PART I: Heimme

When Aeri left, she took not only a few blankets and some clothes, some food and water, her spear and daggers, and some simple tools, but all of her jewelry as well. The finest crafted gold and silver, fitted with gems and precious stones. All had been gifts from her father, who knew that while she never really wore any of it, she loved to look at it, and had a fascination with the way light reflected off the pieces since she had been a little girl. Her parents always joked that she was "more dragon than human" which suited her just fine.

Now, she used it to barter for supplies. Stifling the regret she felt, she pried apart the pieces, separating the stones from their settings and melting the metal in the heat from Shade's plasma, forming rough coins.

The only piece she found she couldn't part with was a simple necklace, a thin gold chain with a teardrop pendant made of a gem the exact same color as her eyes. It had been a gift from her father on her seventeenth birthday. So she kept it around her neck, underneath the armor she crafted for herself whenever she had access to a forge. That took some more bartering, but fortunately she could get away with constructing and trading simple gadgets that people had never seen before. A spring-loaded box with a toy man inside, which popped open when you turned a handle on the side, was a particular favorite of one ruler, who ordered her to make ten for his young, rather spoiled son.

During the day, she had Shade stay out of sight, far up the coast from the towns she would trade in. For they never ventured far from the sea, knowing that it was their only connection to home. Not their home, Aeri thought with some anger. Not anymore. At night, she would return to Shade, and work on crafting what she needed out of the supplies she got while sharing whatever food he had managed to catch that day.

This system worked well for them as they traveled farther east, sometimes spending months in one place, sometimes hours. They encountered strange dragons and humans, some friendly, others not so much. Occasionally, Aeri found work removing dragon "pests" from particular regions, which generally meant Shade giving the reptiles a convincing talk slash demonstration of his plasma blast to encourage them to find food in places other than human settlements.

They passed over vast stretches of ocean, sometimes not seeing land for days at a time. Aeri became leaner and more muscular, as did Shade, who apparently hadn't finished growing yet. A year and a half into their journey he had grown to be larger than his father, thirty-three feet long, nose to tailfin. This didn't help with stealth during the day, but at night he was in his element, which wasn't much of a surprise to either of them. And his size also enabled him to carry a great deal of, well, stuff. Weapons, clothes, supplies- they found themselves in every manner of situation and climate, and Aeri always had a cache of tradable goods for when they encountered other humans.

Slowly, she developed a look for herself, based on her father's flight suit and her grandmother's armor. First a chest plate, made of leather. Flexible and light, she also perfected a way to stiffen and pad certain parts of the material to protect her better. She and Shade sometimes ran into trouble with the occasional bandit gang or, even more troublesome, dragon trappers. They made short work of their adversaries, but it always paid to be cautious and prepared. Her leather leggings were also flexible, part of the leather and cloth body suit she had made to wear underneath her other armor, and she employed the same stiffening and padding method to protect her legs. Thick gauntlets protected her forearms, while thin gloves disguised her skin and kept her fingers warm at high altitudes. Her father's gauntlets possessed a sheath on each arm, one for a knife, and one for a charcoal pencil, but Aeri's design incorporated hidden sheaths all over her armor for daggers of various sizes, because she liked to have options. The rest of her outfit, including shoulder armor, pockets, and boots- were all after her father's design.

Lastly, her helmet. Not every culture they ran into treated women as equally as Viking society did. So she disguised herself with a mask like her father's, that also wrapped around her entire head so she could tuck her fast-growing hair into it, and covered her face while allowing her to breathe. The collar of the body suit she wore beneath her armor reached all the way up to her chin and hairline when unfolded, which served to hide her skin when her helmet was in place. A ridge from the forehead of the helmet all the way down to where it ended at the back of her neck was just another unspoken tribute to her father's influence. As a finishing touch, she added light metal pieces in the shape of wings coming off her temples, just to satisfy her creative side. Thanks to her height, her helmet, and the thickness of her chest plate, no one suspected she was female, and when the entire ensemble was in place, no one could even guess remotely what she looked like.

Aeri saved each of the scales that Shade lost, keeping them in a small pouch until she had enough to begin adding them to her own armor. She thought they added a nice bit of flair as well as reinforcement. Carefully, she attached them in rows down her gauntlets, with the notion that she could potentially deflect a strike from a sword or other metal weapon, if she were quick enough.

One day, as Aeri walked through a village on an island they had discovered in a stretch of shallow turquoise sea, she ran into a spot of trouble. She had wrapped a thin veil of fabric around her face to hide her light skin, for the people here were more tan than the pale Vikings in the north. She didn't bother disguising her gender, though. Just as many women were present as men, so she figured it would be harmless to venture out without her slightly bulky armor, as comfortable as it was. The climate was warmer and more humid, so she appreciated the opportunity to take off the leather and wear a light tunic and long skirt she had procured not long ago.

She had learned to be careful when bartering using what remained of her jewelry, which she kept close in a small pouch up her sleeve. Most people left her well enough alone, especially if she flashed the hilt of the dagger she had tucked into her waistband. But sometimes, the allure of valuables proved stronger than common sense, and Aeri had been forced to defend herself before. Generally, this was no problem. After all, her mother had trained her to be as strong and capable as any man, if not more so. But exotic weapons took a little getting used to, and she suffered a few cuts and bruises along the way. All in all, though, she and Shade were remarkably lucky, and they knew it.

Today, she had traded some of her gadgets for some fresh fruit and new, brightly colored fabrics, which she stowed in a large bag she had constructed near the beginning of their journey. The sun was setting, and clouds were gathering overhead, so she bid farewell to the last smiling merchant she had visited. He had been a procurer of exotic stones, and Aeri couldn't resist looking over his wares, and trading one of her own stones for a shiny piece of a deep blue gem.

