Disclaimer: I don't own How To Train Your Dragon, and knowing my luck, I probably never will. All rights go to the author of the books, Cressida Cowell, and the company that made the much-loved films and series, Dreamworks. However, I do own Brenna Bloodsword and Starlight the Night Fury, as they are my OCs. This disclaimer will change over time, as I may add more OCs to this story.
A/N: Here's a code I made up for you so this is easier to read.
Bold: Dragons are talking
Italics: Humans are thinking
Bold italics: Dragons are thinking
Underlined: Any language being spoken that isn't either Norse or Dragonese by bilingual/multilingual characters. It will be written like this for humans:
*Language goes here "Insert speech here."
And like this for dragons:
*Language goes here "Insert speech here."
If there isn't a language in front of the speech, assume that they are speaking Norse if they're human and Dragonese if they're dragons. Sorry about giving such a long A/N, but I felt I had to explain this for you.
It was a normal day on Berk. The sun was shining, dragons were roaring happily, Vikings were going about their daily routines, and our favourite Vikings were planning to go to an island that had recently been discovered, but was unexplored. "I wonder what kind of dragons live on this island," Fishlegs squeaked excitedly as he packed enough food to feed half the village . . . or one Fishlegs.
"I hope any dragons that live there like explosions," Ruffnut wished. Tuffnut sighed happily at the thought of it.
"They could come with us and cause uncontrollable chaos all over Berk," Tuffnut sighed. "Pinch me; I'm dreaming."
"I can do way better than that!" Ruffnut grinned, punching her brother in the shoulder. Tuffnut yelled in pain, and promptly jumped off Belch to attack his sister. Barf and Belch held their riders back, throughly pissed off.
"Cause uncontrollable chaos all over Berk?" Barf asked, repeating what his rider (well, one of them) had said. "If that's what these new dragons will be doing, then why are we here?"
"To stop them from killing each other," Belch answered. "You know, we should really get paid for this."
"Agreed," Belch told him.
"Did it ever occur to anyone that we might have to deal with hostile dragons?" Astrid asked angrily, passing around pouches of dragon nip. "Only use these in case of an emergency, like in case a wild dragon tries to attack you."
"The only emergency I'm having is that there's dragon nip right in front of me and I can't have any of it!" Hookfang grumbled.
"Hookfang, if Snotlout doesn't use any of it, he'll give it to you," Toothless suggested, acting as the voice of reason.
"The sooner we get back to Berk, the better," Stormfly complained.
"Why do you say that?" Meatlug questioned.
"It means she gets more time to find out where Astrid hid the chicken if she gets back early," Toothless answered. Hookfang used his wing to muffle his laughter. Barf and Belch burst out laughing.
"Nice one, Toothless!" they laughed. Stormfly and Meatlug, on the other hand/paw/claw, weren't particularly impressed.
"Toothless, that is just plain mean!" Stormfly scolded. "How would you like it if I laughed at how much haddock you eat?"
"You'd probably end up choking on a chicken bone if you laughed too hard," Toothless pointed out. Hookfang gasped when he saw the furious look on Stormfly's face.
"Toothless, get away from her!" Barf and Belch warned, too late. Toothless looked at Stormfly and froze.
"Ohhh spike," he muttered, before Stormfly pounced and pinned him to the ground by the throat. "Stormfly, get off me!"
"Take back what you said and I'll think about it," she growled, increasing the pressure on his neck so he couldn't breathe. "Now, Toothless, if there's one thing that you have to know, it's that the amount of chicken I have is none of your business! Is that clear?"
"Yes, very clear," Toothless choked out, squirming to get away from her. "Now let me go!"
"OK," Stormfly agreed, getting off the defeated Night Fury, who lay there gasping for breath.
"We told you so," Barf and Belch warbled in unison.
"Shut up," Toothless hissed.
"Anyway, since this island is unexplored, we'll need to stay together so nobody gets lost," Fishlegs suggested timidly. "We don't know what we're going to encounter when we're in there."
"You're right," Hiccup acknowledged. "But before we land, we'll make sure to fly over the island to get a sense of how big it is and how it's laid out. That OK with you guys?" Murmurs of agreement were heard. "Then saddle up. We've got an island to explore."
