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The Lightning Phoenix

Thunderbird 22

Harkonnen28

So. Heads up, this chapter may contain some moments of frustration. Serious frustration. But let there be excitement as well!

The next day, Toothless woke up bright and early, realizing that Hiccup was probably in no shape to join him for their morning flight. Last night's feast had incapacitated almost all of the humans. The Alpha hadn't gone to sleep until late, either, because he'd been waiting for Storm to return. She did, finally, creeping in silently and immediately falling asleep. He'd have to ask her later where she had been, though he was relatively certain she wasn't up to anything mischievous or dangerous.

Leaning forward, he softly nuzzled Lightning's neck, taking pleasure in the low purr that the sensation elicited in his mate. He quietly got to his feet and made his way out of the shelter, noting that the village was completely still. Peaceful, with no sound but the distant crashing of the waves reaching his sensitive ears. He supposed he would have to take his morning flight by himself today, so that's just what he did. For an hour he soared over the island, soaking up the morning sun and thinking of everything that needed to be taken care of. When he returned to the village, there was a chorus of Terrors singing their tiny hearts out, and a few very miserable-looking Vikings were stumbling from their homes to begin their days. The larger dragons were stirring from their shelters and from the stables, though, and he nodded greetings to those heading for breakfast at the feeding station.

A while later, the village appeared significantly more alive than it had that morning, though definitely more subdued than it usually was. Toothless was halfway up the mountain, waiting for Cinder to arrive so they could discuss the upcoming fall and winter, and how to get the dragons from Heimme involved in preparing for the cold. When he heard wingbeats, he waited patiently for his second-in-command to arrive, but a different voice greeted him, and he turned with some surprise.

"Hello, Alpha."

Toothless had to suppress the thread of irritation that rose in him at being addressed as Alpha. After all these years, he still preferred to be called by his name, something that escaped many of the other dragons on Berk.

"How can I help you, Svar?" he asked politely, ignoring the strange feeling of unease he got from being around the younger male.

"I wanted to ask you, well, I was wondering-"

"Wondering what?" Toothless wasn't feeling particularly patient at the moment, despite his politeness. He'd heard a rumor that this young male had been disrespectful to Shade, though his son hadn't mentioned it. He wondered for a moment about what Svar could possibly want, but nothing really could have prepared him.

"I would like to have Ash as my mate."

After the initial shock of the statement, Toothless decided he was unsure if he liked the way Svar had phrased that request. "Have you spoken to Ash about this?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then what do you want from me?"

"Talon gave his blessing under the condition that I also receive it from you."

"I don't think I'm the one you should be asking. I think you'd be better off asking her brother."

A strange look passed over Svar's face, but before Toothless could ask him anything the flapping of wings interrupted them.

"Hey Toothless," Cinder said breathlessly as he landed a few yards away. "Svar."

Toothless was even more confused by Cinder's short greeting. "I was just sending Svar in your direction, Cinder."

Cinder almost looked irritated. "Why?"

"Tell him, Svar."

The younger male from the colony looked even more uncomfortable than he had before, but he lifted his head high. "I want Ash as my mate."

"You want Ash as your mate," Cinder repeated the sentence. He'd been aware of Svar's interest in his sister but hadn't known it was reciprocated. "Why isn't she here asking with you?"

"He hasn't asked her yet," Toothless spoke up.

Cinder was definitely irritated now. "Then what are you doing asking me?"

"Talon gave me his blessing and told me I had to get it from the Alpha as well," Svar ground out, clearly not appreciating the direction the conversation was going in.

"And did he give it to you?"

"He said I should ask you."

"I'm not sure I want my sister leaving Berk," Cinder pointed out.

"Shouldn't it be up to her?"

"I should ask you the same question," Cinder replied.

"What do you-"

"If you properly court her and both convince me of your undying love for each other, you can have my blessing. Until then, I have no interest in discussing it further."