Walking away, she didn't notice the merchant's smile fade as he whispered something to his assistant, who immediately ran off toward the docks.

Shifting the bag on her back, Aeri made her way towards the jungle, to a barely visible path that would lead her back to Shade.

Without warning, a shadow loomed behind her, and grabbed her shoulder, pulling her around roughly. Aeri peered up into the grimy face of an enormous man with yellowish skin, who smiled maliciously, exposing several missing teeth. Behind him was another man his size, along with a skinnier, pale, rat-looking man. All stunk of salt, and Aeri figured that they must be sailors of some kind, desperate for something valuable to pawn in the marketplace for a good time.

"Where do you think you're going, love?" The rat man sneered.

Aeri didn't speak, she simply tried to pull away from the giant man's grip, which didn't budge.

"We have it on good authority that you might have something shiny for us. Is that true?" he stepped closer, licking his chapped lips.

"I have nothing," she said, deepening her voice to try and remain anonymous.

In a flash the man pulled back his arm and slapped her, hard.

"Don't lie to me, girl!"

Aeri slowly turned her head back to face him, her patience wearing thin. "I suggest you gentlemen release me and go back to where you came from, before things get ugly."

"Too bad we ain't gentlemen," the rat man said contemptuously.

"Please," she said, trying to control her anger. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Hurt us? Do you hear this whore?" he cackled, and the large men smiled stupidly, laughing along with him.

"Alright," he said, his smile fading in an instant. "If you won't hand it over, we'll just have to take it from you." Leering, he raised his arm to hit her again, and Aeri snapped. Reaching up, she twisted the arm of the large man holding her, flipping him up over her shoulder and smashing him face first against the ground. In a flash she leapt up and kicked the other giant in the side of the head, sending him crumpling to the ground. Whipping around, she reached out and grabbed the rat man by his throat and lifted him up by the collar of his shirt.

"I warned you," she said calmly, before hauling back and punching him hard in the nose, instantly breaking it. He cried out and his hands flew to his face as blood gushed from his nose, and she dropped him, wiping her hand on her skirt with disgust.

"When your friends wake up, I would recommend that you all find a place to bathe."

With that, she turned and darted into the jungle.

On the docks, a woman with a spyglass watched the display with growing amusement and frustration. Incompetent idiots.

"Captain?"

Turning, she saw her first mate, and with a cold smile, ordered him to gather the men and head into the jungle.

Aeri sprinted through the trees, leaping over ferns and other shrubbery. "Shade!" she called out, her scarf coming loose and falling off her head. She didn't turn back to get it. A loud rumble sounded nearby, and she turned, crashing into a small clearing.

"Shade!" she gasped. "We gotta get out of here!" He stood, and quickly she packed up their small camp, throwing everything into the satchels along the side of his saddle. Finally, she tied down her bag containing her day's efforts, and quickly unwrapped her skirt, leaving her in a pair of thin fabric leggings and light boots, before stuffing it into one of the pouches. Thunder boomed in the distance, and glancing up, she realized that the sky was completely overcast with black clouds.

She was about to jump onto his shoulders when Shade growled deeply, dropping into a defensive crouch.

"Isn't this an interesting sight?"

Aeri turned slowly at the sound of a woman's voice, her hands still on Shade's neck, to see half a dozen burly men pointing weapons of various kinds at her.

"I've never seen a dragon like that before. He looks… powerful." Aeri's gaze focused on a person standing between the men, as though being guarded by them. She could see that the woman wore black pants and boots, over which was thrown a deep red coat decorated with intricate embroidery. But her face was cast in shadows.

"What do you want?" Aeri said harshly, accented by a low hiss from Shade.

"Oh, not much. Wealth. Power. The usual." She could hear a smile in the woman's tone.

"Then you don't need anything from us."

"Oh, on the contrary. You see, we are… traders. And we deal in various commodities, each more rare than the last."

"We have no such commodities," she spat.

"That's where you're wrong. Your dragon there-" Shade growled ferociously, and some of the men glanced at each other nervously. "- would fetch us quite a price, wouldn't you say, boys?"

"Oh, yes, Captain." The rat-like man stepped around the group of men, sporting two black eyes and a bloodstained shirt.

"Silence, Currel."

"You'll find that my dragon here won't be so easily persuaded."

"Oh, I certainly doubt we could hope to capture him. But we could capture you." The hidden woman waved an arm. "Get her."

One man threw a spear right at Aeri, but before she could react a dark sheet enveloped her, pressing her to the ground. She heard Shade snarl with pain as the weapon struck his hind leg, and she leapt from his hold to scramble onto his back, narrowly avoiding another spear.

"Time to go, Shade!"

The Night Fury crouched and leapt skyward, barely escaping the strike of a steel broadsword. Aeri leaned low over his neck as he lifted his wings up to blast away when a whirring sound caught her attention. Looking back, she ducked out of the way of a shining silver disc, spinning in a blur through the air. But the edge of it sliced through the arm of her tunic, leaving a painful gash. She gritted her teeth, and Shade brought his wings down, sending them away with a loud boom, echoed by the thundering clouds above.

Watching as the pair shot away, the large men grumbled, waving their weapons in frustration. The rat-faced man shrieked his outrage.

But Surmata Veri slowly grinned behind her scarf, arm still outstretched from throwing her disc.

The hunt was on.

YOU GUYS I saw a really incredible female version of Hiccup on Tumblr and she looks almost exactly like Aeri is supposed to look. Seriously. Just search "Artist Em gender swap Hiccup" and it should come up (it doesn't let me post links on here.)

Also, in case you haven't noticed, I update the sequel on Fridays and Silver on Mondays. Look forward to more James while you wait for more Shade and Aeri! :)