"You're as cold as ice!
You're willing to sacrifice our love.
You never take advice.
But someday, you'll pay the price, I know."
-Foreigner, "Cold as Ice"
Author's Notes: So, some of you have probably noticed that I've switched the genre from Adventure/Romance to Adventure/Drama. I feel that, given how my story has been so far, and what I have planned, that would be slightly more appropriate for Frozen Flames.
Favorite – Taitertot; Jinxx-xx-xx
Follow – Taitertot; Jinxx-xx-xx
MMM – She's gonna do her best to keep Frostwave free, yeah. And no, her family can't come looking for her. They've got some problems of their own right now. I can't tell you what, exactly, because that would be some major spoilers, but she's not going to see her family for a very long time. And you'll be very surprised when she does.
Guest – You're right, Addie is a bit of a homewrecker, I won't deny it. She has some serious issues right now; her mind is pretty messed up (hence her status as the "broken" Guardian of Kindness) from her years on Blackstone, and since she's grown up with the idea that it's okay to take what you want, Addie is perfectly willing to get between Hiccup and Astrid so she can have him. I honestly think she's my most traumatized character of all, in terms of backstory. Not to make excuses for her behavior – I mean, she has definitely been acting very badly – but she does have her reasons. Her possessiveness and aggressiveness are just results of her childhood. I myself am not nearly this bad... I think.
Disclaimer: HTTYD is not mine. End of story.
Key:
Bold: Translated Benydeyh
Italic: Frostwave's translated lines (when from Addie's POV); human language (when Frostwave's POV); emphasis during normal speech
Italic Bold:Translated Benydeyh (when Frostwave's POV)
Normal: normal Norse; emphasis during flashbacks or when Frostwave is speaking
3rd Person POV: Hiccup
The dragon riders hurried to the scene of the crime, where the food storage house was now a heap of smoldering wood. Dragons were eating the supplies – mainly fish – including the mounts of the other teens.
"Stormfly?"
"Hookfang?"
Astrid and Snotlout's dismayed exclamations caught the attentions of their dragons, who looked at them sheepishly from their impromptu meal. Frostwave growled in disappointment at them, and they lowered their heads in even more shame.
"They've eaten everything! We've got nothing left for the freeze!" Stoick rumbled from among the wreckage. Mildew showed up with his usual perfect timing and glared at the dragons.
"I warned you, Stoick. But did you listen to me? No. You put a bunch of teenagers in charge! Now look what the dragons have done! Caging is too good for those beasts. And I bet that girl had something to do with it, too," the old man sneered, sending one poisonous look Addie's way. Her eyes narrowed and she stepped forward, but Hiccup held up one arm to stop her.
"Dad, I swear I can fix this. We... we were just starting to-" he began explaining, but Stoick cut him off.
"Enough, Hiccup! How can I trust you to control all the dragons, when you couldn't even control your own?" the chief asked disappointedly. One arm directed their gazes to a certain Night Fury with a basket of fish. One scaly tail flopped from Toothless' mouth, and he swallowed it before giving Hiccup a guilty look.
"Oh, Toothless..." he sighed. His father had turned to look at the two primary fishermen.
"Bucket! Mulch! Man the boats! We need another catch!" he ordered loudly, fixing a stern look upon them. The shorter man gave him a sympathetic look.
"It's too late, Stoick. It took us six months to catch all that fish," he said resignedly. The chief would have none of that, of course. Stoick the Vast doesn't give up that quickly, if at all. He was too stubborn for that.
"Don't tell me it's too late! We've got to try!" he countered, doing his best to keep the village from throwing in the towel so easily. Mulch nodded nervously.
"Of course we do!" he corrected himself quickly. Turning to look at Bucket, he said softly, "Uh, don't tell the Chief it's too late. You're always so negative!" The blond man nodded sadly.
"I don't know what it is with me," he agreed bemusedly. Hiccup didn't give in, though. He knew there could be another way besides caging them.
"Dad, please! You gotta listen to me. I know dragons better than-" he tried again. And again, Stoick wouldn't listen.
"Not now, Hiccup. I have a village to feed. The dragons have done enough damage. By tonight, I want every one of them caged. Addie, on the other hand, is free. She had nothing to do with this. Understand?" he turned his firm glare upon his own son. Before he could accept it, Mildew butted in, amidst the approving sounds of the mob of Vikings.
"Bah! You can't just cage these dragons! You need to send them and the girl away, now!" he demanded. Hiccup didn't understand why he seemed so intent on sending Addie away, but it definitely wasn't making him happy. What had she done to deserve this treatment?
"You're right, Mildew. We'll cage them tonight, except for Addie, and in the morning, Hiccup will send them off the island. I'm sorry, son," Stoick conceded. It was clear Mildew wasn't exceedingly happy with that, but he was willing to take what he was given. The look he directed at Addie still told them that it wasn't over, even as he began the tedious journey back to his own home.