Svar looked like he wanted to argue, but saw Toothless's forbidding expression and nodded shortly. "Fine." With that he stepped back and took off, probably to find Ash.

Toothless didn't like the idea of Ash leaving Berk permanently, but he supposed it wasn't up to him. She was by far old enough to decide for herself what to do with her life. Turning to Cinder, he was somewhat surprised to see his second-in-command scowling. "What is it?"

"Nothing." Cinder shook his head and his expression cleared. "Let's talk about winter."

Neither of them discussed the matter of Svar further, but it weighed on their minds all week.

Maara stood nervously outside the Academy, one hand on Mika's neck. She had been completely torn up about coming all morning. On the one hand, why should she be there? She had never taken a class before about anything, let alone joined in with the most advanced students on an island of experienced dragon riders. She knew almost nothing about dragons. And while she loved Mika, her dragon could not fly.

But on the other hand, she didn't want to disappoint Erik. She hadn't seen him since their flight two nights ago, when she had fallen asleep and mysteriously awoken in her bed the next morning. Actually, she still had his vest, and though she was possessed by the strange urge to wear it, she had it draped over one arm so that she could give it back to him today.

"Are you going to go in, or just stand there all day?"

Maara whirled around, heart pounding. "Stop sneaking up on me!"

Erik grinned crookedly, leaning against Storm with his arms crossed. "It's just too easy."

She couldn't help it. She stuck her tongue out at him, and he laughed, stepping closer to her. "What have you got there?" he asked, gesturing to the bundle of fur on her arm.

"This? It's yours," she said, holding it out for him.

"Ah yes, my vest. I've felt practically naked without it," he joked, pulling it on over his tunic. "Alright. Are you ready?"

Maara looked down. "Not really."

"Don't worry," he put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and she lifted her gaze to see him smiling kindly at her. "I told Fishlegs you were coming, and he's very excited to meet you. He might ask you a few questions, but I let him know that you're still pretty new to the whole "dragon" thing, so don't feel bad if you don't have an answer for him. Just ignore everyone else, they're not important."

"If you say so."

"I do! Let's go." Maara followed Erik through the tunnel, their dragons behind them. The arena was occupied by about a dozen students and their dragons, all chatting noisily.

"Hey, Erik!" a couple of girls called out, but he just waved.

"Come on," he turned and gestured to Maara.

Slowly, she stepped out from behind him, and immediately all conversation stopped. Maara swallowed nervously as all eyes traveled to her. For a moment, no one said a word.

"Who are you?" one boy finally asked.

"This is Maara," Erik spoke for her. "I invited her to come to class with me."

The boy gave her a curious look, but a girl smiled and said, "Cool. Nice to meet you, Maara."

And just like that, the tension evaporated, and everyone went back to their conversations. Erik looked at her and smiled, as if to say, See?

"Alright, everyone, quiet down." A large man emerged from the tunnel, caught sight of Maara, and grinned excitedly.

"Ooh, you must be Maara! Erik told me you'd be joining us! I'm so excited to have you here. And is this your dragon? Wonderful! I've been itching to get up close to one of the new types. You see, your Grimlers are actually very closely related to—"

"Oookay, Fishlegs," Erik interrupted him. "Let's just get started with the lesson, shall we?"

"Right, right. Okay, let's do some review!" he called out, to a chorus of groans.

"Aw, come on, Fishlegs, can't we go flying today?" the boy who had first spoken to Maara now asked. "Or anything other than review? A race, perhaps? Or a good old-fashioned knife fight?"

"Now, now. You all are probably just trying to get out of today's class because you haven't studied."

"So?"

Fishlegs sputtered. "Fine. If you can answer the questions, I'll let you out early to go race."

The class cheered.

"Alright. Let's get started then. So, who can tell me what the Book of Dragons says about Thunderdrums?"

"Umm…" the students looked at each other.

"Anybody?"

"'This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools—'"

"Erik, we know you have the Book memorized," one boy rolled his eyes. "You don't have to lord it over us."

