I am not a villager of Berk, you shouldn't have control over me."

"Which, I am guessing," Stoick retorted, "is the reasoning Hiccup used when he recruited you." Mani's eyes widened, and Stoick smirked in triumph. "Didn't think I'd figure that out, did ya, lad?"

The blonde head shook. "No, sir, I actually didn't."

"I know my son, Mani, and we've already talked about how it was a mistake to ground the dragons. I don't appreciate the fact that he disobeyed me, but I can admit when I am wrong."

"Well, originally, he wasn't goin' to disobey ya," Mani said. "He planned to have me patrol the island on my own at first, before he realized he didn't want me to get inta trouble. After that, it was just goin' to be the two of us."

Stoick held up a hand to stop the blonde from speaking any more. "I know who was out the other night, lad," he said. "We've all already had a talk about ignoring direct orders from a chief. What I want to talk to you about," he continued, "is making you an official citizen of Berk."

Mani took a step back. "Uh, and just how would ya manage that?" came the inquiry, full of suspicion.

Stoick frowned at the teen's actions. "Just a simple ceremony, and the signing of an oath," he replied.

"What kind of ceremony?" the youth demanded to know.

The chief tilted his head. "What's the matter, lad? Why so scared all of a sudden?"

"I'm not scared!" Mani insisted, but still taking another step back. "I just wanna make sure I know what exactly I'd be gettin' into!"

Stoick was confused, but replied, "The ceremony would simply involve you and me exchanging words and promises, in front of the village."

"You and me?" Mani interrupted. "Makin' promises? Yeah, I don't think so." Spinning on a bare heel, the archer began to run back into the cover of the trees. While running, the youth let out a loud whistle, produced from two pinkie fingers. A loud roar answered the call, but it was faint, as if the dragon was too far.

"Mani!" Stoick called, running after the teen. "Come back here!"

But the blonde was completely ignoring him, sprinting faster among the trees.

"Thornado!" the chief called.

The Thunderdrum quickly ran up to his Rider, who leapt onto the saddle. With a gust of wind, the two of them were up in the sky, blonde head in sight.

"Mani, come back! What's wrong?"

But Mani paid no mind. Instead, the archer grabbed for two arrows from the tattered quiver, and then leapt onto the trunk of a pine. Stoick stared with amazement as the lithe figure used the stone heads to quickly clamber up the tree, with a speed that betold years of practice. Stoick snapped himself out of it, but not before Mani had made it to a large limb and proceeded to nimbly and carefully leap onto adjacent branches, making a path through the trees. Another sharp whistle sounded, and another roar answered, much closer than before.

"Lad!" Stoick bellowed, urging Thornado to rise above the trees. "Why are you running?"

"That's a loaded question!" came the reply. Stoick was surprised at how fear and volume had pitched Mani's voice to a much higher sound.

Stoick narrowed his pale green eyes, searching for movement among the leaves. Catching sight of Mani's path, he whispered to his dragon, "Catch us," before jumping off the Thunderdrum, diving into the pines, right where Mani would be.

The blonde's eyes widened in shock as Stoick came barreling through the branches, and could only freeze in surprise as he wrapped his large hands over the small shoulders, dragging the teen to earth with him. Before they had an untimely journey to Valhalla, though, Thornado swooped down and caught his Rider, who had a firm grasp on his prey.

"Now," he said, setting Mani gently but firmly on the dragon. "You're going to tell me what that was about."

Mani's eyes frantically darted about, and in a last, desperate attempt to escape, tried to stab the chief's hands with the arrows still grasped in the archer's own. But this feeble attempt was easily thwarted when Stoick simply swatted the weapons away, and down they fell to earth.

"Lad," Stoick growled, "if you were so opposed to coming under my protection, you could have simply said so."

Mani huffed. "Sir, I think I've made it quite clear before that I am capable of protecting myself. Your oaths are not what will keep us fed and warm. Your promises will not keep a blade out of my back, except for your own. I do not need nor want any sort of commitment, except to Hati!" With those final words, Mani went limp, slipping through Stoick's arms and off Thornado's back. Stoick gasped in surprise as he tried to pull the youth back up, but could only watch in horror as his reluctant charge fell closer and closer to earth.

