The room was slightly lightened by the faint light of the sunrise.

I straightened up a bit and got on the boots that Astrid got me a few days ago, it was one of her old pairs but it was better than nothing and it was just temporary, till Johann would get here.

Slowly I stood up and sneaked down in the kitchen.

After I woke up Stoick in the middle of the night with yet another scream, I felt like I needed to somehow redeem myself. And what better way to do that than preparing breakfast?

So I began fussing around in the kitchen. It wasn't so hard to find all the things I needed, it proved to be harder to keep quiet while cooking or to get the cauldron above the fire. That thing was heavier than the one at home, or was it the fact that I haven't been making any physical effort in almost a month?

I shook my head slightly and stirred the porridge once again, just to make sure the pieces of apple spread through it and it was all homogeneous. I've settled on making some barley porridge with chopped apples, flatbreads, honey cream and apple bacon.

Then I scooped some of the gruel in two wooden bowls and strode to the table, placing them on it. I went back to the kitchen and continued with the preparing as my mind raced.

After I will see Johann, I'll go search for Phantom with the others, then I'll go back to the Edge and I'll continue fighting along the riders while hunting down Dagur. One thing that I wanted to— No, one thing that I longed to see was the damn redhead being eaten by Speed Stingers or me beheading him.

It was something that I carved for. In all these three weeks I got that I wanted blood for what he had done, for what he had taken that was mine to give. At first I felt ashamed, I still do, a bit, but now I just want him dead. There was this bloodlust I had cursing through me and every day it was getting stronger, it came from deep within and honestly, I wasn't going to stop it. Not until Dagur's head was rolling down at my feet.

I pushed it aside though and eyed the table. A smaller bowl with honey cream sat between the plate with apple bacon and the one with the flatbreads. Two bowls with porridge were placed in front of their respective seats, with a wooden spoon on the right side. And last but not least, two wooden mugs with eglantine tea sat near the wooden bowls with steamy gruel.

Heavy footsteps came from the room across and I saw Stoick walk sleepily into the kitchen only to see me. He looked at me a bit bewildered but it faded away fast.

"Why up so early?"

I bit the inside of my lip a bit "Good morning, chief. I… um… thought that it would be good to make breakfast since I woke you up practically in the middle of the night…" I trailed off and glanced at the table then back at him "It's going to get cold soon, so. I mean if you don't mind that I fussed around the kitchen of course and—"

"Marianne"

"—I just thought that it would be a nice gesture. Also mostly as a thank you because it's been almost three weeks since I am here and I honestly—"

"Marianne…"

"—kind of feel like a burden in this situation and—"

"ANKER!"

I closed my mouth and looked up at Stoick. Well, I felt like a child that did some foolishness and got caught.

He shook his head a bit with a smile, it looked so much like what Hiccup would do. Guess Stoick rubbed off on Hiccup pretty good, the young rider was much more alike his father than he thought.

"It's totally fine, and it's nice of you. Try not to overthink things, you are going to kill yourself from the inside if you keep doing it. Just breathe"

"Sure it's alright?" I asked still hesitant and rubbed my right elbow with my hand.

He nodded "Aye, it's completely okay" then he looked at the table "You were saying it would get cold soon, let's eat then"

A small smile tugged at my lips as I gave a nod and sat the table with Stoick.

We talked here and there and overall it was pretty much like when I was home, on the rare days when I had breakfast with my parents.

Turns out my cooking skills were actually pretty great, not that I doubted it, cooking was one of the things I did to pass time when I was 'grounded'. So over the years it kind of became a thing I excelled at.

After I finished doing the dishes, a bit too slow for my liking to be honest, I headed to the door after Stoick. He walked out and strode to his dragon, then turned around to look at me.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait for Johann in the house? He'd come by anyway"

I gave a small nod "I'll take a walk through the village and head to the docks afterwards"

"Aye, I'll be at the Great Hall or somewhere around the village if something happens" and with that he walked off into the village.

I took the way towards the docks, breathing in the fresh, cold air. After taking a long walk around the village I arrived on the pier and got sit carefully on an empty barrel.

And so the waiting began. The first few hours I think, I had been talking with the villagers passing by, then I ended up playing and chatting with a Terrible Terror after I had a starring contest with it. The little dragon was way better than me at it.

It was around midafternoon and I became extremely bored after the Terror left. After a bit I thought of leaving but then someone exclaimed.

"Trader Johann! He's here!"

My head snapped to the sea and I saw the all too familiar ship with white sail getting closer and closer to the port.

Vikings were already gathering on the pier and I decided on staying on my place until all would leave and I could talk normally to Johann.

It seemed like an eternity till the long-ship sailed in the docks, then wooden platform connecting the vessel with the pier was placed and Trader Johann stepped on top of it.

"Oh Berk, the jewel of the whole Barbaric Archipelago" he said as he opened his arms "Come one, come two, I brought to your eyes beautiful treasures from the furthest lands, spices and dried fruits from the best cooks, fabrics from the finest tailors and books from the wisest men" then hopped back onto the boat.

People were already inspecting the items from the ship, searching for something that they would love to get their hands on. Honestly, no one was leaving Johann's ship empty handed. You can always find something there that says 'take me'.