After a long, weary flight to the mysterious island, where two stops had to be made for resting and food, they flew over the island they'd discovered. It was mostly forest, with a beautiful sandy coastline around the edges of the island and a river running through its east side to the west. To the north, there were a collection of caves that were engraved into the sides of several rocky mountains. Everyone had to agree that it was beautiful.
"This is a nice place," Astrid had to say. "Let's split up which part of the island we should explore first."
"Maybe the beaches," Tuffnut suggested. "That seems like a really good place for us to go and relax- I mean, discover new things!"
"The river's a good sign," Fishlegs pointed out. "Fresh water means that there must be animals living there."
"Or people," Hiccup interrupted, pointing at a ship that was left at the shore. "Someone's been here before us, gang." The ship was beautiful, painted blue trimmed with silver and with an odd emblem on the white sails. It was a bloodied sword with a skull on its tip. The sword's blade was outlined with red, the skull had a black outline with the eyeholes in white and the hilt of the sword was drawn in silver. The ship looked to be in good condition, not needing any repairs other than a new coat of paint and maybe some new sails. This was no shipwreck. It looked like whoever had piloted the ship left it there believing that they would get back to her later.
"Maybe they died," Tuffnut pointed out. Hiccup, Astrid and Snotlout stared at him with horror. Fishlegs squeaked and hid behind Meatlug. Ruffnut grinned.
"Their skeleton's probably still on the island right now, rotting away as we speak," Ruffnut described. Fishlegs turned a pale green.
"There is not a skeleton on the island," Hiccup told them, which seemed to calm Fishlegs. "Now let's go looking around this place. Hey, we could find people living here who could tell us more!"
"And I suppose you'll be figuring this out from their mangled corpses?" Ruffnut taunted. "Or a few wailing ghosts." Fishlegs hid behind Meatlug again, and the twins laughed. Barf and Belch also thought this was funny.
"I can't believe you have such a wimpy rider, Meatlug," Barf scoffed.
"Good thing ours aren't like that," Belch boasted. Meatlug grinned, and went behind the ship. She tapped on the hull of the ship with her claws and growled. Tuffnut squealed and hid under Belch's wing.
"Monsters! Monsters everywhere!" Tuffnut moaned. Barf and Belch were mortified.
"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" Meatlug asked sweetly.
"Nothing," both heads muttered.
"Meatlug, you must be thirsty after all that flying," Fishlegs fussed. "How about we go see that river and get us something to drink?"
"Let's go check out these beaches!" Tuffnut cheered.
"Those caves are mine!" Snotlout claimed. "This is all going in my collection! A man can never have enough caves!"
"There could be a few Whispering Deaths in those woods," Astrid rationalized. "I'm looking a little closer at those."
"That boat raises a few questions for me, and I think inside the ship are the answers," Hiccup said. "I'm going inside."
"It could be what's on the island that tells us more," Astrid pointed out.
"But the ship's the only sign of humans being here," Hiccup argued. "I have to take a closer look." And with that, he and Toothless walked into the ship. Astrid sighed with frustration.
That boy doesn't listen to a word I say, she thought, as she mounted Stormfly and took off towards the woods. Snotlout and Hookfang headed for the caves, Fishlegs and Meatlug for the river, and the twins rode Barf and Belch to the beaches.
"Wow, whoever was here before us certainly knew of an ingenious method of extracting water from a river without getting wet," Fishlegs marvelled, eyeing up the seesaw-like system that tipped water into one of the two barrels at either end. It reminded Fishlegs of the huge mead barrels he'd seen on Berk. "I'm sure they won't mind if I borrow some. Besides, it'll fill itself up later." Taking a pitcher out of his bag, he filled it with water from one barrel and hastily drank it, chugging it all like alcohol at a drinking game.
"Now I feel thirsty," Meatlug whined. Fishlegs felt sorry for her.
"Here, girl, your turn," Fishlegs cooed, refilling it from the other barrel and holding the flask to her mouth as she thirstily drank the cool, refreshing water.
"That felt good," she gasped. "Where has everyone gone?" Confused, she wandered off to search for them, making Fishlegs panic.
"Meatlug, stay with me," Fishlegs instructed, catching up to Meatlug. "If we get split up, we won't be able to find anyone or each other! Let's continue along the path of the river so we know we aren't going to get lost." Meatlug conceded defeat, walking with Fishlegs along the side of the river. It was all going fine until suddenly they were scooped up in a net, being dragged away by the trap and hoisted up in the air. Fishlegs passed out from fear.