Several hours later...
Adeline's POV
"I can't believe we have to send them away!" Snotlout said despondently. I just hunched over my chair, sitting on it backwards. Benches had never been my thing. They reminded me too much of the eating halls of Blackstone, and sitting so close to people bothered me. This whole thing was stupid. The dragons shouldn't be punished for simply being themselves. No one and nothing should be punished for that reason.
"It's gonna be weird. I got used to Stormfly's face being the first thing I see every morning," Astrid commented, resigned sadness in her voice. I nodded.
"I don't know how I'm going to get around the village without Frostwave's help. Maybe I'll just put up little colored flags..." came my listless remark. Nothing seemed right anymore. The world had lost its color once I knew the dragons were going to leave. No, I couldn't let that happen. Dragons meant more to me than most humans did, the exceptions being Hiccup and my friends. If they left, I was going with them.
"Every night before I went to sleep, Meatlug would lick my feet. Who's gonna do that now?!" Fishlegs wailed. Ruffnut, bless her twisted little heart, tried to cheer us up with a joke.
"I volunteer Tuffnut!" she replied, the smile on her face forced. Her brother was just too apathetic to object.
"Whatever. What time should I be there?" Tuffnut asked tonelessly. Frostwave hummed the Faith song quietly, trying to cheer me up.
"It shall be all right, Addie. I will not go so easily," she crooned, blowing some ice into my hair. I just brushed it out and sighed heavily. Not even the Faith song could help with my mood, and it had been one of the few things that had kept me going in our cell for those three years.
"Come on, guys. Let's get this over with," Astrid grumbled mournfully. I pushed myself out of the seat and walked with Frostwave, taking the lead. She was right. It was better to just get it over with instead of drawing it out. Like removing a particularly sticky bandage from a healed wound.
"This is the worst day of my life! We're never gonna see our dragons again!" Fishlegs exclaimed sadly. I didn't stick around to see what Hiccup had to say. This was it. Over before it ever started. The Chief's word was law, both here and on Blackstone. Going against him would just make things worse, maybe bad enough that they'd start killing dragons like they used to. If that happened, I would be out of here faster than I eat, which is pretty damn quick.
As I went through the huge doors of the Great Hall, I passed a certain irritating old man.
"Hmph. Going to cage your dragon now, eh, girl? Stoick should have made you be locked up again, as well. Ah, well. At least you won't have your precious dragons anymore," he sneered coldly. Frostwave growled at him in dragonspeak, so I don't know what she said, but I could guess. It would definitely not be suitable for children, even Viking children.
"And if you keep talking, you won't have a throat anymore," I snarled back. My tone was threat enough, even if he couldn't understand me, and so, ignoring his shocked and confused sputters, I descended the steep steps leading up to the Hall.
The sun was setting when we came to the arena. I knew it bugged Frostwave to be there, so I did my best to soothe her while we went down the stone ramp to the huge cage at the far end.
"This is stupid. You shouldn't have to be locked up just because of some dumb old fart," I grumbled, stroking her horn softly. I couldn't bear to let her go into the cage just yet. We had far too much experience with being locked away. Spending more time than was necessary in a cell would be more torturous now than it had ever been before, now that we had tasted freedom.
"Age means much in this world. It implies wisdom and skill, though the implications can be far from the truth, sometimes," Frostwave growled philosophically. I scowled.
"In Mildew's case, I think it just means he's too attached to the old ways. That guy liked killing dragons way too much to be happy with the new order of things," I retorted coldly. He was a lot like the adults of Blackstone, always griping about how the treatment of the island's Ytubdaac was too lenient or how the Captain should never have adopted me. Too much like them, in fact. It made me shudder to imagine him as one of the pirate elders. Too old to actually go on missions, but in his youth, one of the worst of a bad bunch.
It wasn't long before the others showed up, though Hiccup was conspicuously not among their number. They didn't come inside the arena itself, though. I don't think they could have gone through with this if they did. Snotlout said his goodbyes to Hookfang before sending him inside to join us. Astrid apologized and told her Nadder to enter the arena, pointing her torch in the direction of the gates to emphasize the command. The Nadder, the Gronckle, and the Zippleback soon joined us inside. I stood up from my spot against Frostwave's side and gave her a pained look.
"Go, Addie. I shall be fine in here. They cannot cage me for long," she crooned softly, though by the looks of her eyes and fins, she was not happy with this arrangement. Neither was I, but it wasn't like I could do anything about it. I was still relatively new on Berk. I didn't have much of a voice, especially considering my history. Ex-pirates aren't exactly the most welcomed people anywhere.