"I'm just answering the question," he defended himself.

"Torkild has a point, Erik," Fishlegs said. "They're never going to learn anything if you keep telling them the answers."

"They're never going to learn anything, period," he grumbled, and Maara resisted the urge to giggle.

"What about Timberjacks? Come on, you've all read about Timberjacks," Fishlegs tried to coax them to talk, but they all just looked at him blankly, until the girl who had greeted Maara raised her hand slowly.

"Kyla! Yes! What can you tell us about Timberjacks?"

"Um… they're pretty big dragons, with really sharp wings, right? So they can slice through trees or something?"

"Close enough!" Maara was soon completely lost as Fishlegs asked the class more questions about dragons she had never heard of. She could tell Erik was bursting to answer, but he kept his mouth shut even as his classmates struggled to come up with correct responses.

"Maara!" She snapped back to attention to see Fishlegs looking expectantly at her. "What can you tell us about your Grimler?"

"Um… well…" she stammered, suddenly anxious. Erik gave her an encouraging smile, and she realized she didn't want to let him down. "They are particularly ferocious when untrained. I know that they can set themselves on fire…" She didn't know what else to say, and her heart pounded in her chest.

Fortunately, Fishlegs immediately began talking. "Ah, yes! Just like a Monstrous Nightmare, right, class? Now, who can tell me why Monstrous Nightmares- and Grimlers- have this ability?"

Someone raised their hand. "Don't they excrete a flammable gel from their hides?"

"More or less, though it's not to be mistaken with their highly flammable saliva. Now, what happens when a Monstrous Nightmare is extremely overexerted?"

"Umm…"

Maara glanced at Erik, who was still looking at her with the same encouraging smile. For some reason, her face heated, and she quickly shifted her gaze back to Fishlegs, who appeared exasperated.

"All right, you all need to study up some more. Remember, your big trip is coming up in a few weeks, you wouldn't want to be caught in a corner by a wild dragon without any idea of how to save yourselves."

Torkild raised his hand. "Uh, yeah. Does this mean we can race now?"

Fishlegs sighed, massaging his temple with his fingers. "Fine. Go. Class dismissed."

"Yeah!" the students cheered, jumping to their feet. Erik got up, too, but he made his way toward his teacher, telling Maara he would be right back. She went to stand next to Mika, watching the other students and their dragons leave. The girl that had greeted her, though, came towards her, followed by a purple Nadder.

"Hey, Maara. I'm Kyla. It's nice to meet you," she said cheerfully.

"Hi, Kyla. Nice to meet you, too," Maara replied cautiously.

"So this is basically class. Today was pretty boring, but we do fun stuff, too. For example, we're going to race around the island now. Want to join us?"

"Uh, actually, I can't…"

"Aw, why not? It's not scary!"

"I know, it's just that, well, my dragon can't fly."

Kyla looked immensely confused. "What do you mean?"

"Before I met her, her wing was damaged," Maara pointed at Mika's shredded wing. "So she can't fly."

The other girl's eyes were wide. "Oh, that's terrible! I'm so sorry to hear that. Does that mean you've never flown on a dragon before?"

"No, I've been on Shade with Aeri, and Storm, with Erik…" Maara trailed off at the look of disbelief on Kyla's face. "What?"

"You've ridden with Erik before?"

"Um…" Maara's face heated again, and she didn't know what to say. How was she supposed to explain that flight? Oh, well, he held me as I cried for everything I've lost, then took me on a magical flight beneath the stars. Then, after I fell asleep, he somehow carried me back to my bed and tucked me in. "Yes?"

Kyla looked impressed. "You haven't been here very long, have you?"

"Not even a week."

"Well, you should know that Erik never flies with anyone besides his younger sisters. Believe me, we've asked him. He must like you a lot."

