The next morning, Nina woke up early and sat up, accidentally pinching the tail of one of the Terrors, who yelped and whipped around, teeth bared.
"Sorry! I forgot you guys were here," she said. The Terror stalked toward her with its teeth bared, growling in an almost adorable fashion. Herby pounced on her chest and faced the unhappy dragon, snapping and snorting in displeasure. The two glared at each other for a spell, staring, eyes narrowed, tails swishing through the air in stilted and stiff movements, a sure sign of their agitation.
Then the tension suddenly vanished. All the dragons looked toward the tunnels closest to the village and froze. Nina tilted an ear and closed her eyes. She could hear a faint voice calling her name.
"Nina," it said. She recognized it as Hiccup's almost instantaneously. She stood and bolted to the ladder, gesturing for the Terrors to stay quiet. She threw off the cover, closed it, and raced to the clearing, where Hiccup was just arriving.
"Hey!" she chirped happily. They embraced briefly then sat down on their usual log.
"How've you been?" he asked her. "Sorry for not being able to work on the ship with you."
"It's fine, Hiccup. You got hurt and wouldn't have been able to do too much while your leg healed. Your father isn't insane now, is he? You can be pretty talky when you're bored," she teased, poking him in the side.
"No, I don't think he's gone completely insane. He told me that you've been hunting a bit too, which I think has helped take a bit off his mind," he said leaning back on his hands and turning his face up to the sun which filtered down through the leaves, bathing them in a warm light. "So how's the ship coming along?"
"It's almost done, actually," she replied. Her stomach lurched briefly, hoping that the Terrors weren't there working on it. "I'm gonna quickly grab something from my bunker and meet you back here. I've been working on some designs for the sail." It was a lie. She was really going to see if her dragons had stayed in the bunker or had gone to the meadow where the ship was. She threw open the hatch and looked in. Herby was sitting on her desk, looking up at her expectantly. "Where are the others, Herby?!" She kept her voice low. He held up the ship's blueprints. She cursed. "Fly over to them and tell them to make themselves scarce. Hiccup is coming with me to see how the ship is coming along. We might even be able to get it finished today!" He nodded, understanding the urgency, and pelted up the nearest air hole, flying swiftly through the trees. Nina lost sight of him as she headed back to the clearing, sketchbook in hand. She hadn't been lying about designs for the sail.
"Shall we?" he said cheekily. She laughed. "Lead the way."
They headed to the meadow and arrived as a gust of wind knocked most of the grass over briefly. Hiccup was too distracted by the ship to notice several pairs of startled eyes staring at them. Nina waved her hand for them to go to the trees, which they did.
The wind settled down to a gentle breeze, though it had brought along some sinister looking black, heavy clouds, thick with unshed precipitation. The mast of the ship was hanging over the edge with a large white sail hanging limply over the side, like a discarded handkerchief. Hiccup pretended to roll up his sleeves and threw over his shoulder "Let's get to work" as he headed toward the ship. She smiled and chuckled before joining him.
"Okay, so let's get this mast into place," he said, climbing aboard the grounded ship. She nodded and scrambled up after him, depositing the sketchbook into the wooden storage box at the stern. It doubled as the seat for the captain and pilot of the ship. They got on either side of the mast and lifted as best they could, swinging the wooden pillar into place. It settled down with a heavy thud. The wind caught the sail almost instantly and they were both thrown back against the seat. "Whoa!"
Nina grabbed the bottom piece of wood that was holding the sail straight and held on as the ship was pushed along the rails the Terrors had set up. They exchanged panicked looks as the boat crept closer to the edge of the hill. They both screamed as the ship tore down the bumpy path. The rocking became so severe they were convinced the ship would come off the rails and crash violently.
"I don't want to die!" Hiccup screamed while Nina wailed, "I'm not ready for this!" Then the bow of the ship hit the water and they both slammed into the wooden nose of the ship with a pair of hefty "Huffs!" They lay there, gasping and catching their breath. They sat up and stared at each other, panting. Then Nina began giggling.
