Guess what!?

I saw HTTYD 2!

I am not going to say anything except that I LOVED IT, but now with my story before it I have had some trouble getting started :/ (probably because it's before the second movie, and I haven't been able to get said movie out of my head). My apologies if it is not the best written chapter.

Thanks for all support!

-Mitti

- - § - -

The figure loomed over Blizzard, poised to stab down with the sharp blade. "They call me Shadow," it said in a voice that made Hiccup shudder . . . Eyes wide, he could only stare in terror at what might happen.

"And they call you dead!"

A roar.

"NOO!" a scream.

"BLIZZARD!"

- - § - -

My head began swimming with memories right after the crystals stopped glowing. Not only the time when it had happened before, and I had been trapped within the bleakness, but all my other moments of darkness in life . . .

I was screaming in fear of the shadows.

Someone came to comfort me.

My mother . . .

But I knew I could not think about that. I had grasped Hiccup's wrist the second I found him, and had listened for the UnderIce dragon, pleading with her in my head. I'm not sure how that dragon did it, but she always helped me when I needed it. We were not friends, we didn't really enjoy each other, either . . .

But we helped each other survive.

I only prayed that she would as I was ripped violently away from Hiccup with a cold hand grasping my neck, then roughly thrown against the wall, knocking all air out of me. Then, as the crystals slowly came to life again, I saw Shadow standing over me for the second time.

- - § - -

Hiccup still felt as if a lightning bolt had crashed into him, immobilizing him while he watched the silver dagger quickly fall down to Blizzard, who was pressed up against the wall in futile attempt to get away from this "Shadow" figurine. His mouth dropped open and he had shouted out her name, and her eyes had merely flitted over to him, filled with terror and dread, then looking back to the soon-to-be murderer.

Maybe Hiccup was frozen, and maybe Toothless was as well, but the UnderIce wasn't. And maybe this dragon was going to do something about it.

The lanky yet strong body of the UnderIce had jumped over to Shadow just as the knife stabbed empty ground. In panic, Blizzard had rolled to the side, making the attack narrowly miss her right arm. The white-scaled dragon roared, before spitting an icy blast at Shadow, crashing into him.

The brown-haired boy's eyes were wide with astonishment. The UnderIce's fire blast had been coated in ice, and when hitting the target the ice had exploded, making the fireball just as normal as any other, but with a harder impact. Shadow had careened backwards in recoil as Blizzard stood on shaky legs. "Hiccup?" she cried over the sound of shattering ice.

Hiccup waved before Shadow turned around and hissed - a horrible sound - at Blizzard. "Foolish girl," came the inhuman-like voice. "You cannot evade Shadow!"

Not quite the type for any brave comments, the blood redhead simply kept her mouth shut as Shadow lunged to her again. She dodged in a not-so-graceful manner, while the UnderIce dragon growled menacingly.

Hiccup jumped as something nosed him from behind, but quickly relaxed when he saw it was Toothless, his pupils big and dilated. "Hey bud," the brown-haired boy said shakily, patting his best friend's head.

A strange clicking sound came from the UnderIce dragon, making Toothless's pupils thin and him motion for Hiccup to climb up on his back. After Hiccup did so, Toothless jumped up, even though there was very little room to do so in the tunnel, and he shot a blazing blue fireball at Shadow, taking his mind off of the scared Blizzard. "Dragons!" Shadow spat the word. "Why don't you just get out of the way. This can be over with quickly."

"No!" Hiccup shouted, as Toothless attacked again. The smoke filled the tunnel, making the brunette's lungs feel rather uncomfortable. However, he ignored them as Shadow came and lunged at the duo.

The UnderIce cut him off. Sharp, thin teeth - not unlike her claws - showed as the UnderIce shrieked a peculiar sound, and quickly bowled Shadow over. Blizzard, emerging from the smoke, hurried over to Toothless and Hiccup, where she said, "Not this again! Girly, don't bite him!"