Patting her nose one last time, I turned and left the arena, letting them slowly start closing the gates.
"Ugh. Feels like big, sharp teeth are tearing at this thing in my chest," Snotlout grumbled sadly. Astrid gave him a sympathetic look.
"That's what it feels like... when your heart is breaking," she replied. Of course, Snotlout would have none of it.
"I don't have a heart! I'm not a girl!" he retorted angrily, though I could tell his heart wasn't in it. If you get my drift.
Gods, even I couldn't laugh at my jokes. That's how bad I felt.
The gates were about to close when we heard Hiccup shout, "Don't close it!" The metal portcullis stopped lowering, and we turned to see him and Toothless land.
"We are not locking them up," he said firmly. My heart soared. Frostwave would be free! But wait. What was with the sudden change of heart?
"What happened? Did you change your father's mind? Or are we going behind his back again?" Astrid asked suspiciously. I grinned, my first real smile since this whole afternoon. It widened when I saw the guilty look on his face.
"Uh... one of those. Look. The dragons are gonna do what they're gonna do. It's in their nature. We just need to learn how to use it!" Hiccup began explaining his plan, and with every word, I felt a weight lift from my chest. Yes. This would work. This had to work. Because otherwise, I would lose the only family I had left. I couldn't let that happen. Not again.
The next day...
I was riding on Frostwave's neck again, her horns clenched tightly in my hands. This was our only shot at fixing things. If we failed this, the dragons would be sent away for good. We flew over the ocean, and that's when we saw Bucket and Mulch on their boat.
"Snotlout, scare us up some dinner!" Hiccup ordered, pointing down at them as we flew over the boat.
"Dragon attack!" Bucket screamed. I could only shake my head. Well, when this was all over, things would be better. For us, and for the dragons. Except for Mildew. He would definitely not be happy with this turn of events.
Hookfang dove into the ocean, Snotlout still riding him, and startled the school of fish nearby into swimming right into the nets. They shot out with a triumphant whoop from the Jorgenson boy, and I followed Hiccup to our next mission, not sticking around to hear his victory shouts.
This next part was all on me, Astrid, Fishlegs, and Hiccup. We flew up to Mildew's house, way on the other side of the mountain Berk was perched near, and saw him trying to plant more cabbage. It irked me that we had to help him, but Hiccup had insisted, seeing as dragons had destroyed his field before. Oh, well. I would live.
"Afternoon, Mildew!" Astrid greeted him cheerfully. I waved and leaned forward over Frostwave's head.
"Ready, girl? Let's use that tail of yours," I murmured, and she growled in anticipation. She and Stormfly used their tails to plow furrows in the soil, which probably would have taken him several weeks to do himself, and as we turned to watch the rest of it, I had to grin at the old man's confused expression. Hiccup had flown directly behind us, sprinkling cabbage seeds into the furrows, and then he joined us.
"Three o'clock! Time for the fertilizer!" he called down brightly. I chuckled when I saw the old man echo that last word, and started laughing outright when Fishlegs led a bunch of dragons on Meatlug over the field.
"Okay, Meatlug, let 'er rip!" he cried out. The dragons began relieving themselves, letting green chunks rain down onto the field, and Hiccup flew a bit closer once it was done.
"Smile, Mildew! We just saved you three months of work!" he shouted before heading off to the next stage of the plan. I gave Mildew a jaunty wave of my hand before flying toward the village again. Frostwave was humming merrily.
"The Hiccup is a wise leader," she growled pleasantly, landing a few yards away from the slaughterhouse. We heard an explosion from the direction of the forest, and the familiar sound of Night Fury blasts alerted us to the next stage in the plan. Soon, boars came stampeding towards us, and Frostwave used her ice to help direct them into the building by creating a narrow path to the doors.
"That's the way to do it!" he cheered, coming up on Toothless. The rest all gathered around us soon, and I'm almost positive the grins they had on was mirrored on my face. This was one of the best plans I had ever heard, which, sadly, isn't saying much. It had to convince Stoick that the dragons didn't need to go away.
"Whoo-hoo! That was awesome!" Fishlegs exclaimed. Astrid looked at our leader curiously.
"How did you know that was gonna work?" she asked. He smiled and told her.
"Because they're dragons, and they're gonna do what dragons do. We just have to work with them and not against them. You know who we should actually be thanking?" he said, grinning. Something made my stomach twist. What did he mean by that, and why was I getting such a bad feeling about it?
"There they are, Stoick! Those dragons don't look like they're in cages to me," Mildew's hoarse voice rang out across the plaza we were currently in, and I winced. Of course he would rat us out. Of course he would. Never mind that we actually helped him, or anything. NOOOO. he just had to pay us back by telling Stoick that we hadn't obeyed his orders.