"Finally, something to really explore!" Snotlout cheered, as he gazed at the caves buried inside the walls of the mountain. "Hiccup's exploring some boring shipwreck, Fishlegs is geeking out over a river, the twins are being . . . well, the twins and Astrid is wandering around in some boring old woods! But none of them have what it takes to be like me! Snotlout, Snotlout, oi, oi- AAARGH!" Snotlout screamed, as Hookfang set his butt on fire to stop him boasting. "Hookfang!"
"Shut up," Hookfang grumbled. "So some mountain has a few holes in it. Big deal."
"Hookfang, you are in such big trouble when we get home!" Snotlout shrieked, as he put out the fire in a small pond. "Now, let's see if these caves are cool inside and out."
"Oh, stop being such a hatchling; they're caves!" Hookfang grumbled, following Snotlout inside. "I take it back, these caves actually aren't so bad!"
The cave Snotlout and Hookfang had entered was roomy, warm and somehow able to balance being well-lit without letting in a draught. But then Snotlout tripped over a small boulder, falling flat on his face as Hookfang did what he usually did: laugh at his idiot rider. "Oh, shut up, Hookfang," Snotlout grumbled.
"Why can't I laugh? This is funny," Hookfang snickered, taking a closer look at the boulder Snotlout tripped over . . . before realizing that it wasn't a boulder.
"Hookfang, what's wrong?" Snotlout asked. "Terrible Terror got your tongue or - THERE'S A BONE ON THE FLOOR!" Terrified, both dragon and human fled the cave and sought refuge in another. They lay there, panting for breath and wanting nothing more that to get off the island. However, their frantic exit had caused an avalanche of boulders, and one of them was blocking the only exit. They were stuck.
"Oh, no," Hookfang muttered.
"Exploring these beaches was a great idea," Tuffnut told Ruffnut, as he lay on his back basking in the sun. "I've never done anything more relaxing in my life."
"Agreed, brother," Ruffnut confirmed, sighing as she sat up. "I could just lie here forever." Barf and Belch, however, were exploring out of boredom and curiosity.
"Why are our humans so sluggish?" Barf asked. "It's not that hot!"
"This means we can sneak off and not get into trouble," Belch grinned. "Anyway, let's get some fish."
As Barf and Belch went searching for their lunch, they walked a little too far and got caught in a net, hoisting the poor Zippleback into the air. This snapped the twins out of their little nap. "Barf and Belch are stuck!" Ruffnut alerted.
"We have to save them!" Tuffnut declared, both twins running towards their precious dragon. However, their plan was foiled when they were trapped too.
"We're doomed!" both heads groaned.
Astrid and Stormfly strolled through the woods, happily searching for any sign of any person who had ever lived here, dead or alive. But the more they searched, the less hope they had. "Maybe whoever got here before us actually did die," Astrid muttered.
"If it turns out Ruffnut was right about the mangled corpses, I am taking you straight back to Berk," Stormfly hissed. "And I won't use the two rest breaks you had either!"
"Oh, stop complaining, Stormfly, you can have some chicken when we get home," Astrid remarked. This sent Stormfly into a rage.
"What? You seriously think that some chicken is all you need to distract me from protecting you?" Stormfly raged. "Astrid, I can't believe you seriously think you can deter me with food? You are very mistaken!"
As the two walked, neither noticed the cleverly-disguised pit in front of them . . . until it was too late.
Hiccup and Toothless walked around the ship's deck, looking for any signs of what the ship's owner may have been like. And what they had found amounted to . . . nothing. Literally nothing. Zero, zip, zilch, naught, nyet, nada!
"It's like they came here without any possessions at all!" Hiccup exclaimed with frustration. "Where on earth could they have put them?"
"On dry land?" Toothless suggested sarcastically. Hiccup glared at him.
"Oh, don't use that tone with me, mister," Hiccup scolded. Toothless growled, and continued to look for any signs of a past owner's presence. However, the sharp-eyed Night Fury did find a set of stairs leading downwards to the ship's hull. "Nice work, bud!"
"No need to thank me," Toothless cooed, slinking downstairs to where there had to be clues as to what the ship's previous owner was like. "On second thoughts, maybe we won't find anything down here either."