"What?" Hiccup asked as the white-scaled dragon and Shadow continued to roll over, claws and knife slashing. "Why not?"

"He can't be bitten into. I'm not sure if he's human," Blizzard said uncertainly, while Shadow hissed as claws raked down him. "She's tried before. It made her pass out."

"Before?" Hiccup echoed in disbelief, while the UnderIce screeched once again, making all three of them flinch. "You mean this has happened -"

Shadow violently ripped out of the UnderIce's grip, before turning to the other three. Exhausted, the beat-up girl dragon lay behind him, panting heavily and trying to catch her breath.

"You must not interfere," Shadow told Hiccup beneath his dark hood. "We will not bother you again, as long as you allow me to finish what I have come for."

"To kill me?!" Blizzard said angrily, holding up her mirror shard. Her eyes reflected off of it, and those four blue eyes looked as if a new fire was coming alive within the depths of something that could not quite be named. "You've tried. You've failed. I refuse to die like this."

"Ah, but aren't you supposed to die?" Shadow cackled in a deathly quiet tone. "You see, my dearie, I know much about the spirits that you do not. You are supposed to die."

Blizzard, taking on Shadow's attack move, quickly threw herself at him and tried to stab him in the face. "Not by your hand!" she shouted venomously as Shadow tried to prevent her from attacking. "Not until I've fulfilled my purpose!"

"What purpose?" Despite being kicked and lashing out at Blizzard, Shadow could still speak quite strongly. "You have no purpose."

"Yes I do," Blizzard muttered through gritted teeth. "This!"

As she smashed her foot into Shadow's face, Hiccup realized that he had once again experienced that thunderbolt-like feeling; he had not moved the whole time they were speaking their extremely confusing conversation. Questions swirled in the boy's head, but he shook them away and said to Toothless, "C'mon, bud." Toothless roared in agreement.

The Night Fury jumped, claws extended, onto Shadow, and spit blue fire into his cloaked face. Shadow screeched, but whether it was in pain, agony, or annoyance Hiccup could not tell. Blizzard stood up, breathing heavily through her mouth. Blood dripped down from her left hand where she held her mirror shard.

"Are you bleeding?" Hiccup asked her, pointing to her hand. Two blue eyes glanced down at it, then Blizzard's thin shoulders shrugged nonchalantly. "Probably. I don't think that thing bleeds." the word 'thing' came out in an acrid tone of voice. The blood redhead put her non-bleeding hand on her hip as she looked down at Shadow, who was crumpled on the ground. Smoke came from his cloak. "Well, Shadow," she said. "You've lost. Go away."

The hood slowly came upwards, angled so Shadow was "looking" at Blizzard. "I've never lost," he hissed quietly, dangerously. "You wait, dearie. Just you wait until the right moment, and then I'll complete my work."

Blizzard cocked her head to the side. "In your dreams," she said pleasantly, before throwing her shard directly toward his face in a dead accurate throw. Hiccup flinched and blinked, expecting the target to scream and writhe around in pain. Instead of screaming, though, the air was silent and smelled of smoke. One spearmint-colored eye opened slightly.

Shadow was gone, leaving smoke in his wake, Blizzard was standing there and clutching her wounded hand, and the UnderIce was staring at all three of them with curious eyes. Toothless throated something that sounded cautious toward the other dragon, but she merely hummed a peaceful note in response.

"Are you okay?" Hiccup asked the blood redhead. He hopped off of Toothless as she smiled at him weakly.

"Fine." turning toward Toothless, Blizzard added, "Thank you. I would'a probably not been standing here with only a little blood on my hands if it weren't for both of you."

"What about the UnderIce?"

Blinking absentmindedly, Blizzard stared at him for a moment, before remembrance alighted her eyes and she turned toward the female dragon. "Hey, girly," Blizzard said, in a surprisingly comfortable tone. "Would ya like to show us the way and let me sort everything out, or are you gonna sit there like the dawn's frost and do nothing except . . ."

