Hiccup, Valka and their dragons spent the night at the island where Hiccup used to stay when he went back to Berk. None of them wanted to get back in the middle of the night, and thought it was best to get at least a few hours of sleep. But before they went to sleep they talked about Eyla and Storm. Valka liked Eyla and could easily see why Hiccup wanted to see her and her dragon. And even if she didn`t know the girl, she could see some similarities between the two from what Hiccup had told her and what she had seen herself.

When Hiccup and Valka arrived at Berk in the morning Astrid was waiting for them. She stood there with her hands on the hips and when they landed she crossed her arms and looked at them. She was not happy. At all.

"You left, without me", she said. "How could you leave without me?!"

"You were busy and…" Hiccup began.

"So you wanted me to help with the Dragon Academy so you two could go see that girl? And not even tell me you were going?!"

"I followed him", Valka said, "I didn`t really go with him, I followed him."

Astrid looked at them, still angry.

"Next time you tell me, okay? I want to meet that girl too."

She looked at Hiccup and hit him on the shoulder before she left.

"Ow!" Hiccup said and put his hand on the shoulder. "I wish she could stop doing that."

"I don`t think she ever will", Valka said with a smile. "It`s kind of her thing."

In the evening when things started to settle down, Hiccup made sure to spend a couple of hours with Astrid. It didn`t really make up for leaving without even telling her, but they hadn`t spent as much time with each other like they used to, since Hiccup met Eyla.

Eyla was worried. She wasn`t just worried that her mother would say something about the dragon, she had Ben`s eyes on her. She knew he was watching her. He was suspicious and she had to be careful when she left the village to go see Storm. Fortunately Ben hadn`t done anything since he threatened her in the woods, but she knew he was watching her. She tried to make it difficult for him. Not going to the woods at the same time every day. It had only been a couple of days, but it was just a matter of time before he revealed her. And Ben would have Storm killed in a heartbeat.

Eyla and Storm stayed on the ground. She was too afraid that Ben or anyone else would see them if they went flying. She could tell that Storm wanted to fly, but seemed to accept that they were staying on the ground. But Eyla felt sorry for him. She was human, she wasn`t supposed to fly, but a dragon was, and he loved to fly with her.

The next time Hiccup went to see Eyla he asked Astrid to come with him. One of the reasons was he didn`t like it when she was angry at him and he didn`t want her to punch him again when he came back. Hiccup could tell that she was happy he asked this time and she seemed to be excited to meet the new dragon rider. And he was quite sure Eyla would like Astrid too.

When Hiccuo and Astrid got closer to the island they saw Eyla and Storm on the rock pillar. Toothless and Stormfly landed on the rock pillar and Hiccup and Astrid got off.

"I guess you didn´t climb this time?" Hiccup asked with a smile.

"No", Eyla said. "But if I did and if I would fall down, at least I would have someone to catch me this time."

"This is Astrid", Hiccup said. "I told her about you and she also wanted to meet you. But she couldn`t come last time."

"Couldn`t?" Astrid said with an annoyed tone in her voice. "More like you didn`t tell me you were going!"

"Anyway", Hiccup said feeling a tiny bit uncomfortable. "Astrid, this is Eyla. And that is Storm."

"Storm huh?" Astrid smiled. "This is Stormfly."

Eyla smiled. Two very different dragons but almost the same name. But Stormfly seemed to be a she.

"What are you doing up here?" Hiccup asked. "Enjoyig the view?"

"Yeah, and hiding from Ben. That guy you saved me from. He has his eyes on me. Hoping to figure out what I`m doing."

"Wait, You never said anything about saving someone." Astrid looked at Hiccup.

"It was nothing, really. I wasn`t in any real danger", Eyla said. "Ben was just threatening me to find out why I spend so much time in the woods. But if he finds out about Storm." She shook her head.

"You fight dragons", Astrid said.

"They attack us", Eyla said. "We haven`t had a choice. But I wish it was different." She put her hand on Storms shoulder blade.

"Maybe if you talk to them", Astrid suggested. "Maybe you can…."

Eyla smiled, but it didn`t reach her eyes.

"No. They won`t listen. They don`t want to listen. And people don`t really listen to me."

"Sounds like you", Astrid said looking at Hiccup. "It wasn´t easy to get people to understand."

"It will take a miracle for them to change", Eyla said. "In the meantime I will do everything I can so they don`t find out about him."

Hiccup and Astrid stayed for a while. Storm and Stormfly seemed to get along well, and Eyla thought that Astrid seemed very nice, tough, but nice. She liked her.

"I can see why you like her", Astrid said when they were on their way home. "She`s a lot like you. And very nice, I like her."

"I´m glad", Hiccup said. "And Stormfly and Storm seemed to like each other as well. I wish she could come to Berk so she could see how we live with the dragons."

"Maybe someday. I think she would like it. But I understand that she can`t just go. Not when they see dragons as the enemy. And she can`t just go alone on a boat."

"Yeah…"

Eyla got the hampers and left the house to walk down to the docks. The sky was light grey, but she could see blue sky in the distance. She hoped it wouldn`t rain, even though they could need some rain. She just didn´t like it when it was pouring down.

It had been a while since someone did anything to her, so when she was pushed, tripped over some ropes and landed in the water, it caught her off guard. She wasn`t at all prepared. When she turned around to stand up, Ben held her down, forcing her to sit. Tork was standing next to him. Ben came closer.

"Now you tell me what`s going on", he said with a low, angry voice.

A couple of months ago, he would have scared her and she would have been afraid of what he would do. Now, somehow she felt confident, determined never to tell him about the dragons.

"Never", she said calmly, emphasizing the word.

Ben narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaws.

"I`m not going to ask you again. Tell me what you are doing in the woods. And why you tried to stop Gunnar from shooting that damn dragon."

Eyla just looked at him, narrowing her own eyes.

"Never!"

"Either you leave her in the water, or you get her out of there", one of the fishermen said.

Ben gave her one last angry look before he turned around. Tork looked almost as angry as Ben did, but followed him without saying anything.
Eyla got out of the water and walked up on the pier and took the two hampers that needed to be repaired and walked towards the house. She tried to walk like it didn`t bother her, but it did. She was pissed. She was angry that they didn`t leave her alone, she was angry that Ben threatened her again. Angry that the best thing that ever happened to her, could be lost in a heartbeat.