Chapter Six: The Halfling
Kyra could hardly sleep that night – she was too excited about her brother coming home at last. Heck, she hadn't felt this excited since finding out that the world she'd loved through fiction for so long was actually real!
"Wonder what made him finally disobey orders to stay away from here," she thought towards Windwalker who, like her rider, was still awake.
"Who can say?" the Star Backed Night Fury replied sleepily. "I'm sure Hiccup will tell us in good time." Kyra smiled – that was if her brother decided to tell her anything. Knowing Hiccup, he wasn't one to give away personal information unless he was pushed. "You know what he said about him not being about to tell the others anything?"
"Yeah – why?"
"Do you think you'll be able to say anything?" Windwalker asked. Kyra thought for a moment.
"Doubt it. If he's supposed to keep his identity a secret for now, I'd ruin it by telling the others," she replied. "It sounds to me as if the second test Hiccup mentioned is more about Astrid figuring out who he is..."
"And knowing Vikings, their observational skills aren't the best in the world," Toothless cut in jokingly from the other side of the room.
"My point exactly. Although with any luck Astrid will catch on okay – she's more observant than the others," Kyra pointed out.
"You think? With Hiccup looking the way he is, Astrid's suspicions are gonna be through the roof!" Toothless protested. "We did tell you about the incident with Heather, right?"
"Yes – Astrid grew so suspicious that she wouldn't listen to Heather even when she was telling the truth behind her actions," Kyra huffed. "You told me about it just before I first met her." Well, that pretty much dashed any hopes of Astrid catching on quickly.
"Now get to sleep – if your plan is going to work, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow," Windwalker instructed gently. Kyra cast her dragon a cynical glare, a smirk creeping onto her face.
"Fine, Mum," Kyra joked – Windwalker and Toothless both chuckled in their own way. Windwalker had become increasingly more motherly towards Kyra since she'd officially become Toothless' mate and she really wanted to start a family but she'd respected Toothless' wish to wait for Hiccup, knowing that the boy would be over the moon to be there with his friend every step of the way, especially seeing as he was supposed to be getting ready for family life himself.
Kyra eventually closed her eyes and let sleep take over her. If there was one thing she still had from her dragon side, it was her insta-sleep ability.
/\
Kyra woke up as the cockerel crowed at sunrise. She let Windwalker out for a morning flight and promised to get Toothless going once she'd had breakfast – skipping most of the stairs, she helped herself to some porridge from the stove and nodded in greeting at her father, who had been up since before the sun.
"Mornin', Dad," she mumbled with her mouth full. "Busy day ahe'?" Stoick glanced up and chuckled lightly.
"What did I say about a chief-tess and her food?" he smiled. Kyra rolled her eyes and swallowed.
"To not talk with her mouth full," she groaned. "Dad, do we really know if I'm going to be running a village at all, even if Hiccup gets back?" Which he has, she added to herself.
"Well, you know there's the matter of your marriage," Stoick reminded his daughter. Kyra groaned again and slumped down on the nearest chair. "Don't give me that – we've already put it off for two years to..."
"I know, I know!" Kyra huffed. "To allow me time at home after being away for so long." In truth, Kyra was grateful that her engagement had been put off – she wouldn't have had time to enjoy her home if they had. Heck, in all respects, she should have been married off the year after she got back! "But how do we know I'm going to get married, if I do at all, to a chief?" she asked.
"Well, I've been talking to the Meathead clan," Stoick noted. Kyra heaved a sigh of relief – at least it wasn't Dagur the Deranged from the Berserkers or Norbert the Nutjob from the Hysterics. She would have committed suicide if it had been. "And Mugdug and I were thinking of you and Artair meeting up sometime today. You know, to see if you get along." Kyra sat up.
"Wait, you're considering my choices?" she blinked.
