13 - Arrival

Camicazi smiled for the first time in many days as she watched a ship with Berk's crest slide into port. The sun shone brightly through the scattered clouds as it passed the midpoint of its arc across the sky. The wind blew gently, bringing in the salty smell of the sea. This good weather was especially welcome after the storms that had rolled through for the past couple weeks. Helping to repair buildings after damages sustained by a chain of storms with heavy rain, hail, and strong winds left Camicazi with sore arms and tender blisters.

Hopefully, Hiccup would be on-board that ship to take her mind off of how sore she still felt. That little Hooligan had been her best friend from another tribe. Both he and she were small and runty for their age and shared common interests in exploring and simply getting into trouble.

However, he's been a ghost for the past couple years. This past Spring, she went with her tribe's trade visit to Berk, but everyone had said Hiccup was elsewhere. Threatening the Hooligans and whining to Ma did very little to reveal where elsewhere was, surprisingly enough.

Camicazi idly watched the Hooligans as they debarked from the extended ramp, wobbling for the first few steps on solid land. The first to step off, of course, was Stoick the Vast, who jovially greeted Camicazi's mother and chiefess, Big Bertha. They exchanged bellows that could be heard halfway across the island – nothing new there.

Then, there was the repugnant Spitelout and his punk son, Snotlout. Even though Snotlout was Hiccup's cousin, he was the exact opposite in every way. He was broad and strong... arrogant, prideful, haughty, rude, and boastful. He would flex his muscles at Camicazi as if that would somehow impress or intimidate a girl who trained to use speed and agility to slide a blade into people's arteries.

Snotlout has always given Hiccup a hard time and Camicazi wouldn't stand for that. Sure, Hiccup has always been a wimpy pushover, but he was also crazy. Crazy was entertaining, so Camicazi always kept an eye out for him. Besides, it sometimes allowed her to showcase her impressive sword fighting skills. Today, though, she had different ideas for how to undermine Snotlout. Maybe slide a knife against his throat when he's alone and take his coin. Or, better yet, take advantage of the fact that her body was starting to... fill out... and lure him in and lead him on before leaving him brokenhearted and doubled over in pain.

Yes, toying with his cold heart could be fun!

The rest of the Hooligans that shuffled off the boat were more of the same assortment of large, broad Vikings with long beards and large axes - the usual dragon-slaying lot with strength, pride, honor, and all sorts of other worthless traits and values that scream to the world, "I refuse to think for myself, so I'll mindlessly do what my Pa says until I die a meaningless death!"

Still no Hiccup. Camicazi vowed that if that boy wasn't on that boat, she would find him and flog him with her belt until he–

"Hiccup!"

The sinister devilish inventor himself was finally spotted behind all those sacks of meat. The one Viking on Berk who actually had an imagination and sense of adventure. Traditions be damned, this boy can actually think for himself. It's amazing his father hasn't disowned him yet with how much he approaches a problem with logic instead of tradition.

Camicazi ran up to him without another word with her long, blond hair flowing behind. She grabbed him by the wrist to forcefully drag him along the dock toward the beach, elbowing her way through the Vikings and shimmying along the edge of the dock. As she passed by Snotlout, she "lost her balance" and "accidentally" pushed him off the dock and into the water, then slid herself and her follower past Stoick toward freedom.

Hiccup hesitantly followed her lead – as if he had any choice – with all the usual uncertainty he always had in the presence of his condescending elders. His usual witty sarcasm was still there, though, as he quickly shot out, "Uh, I think I gotta go, Dad. See you later tonight. You're as cordial and patient as ever, Cami. Nice to see you, too, on this fine-GAH"

Hiccup stumbled at the end of the dock as he stepped onto the rocky beach, sprawling down and taking Camicazi with him. Both nervously laughed as the eyes of all the other Bog-Burglars and Hooligans were on the two. Hiccup was the first to recover, standing quickly to offer his hand to his friend.

As she took it, she noticed something very different about him that she hadn't seen two years ago. "Hiccup! Your leg! What happened to it?"

After hefting her up, Hiccup shrugged nonchalantly. "Ah, ya know, dragons. Never a dull day on Berk."