Trailing off, Blizzard stared wide-eyed at the iridescent dragon, who had perked up after she had said the word 'frost'. "E-except bother me . . . All day . . ." the rest of her sentence seemed without meaning as the UnderIce, pupils dilated, approached Blizzard with caution. Hiccup, mouth open with surprise, finally said to Toothless, "That remind you of when we met?"

Toothless purred happily, shoving his nose forward until Hiccup was petting him. The UnderIce was slinking forward, just as Toothless had done when Hiccup offered him the tempting fish. The Night Fury had promptly eaten it (though technically half of it) and their friendship had skyrocketed from there.

"Hi," Blizzard said quietly when the white-scaled dragon was standing in front of her. The dragon seemed to be curiously examining the redhead, while said girl waved her bloody hand absentmindedly.

Hiccup felt that if there was a time to interfere, it was now. Stepping forward, he said, "She wants you to trust her."

The blue-eyed girl jumped at his interruption, but graciously (and seemed almost relieved to) allowed him to step forward, so Hiccup was beside Blizzard and right in front of the UnderIce. The silver eyes of said dragon were certainly beautifully crafted, and were looking at him with a look that could not exactly be named. Holding out his hand, just how he had with Toothless, Hiccup hoped that he looked innocent enough so the female dragon would trust him.

And she did.

A cold, small nose was pressed up against Hiccup's hand. A gasp came from Blizzard, and Toothless purred enthusiastically. The UnderIce, after quickly retracting from the boy's hand, responded to the Night Fury with a humming noise that made Toothless blink in confusion, before responding in his own language.

"Looks like they're communicating," the blood redhead said, laughing softly. "How'd you do that? She trusts you!"

"You have to trust them just as much as they trust you." It was something that Hiccup had thought of many times, and said many different ways. "I trusted her not to attack my hand."

Blizzard wrinkled her nose. "She wouldn't do that," she assured, patting her injured hand. "I don't think, at least."

- - § - -

"Would ya like to show us the way and let me sort everything out, or are you gonna sit there like dawn's frost and do nothing except . . ."

Where did that come from?

Dawn's frost?

After the words were out of my mouth, I was instantly confused. I had never, ever said anything like that before. I didn't use metaphors. I trailed off for a moment, half forgetting what I was going to say, but before I could chastise myself I saw that girly over there had started looking at me peculiarly.

My eyes widened slightly, and with surprise I realized that the dragon mirrored my action. Two silver eyes became big and dilated, and she actually looked . . . Very very cute.

Is this how Hiccup saw all dragons?

Finding random words, I stammered uncomfortably, "E-except bother me . . . All day . . ." Well, normally she bothered me once a day, or once every other day. I was at loss for words (which, once again, never happened, but that was probably because I had hardly ever spoken before Hiccup came around. It hurt to use my voice when I did speak, and I can only image how horrible it sounded when he first met me). As she slowly moved forward, I heard Hiccup murmur something that I didn't bother trying to comprehend; I was too absorbed in the dragon slowly approaching me. When I thought about it, she looked a bit like Toothless, except that her face was thinner. And she was a bit skinnier than the Night Fury (Toothless was a Night Fury, wasn't he?), too, and her feet were tinier and she had longer claws and teeth. Her tail had four tail-fins, two near her body and two near the end of the tail.

"Hi," I said nervously when she was right in front of me. I was extremely tempted to lean away, but for some reason I just couldn't. It freaked me out, yet I didn't move. I felt almost frozen, as if my feet were stuck to the ground. I like I've felt this before . . . But when?

Hiccup suddenly said, "She wants you to trust her." It made me suddenly explode out of that frozen feeling, and I jumped (quite a bit, I thought) as the boy stepped forward. Happy that I felt myself move, I side-stepped so Hiccup was right in front of the silver-eyed dragon.

And what happened next surprised me.

A lot.