"Of course!" Stoick chuckled. "Don't want my daughter to be miserable for the rest of her life." Kyra beamed from ear to ear – at least she had some choice in the matter. "How come you're up so early, anyway?" he asked. "You normally sleep in after a full day of hunting." Kyra winced – dang, her father knew her too well.
"Uh...well..." she stammered. "I thought I could...give Toothless a longer flight than normal...and, umm...also do some more hunting?" she shrugged. "Cos...you know how pathetic Snotlout is when it comes to hunting," she added nervously. Amazingly, Stoick bought it despite his daughter's acting abilities being almost as bad as Hiccup's.
"Fair do's," he commented. Toothless jumped up and down on the floor above to show his want to get moving. "Alright – you'd best finish your breakfast before that dragon of Hiccup's breaks the floor again."
"On i'," Kyra mumbled, shoving down the last of her porridge and dashing back upstairs.
"Swallow!"
"Whatever!" Kyra shouted back down at her father as she took to the skies on Toothless. Once in the air, Toothless began speaking mentally to Kyra.
"So, what's the plan for today, then?"
"Step One: Get Hiccup to the village," Kyra replied. "Step Two: Persuade Gobber that he needs a new apprentice to help out in the forge."
"Which he does."
"Exactly. Step Three: Wing it," Kyra sighed. She had no clue as to what to do after Hiccup was in the village and taking part in everyday life – at least they could get the first 'test' out of the way. As she said before, Astrid would be a tough one and there was no telling how they were supposed to get the last one done. Kyra snapped out of her thoughts when she spotted a familiar pink and yellow Monstrous Nightmare and smiled – if Newtsbreath was in the area, there was only one other person who could be as well.
"Kyra!" Heather called, flying over.
"Hey, Heather!" Kyra called back, waving and slowing Toothless down so that the girl could catch up. "What brings you here?"
"Errands," came the answer. Heather, unlike Kyra and Astrid, had been married the previous year to Magnus the Fearless of the Meathead tribe and it was fair to say that married life wasn't exactly suiting her taste for adventure so she offered to do 'errands' whenever she could, if only to visit Berk every once in a while. "Magnus asked if I could talk to the chief about dragon issues."
"I thought Dad told Mugdug that we'd get round to it once Devastating Winter's passed," Kyra frowned.
"Well, you know Magnus – he thinks he could run the place if he could," Heather shrugged. Kyra had only met Magnus once when the treaty between the Meatheads and Hooligans was being renewed and he was pretty much a slightly more tolerable version of Snotlout, without the ego and obnoxiousness. "How are things?"
"Let's head down – I've got things to do anyway," Kyra suggested, leading Toothless back to terra firma. Once on the ground, she turned back to face Heather. "Sorry, what were you saying?"
"Any sign of him yet?" Heather asked as she always did on her visits to Berk, her pale green eyes filled with a mixture of hope and worry. Kyra had to pretend that nothing had happened and turned her gaze away. "Still?"
"I haven't been able to contact any dragons apart from our own – you know that," Kyra sighed. "I can't pinpoint where he is because of that – not to mention I can't go looking for him myself."
"Because you can't transform anymore either," Heather remembered.
"That and I can't just leave the village," Kyra added sadly. "Besides, Dad's been trying to find me a husband for almost a year now – I might as well humour him." Heather couldn't help but snort.
"Well, I'm gonna go catch up with the others," she noted. "I'll see you later, 'kay?" She waved goodbye and headed off into the village, with a basket of something that Kyra had somehow managed to not notice until then. Still, Kyra mentioned for Toothless to come with her and headed into the forest where she had to suddenly freeze in her tracks as a double-bladed axe barely missed her nose.
"ODIN'S GHOST!" she yelped before recognising the axe. "Astrid!" The Nordic Blonde emerged from the trees looking pleased with herself.
"What? You have to admit that was a good shot," she smirked.
"Yeah, but you could've given me advanced warning!" Kyra snapped.
"Learnt from the best," Astrid shrugged, pulling the axe out of the tree. Kyra grumbled – okay, so she'd given Astrid a few pointed on being light on her feet, quiet and sneaky but that gave the girl no excuse to go practising her new skills on her!