Snotlout pulled himself back onto the dock. The water practically boiled off as he stomped toward them, shouting curses. Camicazi gave Hiccup another tug that almost sent them sprawling again, but they managed to remain vertical and sprinted off past the village and into the forest, leaving Snotlout behind.

Safe in the seclusion of the dense woods, Camicazi broke out into winded laughter as they both caught their breath. "Did you see the look on his face?" she crooned.

"Ha ha ha, yeah," Hiccup gave a fake laugh. "He's totally going to drag my face through the mud for that. Thanks, Cami."

Camicazi rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't worry. It was worth it!"

"For one of us."

Camicazi brushed off such accusations and they set out for their favorite spot on the far side of the island. Along the way, they talked about life in the past two years. Camicazi could tell the boy was hiding something, dodging around some of his activities on Berk and why he was never there when she came to port.

As tempting as it was to get her answers by threatening him, she wanted to wait this out and coerce them from him. It would be a lot more fun that way. Hiccup has always been an interesting puzzle and smashing puzzles is hardly entertaining, after all.

She had no idea that he already had an alibi for all this and said alibi did not involve him riding a Night Fury to map out the islands in the archipelago if Odin ever did have a beard.

On the way to the far side of the island, they enjoyed some jogging through the forest, investigating interesting mushrooms, sword-fighting with sticks, and playing tag. That is, they played tag until Camicazi realized it was neither fair nor fun to outrun a peg leg.

Finally, they reached their destination. It was a cove similar to the one on Berk that Hiccup showed her several years ago, covered in grass and ferns and dotted with trees. A swift, trickling stream flowed through an opening in the cove walls, past a rocky beach, and into the sea. It bulged into a pond near the center of the cove, where they could always find some decently sized fish. The ground within this haven was covered in grass, moss, ferns, and a vibrant palette of wildflowers of purple, red, yellow, orange, and almost every other color in existence. Being so far South from Berk, Bog Burglar island still had its share of ice and snow, but also had fairer weather overall that allowed for some beautiful plantlife not seen on the Northern islands.

The two young Vikings did some repairs to their lean-to that had been there since Hiccup's last visit. Camicazi brought a small hand ax that proved to be very useful in carving up some more slats to repair the roof while Hiccup hunted down some vines to split and twine together to serve as cordage for securing the slats to the main support beam. A fire was built up and lit outside of the lean-to, outlined by a ring of fist-sized stones that served as a heat reflector.

Together, they made some fishing spears using some nifty tricks Camicazi had recently learned. She grabbed Hiccup's bush knife out of his sheath - without asking for permission, of course - and used it to split the tip of a long, straight, freshly cut stick into six evenly sized prongs. Then, she jammed a few skinny twigs into the crevices where the prongs diverged and used some cordage to bind it all together. She even showed Hiccup how to carve barbs into the spear ends to secure any impaled fish more effectively.

Hiccup breathed in wonder when he saw the finished product. "I think Toothless will really enjoy all the extra fish I can catch with this. We go fishing together quite often. Toothless is much better at it than me, but he loves it when I catch a fish and give it to him."

Camicazi shot a casual look at her friend. "Who's Toothless? You Hooligans and your silly names."

"Oh, uh... he's a friend of mine. My best friend ever."

Camicazi raised her eyebrows.

"Old-time friend?"

"Two years. We've been inseparable since the day we met. I'd trust him with my life without a second thought."

Camicazi put on a mischievous grin. "A lover, then, hmm?"

Hiccup made an exaggerated gagging sound. "What? Eew! No! Just friends, but more than that. Brothers, you might even say."

"Oh?"

"Ya. Found him in the woods. Helped him out."

Camicazi smirked.

"Sounds like you found an escaped slave."

Hiccup's expression turned to shock for a moment before he set his face in determination. "He was a slave. Killed the slave-master that captured him."

"Sounds like someone I'd like to meet."

Hiccup shrugged. "At your own risk. Some people see him and react... funny. My own father tried to kill him on sight the first time."

Camicazi raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." The boy suddenly seemed a little uncomfortable. "He almost killed Astrid first time they crossed paths. They're good friends now, though. You know how it goes up in dragon land." Hiccup gave a wink. "No better way to make a friend than to fight him."