"No. This is not what I asked for," Stoick rumbled disapprovingly. One hand instinctively went to my leg, but I managed to keep myself calm. This was not the time to flip out and protect my dragon. Not yet, anyways.
3rd Person POV: Hiccup
Stoick led them to the arena, caged their dragons wordlessly, and had them line up in front of him. Gobber was standing off to one side, eyeing them worriedly. Mildew and Fungus were somewhere outside, watching everything with growing anticipation.
"Oh no! What's Stoick gonna do to us?" Fishlegs asked worriedly.
"I'm too pretty for jail!" Ruffnut complained. Her brother chuckled humorlessly.
"Where'd you hear that?" he replied. Addie scowled.
"You're not too young for jail. Believe me, I know," she snarled coldly, one hand on her thigh just inside the slit of her skirt. She must have had something underneath that she planned to use to free Frostwave. It worried him. He had never seen such a cold, calculating look on someone's face, and he knew that she would not hesitate to do anything to help her dragon.
"You all disobeyed my orders, and there will be consequences," Stoick began. Hiccup could feel Astrid scowl beside him.
"I told you we were gonna get in trouble. Ugh, you never listen to me!" she whispered furiously. He sighed and took a step forward, ready to take all the blame. After all, he had been the one to come up with the idea, he reasoned.
"Dad, if anyone's going to get in trouble, it should be me," he said resolutely. His father shook his head.
"Nope. You all had a hand in this," he replied sternly. "You took over this place without asking. You released the dragons against my wishes. Things are going to change around here. That's why I-"
"You're getting a Dragon Training Academy!" Gobber interrupted enthusiastically. Hiccup froze with shock. What? Had he heard that right?
"Gobber! I wanted to tell them!" Stoick said reproachfully. Slowly, the tension and confusion melted away, to be replaced with the warm glow of relief and joy.
"I'm sorry. You're right. Go ahead," the blacksmith replied sheepishly. Stoick scowled.
"Well, you told most of it!" he said exasperatedly. The other man grinned toothily.
"You can tell him the part about how proud you are of them!" he suggested, only making the situation worse.
"GOBBER!" he shouted. Sighing heavily, he turned back to the dragon riders. "Hiccup... well, what he said. You've all made me proud. This Dragon Training Academy is for you."
The chief of Berk opened the huge cage in the back where the dragons had been stashed, and they all rushed out to reunite with their riders.
"Hookfang! My buddy!" Snotlout yelled joyously, jumping on his Monstrous Nightmare's muzzle.
"Hey, Stormfly! I missed you so much!" Astrid cried out, stroking her Nadder's head gently.
"Meatlug! Oh, who's Daddy's little baby? Who's Daddy's little..." Fishlegs trailed off into unintelligible baby talk as he held his Gronckle's head.
"Frostwave!" Addie yelled happily, embracing the Silver Horror's entire head. She crooned something, and the girl chuckled nervously.
"Hey, I wouldn't have just let them cage you like that. You know that," she said, brushing her skirt. As she did so, Hiccup got a glimpse of something silver coiled up against her leggings: a spear-chain, polished and ready for action. Before he could think more on that unpleasant thought, his Night Fury friend came up to him and headbutted him.
"Hey, bud!" he exclaimed, holding Toothless' head warmly.
"Now all you have to do is train 'em," Stoick said encouragingly. Hiccup nodded and looked at his father, smiling softly.
"Not a problem, Dad. After all, I've got him," he answered, indicating Toothless. Astrid cleared her throat behind him, and he turned to see the other Riders had gathered.
"And... them, too."
Hiccup, narrating
Hiccup draws the entire Academy with their dragons, getting every single detail in. Adeline and Frostwave curl up together, forgoing the hammock in favor of staying together. Meatlug licks Fishlegs' feet as he sleeps. Stormfly opens Astrid's window, waking her up so they can get a head start on the day.
Dragons can't change who they are. But who would want them to? Dragons are powerful, amazing creatures.
Hookfang and Meatlug, led by Snotlout and Fishlegs, carefully set up the Academy's new sign above the gate. On it is a Night Fury, curled into a spiral with one red fin, and in letters around it reads the new name of this structure.
"Berk Dragon Academy. I like the sound of that. Much better than Ynahy, that's for sure," Addie says appreciatively, looking at him cheerfully. The ropes holding up the circle of wood settle in place on both sides.
And as long as it takes me, I am going to learn everything there is to know about them. Wouldn't you?"
Author's Notes: Behold, the translations!
Ytubdaac – Adoptees
Episode 1 of Riders of Berk has come to a close, and I have to say, I'm starting to get a little excited here. I have so much planned for the rest of this, including a few shocking revelations about Addie. Well, quite a few.
Any reviews are welcome! I like hearing from you!
Wild Cat 214, out!