"What?" Hiccup said, giggling himself. They began laughing pretty hard. "What are we laughing about?"
"We survived! And that was kind of awesome," she hooted getting up onto her knees to look over the ship, checking for leaks. The bottom of the ship was as dry as could be. She assumed the Terrors had sealed it with something.
"Never again," gasped Hiccup, leaning on the railing. He seemed to be fighting the urge to comment something.
"Say it," Nina said to him. He looked over at her confused. "I know you've got something on your mind, Hiccup. We've been friends for long enough to know each other's nervous ticks. You think I'm crazy, don't you?"
He stood up straight and came over to her. "No, I don't think you're crazy. That ride down the hill was, but you're not," he said. She gave him a shy look.
"Let's get back to the village. I think we've had enough excitement for one day," she said bashfully. He chuckled and nodded. She grabbed the bottom piece of wood again and he stood in the bow, partially obscured from view by the massive nose of the ship. The wind that had sent them on a terrifying ride now gently pushed them along as Nina steered toward the village. As they came around the bend, they could hear several warriors give alarmed shouts.
The pair exchanged nervous looks. Hiccup stood up and waved his arms above his head, hoping someone would recognize him and not fire arrows or take the little ship as a threat.
Stoick came down the wharf and studied the small craft. Archers drew their bows back and fired before the chief could speak or react.
"Hold your fire! That's Hiccup and Nina!" Stoick roared. "You two had better be able to maneuver!"
"Hiccup, sit down in the bow, trust me," Nina said. She reached into the storage box and threw him a wooden shield. It was all she had stowed in it before the Terrors had taken it to the meadow. He ran back to her and took a knee, holding the shield aloft, catching several arrows on it as she turned the sail sharply. An arrow narrowly missed hitting them both, and only did so because Hiccup had thrown the shield up at the last second causing the projectile to ping off the wood, stopping mere inches from Nina's nose. "Nice job following orders."
"It worked, didn't it?" he retorted.
They made it to the docks and tied their ship up, lashing it securely against the storm that was blowing in. "What in Thor's name is that thing?" Stoick demanded, grabbing Hiccup by the back of the shirt and placing him safely on the planks of the wharf. Nina pulled a rope and the sail slowly rose to meet the other wood, then she used a simple knot to secure it and keep it from coming undone.
"Hiccup and I built a ship," she said cheerfully as she hopped from the deck of the boat to the docks. "Heck of a ride sending it out for the first sail." Hiccup doubled over laughing.
Stoick gave them both a stern look. "Hey, kept me out of trouble, at least, right?" Hiccup said once he recovered from his laughing fit. "Y'know, making me bedridden and all."
"I'll discuss this further tomorrow," Stoick muttered quietly. He turned his bulk toward the crowd. "Who fired those arrows?" There was silence. "Who fired those arrows?!" More silence. "WHO FIRED THOSE ARROWS?!" Everyone cringed.
The skies opened up, pelting everyone with hail and sleet. Nina and Hiccup both hunched their shoulders against the miserable weather. Stoick rolled his eyes. "I expect answers tomorrow," he announced." He put a protective arm around his son and marched him up to their house. Nina followed, taking advantage of the split in the crowd before darting into her parent's house. She sparked up a quick fire and soon had it roaring thanks to a pretty good woodpile her father had stored. She sighed with relief as warmth seeped back into her fingers and toes, thawing her out quite effectively. It had been a great day. She and Hiccup had reunited, finished building the ship, and taken it for a harrowing first sail. The events of the day started to catch up with her and she started to nod off.
A heavy knock on the door sounded and she jumped. Stoick was standing there with a chipper looking Hiccup. They came in and Nina offered them some lunch. Three rumbling stomachs answered her and she dished out the last of the stew her mother had left behind.