He held out his hand, and the UnderIce, after eyeing it for a minute, finally pushed her tiny nose against his hand. I gasped with surprise and awe; this was how Toothless and Hiccup had such a strong bond. It had been obvious when they found each other down in these tunnels, and how they spoke to each other. Now Hiccup had created a new bond with the girl dragon of Depth Island.

After the white dragon quickly scuttled backwards a few steps, Toothless had made a cooing-like sound that seemed like encouragement. She quickly responded with her casual hums, and I was surprised that I didn't hear her squeak, click, or growl. Those normally showed more of her drastic emotions.

"Looks like they're communicating," I said, giggling to myself. "How'd you do that? She trusts you!" I was totally in awe of Hiccup, something that I didn't like all that much.

"You have to trust them as much as they trust you." Did I trust girly over there? I didn't know. She had saved my life for, what, the third of fourth time today? I probably never saved her life . . .

Then why did she like me so much?

"I trusted her not to attack my hand," he pointed out, zoning me back into the tunnels. I knew that Hiccup didn't know the UnderIce like I did, so I still felt the need to say something.

"She wouldn't do that," I said, before realizing that I actually didn't know whether she would have attacked him or not. "I don't think, at least."

Hiccup cracked a smile. "Alright, next step is to name her."

I stuttered for a second. "N-name her?"

"So you don't have to call her 'girly' anymore." He did have a point. "I named Toothless when I thought he had no teeth."

I must have looked really confused, because Hiccup soon explained the whole story of meeting his dragon. It took a while, and Toothless often butted in himself, but otherwise I loved the story.

"Names are words of trust," the boy said in conclusion to his story. "So, if you have something in mind, you can name her."

I thought for a moment, tapping my chin with my finger (and I figured out all too late that it was my bloody finger). A name? Well, I had only really called her "dragon" and "girly" but both didn't seem like suitable names for her. She was brave, fast, stubborn, and bothered me all day . . .

Wait a minute.

Dawn's Frost.

- - § - -

"Dawn's Frost!"

The words made Hiccup jump. Blizzard had practically shouted them in his ear, and even the two conversing dragons (which was rather amusing to watch) turned their heads to look inquiringly at the blood redhead, who now had blood on her hand and chin.

Blue eyes sparkling with joy, the girl continued; "Dawn's Frost, that could be her name. It would be perfect!" Enthusiasm was practically coming out of her expression. "D'you like that? Dawn's Frost?"

"It's great," Hiccup assured her, making the girl beam even more. "But you have to ask the dragon herself."

Her smile fading in nervousness, Blizzard took a few steps closer to the white-scaled dragon. "Do you like it?" she asked, compassion soaring in her voice. "I'm sorry I told you you bother me every day. You don't. And that name just seems to fit you . . ." an uncomfortable girl slowly trailed off into silence, while the UnderIce's eyes dilated and she squeaked a bit. Hiccup personally didn't hear any emotion inside her noise, but apparently Blizzard did, because she exploded.

"Yes!" came the cry from the skinny redhead. "Good girl, Dawn's Frost! You're the best!" As Hiccup watched, he saw Blizzard rush up to Dawn's Frost and hug her around her neck. A surprised hum came from the dragon, but soon both girls were happy with the embrace.

Toothless came up to Hiccup and looked at him with sad puppy-dog eyes. He purred softly, and Hiccup mirrored Blizzard's action by hugging his own dragon. As the two humans hugged their dragons, that moment seemed perfect.

Toothless and Hiccup were still best friends.

Dawn's Frost and Blizzard were newfound friends.

- - § - -

I can't believe it.

I've found a friend, after seven years.

Ugh . . . Why am I so tired all of a sudden?

Maybe if I ask Hiccup, we can all rest before I show him that room . . . Oh, spirits above I hate that room. But at least Dawn's Frost will be with me.

Hmm. I love that name, but it's kinda long. Maybe I could find a nickname for her . . . It shouldn't be too difficult . . .

- - § - -

Nice, relaxed ending in comparison to the cliffhanger on the previous chapter.

Bye!

-Mitti