"What're you doing here?" Kyra asked instead, keeping her temper under control.
"Practising," Astrid replied bluntly. "What're you doing here?"
"Walking," Kyra replied in equal bluntness. "Shouldn't you be over at Runa's by now?" Astrid slumped.
"You had to remind me!" she groaned. "Can't I take a day off?"
"Not if I tell her you've been skiving for the past week and a half!" Kyra warned. "What would you do if Hiccup came home and all you had to give him as a welcome present was a poorly made house rug?" Astrid visibly bristled.
"I'll tell him not to worry me sick for three years – that's what I'll do," she growled softly. Kyra winced – she needed to get Astrid out of the woods.
"Even so, I really don't think he'll appreciate being slapped in the face again," she huffed. "Now would you scat, already? Because I'm not in the mood for arguing." Astrid still stood her ground so Kyra opted for her last resort technique which, thankfully, still worked – she crouched as if to attack and growled. That was enough to send even the toughest Vikings panicking, including Astrid even if they knew that Kyra couldn't transform due to her curse. Astrid mumbled a quick apology and scarpered off back to the village whilst Kyra heaved a sigh of relief – that was too close.
/\
Kyra eventually reached the cove to see Hiccup already lying awake waiting. She grimaced a quick apology and jumped down, skipping the climb down as she usually did.
"You're getting slower – what took you so long?" Hiccup asked, kicking his tail back as it came creeping forward with a mind of its own.
"Got held up," Kyra replied. "Toothless wanted a flight this morning, plus Heather's paying a visit and I bumped into Astrid five seconds ago," she added. Hiccup winced – it hurt to know that he couldn't tell Astrid of his situation. "Anyway, I've got things planned out for your identity test or whatever it was."
"So what's the master plan?" Hiccup asked, folding his arms – Kyra was still creeped out by his webbed hands and feet. She needed to dig out a pair of his boots and fast. Ignoring them for now, she jogged over and explained what she had in store.
"But first you need a cover up," she added. "I can hardly go around saying that you're...you...if you need to keep this whole thing a secret in order to become...you...again." Hiccup groaned – always with the alibis with Kyra. It had happened the last time and he was hoping never to have to do it again – he sucked at lying at the best of times and his acting skills were worse than Astrid's, which was saying something. "I mean, Snotlout and the twins might not notice – their intelligence levels are worse than a sheep's, after all." Hiccup snorted – that was true if anything. "But Dad, Gobber, Astrid and Fishlegs are going to notice something. Also Heather - she just got here."
"Wouldn't Fishlegs be too excited at the prospect of discovering a new dragon?" Hiccup pointed out half jokingly.
"Still – Astrid and Heather are going to spot the similarities as will Fishlegs when he calms down," Kyra grimaced. "You know how smart they are. Not to mention Gobber knows you better than most of the grownups around here and Dad isn't exactly not going to notice that you look like his 'long-lost son'."
"Uh...I come from a race of dragons that share a human counterpart with nearby tribes?" Hiccup suggested off the top of his head. Kyra thought for a second.
"Suppose that'll work," she shrugged. "Plus it'll explain why you act and look like 'my missing brother'," she added using quote marks. Hiccup was surprised with his own creativity – normally his cover ups were so see through and pathetic even Clueless, a Viking from the Meathead Tribe, could see through them. "I guess you could have run away from the group...school?" Hiccup nodded. "And that's why you've suddenly ended up here on Berk. Still, this whole thing would be so much easier if you'd sprouted horns or something," Kyra nodded her satisfaction, mumbling the last part (earning an "As if I wasn't in bad enough shape!" from her brother) and dragged Hiccup to the top of the Cove, although after a few minutes trying to squeeze his wings through the tiny gap Hiccup had to give in and briefly fly up to the top. Before they set off, however, she turned to face Hiccup one more time.