Then golden brown filled his vision, and Mani vanished. Looking back up, he saw that the Timberjack had returned to her Rider, who was now standing on the newly acquired saddle. Obviously feeling more confident with the new positions, the blonde looked at the chief with hard eyes, jutted chin, and crossed arms.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, sir, but aren't ya just trying to lower your son's chances of using me as a loophole again with your proposition?" Mani called.

Stoick glared. "All right," he harrumphed, "you got me. Let's talk on the ground, give our dragons' wings a rest." Mani nodded in consent, and the two dragons lowered to the forest floor. Mani slipped over Hati's shoulder, but stayed close to the Timberjack, poised to leap back on if necessary.

"I told you," the chief began, slipping off of his Thunderdrum, "I don't appreciate the fact that Hiccup disobeyed me. I understand that in his mind he was doing the right thing, but if he gets used to it, then who knows how many times he'll mutiny against me? I am his father, and his chief, and I will not be taken lightly." He glanced at Mani to gauge any reaction, but the archer remained stone faced, so he continued, "You are a danger, Mani. As long as you are not an official citizen, you remain a loophole for my son to exploit."

"Ya mean as long as I'm not under your thumb, I'm a danger to your authority," Mani bluntly supplied. "Sir, with all due respect, I'm no idiot. Now, your son has a good head on his shoulders, but he is still a kid, and I know that kids can still have stupid ideas." Stoick raised an eyebrow at the way the youth was speaking, as if much older than the proclaimed fifteen years. "But since I'm not an idiot, I can decide for myself whether to follow your son or you."

Mani paused, a bit, letting the words marinate in Stoick's ears. "I didn't follow your son for him, not even for you. I did it for me. I'm a selfish person," the blonde admitted, "and I tend to work in my own and Hati's best interests. Hiccup told me that my new home was in danger of attack, and I responded in a way to defend it. He was also offering to give me knowledge of other dragons, which I was willing to take. My own reasons, not his."

Stoick nodded slowly. "So I take it you're refusing my proposal?"

Mani visibly flinched, and stepped closer to Hati. The Timberjack looked surprised at how uncomfortable her Rider was, and gently laid her neck around the thin shoulders. Stoick frowned in confusion at the teen's actions.

"Yes," Mani whispered vehemently. "I am refusing your proposal." The last word was spat out with such poison, Stoick was surprised that acid wasn't dripping down the archer's chin. "I'll be happy to help defend my new home whenever it needs it, but I don't need to be a citizen of Berk for that. Besides," the blonde continued, "I don't really know how long I'll be able to stay here. Someday, I might have to leave, and I'd rather not leave anyone hanging for that."

Stoick couldn't help but chuckle. "Odin's beard, lad, I'm not suggesting marriage to some unfortunate soul. I only wish to officially welcome you into our protection, and introduce you to the rest of village. In case they wonder who the new Rider is. And, as you've surmised, it closes a loophole Hiccup might exploit."

Mani looked a little surprised at first, before relief showed prominently through those green eyes. But the words were still not what the chief wanted to hear. "And as I've said, sir, I only follow orders I think benefit me the most. I thank ya for your offer, but I don't need it, nor want it. Excuse me." Mani turned around, and headed back towards the woods, with Hati scuttling close behind.

"Tell me, lad," Stoick called out, "why would you leave Berk? It's fed an entire village for generations, so it's not like you'll run out of food any time soon. With the proper shelter, you can fair out through the weather. And we always protects our own. But the way you talk now, it sounds like you intend to leave someday." He furrowed his brow in concern. "What are you running from, lad?"

Mani paused for a moment, before turning around and saying, "Sir, I believe that is encroachin' on the privacy that I had asked for. I am of no danger to Berk, that's what's important."

"So you are running from something, then?" Stoick pressed, slightly disturbed by this piece of news.

"I bring no danger to your people, sir," Mani firmly repeated. "I promise ya that. And the moment it seems like I do so, ye can try to kill me, or I'll leave. There's another promise for ya."

Stoick watched, rubbing Thornado's snout, as the youth climbed back up a tree, using the arrows again. Hati turned to look at him, and snorted a bit, as if to say, 'Don't make my Rider nervous again, or you'll deal with me.' Stoick nodded respectfully at the Timberjack before she turned to follow Mani. Just as the warg follows the god.

"Who else is chasing you, lad?"