Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise; if you're on this site, you know the drill. Also, thanks are owed to athingofvikings, who gave me a much-appreciated sounding-board for a few aspects of my planned world-building for this particular crossover; hope you like it.
Feedback: Appreciated as always.
AN: As this plot unfolds, I feel I should clarify a few other timeline-related details. For Hiccup and the rest of Berk, the key details of 'Race to the Edge' have happened up to the Riders' confrontation with the hunters to save the Skrill near the end of the second season. By this I mean that the Riders are living at the Edge, Stoick has Skullcrusher, Astrid has formed Team A back on Berk, Dagur and Heather know they're siblings, and the riders are aware that Heather is only with the Hunters to act as a double agent. However, I'm relocating the events of a few 'stand-alone' episodes (episodes focusing on the Riders dealing with non-hunter-related threats, or at least threats that weren't obviously caused by the hunters) to give Clarke an opportunity to learn more about dragons during a lower-stakes crisis rather than dive straight into a bigger problem.
There are a few other crucial changes relating to the simple fact that the Riders aren't 'Vikings' in the sense that they don't actually live back in the tenth century, of course, but those will become clear when the time's right.
AN 2: Hiccup will encourage the riders to talk in Traders' Tongue for Clarke's benefit until they can teach her more Norse, but for the moment any speech in italics will be in Norse that Clarke can't understand (although she'll have picked up at least the context of a few key words)
The Dragon of Wanheda
"This is mine?" Clarke looked at Hiccup with a broad grin as she stared up at the small tower just a short walk from the rest of the outpost.
"Well, it's the best we can offer on short notice, anyway," Hiccup shrugged, awkwardly indicating the building that had been designated as Clarke's temporary lodgings. "We can work on putting something together for you in the Edge itself, but in the meantime we just need to get the cracks filled in and this lookout tower should be… relatively habitable."
"Hey, when you've spent the last several years stuck in a massive structure with just the same people over and over with practically no guarantee of privacy, any kind of place to myself is good," Clarke smiled at Hiccup before turning her attention back to the tower. "So if it's a lookout tower, what should I be looking out for?"
"Just… ships, wild dragons, that kind of thing; it's important, but it's close enough to the Edge that we won't be depending on you while you're working out how to do the job," Hiccup said, before smiling as a thought occurred to him. "On the topic of doing the job, if you want to get a feel for what it's like to train the dragons, you can join us at tomorrow's session."
"Session?" Clarke looked curiously at Hiccup, her grin becoming wider. "As in a dragon-training session?"
"We're doing this… speed test thing the twins came up with a while back," Hiccup shrugged. "Griffin and you might need a bit more time before you can take part in that one yourselves, but there's nothing to stop you both watching and getting a feel for what we do."
"Sounds good," Clarke smiled broadly, looking back at the Edge, just a short distance along the coast, as the twins led Griffin into the large building that was essentially the dragons' 'barn'. "Griffin will be OK there, right?"
"We've had a few other dragons staying there since we got here, and they were pretty much just wild ones; considering that Griffin's already bonded with you, I think it sets a good precedent," Hiccup nodded, before he indicated the tower. "Obviously this is just a lookout tower right now-"
"I spent a while sleeping outside before I found Griffin; I can cope with an uncomfortable room before we can sort something out," Clarke nodded reassuringly at him, before she turned and began to climb up the tower. "See you in the morning!"
When she reached the top of the tower, Clarke turned around to look back at the Edge as Hiccup walked towards his own hut, unable to stop herself from smiling at her good fortune.
She'd left Camp Jaha certain she'd basically condemned herself to living alone to get away from the memories of what she'd done at Mount Weather, and now she'd not only found a completely independent group of humans who could offer her somewhere comfortable to stay away from all memory of the mountain, but had also found the chance to spend time with the creatures she'd heard so much about from her father's stories.
And starting tomorrow, I begin to train my own dragon…
Standing in the middle of the Edge, Griffin waiting with the other dragons off to the side while she stood among their riders, Clarke still couldn't stop herself grinning at the way her life had changed so quickly. It seemed like just yesterday she'd believed that she had cut herself off from the rest of the human race with only Griffin for company for the foreseeable future, and now she was part of a group of dragon-training Vikings on their own island outpost.
Granted, that was a weird situation and she really needed to work out why these people were living like stereotypical Vikings where the Grounders had developed a completely new culture, but she wasn't going to complain about cultural quirks when she had so much else to enjoy. She'd only had a brief talk with the others over the morning meal before this training session began, but even with the prospect of actual bread, cheese, and other foods to whet her appetite, her thirst for knowledge was still virtually unquenched…
"There they are!" Astrid called out as the distinctive black form of Toothless emerged from around the cliff, the other blonde holding a small spyglass to her eye.
"Close the dome!" Fishlegs called to the others.
"And so the drama begins," Ruffnut said, her voice overly dramatic in a manner that put Clarke in mind of Monty and Jasper during those brief moments when being on Earth had just seemed like an adventure before Jasper was hit with that spear.