Camicazi grinned wide.

"Oh, then I must meet this Toothless, sometime. I expect you to introduce him to me when the opportunity arises."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Once again, she could tell that he was fibbing. Something was definitely off, but she pretended not to notice.

However, she would have never expected the actual truth he was hiding to be something so crazy as, "Oh, he's actually a dragon that I ride, but please don't stab me because of silly rumors you may have heard from Dagur and his gang about Berk building a dragon army and whatnot hahahaa."

The two young Vikings proceeded to make a second fishing spear and spent part of the afternoon spearing fish from the pond inside the cove and the sandy shallows of the sea. Camicazi could hit them in her sleep and ended up landing several decently-sized cod, halibut, and trout. Hiccup, though, was always aiming his spear too high, not anticipating the optical illusion of things seen under the water, but he caught on pretty quickly and managed to land a couple. He had to admit that he always relied more on a hook and line or some fish trap designs he's starting to test out.

What he did not mention was that spearing fish has been really easy as of late because his dragon would shoot an explosive fireball into the water and dead fish would float to the surface.

While they fished, Camicazi tried some subtle attempts to draw out more details about this Toothless fellow. All Hiccup would divulge was that Toothless was big and strong, but very kind and gentle. He has had a rough past with lots of turmoil, but people judge him by his looks and very few would give him a chance to show his true colors. Whenever she talked about meeting him, Hiccup would just stutter and say he'd like to arrange for that to happen.

Still, she resisted the temptation to hit or threaten him for more details. Everyone always dismissed him as a clumsy, babbling fool, but Camicazi was not so easily deceived. She knew it was all just an act he'd perfected years ago to manipulate people into dismissing him when he didn't want to explain something. It's a game he plays and Camicazi has always been intrigued to play with him.

When they were satisfied with their catch, they piled the fish in the shade of the lean-to at the back of the cove. After gutting some, cooking, and eating their fill, Hiccup turned to Camicazi.

"I made a sword, recently. First I made for myself. Wanna see it?"

Camicazi couldn't help but smirk when the boy suddenly realized that the aforementioned weapon was already in the Burglar's hand. The gaping look of astonishment was priceless.

As she looked over the blade, Hiccup explained some details about it. It was quite the work of art; short and light, with a graceful taper and a delicate-looking crossguard that was probably more than sufficient for the strength the boy had. Hefting it around had a nice light feel, but she knew Hiccup wasn't as weak as he allowed others to believe. While everyone else saw twigs for arms and legs, the Burglar felt his well-developed core structure from her playful punches to his stomach and the spot behind the ribs. That is where the strength that matters comes from for thrusting.

Behind the blade and crossguard, the handle was ornately wrapped in fine leather strips woven with silk. The pommel featured a black onyx stone that looked absolutely stunning in its polished beauty. She had never pilfered onyx stones before, but it wouldn't be surprising if one so fine as this came from a fellow Burglar who sold it to a trader. Small world. Such a stone would cost an arm and a leg.

Camicazi smirked. Maybe the one-legged boy got a discount.

The interesting thing about this stone, though, was that it wasn't held on by metal clasps, as with most other stone or gem pommels. Instead, it looked like the boy actually managed to bore a hole clear through the stone to accept the tang of the blade. She could tell because of the mushroomed metal on the end of the pommel where the tang was peened over.

Before she could ask about that, though, Hiccup started droning on about other aspects of the sword. "Actually, I had some help. Gobber forged the sword blank for me, but I did all the other work. I used a technique one of the older immigrants to Berk showed me where you smear some acid into the etchings and then heat it up to make it black like that. Then, just spend an eternity-and-a-half polishing the blade and you get these nice, crisp lines. I kinda like the effect. We have a very experienced sword-fighter on our island who recommended this shape to the blade as dodging and parrying suits my frame much better than blocking or relying on the cross-guard."

Camicazi tried to read the runes engraved into one side. "Strong... bonds... fire?"

"The strongest bonds are forged in the hottest fires."

The Burglar quirked a smile. "That's adorable."