As I waited for the crowd to scatter, afternoon turned into evening and it was close to sunset when the last viking left clutching some fabrics to his chest with a wide smile.

I hopped slowly off the barrel and walked up to the ship as the trader got off of it, holding a bag with what I guess were some new clothes for me and a new pair of boots as always. He turned to look at me with a smile that dropped when I guess he saw my hair. A lot of people were weirded out by the sudden change.

"What… what happened to your hair…?" he asked bewildered.

"Got cropped…"

He gave a small nod in understanding and chuckled a bit "It doesn't look bad"

I couldn't help but smile and hugged him carefully which he returned; my back was still hurting and I really didn't want to trigger even more pain.

"Well, I guess" I said as I pulled away and he petted my back a bit, thing that made me wince and hiss under my breath.

His hand flew away from my back as if it burned him and he looked at me worried.

"What's wrong? Did I hurt you?"

I took in a deep breath and felt the pain subside then I looked up at him "I am fine, my back is still healing and the slashes hurt when touched too much or too hard"

"Still healing? Slashes? What are you talking about?" he questioned with concerned eyes.

"A lot happened in the last month and something…" I let out a sigh as we started to walk up to the village "I went to the Edge, got kidnapped by the hunters because they mistook me for Hiccup. I don't really want to talk about what happened on that ship but I really wouldn't wish it to anyone. Hiccup and the others got there after a week and saved me but apparently I was so weak and beat up that I stayed unconscious for four days. And I've been stuck in the house for three weeks, just got out yesterday even though I am still recovering"

He looked at me horrified "That's terrible! How could they do that to an innocent and above all a girl" he shook his head slightly.

"It's fine. It's in the past now but believe me when I say that I am getting revenge for what they've done, especially what one redheaded psychopath has done" I snarled out the last part and clenched a bit my fist, then let out a long breath "I wanted to talk with you about something actually, before I went to the Edge"

"About what?" he asked intrigued, pushing aside what I had said before.

I ran a hand through my hair, still slightly unsure about all of this but spoke anyway "It's about a nightmare I've been having for a while now" and with that I proceeded to retell him the whole nightmare, then how Ryker told me about how he would kill me even if Viggo wouldn't approve, of how he cleaned my cuts on the first night on the ship, of how he knew my exact age and called me 'little angel', of how the rope was loose when he threw me into the water and of what he said back then, that he hoped my father taught me how to swim.

Johann was perplexed for the most part of my little story, but he didn't ask any questions, it was like he listened while he appeared to be in deep thought.

I eyed him and asked reluctantly "Johann, that nightmare, it's not just a mare, right? I feel like it's not. I just need you to try to remember if it really happened…"

He remained silent for a few moments, then he looked up at me with saddened eyes "I don't even know what to tell you, my dear"

"I want the truth, Johann. I don't care what it is, but I want the truth" I insisted as we stopped walking near Stoick's house.

I eyed him intently as he let out a tired breath "Look, Marianne, it's not my place to tell you… But I think your father will soon enough. I didn't even think you remembered such thing, not talking about having foul nightmares because of it. You were just, so little, not even half a year, I am deeply surprised you do remember that happening"

My eyes widened slightly then I frowned "My father? And why can't you tell me? You just admitted it's true and I can't stay and wait for something to fall from the sky, Johann! You know as well as I do that my parents aren't getting back for another week or two, the trip from the Mainland will take them long enough and they don't even have a dragon to get here faster"

He looked at me with deep concern "I apologize, but I swore to your father that he'll be the one to tell you and I am a man of my word. A week or two will go by faster than a Speed Stinger running across the village" he put an arm around my shoulders as we began walking to the door "You can ask him when he gets back"

I wanted to protest to that but decided not to, it'd be useless if he doesn't want to tell me.

"Guess I'll have to wait for my parents to get back then…" I sighed out and opened the door. I wanted to start telling him about the Dragon Whisperer thing but something in me told me not to; it was like I couldn't tell Johann about it.

We chatted some more then Johann told me some of his great stories and he went on even when Stoick got back. Afterwards the three of us dined and talked. It actually felt pretty good and it was funny to see how careful Johann was around Stoick, it was like he was walking on eggshells. Funny as Hel.

It was around midnight when I went up to go to sleep. I got sit on the edge of the bed and slipped off Astrid's old boots, then laid down carefully and covered myself with one of the furs.

The thoughts about what my father would have to tell me were still nagging at my mind and I hated it. I hated the fact that Johann wouldn't tell me. And what if he swore not to tell? He could just hint me about what it really was and what actually happened.

I let out a breath and kept staring at the ceiling. I could find out sooner though, I'd just need to get to the Hunters. It was just an idea, I could very well get even less answers to my questions, but, since on those ships was the insignia of the Dragon Hunters then it had something to do with them. And maybe, just maybe, I will be able to figure out what happened.

If it won't work then I'll just ask my father when he gets back with mother, which will be in around a week or two since they don't even know in what condition I am because I asked Hiccup not to write them anything about what happened to me. I didn't want to worry them.

Yes. I'll leave in the morning and head to the Edge to get some backup, I was surely not going to an island crawling with hunters without any backup.

I nodded to myself once and closed my eyes as sleep kept tugging at my mind.

"Marianne…"