"Seriously? Still nothing? Maybe Ruffnut was right," Hiccup sighed, leaning on a wall, which caved in slightly. "Huh?" Without warning, a cage descended from above their heads, successfully trapping both human and Night Fury. Toothless tried to break out, throwing his weight against the walls, but Hiccup stopped him. He didn't want his friend to be hurt.
"Whoever made this trap is going to be sorry!" Toothless growled.
"Stand down, Toothless," Hiccup soothed, as his friend tried to escape. "Any plasma blasts out of you will blow a hole in the ship and make it sink."
"Smart thinking, boy," a voice said. "Why didn't you use it to keep both you and your dragon off my ship? Unused doesn't mean unwanted."
"Who are you? And where are you?" Hiccup asked, searching the room for any and all signs of a new arrival. But he couldn't see anyone. "Hello? Anyone?"
"No need to yell, kid. I'm right here," the voice replied, stepping out of the shadows. They wore a long hooded blue cloak with silver edges and odd-shaped buttons on both sides. All Hiccup could tell about the owner of the boat was that they were very tall, dwarfing possibly even Fishlegs. Toothless saw them as a threat and started growling. The figure shushed him, rubbing the Night Fury's jaw. "I won't harm you," they cooed, sounding softer and gentler and . . . feminine. Wait, could they . . .
The figure then removed the cloak and showed their face to Hiccup and Toothless. Their captor was a girl, and a pretty one, too! She had bright red hair which was partly obscured by the cloak, and freckles dotting her cheeks. Gold eyes rested above them, which were currently staring angrily at Hiccup and Toothless. "You wanted to know who I am. I'm Brenna Bloodsword, who are you supposed to be?"
"I'm Hiccup Haddock," Hiccup introduced, terrified. "When are you going to let us out of this cage?"
"Right now," Brenna answered, walking over to a pulley and winching the cage upwards. "Just tell me when you want me to stop."
"Stop," Hiccup eventually said, once the cage was well above the heads of both him and Toothless. Brenna looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking at?" Hiccup asked.
"Well, you two are going to move out of the way of the cage, aren't you?" she asked. Hiccup blushed, and Toothless sniggered. Brenna caught it. "That applies to you too, Toothless. Get moving."
"How do you know my name?" Toothless gasped.
"Of course I know your name, Toothless. I heard Hiccup using it," Brenna replied. Hiccup goggled.
"You can understand what he's saying?" he squeaked.
"Of course," Brenna answered, as she opened the hatch to let them out. "I've been doing it for ages. Now let's go find your friends."
"You knew I never came alone?" Hiccup stuttered.
"Nobody ever comes here alone," Brenna answered offhandedly. "All those dumb explorers think it's too dangerous for that. That's why I set up a few traps around the island."
"They're OK, aren't they?" Hiccup asked, already full of concern.
"Of course. I never use lethal traps," Brenna answered. "The worst that could happen is that they're scared and want to leave. The trap I'm most worried about is the one I set up in the caves."
"Snotlout's in there!" Hiccup yelled, racing up to the ship's deck and saddling up Toothless. "You need to get on! Snotlout could be hurt!"
"I have my own ride, thank you," she politely refused. Hiccup was confused, until she whistled quickly. "Starlight!" Out of the trees, a female Night Fury burst out, gracefully landing besides Brenna. She was a little smaller than Toothless, with purple eyes instead of Toothless' green ones. "Good to see you, girl," Brenna whispered.
*Norse "Good to see you too," Starlight replied. Hiccup blinked, staring at Brenna, then Starlight, then Brenna.
And then he fainted.
"Hiccup, are you OK?" Brenna asked, as Hiccup groggily woke up and checked his surroundings. He was somewhere else now, lying on a bed. Astrid, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, Fishlegs were all standing close to him, but not too close. "You were out cold for about two hours. I had to leave you with Toothless while me and Starlight found everyone."
"I . . . er, thanks, but where did you take me? This isn't the ship," Hiccup mumbled.
"Actually, this is my house. I've been living here for the past two years," Brenna answered. "I couldn't take you by air, so we walked. Thank Thor it wasn't far from here."
