A few weeks, in fact it was almost three months that had gone back since Caverna was put in her room and kept inside her family home. No one had allowed her outside, she hadn't seen her friends or her boyfriend much at all, the only person that she had seen was Astrid simply because she was staying over with Hiccup most nights and Caverna could hear her sneak in. The only upside was that Snowcap and Toothless' babies had flown the nest in these past, almost, three months. However, this specific night, her dragon had gone to stay outside with her mate and Stormfly and it brought her rider no comfort, especially when Caverna was sitting on the edge of her bed, wide awake, able to hear everything around her. This involved the loud snoring of her father and the moans of pleasure and creaking of Hiccup's bed as he and Astrid had their ever so routinely love making session. That last bit had only started occurring a few days after Astrid was allowed to live back in the village again, and Hiccup decided to make her his. He hadn't proposed or anything, he just wanted Astrid to be his, not minding if her virtue wasn't his. However, whilst her brother was having the time of his life with the love of his life, Caverna was almost going stir crazy! She wasn't made for staying inside, caged like some form of wild animal, but who listened to her? No one! They were too busy trying to 'protect' her from the outside world, when really they were driving her into a different type of insanity. Yet, Caverna still threw herself back on her bed, her head hitting the pillows and she pulled it over her head trying to block out the sounds.
"Oh Hiccup...Faster..." Astrid's moans could still be heard loud and clear through the walls and the pillow, along with the increased creaks of the bed. Still hearing it, Caverna had decided that she had had enough. She got up and donned her flight suit, before she slid out of her window and used the trellis to carry herself down. At feeling her feet hit the floor she walked down the hill until she reached the gravel of a trail but she didn't bother following it, instead she made her way to the edge of a cliff, where she sat herself down in the grass.
She smiled, closing her eyes at the feel of the cold night air on her skin, of the smell of the wide open ocean and of the gradual warmth that spread over her skin as she felt the sun rising. And then she heard it, her name being hollered from behind her and she stood up and held her hand up just in time to feel a firm grip on it and for herself t be dragged back towards her house, she didn't even bother to look at the person, she knew that it was Stoick, and she knew she was in trouble, and that was proven the minute she got home, where she was forced to sit on the sofa.
"Caverna, this is the twelfth time that I've found you outside!" Stoick shouted the minute that she was sitting down comfortably.
"I know."
"You could have gotten hurt, and all you can say is 'I know'?"
"Yes." Caverna told him as she stood up. "You're the one who's hidden me away and won't let me go outside. I wasn't made to be locked up!"
"You are my daughter, you will do as I see fit!"
"I am not going to keep sitting in this house because you wish it, you're just like Brock and his family, shutting me away, waiting until everyone forgets about me!" Caverna almost screamed.
"You had a breakdown; I'm locking you away so that you can recover!"
"I'm fine, and I will prove it, today I will go to dragon training with Hiccup, Astrid and my friends and you can't stop me!" Caverna told him, walking away and up the stairs where she bumped into Astrid and Hiccup who had been standing by listening.
"Next time you two want to fuck, make sure no one else can hear it!" She told them, still raging from hers and Stoick's 'conversation' before she walked into her room and grabbed her weapons.
When she came back out, she found that Hiccup and Astrid had retreated back into Hiccup's room to get ready and by the time they were ready, Caverna was back in the stables and she had attached Snowcap's saddle to her and she was just fixing her suit, making a note to put some weight on since it felt too loose.
"Are you ready to go?" Hiccup asked her.
Caverna looked up from the fastener and she nodded, before she went back to the fastener and when it was done, she climbed onto Snowcap's back, making sure both she and Snowcap were comfortable before she waited and watched Hiccup help Astrid onto Stormfly, before he mounted Toothless. When they were all ready, they made their way through the air towards the dragon academy, and Hiccup looked over at Caverna and found that her eyes were closed and her hood and mask were down, she was enjoying the flow of the air through her hair and feeling the breeze on her face. The sight caused Hiccup to smile, and only now did he notice how skinny his sister had become and how pale she was, he didn't think that being kept away from the world would affect her like that. Astrid noticed the concerned looked on her boyfriend's face and she reached over to nudge him, giving him to tell him to stop worrying. They reached the academy before the others and when they all dismounted, Caverna helped them to set up desks and the rock board, before Caverna sat on top of one of the makeshift desks as Lightning wandered over and she scratched his scales.