"Also – Dad impersonation. Requirement."
/\
"DAD!"
Stoick had just emerged from the house when he heard his daughter shout. The call came from the direction of the forest and, sure enough, Kyra came pelting out of the trees dragging behind her the most bizarre creature Stoick had ever seen – it was clearly a dragon of some kind but at the same time it looked incredibly human. Gobber walked over, closely followed by the Riders of Berk and Heather who had just been getting ready to head home.
"What in Odin's name is that with her?" Gobber wondered, staring in awe at the creature Kyra had with her. Kyra skidded to a halt just in front of everyone and panted (Hiccup rolled his eyes next to her. Even without her magic, Kyra still had the strength and stamina of a dragon and was never out of breath. Period).
"You would not believe what I found!" Kyra panted.
"I assume that," Tuffnut supposed, indicating the dragon-like thing next to her. His answer was a punch in the face from his sister.
"Where did you find it?" Stoick asked as patiently as he could without sounding rude. Even so, the creature seemed to take offence for being called 'it' and scowled slightly. Astrid pushed herself forward and froze when she saw the thing – the wings were a similar colour and texture of the sea dragon that attacked three years ago and the tail was similar as well. In addition to this, the dragon's face was almost identical to Hiccup's – true it was older and more defined but there were definitely similarities. Why was that? The thing's build was slightly different to Hiccup's – it was slightly stronger and not as lanky as the wayward Viking's had been – but Astrid still couldn't help but feel as sense of déjà vu around it. She glanced at Stoick and Gobber – the look of recognition and suspicion was written all over their faces as well. They'd seen it too.
"I'm not an 'it'! I've got a name!" the creature huffed in an accent that sounded slightly Scottish...kind of. "And, Ma'am, you're cutting off my blood circulation..." it added, glaring at Kyra who let go of the things wrist.
"Sorry," she mumbled. She turned to her father. "I found him in the Cove – I don't know how he got there. He just...was."
"It's possible he could have flown in under the cover of night," Fishlegs suggested (as Hiccup suspected, he was too excited at the prospect of seeing as new dragon to notice the similarities). "I mean – those wings would be perfect for night-time flying."
"What is it, anyway?" Snotlout asked – Kyra punched him in the face for calling the creature an 'it'. The creature huffed.
"Look, if it makes things easier and less offensive for me, I'm what's known in the dragon world as a Halfling," he groaned. "We're sea dragons and there's one school for every human tribe in the Archipelago – we share human counterparts on land, hence the name seeing as other dragons don't tend to see us as complete dragons."
"Is that how you can speak Norse, then?" Fishlegs asked eagerly. The Halfling nodded. "Awesome! This is a first for dragons! It's just like discovering the Typhoomerang all over again...OWW!" he yelped as Astrid elbowed him in the stomach. She faced the Halfling with a glare set deep in her storm blue gaze.
"So, what's your name then?" she asked formally, although the hate in her voice was as clear as crystal.
"Uh...it's...Draco," he replied. "Latin for 'dragon' – my parents weren't exactly an imaginative bunch." Astrid's glare deepened – Draco cowered slightly.
"What do you know of a sea dragon that attacked our village three years ago?" she interrogated.
"Astrid!" Heather snapped. Draco gulped.
"Um...well, I saw it happen..." he replied nervously. "My counterpart went under the waves, if I remember right."
"Do you know where he is?" Astrid cut across. Draco stayed silent. "I said, do you know where he is?"
"Astrid, enough," Stoick interrupted. He turned to face Draco – he agreed that the dragon looked familiar to his son, looking past the minor differences. He could understand Astrid's behaviour but as chief he had to keep things from boiling over. "I apologise, Draco. But what brings you here to Berk?" he asked. Astrid knew he was trying to be neutral but she could detect the tone in his voice that screamed uncertainty. Something about the dragon and his story didn't sit well with her.