"Brenna, how is Starlight able to talk?" Fishlegs asked. "Was she taught? Did she learn it from other people? Is there any way we can teach the other dragons? Where did you find her? Is there a colony of other Night Furies we don't know about? Can you show us?"
"What did you do to Hiccup when he was on your ship?" Astrid growled. "Did you hurt him? Cause if you hurt him, you. Are. Dead!" She attempted to thrust the blade of her axe to Brenna's throat, but the twins restrained her.
"You will not kill her, understand?" Ruffnut grunted, as she pulled the axe away from Astrid. "She hasn't hurt Hiccup at all."
"She got you and Stormfly out of a hole in the ground that you were stuck in!" Tuffnut added.
"That was her fault to begin with!" Astrid screamed. Hiccup got out of bed and stood between Astrid and Brenna, acting as a human wall.
"Astrid, I'm fine. Brenna didn't lay a finger on me," Hiccup assured her. "You don't need to try to kill her." Convinced, the blonde lowered the axe and glared at Brenna, who didn't seem scared at all.
"You just keep away from Hiccup, you hear me?" Astrid hissed.
"Yeesh, we get it, Astrid! Hiccup's yours, we can't have him, blah blah blah," Ruffnut droned, covering her ears. "Somebody get me some sheep wool so I can use it to plug my ears!"
"I'm just going outside for some air," Fishlegs muttered, wandering out of the house, taking a left, then a right, left, left again, right . . . and getting lost. Where was he? It looked like he was in the woods, but this seemed a bit more ordered and sensible. Then it hit him. He was in Brenna's garden, and these were her plants! Excited, he ran around the garden, taking care not to damage anything as he saw all the species of plants she was growing. I don't recognize any of this stuff! Fishlegs thought. It's all undocumented! None of it's in Berk's botanical records at all! These plants were strange, exotic and beautiful, and it seemed for every plant Fishlegs spied, there was another plant that also caught his eye. Fishlegs found himself wishing for more eyes so he could see everything all at once . . . and then he saw something that blew his mind.
One plant stood tall and strong, bigger than all the other plants Fishlegs had seen, which looked like weeds in comparison. It almost looked like a tree and its stem was as thick as his forearm. The leaves were a dark green, and as wide as his head. But what really got Fishlegs' attention was the head. This plant looked like a flower about to bloom, but was actually a huge mouth, with two broad, almost grinning jaws lined with big, sharp, teeth-like thorns.
"Er, hello there, sir, ma'am, whatever you are," Fishlegs whimpered. "I didn't mean to disturb you." The plant snapped at him, and he screamed and fled. Miraculously, he remembered the way back to Brenna's house and he burst in through the doors screaming.
"What happened? Are you OK? Hurt? Ill?" Brenna worried.
"BRENNA, YOU HAVE A PLANT WITH TEETH IN YOUR GARDEN AND I THINK IT WANTS TO EAT ME!" Fishlegs screamed. Everyone looked at Brenna with confusion.
"You have a plant with teeth?" Hiccup repeated.
"You have a garden?" Snotlout asked. "Seriously? You?"
"I have to grow my own food out here," Brenna answered simply. "Nobody's just going to hand it to me, you know. Wait, what were you doing in there? I never told you about my garden."
"I went out for some air, and after a few twists and turns, I found a garden full of the most amazing plants!" Fishlegs told the other teens. "I tried to look at all of them, but whenever I saw one, I found another one, and then another and another!"
"Let me know when it gets interesting," Snotlout yawned, as his eyes drooped.
"At the very back of the garden, there was a massive plant that was bigger than some trees, and where you might find a flower or seeds there was a massive head with teeth as long as my thumb!" Fishlegs eagerly described, still shaking with fear.
"Now it got interesting!" Snotlout yelled, eyes snapping wide open. "I wish I could've been there to see the plant nearly eat Fishface!"
"Fishface is his name?" Brenna asked.
"No, I'm Fishlegs," Fishlegs introduced. "The guy who called me that is Snotlout, Astrid was the one holding an axe to your throat, you already know Hiccup, and the twins are called Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Ruffnut is the girl twin, Tuffnut is a boy."
"Remind me again why people are so focused on Fishlegs almost being eaten and concern ourselves with how there is a plant that has teeth?" Tuffnut whooped.
"I know, right? That is so cool!" Ruffnut cheered. "Bring the plant! Bring the plant! Bring the plant! Bring the plant!"