"So, do I need to know anything before we start?" Caverna asked her brother and friend.
"Nope, I don't think so." Hiccup told her, though Caverna could tell that from the look that Astrid gave him that wasn't true, but she left them to it, more excited in seeing Lightning and Snowcap properly again.
They didn't wait long before their friends got there and they all seemed taken aback at seeing Caverna, but they all greeted her with hugs and high fives in Snotlout and the twin's cases and their dragons all gave her a nuzzle, even Hookfang. As Hiccup started the lesson, something seemed off, there was another person in the group, her hair was black and her skin was pale but it was her eyes that troubled Caverna, they hadn't stopped staring at her and her mere gaze was as cold as those of a snake just before the kill. Not only that, but Lightning had become more and more agitated the longer the person was around. Eventually, Hiccup let them beak off into groups, and they were told to mount their dragons, and then Caverna noticed what was wrong. The dark haired girl was trying to get onto Lightning's back and the sight made Caverna giggle. Every time the girl got close to getting on the Deadly Nadder's back, the Nadder either moved or simply threw her off. However, eventually Lightning had had enough and he squawked, raising his tail and his spikes suddenly jutted out.
"Heather, look out!" Fishlegs shouted to her, and the girl simply froze.
However, she didn't get hit since as Lightning was about to fire, Caverna touched his cheek; her touch was obviously comforting to him.
"Easy boy, easy." Caverna told him. "I'm here, you're okay." When Lightning had put his tail spikes away, Caverna looked at the girl, now named Heather. "What, in Valhalla, are you trying to do?"
"Hiccup told us to mount our dragons, he is my dragon." Heather told her, her voice taking on an angered tone.
"No, he isn't, Lightning is my dragon." Caverna told her, her tone placid and carefree. "So next time, lay off or I'll have him stake you to the wall, understand?" She clicked her tongue and had the dragon kneel down so she could climb onto his back and she shot a look at her brother, her look told him how much trouble he was in – and that was a lot. However, they remained quiet for the rest of the lesson, Heather having to ride with Astrid, though Caverna could still feel her eyes on her and if she was honest, she didn't care, she was adamant that Heather wasn't going to get either of her dragons, and she promise both of her dragons that she would see it through.
After hours of flying and tricks, Hiccup had them all land on an island which after a quick scout by Toothless and Snowcap, it was deemed safe. They all sat around a fire, which was kept going by the fire breathing dragons and Caverna was sat with Fishlegs, her head resting on his shoulder as Lightning and Snowcap lay beside Toothless and Meatlug. She noticed that Heather was still staring at her, but she chose to ignore it, mainly because she and Fishlegs were going to collect some more firewood from the surrounding forest. It wasn't long into the walk, when Caverna felt something scaly rubbing its head against her and she stopped walking, turning around to notice that Lightning was looking for comfort after following them.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Caverna asked the dragon.
Fishlegs stopped and watched them, holding the firewood that they had picked up, trying to be a gentleman and not let his girlfriend do much work. "He looks really unhappy." He commented, putting the wood down and walking over to stroke the Nadder gently.
"Can you blame him?" Caverna asked him. "He watched his rider die; he then lost the person who looked after him, only to find me again to have me taken away for a few months, now to have a girl trying to force him into submission and to have me back." She sighed stroking the dragon. "Snowcap and I are all he has, he just doesn't want to lose anymore family."
Fishlegs nodded. "Hiccup should have realised that you three share a rather strong bond, after all you did raise them from eggs."