She ran a light finger over an image that was similarly etched in black along the other side of the blade. The lines were crisp and clean - something she would only expect from "Hiccup the Useless". The image appeared to be a dragon with a weird-looking head, short neck, wings, and tail with... something on the end of it. It was all stretched out from head to tail to fit on the slender blade.

"Is that a-"

"Dragon? Yep. A Night Fury, to be specific."

Camicazi furrowed her eyebrows in disbelief. "Riiiight. I suppose your guess on what they look like is as good as anyone else's. I heard they attack only at night and never expose themselves. In fact, I guess no dragons have attacked for a couple years. Recently, we've never seen any dragons, except way off in the distance."

Hiccup shrugged. "Eh, we have a lot more up at Berk. I actually got a good look at a Night Fury, once."

"I swear you guys shoulda just carved out your homes in caves instead of rebuilding wooden houses like fools. Your island is essentially one big mountain range, after all.

Hiccup's mouth gaped as he stared at her. Obviously, this thought never crossed his mind. Then again, maybe they had hilltop pastures and wooden houses to tempt the dragons to come raid. After all, killing a dragon was everything up there. Unfortunately, the Burglars had no such option with a very flat island and a village in a large clearing. If the raids came more than a few times a year, there probably wouldn't be any Burglars left.

"That's actually quite brilliant, Cami! Where were you three hundred years ago when we really could have used such wisdom?"

Camicazi laughed. "Over here, laughing at you barbaric fools."

Hiccup returned the grin. "Apparently!"

Camicazi rested the flat of the sword on her two index fingers, sliding them together until it balanced on one point and casually noted, "Balance just barely forward of the crossguard. Good for quick strikes and controlled deflections. Not so good at shifting around a shield, but I bet you're not planning on that sorta fighting style anyway."

"Well, the sword is decorative, really. If I ever have to use it to defend myself and put dings in the blade, I think I shall cry. I actually believe that fighting is reserved only for the incompetent, anyway. There's always a way to solve one's problems without coming to blows."

Camicazi decided to let that little jab slide. It was really directed at the barbaric tribes that were ruled by males, anyway. The all-female Burglars preferred to avoid direct confrontations and get what they wanted through sleight of hand or some sort of manipulations. As for how they got their offspring and got rid of the worthless boys... well, men will be men.

Unaware of Camicazi's stance, Hiccup grimaced as he realized he came off a bit more offensive than intended, but she shot him a small smile as she stood up to give the sword some experimental swings through the air, testing its weight in action. She made sure some of those swings came a little closer to the boy than he was comfortable with, just to make sure he didn't get too bold.

"I like the balance. It just feels natural in the hand." She grinned at Hiccup. "Not bad for an apprentice blacksmith."

Hiccup chuckled and then did something very strange. As Camicazi held the sword in her hand, he delicately grabbed the end of the blade between his index and middle fingers, nudging it around. The Burglar loosened her grip a little and narrowed her eyes in curiosity about what this silly boy was doing. As he guided the tip of the blade to his own throat, she gulped and just stood there, wondering what in the frozen Hel was going on.

This has got to be some sort of Hooligan tradition.

Hiccup just stood there, tip of the sword gently pricking the skin on his throat, and calmly stared at the girl.

"Cami, you're good at reading a face. That's part of your training as a Burglar and an heiress, right? What do you see in me? Joy, fear, calm, scared?"

"Ummm, I bet I have a look of confusion on my face. However, yes, you look very calm."

Regaining her composure, she gave an evil smirk as she moved the tip of the blade to rest on top of his chest.

"Yep, still calm."

Then, she slowly positioned the blade over the bridge of Hiccup's nose.

"Aha, a little nervous, oh, but calm again."

Hiccup grinned. "I've never appreciated my grinds on the edge of the blade from this angle. They're so straight and uniform."

In a truly inspired moment, Camicazi placed the tip against a certain spot between the boy's legs and enjoyed the amusing sight as he gulped and shifted his weight nervously. Of course he would care about that more than his own neck.

Boys!

She withdrew the sword and said, "Is this some sort of demonstration or right of passage tradition of your silly tribe? Remain calm in the face of possible death?" She smirked. "Or worse?"