"I am not going to bring a plant with teeth to you," Brenna refused. "And I won't let you as close to it as Fishlegs got. It nearly ate him, for crying out loud!"
"Way to ruin our fun," the twins grumbled, glowering at Fishlegs, who was too happy to be alive to really care.
"Isn't it a little strange to live on an island with no other humans for company?" Hiccup asked. "I mean, you have Starlight to keep you company, but you're really far away from any civilisation and if something goes wrong, you've got nobody to help you."
"It's not as bad as you think it is," Brenna replied. "The river running through it gives us a fresh water supply. The soil here is perfect for growing crops, and that river has plenty of fish so Starlight never has to go hungry. It's certainly no picnic, but once you've been here long enough to know how to keep bears and wolves away, it's fine."
"Bears?" Snotlout asked.
"No, Snotlout, I was talking about three-headed trolls," Brenna sassed.
"BURN!" Tuffnut cheered.
"Why did you leave your old village?" Astrid asked. Brenna seemed to stiffen.
"I was always taught to never stay where you weren't wanted," Brenna answered. A chill ran down everyone's spines as they tried to work out what Brenna meant. Snotlout was the one to break the silence.
"Brenna, you've been living in a forest with nobody for company for two years," Snotlout started, then fell silent. He wasn't sure how to phrase this without accidentally insulting her. "How would you like to come and live with us on Berk? That's where we come from, and where you could stay without having to worry about bears and wolves and stuff."
"Can Starlight come with me?" Brenna asked. Hiccup smiled.
"Berk is a place that accepts and lives with dragons," Hiccup told her. "Of course we'll let Starlight stay!"
"Thank you," Brenna smiled. "I'll go look for her." Happily walking off to look for Starlight, she soon disappeared from view. The other riders waited for a second before they heard a yell of "Seriously? You lot were here the whole time?"
"What?" Hiccup yelped, and the gang went out to look. They found Brenna staring angrily at their dragons. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Starlight, Toothless, Stormfly, Hookfang, Barf, Belch and Meatlug had been listening in on the conversation the entire time. All the humans laughed, as the dragons looked away with shame.
"I knew this was a bad idea," Hookfang grumbled.
"Then why didn't you tell us?" Stormfly hissed.
"How does your human even hear that well, anyway?" Meatlug asked Starlight.
"Maybe she's just really weird," Barf suggested.
"Don't you think that's a little mean?" Toothless asked.
"No, but it may be a little accurate," Belch argued.
"You shut up about my human!" Starlight defended. "Don't you know that she-"
"Can understand you?" Brenna finished. "Barf, Belch, this is a little disappointing. I barely know you, and you're insulting me. If you're going to insult me, you could at least say it to my face."
"Sorry," both heads muttered.
"That's more like it," Brenna confirmed. "Now, Starlight, you want to get anything before we go?"
"Just my spare saddle and maybe some fish for the journey," Starlight answered. "I don't need anything else."
"Oh, good," Brenna replied, going into a different room in the house. Objects were moved, papers were shuffled, and eventually, Brenna staggered out with three bags, one in each hand and one strapped to her back. The smallest bag seemed to be filled with clothes. Another seemed heavier and full of lumps. Hiccup deduced that it was carrying books. Nobody had any idea what the hell the bag strapped to her back contained.
"Are you OK, Brenna?" Fishlegs asked.
"Fine," Brenna answered. "I've carried heavier things than this." As she spoke, her grip on the larger bag slipped and she struggled to lift it back up. Starlight nudged it upwards with her snout. "Thanks."
*Norse "It's OK," Starlight replied.
"How do you know how to speak Norse?" Toothless asked, as he studied Starlight's features. However, at the same time, he was scared to look too long in case she thought he was weird. What neither Night Fury knew was that they were developing crushes on each other.
"Oh, I've been living with Brenna since I was a hatchling in her old village. I've known it all my life," Starlight answered. She wasn't too sure how Toothless would react to this. She'd explained this before, and it hadn't gone well. But she was talking to humans. Maybe dragons would be more accepting.
"That's actually pretty cool," Toothless answered. Then he became curious. "How did you ever learn how to fly or fish for yourself without other dragons to teach you?"