"What? No, I um… I think it was just a one-time thing. We're just friends." Maara hoped desperately that the other girl would believe her. She didn't want to even consider the complications involved with liking someone like Erik. She didn't even know him that well! He just felt bad for her. The thought was depressing, but much easier to swallow than Oh, he must like you a lot.

Kyla raised an eyebrow. "If you insist…"

"I do," Maara said quickly. "Anyways, aren't you going to miss your race?"

"Don't go without me!" Both girls turned to see Erik jogging over. "Around the island, was it?"

Kyla frowned at him. "Aw, Erik, you always win, though."

He smiled back, "I'll tell Storm to fly extra slow for you."

"Well, I can't stop you, but I was just talking to Maara. You know she can't race with us, because her dragon can't fly."

"Well, yeah." He looked at them like they were clueless. "She's going to fly with me. Come on, let's go!" Striding past them, he called Storm over, and Maara felt Kyla's eyes drilling into her skull.

"Um…"

"A 'one-time' thing, huh? Right…" The other girl rolled her eyes, before leaning in close. "I won't bother telling you how jealous you're going to make everyone, but I should warn you. Watch out for Helga."

"Who's Helga?"

"She considers Erik to be hers."

"Is he?"

"Psh. No. But she's very territorial, and she might not like you being so close to him."

Maara considered this. On the one hand, she didn't want to bother anyone. But on the other, Erik could do what he wanted, and if he chose to spend time with her, who was Helga to say anything about it?

"I'll keep my eyes open. Thanks."

"No problem. Now, maybe having to carry two people will slow down Storm enough to let someone else win this time. Namely, me." Kyla grinned and ran to her dragon, hauling herself into the saddle.

"Mika, will you make it back alright if I go with Erik?"

The Grimler gave her a look that said, Duh. Maara smiled fondly at her, rubbing the dragon's neck.

"Come on, Maara, let's go!" Erik was on Storm, holding out an arm to her.

"I'll see you later, girl," Maara called to Mika as she went over to Storm, allowing Erik to pull her up behind him.

"Hang on," he said over his shoulder, and Storm took off through the tunnel to where the other students waited outside. Everyone stared at her incredulously, and Maara resisted the urge to bury her face between Erik's shoulders from embarrassment. He didn't seem to notice their scrutiny, shouting, "Last one back here gets to clean the stables!"

Erik smirked as his taunt provoked the desired response. The other riders whooped and hollered, encouraging their dragons on. Even with the extra weight, though, Storm was more than a match for the other racers. She wasn't even exerting herself as she led the pack. So, Erik simply allowed himself to appreciate the scenery of the island and ocean. Below, the evergreen forest was a blanket over the hills, interspersed with the occasional deciduous tree, as bright and colorful as a flame. The wind was far from warm, as autumn was basically upon them, but the sun provided just enough heat to combat the chill.

His mind soon wandered. He was very conscious of how Maara's arms were wrapped around him, and vaguely wondered if she was experiencing the same awareness. His thoughts drifted to his conversation with Fishlegs. Basically, he had asked his teacher if Maara might be allowed to join them on their trip to Dragon Island.

"I don't think she has the knowledge and skills necessary," Fishlegs replied gently.

"Well, I'll teach her everything she needs to know. She'll be able to hold her own," Erik had said firmly.

His teacher just looked at him curiously. "Not to pry, Erik, but why do you care so much?"

Erik didn't know how to respond. His jaw dropped slightly, but then he shut it. "I don't know. Please, Fishlegs?"

Fortunately, the older man didn't push the topic. "If you're determined… I'm not the one you should be asking, and I know you know that."

He could barely contain his frustrated sigh. This was what he had been hoping to avoid. Fishlegs noticed this, and tried to encourage him. "Hey, I have no doubt that you could teach her everything she needs to know and more by the time you leave for Dragon Island. But I'm not the one you have to convince."

"I was really hoping to kind of slide this through without being noticed."