Caverna nodded, looking at her dragon. "And I can't bear to let him go." She whispered as the dragon chirped happily, before he started picking up bits of wood and the two teens watched him, before they shrugged and let him drag a large tree trunk back towards the camp.
Meanwhile, Heather had been watching Caverna until she and Fishlegs went to get firewood, and she noticed that Lightning went with her, but Snowcap remained, not even moving or opening an eye to watch them go. Though right now, Snotlout was trying to flirt with Heather.
"So Heather, why do you want to ride Lightning, anyway?" He asked her in some weird form of curiosity.
"Because he's strong, fast, agile..." She listed off.
"Well, surely you'd want to ride something else which is fast and strong." Snotlout told her with a wink which almost had Astrid vomiting.
"Dude that was such an innuendo!" Ruffnut told him through severe amounts of laughter.
"I was talking about Hookfang you idiots." Snotlout told them, groaning in frustration.
Everyone fell about laughing, just as Fishlegs and Caverna came back, and they put the fresh firewood down, just as Lightning came back carrying the tree trunk and he turned at hearing something, nearly hitting Caverna in the back of the head, but she ducked and she put her hand against the tree trunk telling him to drop it as it was about to swing back around. When the trunk was dropped, everyone looked at Astrid, who stood up with a groan.
"Would you mind?" Caverna asked her. "He doesn't believe in cutting things smaller."
"It's no problem; you just might want to stand back." Astrid told her with a smile.
"I trust you." Caverna told her, staying where she was dangerously close to the log and she didn't flinch as Astrid took a swing or when the axe bit into the wood of the trunk. Astrid and Caverna shared a triumphant smirk as everyone else let out the breaths that they were holding in relief, though not before they all whipped around at a scream and saw Heather lying on the ground, Snowcap standing over her and pinning her there, looking threatening and Toothless was even joining in.
Everyone looked at Hiccup and Caverna, and the siblings even looked at each other, before Caverna whistled and Snowcap became as tame as a house pet and she sauntered over to her rider as Lightning joined them, just as Hiccup called for Toothless and he walked over to him. This allowed for Tuffnut to help Heather to her feet.
"Whoa, you have some serious beef with the dragons Heather." He commented, and she sent him a glare, shrugging off his hand, before she glared at Caverna. "You're dragon nearly killed me!"
Caverna looked at her. "What did you do?"
"What do you mean, what did I do?" Heather asked her in disbelief.
"Snowcap or Lightning don't attack someone unless they need to, so you must have done something to upset them." Caverna told her, stroking Snowcap's head.
"I did nothing!" Heather told her. "Your beast just turned around and attacked me!"
"Actually, um, Heather might have done something." Ruffnut told them and she soon found everyone looking straight at her, expecting her to carry on with what she was saying. "Caverna, what does Snowcap do if you poke her jaw?"
"She growls." Caverna told her. "She hates that." She explained to Hiccup who looked at her.
"And if you suddenly start stroking her?"
"Depends on who it is, like if it's someone she knows she'll purr, if it's someone she doesn't know like Heather, she stands and snarls as a warning." Caverna told her.
"Okay, then what does she do if you stand on her tail?" Ruffnut asked her.
"She attempts to take your head off." Caverna shrugged. "Can we get to the point?"
"Heather stood on Snowcap's tail." Ruffnut told her.
"So Heather, her attack was bound to happen, don't come near my dragons again." Caverna warned her, before she looked back at Ruffnut. "So what was with the other questions?"
"Well the first one was because I wanted to annoy her, and the second one was because I want to pet her." Ruffnut admitted, sheepishly.
At seeing her sheepish behaviour, Snowcap bounded over to her, her tongue lounging out and she jumped on Ruffnut, knowing the girl to the floor and she started to lick her as everyone laughed. Caverna watched her friends and her dragons all play together and she even caught a few nuzzles between Stormfly and Lightning. Things had certainly changed, but whether they were for the better, well Caverna would just have to see, but it was clear that no one was getting her dragon, not now and not ever.