A couple days later, Hiccup invited Nina along with him to meet the Night Fury. She followed him, instinctively gauging the ease of escape in case things went South. The moment her feet touched the ground, she instantly felt the eyes of a predator on them. She looked around and spotted the dragon.
She tilted her head and eased toward it. Hiccup was hanging back, watching to see how she and his new friend would get along. Herby was holding onto her back, peering over her shoulder to scope out the situation. The Night Fury, who Hiccup nicknamed Toothless, slinked toward her, eyes open, but not aggressive nor friendly. Nina had brought with her no weapons, and her bare feet were able to tell both where Hiccup was and where Toothless was.
"Hello," she said in a quiet friendly voice. Toothless' ears perked up, catching her voice. "I'm not going to hurt you. I have no weapons." Herby slowly, smoothly climbed up to sit on her shoulder.
Without any warning, he began to speak to Toothless in his native tongue. Toothless burbled back, his eyes and demeanor slowly relaxing and opening up further, inviting friendship. Hiccup came up behind her. She glanced at him and he was watching everything anxiously, chewing his lip until Toothless came forward and nudged her hand. She turned her attention back to the Night Fury and raised her hand in a gentle, non-threatening manner.
She stroked his head and his eyes expanded into a friendly expression. Nina and Hiccup both sighed with relief. Herby stated the obvious. "Is a good time. We all friends," he said, slowly enunciating "friends."
Hiccup's hand joined hers as they both petted Toothless. "Thanks for inviting me along," she said to him after a minute. "I really need to get back to the Bunker, though. Working on something."
"What's that?" he asked.
"Just something. I'll either tell you about it or show it to you some other time. It's nowhere near ready to be seen by anyone but the Terrors and I," she said.
"Alright, I'm trusting you not to destroy Berk...not without me at least," he joked.
"Sure thing, Twiggy," she said. They shared a smile before she left.
She returned to the Bunker and gathered her tools, heading down a hidden path to the left of the tree that lead down to a cove that few Vikings knew about, and even fewer could get to. She and the Terrors were repairing a ship Trader Johann had given her in exchange for some batches of animal pelts. She and the Terrors were refurbishing it to make it seaworthy again. They were finished with the hull, just needed to work on the decks. It was a massive ship, three large masts and big enough to hold the entire population of Berk if everyone needed to evacuate. They were working on the decks and the living compartments. There was still plenty of room for a large cargo hold. The battered hull had taken three large spruce trees to patch up and fix. Then they had begun the painfully difficult process of searching for and then applying tar and pitch to the hull, making it water proof. Her hope was that by repairing and restoring the old ship, her feelings toward Hiccup would diminish or leave. Thus far, it hadn't worked.
"Okay, Herby," she said breezily. "Let's get to work." She grabbed the long rope she had tied to the sturdy branch of the mighty oak beside her, and swung out to the deck joists. She and the Terrors had finished the stairs to the poop deck, and were laying the boards of the deck length-wise along the starboard side at first, slowly working from right to left. That way, if she swung out and the rope snapped, she wouldn't fall into the holes between the joists but onto the deck itself. They were about an eighth of the way across the twenty meter deck and had a long way to go.