"Well, I wasn't exactly ever accepted in the school," Draco replied. "So I ran away, found a cave and it led me to...the Cove, did she call it?" he briefly asked. Kyra nodded. "I didn't know it would lead me there – I was just gonna stay until morning when she..." he shot at Kyra who flushed furiously. "...woke me up and dragged me here," he finished.
"So you ran away, huh?" Heather repeated. Her eyes had also narrowed slightly – she'd spotted it too. "It must've been pretty bad." Draco nodded in agreement. "You got anywhere else to go?"
"To be fair, I didn't have anything planned," Draco shrugged. "I was just gonna go wherever and see if I could be of any use elsewhere." Kyra's face suddenly lit up.
"Well, then – you could stay here!" she exclaimed. "Gobber here's been needing a new apprentice in the forge for ages..." Gobber made to protest. "Don't give me that, Gobber – you know you do. Weapons production has been slacking for the past month and a half and the arrows I ordered two months ago still haven't been done."
"Alright, you got a point on that one," Gobber huffed. Astrid frowned at Kyra – why was she so accepting of this new dragon? She supposed it made sense for her, being the Dragon Shifter and everything, but still – Draco bore such a resemblance to the dragon from three years ago as well as Hiccup that it was scary. "Lad – you good to start right away?"
"Uh...sure, if I can help," Draco shrugged, a grin creeping across his face. Stoick smiled his acknowledgement and sent Draco and Gobber on their way before turning to his daughter.
"A species of dragon that speaks Norse and resembles a human," he commented. "Remarkable."
"I didn't even know they existed," Kyra smiled back.
"This will be an amazing addition to the Book of Dragons!" Fishlegs gushed. "We have to ask him a few questions during Training one day."
"Is he just a new project for you to study?" Ruffnut groaned. "Have you even considered his feelings? I wouldn't like it."
"I'd ask him first!" Fishlegs protested.
"Quite frankly, I think a new name is in order," Snotlout cut in egoistically. "And I'm the one who'll decide it."
"Well, this should be interesting," Tuffnut snorted sarcastically. Astrid stood apart from the group.
"I don't know, guys," she frowned. "Haven't you noticed? His wings are almost exactly the same as that dragon which attacked us when Hiccup vanished!"
"You're right," Heather agreed. "I noticed it too." She frowned. "And did you see his face?"
"Yeah," Astrid nodded. "It's a lot like his," she paused. "What if that dragon did something that meant Hiccup really is gone? Can we really trust him?"
"You're saying Draco's an intimidation?" Kyra smirked, a little too quickly for Astrid's liking. "Astrid, he just explained that his school has counterparts to our tribe!"
"Could be a cover up!" Astrid argued. "Either way, you guys shouldn't just accept someone right off the bat! We know what happened the first time that happened." Heather cringed next to her, wincing at the memory.
"Astrid," Stoick cut across. "I know what you mean. Something about that dragon doesn't fit." Kyra bit her lip but Astrid looked slightly triumphant. "I will keep an eye on him. If I suspect anything about him, he will answer to me and you will be the first to know if he is hiding anything about Hiccup's fate." Astrid couldn't help but feel slightly better that the Chief was siding with her, if subtly. "Until then, I want you kids to find out more about him – Kyra, see if he is connected to that dragon. Fishlegs – find out everything you can about his species. Twins, Snotlout – make sure he doesn't cause any trouble for the village. Astrid – keep an eye on him."
With that, Stoick left to continue his chief duties along with Kyra, Windwalker and Thornado, whilst Heather took off on Newtsbreath to head back home and the rest of the Riders of Berk headed out to carry on with their lives now that this strange Halfling had entered it.
AN: Sorry if things have been a little confusing – many thanks to Ferdoos for pointing out some plot holes which I overlooked. Hopefully things have been explained a little better in this chapter *crosses fingers* but if there is still anything left unclear, please let me know in either the reviews or send me a PM. I'm always looking to improve so any advice or notes will be great. No flames though – they don't help in the slightest.