Fishlegs laughed. "You do realize who you're talking about, right?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Your father notices everything. It's one of the reasons he's such a great Chief. He'll definitely notice you trying to smuggle a refugee along on the trip you've been preparing for since, well, since you were born."

"That's an exaggeration, don't you think?"

"I don't, actually. You're a Haddock. With a strong dose of Hofferson in you. Do you know who your parents are? Of course you've been preparing for this since birth. Your dad took you to Dragon Island before you could walk, which you wouldn't remember, but he did it more than once. You've been training dragons since you spoke your first word, which happened to be your dragon's name. Maara seems to be bright, I know you wouldn't take an interest in her if she wasn't. But I don't want her to be put in a potentially dangerous situation before she's ready. And your father will feel the same way."

Erik couldn't hide his disappointment. He'd been really excited about the whole thing, but Fishlegs was probably right.

His teacher wasn't finished, though. "Erik, listen. The fact is, wild dragons are unpredictable. Fatally so, if one isn't prepared. We don't teach students the way we first learned. We were lucky to have survived all of the messes we found ourselves in. We aren't willing to put any of you in the same life-or-death situations. That being said, there are other reasons why your father is such a great Chief. He's fair, he's thoughtful, and he listens. He also loves dragons like nobody's business. So if you can prove to him that Maara is ready to be a dragon trainer, well, I think you'll find him very receptive to the notion."

A grin was spreading across Erik's face. "That's good enough for me. Thanks, Fishlegs!"

A warble pulled him from his reverie. Storm was peering back at him with one green eye, and he smiled at her, patting her shoulder. They were almost to the finish line. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the other riders right on his tail, shouting at each other. Kyla was shaking her fist at him, though.

"This time I've got you, Erik!" she yelled as her purple Nadder, Kaunis, pulled up alongside Storm.

"It would appear so," he said, smiling sheepishly. Just loudly enough for Maara to hear, he murmured, "Hold on." She obliged, tightening her grip around his torso. Raising his voice again, he grinned triumphantly at Kyla, who looked suspicious. "But appearances can be deceiving."

With that, Storm raised her wings and brought them down hard, blasting forward. As they hurtled away, Erik could make out Kyla screeching profanities at him, and he laughed heartily. They passed the finish line in a blur, then continued over to the village.

"Where are we going?" he heard Maara ask.

"We have work to do!" he declared.

Ash was back in the cove, wading in the shallow water. She had been hanging around here a lot lately, as her strange encounter with Shade the other day had left her extremely confused. She was avoiding Kiva, feeling as though she had betrayed her friend in some way. There was enough going on in the village that no one commented on her absence, for which she was profoundly thankful.

She was perfectly aware that she wasn't going to solve anything by hiding out here in the forest, but she just wasn't brave enough to risk meeting Shade in public. It was very clear that there were feelings between them that were not being discussed, and she didn't know how she would act around him, or worse, him and Kiva together.

"Hello?" a voice called, and immediately her senses went on high alert. She picked up the sound of a dragon in flight approaching, and looked skyward in time to see a Night Fury clear the trees around the rim of the cove. The other dragon spotted her, and immediately spiraled down, landing on the beach. Ash did her best to hide her disappointment.

"Hey, Ash."

"Hey… Svar." She knew he would seek her out eventually, he always did. It was just a bummer that he had found her here, where no one could do her the favor of interrupting them.

"I've been thinking," he said, and she resisted the urge to reply, Really?

Instead, she dutifully played along. "About what?"

He met her gaze as she made her way out of the water. "About us."

What? Immediately she was hit with alternating waves of disbelief, distaste, and panic. But she did her best to hide these responses, feigning boredom. "What are you talking about, Svar?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Ash. Our chemistry. You can't deny that you find me attractive."

Disbelief won. She peered at him, trying to make sense of what was happening. "Um…"

"And I still find you attractive enough, even with that awful scar," he gestured at her side with his wing, and outrage blossomed. I'll have you know that Shade thinks I'm beautiful regardless of the scar, she wanted to hiss. And he's INFINITELY more attractive than you, too, you worm! But on the surface she remained calm.