"If you looked closely, you'd realise that bears fish almost exactly like dragons," Starlight told him. "I learned from wild bears, and once I was able to fly, I learned how to dive for fish. And I learned how to fly from birds."
"Sorry to bother you, but if you don't mind, I'd like to get to know the new guy," Hookfang interrupted, shoving Toothless aside. "Time to join the boys club, Starlight!"
"Hookfang, don't you know that-" Toothless tried to point out.
"Not now, Toothless. I'm talking to the new guy," Hookfang dismissed. "Starlight, I am so glad you're not a girl. Stormfly and Meatlug are bad enough!" That's when Starlight lost her temper and tail-slapped Hookfang right in the face.
"Hookfang, I am a girl!" Starlight yelled as she stormed off. Toothless glared at Hookfang
"This is what you were trying to tell me, wasn't it?" Hookfang groaned. Toothless nodded. "Knew it."
"No, you didn't," Toothless retorted. "If you knew, you'd have kept your mouth shut. I'll go and see if she's OK."
"Fine, fine, you go and play peacekeeper," Hookfang muttered, before an idea hit him. "Wait a minute. Girl Night Fury, boy Night Fury - were you making a move on her?"
"No!" Toothless denied quickly.
"You were, weren't you?" Hookfang teased. "Aww, Toothless is in love with Starlight!"
"Shut up!" Toothless yelped. Hookfang teased him more.
"You must have been discussing where your nest should go before I showed up," the red Monstrous Nightmare laughed. "Maybe if I leave, you can pick up where you left off?"
"Hookfang, I think someone just set Snotlout on fire," Toothless pointed out.
"What?" Hookfang roared, enraged. "NOBODY sets Snotlout on fire but me! They've got a lot of nerve to - oh, he's gone. Spike."
Still angry about Hookfang thinking she was a guy, Starlight went looking for Stormfly and Meatlug. They must be the only girl dragons they knew, and might be able to relate to being confused for a boy. But she had no idea who was who, so when she saw them talking, she was so nervous. "Um, hi," she whispered, terrified. "I'm Starlight. You must be Stormfly and Meatlug."
"Correct answer," the Deadly Nadder replied, not looking up from her chicken. "What's your point?"
"Oh, don't be so cold to the new girl, Stormfly. I'm sure she's just shy," Meatlug soothed. Starlight was shocked.
"You can tell that I'm a girl?" Starlight squealed. "This is great!"
"Of course we can tell! Why are you so surprised?" Stormfly asked. This new girl is weird, she thought.
"When I was living with Brenna in the village we grew up in, everyone but Brenna thought I was a boy!" Starlight told them. "And when he saw me, Hookfang said that he was so glad I wasn't a girl because you were bad enough!"
"WHAT?" Stormfly and Meatlug shrieked.
"I got so angry I tail-slapped him," Starlight told them. Stormfly grinned.
"You're not so bad, Starlight," Stormfly grinned, nudging the Night Fury's wing. "Wait. You did aim for the face, right?"
"Yeah, why?" Starlight asked. The girls squealed and hugged her.
"She's one of us!" Meatlug cheered.
"Finally! We needed more girls around here!" Stormfly whooped.
"Thanks, Stormfly," Starlight said. "Has anyone ever called you a boy?"
"Only once," Stormfly answered. "Snotlout said I was a boy because my scales were blue. I pinned him to a wall with my spines."
"It happened to me a lot," Meatlug confided. "But once it was mating season and I came back with my hatchlings, nobody made that mistake again."
"Well, how could they after something like that?" Starlight joked. The three laughed, and with that, a sisterhood was formed. The ice had melted.
Eventually, Brenna had finished packing her stuff and was ready to leave for this new place called Berk. It had to be better than her old village, especially if they accepted dragons. But that was only one worry she had out of three; the other two were things she didn't dare confide in to anyone but Starlight. If she opened her big mouth and told someone, they'd get rid of her and Starlight.
Or worse, an evil voice in her head said. Brenna tried to ignore it, checking the horizon for any sign of land ahead. But that thought never left her mind, no matter how hard she tried.
Now the first chapter's up, let me tell you a few things: if you have any questions about Brenna or Starlight, PM me instead of leaving it in the reviews section. I'm not going to spoil anything, though. I will ignore any requests to do with this story, as I have my own idea about how this will go. FT543 out!