Hiccup nervously chuckled as he tilted the opening of his leather scabbard towards Camicazi, who slid the sword in.

"No, our traditions usually involve a lot more bloodshed and bashing our heads against hard things. I just wanted to make a point. You literally had my life in your hands. One subtle thrust could end my life and both of us knew it. However, as you saw for yourself, that didn't scare me."

"Until I slid the tip down to-"

"I'm trying to make a point!"

Camicazi raised an eyebrow in question. Hiccup held her stare intently as if to communicate with his eyes that what he was about to say defined him as a person.

"It is not one's ability that can scare me, but one's intent. The ability to kill is not scary at all in my opinion. But the desire to kill is morbidly terrifying."

The Burglar just stared with a skeptical look. "You are the silliest person in the world, Hiccup."

The boy grinned. "Yeah, I get that a lot, but I'm actually going somewhere with this. By the way, I have something for you."

He reached for his waist, only to realize that what he was looking for wasn't there. As he fumbled around in frustration, Camicazi smile and asked, "Another one of your inventions? That spring-loaded knife sheath you gave me two years ago was cute, but I think it could use some more tweaking."

It was a clever invention that popped the knife out of the sheath when a tab was pressed, but it almost sliced off her finger when it misfired. Almost, being the operative word, fortunately.

Hiccup chuckled as he nervously felt all around his person for something that just wasn't there. "Well, you know me. Inventing silly stuff just for the sake of inventing. This is much less useful, but all the more awesome in my opinion."

Realization dawned and he frowned at her. "I really should have known. You are Cami, after all."

Camicazi smirked as she hefted the small cloth sack that she had filched from his waist. "I was hoping it was a coin purse. Why don't you have any coin on you?"

Hiccup crossed his arms. "I'm not even going to dignify that question with an answer. Anyway, check out the gift I brought you."

Camicazi emptied the bag into her cupped hands to see six thin, hard, black plates, each about three fingers wide. They were very smooth, almost flat, but had a nearly-imperceptible bowl shape to them. The concave side was rough, but the convex side was smooth as ice and had a very subtle iridescence as the light played off it from examining it from different angles. She ran her fingers across the little plates, holding one in the air and tilting it, admiring the dark, unidentifiable shades that teased the very threshold of perception as the sun hit it from different angles.

"They're beautiful, Hiccup. Thank you!"

She leaned forward, giving her friend a quick hug. It was anyone's guess what to do with these things, but she had never seen anything like it before.

Maybe they're worth a lot?

Hiccup grinned mischievously. "Can you guess what they are?"

Camicazi stared at the little plates in her hand in thought, pressing two together along the edges to see if they fit together, somehow.

"They sort of remind me of the shields we've stolen from the Lava Louts. Are they dragon-"

"Scales?" Hiccup suggested with a crooked grin. "Yep. Night Fury scales, to be more specific."

The girl clenched the scales at her side and looked with suspicion. "You sure are obsessed with Night Furies. Nobody's seen or even heard their shriek in two years. How in the world would... you..."

She stopped, noticing a sheepish grin on Hiccup, who was looking over her shoulder. Suddenly, her skin started to crawl as she sensed something nearby. The sound of heavy breathing and the hot puff of air on the back of her neck only confirmed what she already knew. They were not alone. The look on Hiccup's face made it clear that he had coaxed her into a dangerous situation.

Acting on instinct, she dropped the scales and whirled around while jumping to the side and drawing her blades in one fluid motion. They gleamed in the sun as she glared at the intruder that tried to sneak up on her.

At her first good look at the intruder, her glare shifted into a shock as her jaw dropped to the ground.

A/N:
DUN DUN DUUUUN!

FYI, I plan to take a couple weeks off. Ya know, don't wanna go at it too long without a break and I'm a lil' over halfway through, anyway. So, I'll see you in a bit. Well, ok, not really "see" you, 'cause that would be creepy, but ya know what I mean.

Oh, and thank you so much for your very kind words, Caeoltoiri! I'm glad you like it so far and I hope I don't drop the ball. Also, anyone who loves some derpy dragon cuddle scenes will get some of that coming up, btw (no, Camicazi won't be doing the cuddling).