"How kind of you," she kept her tone level to disguise her sarcasm.

"I know," he replied airily. "Anyways, I took the liberty of notifying your Alpha of our relationship."

Her eye twitched. "You… what?"

"Well, think about it, Ash. Talon approves, but he said I had to get Toothless to approve it as well," Svar said disdainfully.

"Approve what?!"

"Um, us becoming mates?" He looked at her like she was an idiot.

Ash was about ready to scream. Her breaths were coming in short huffs as she struggled to comprehend what was happening to her. What is going on here?! I don't want to be mates with SVAR! Since when is it acceptable for a male to just stake his claim with no regard for the female's feelings? Toothless better not approve this!

"Uh, Ash? Is something wrong?"

"Svar," she ground out, quivering with rage. "I don't think you understand the situation."

"What don't I understand? I mean, I have my pick of the females back home, but I felt that after all we've been through together, it would be unfair of me to just toss you aside. I'm doing the noble thing, you see. Especially now that you have that hideous scar, who else would consider being your mate? I mean, be realistic here."

She was about to attack him. To slice him to pieces. I don't even like you! Why would I be your mate, you pathetic excuse for a Night Fury! But common sense prevailed, and she forced herself to think. When she was younger, she had considered him as a potential mate for a time. But that was mostly out of convenience, before she realized how distasteful he was. Though, she never would have thought that he would be behaving so ridiculously now. He can't be serious. He just can't.

Images of Shade kept interrupting her thought process. His blue eyes, gazing so intensely into hers. Shade, saving her life. Shade, telling her that she was beautiful. His kindness, his humor, his seriousness, his strength. Her heart beat hard as she remembered him nuzzling her neck, and she realized that she would be violently opposed to Svar touching her in any way, let alone mating with her. But Shade…

Oh, no. Oh, no, no no. Please, this can't be happening. But even as she vehemently denied it to herself, Ash realized that she could never be mates with Svar or anyone else, because… Say it. Admit it. Be honest. Because… she wanted Shade as her mate. Because she loved him.

That can't be true. I can't love him. No. No! Her mind was immediately filled with a voice screaming in absolute denial. You can't love him, because you can't have him! Have you forgotten all about KIVA?!

A much quieter voice simply responded, I don't care.

What?

I. Don't. Care.

HOW CAN YOU NOT CARE? THIS IS SERIOUS!

I don't care… because I love him anyways. I can't stop myself. So I won't try.

YOU HAD BETTER START TRYING RIGHT NOW!

No. A strange confidence was beginning to take hold, a confidence in her feelings. Her heart was racing, and excitement was building in spite of her distress. I love Shade.

"Um, Ash?"

Startled, she realized she was staring right at Svar, who was looking at her warily, and for a moment she couldn't remember what they had been talking about.

"So, we're good, right? I mean, I'll give you some time to think it over, even though I know what your answer is going to be," he smirked.

A wave of profound irritation coursed through her, but she was too distracted to really consider what he was saying. "Whatever you say, Svar."

"O-kay… I'm going to go back to the village now. You just… keep doing what you're doing. Later, babe." Without waiting for her response, he turned and took off, flying back in the direction he had come from. But Ash wasn't even watching him. She was lost in her thoughts, unaware of just how complicated her life had just become.

O.O

I don't know whether to cheer or cry at that ending ;) Anyone want to take a stab at what's going to happen with that?

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! I'm still writing the next chapter, but it should be done by next Friday. "Fate" (i.e. me) has many things in the works for our characters, and let me tell you, I am delighted by what is to come. As for a teaser, well... Many of you have been asking for quite some time about a particular friend of ours. So many questions! I hope to answer them soon. Very soon.

Any other questions? Comments? Want to tell me I'm the worst? Want to predict the rest of the story? There's a box for all that ;)

I love you all, take care until next time.