"One man, one dragon, one leg, versus one rapidly closing dome," Tuffnut continued as he pushed down the large wooden lever and the leathery dome behind them began to close. Clarke had no idea how they'd designed something like that with Viking-era tools and knowledge, but she had to confess that she was impressed at the scale of the project, considering all the gears and machinery that must have been involved in making it move like that, to say nothing of finding the right spot to make something like this practical in the first place.
"No way he's making that," Snotlout said as Toothless weaved through the rocky outcrops on the edge of the island before diving into a gap under the cliff, only to emerge from the dome practically the second before it shut.
"Yeah!" Astrid grinned, punching the air in victory.
"What?" Snotlout said incredulously.
"Nice job," Clarke nodded at her new friend as he came into land on top of the dome (she acknowledged that Hiccup was obviously the leader of this group, but she wasn't going to consider if that made him her leader as well until they actually started giving her orders).
"All Toothless, really," Hiccup smiled down at the dragon.
"Alright, we're up," Snotlout said.
"Come on," Fishlegs looked at Snotlout with an amused smile. "Nobody's able to beat the dome except Hiccup."
"Nobody 'til now," Snotlout said confidently.
"Guys," Hiccup protested with an exasperated smile that gave the impression he'd had this discussion before, "this was supposed to be a drill; do we have to turn it into a game?"
"Don't we always?" Astrid countered.
"I actually have to agree with Hiccup there," Clarke pointed out, shrugging as the other five looked at her in surprise. "Turning something into a competition… well, I get the appeal, but you could basically end up making it more important to get more points than the other guy than doing the actual training-"
"Whatever," Snotlout waved his hand dismissively as he led Hookfang away. "Training or a game, it's my turn."
"It's not really worth telling him he's wrong about anything," Astrid observed to Clarke as Snotlout got on the dragon and flew away.
"I'll wager he loses an eye," Tuffnut said.
"On the contrary," Ruffnut said with an exaggerated dramatic laugh, "I predict act one, scene one, will conclude with the loss of a gallbladder."
"Uh…" Clarke looked uncertainly at the twins, wondering if she'd mentally translated that last word properly. "Did they just-?"
"It's probably better not to get too caught up in trying to understand them," Astrid said, reaching over to pat Clarke's shoulder with a sympathetic smile. "The twins are… odd like that."
"Right," Clarke nodded at Astrid, the twins' tones once again evoking memories of Monty and Jasper back before everything had gone wrong when they'd still been able to joke about everything before they realised just how dangerous the ground really was…
Were things really so light-hearted here that they can joke even after… whatever they've seen… or are they just better at coping with it all?
She pushed such thoughts of her past to the back of her mind as she turned her attention back to waiting for Snotlout to return to the Edge. For the first few moments, she simply sat around with the rest of the group, patiently eyeing the area where Hookfang should emerge once he'd completed the initial lap of the island, privately musing that this was one time when access to TV or cameras would be useful in better assessing Snotlout and Hookfang's progress in their 'race'. Once the larger dragon had emerged, Clarke estimated it had taken a minute or so longer for Hookfang than Toothless to complete that circuit, but it was hardly a sign of anything Snotlout had done wrong when she was fairly sure Night Furies were meant to be the fastest dragons of their size.
"He hath emerged from the forest!" Ruffnut yelled, the female twin examining the sight through the eyeglass.
"And what of his gallbladder?" Tuffnut asked as he leant against the lever.
"Impossible to say," Ruffnut observed.
"The tension continues to build… ah!" Tuffnut said, leaning on the lever only to fall off it once the dome started moving.
"You're OK," Clarke said as she went over to assess Tuffnut's condition before pulling him back to his feet and turning her attention back to the flying dragon, squinting to keep a better eye as Hookfang weaved around the outer rocks. "Well, he doesn't seem to be doing too badly…"
"And time runs out for our plucky little anti-hero…" Tuffnut said as he scrambled to his feet.
"I love a ticking sundial, don't you?" Ruffnut asked, prompting Clarke to reach for the wrist where she was wearing her father's watch. The watch itself was hidden under her jacket, but she suddenly found herself wondering at the incongruity of how the concept of ticking time had survived when they didn't have the technology to measure it that way.
Turning back to the approaching dragon, Clarke smiled as Hookfang dived towards the cliff under the dome, but her smile faltered when she heard Snotlout screaming about something as he flew. She appreciated that she didn't know any of these people very well yet, but so far Snotlout had struck her as resembling Bellamy or Murphy early in their time on Earth, with the difference that he had at least some legitimate skill to back up his belief in how good he was at whatever he was trying to do…
As the dome slammed shut with dragon and rider still inside it, even the twins winced at the sound of something large crashing inside the contained leather-and-wood structure. Tuffnut quickly pulled the lever back upright to open the dome, which revealed Snotlout lying in the middle of the dome and no sign of the dragon.
"OK," Clarke glanced over at Astrid. "From what Clarke told me about this training exercise, that's not supposed to happen, right?"
"No," Astrid shook her head as Hiccup walked into the dome.
"Snotlout, are you OK?" the one-legged Viking asked.
"Define 'OK'," Snotlout said, sitting up and glaring at his associate.
"Where's Hookfang?"
"That's what I'd like to know," Snotlout said, adjusting his helmet as he stood up. "I've got some words for that dragon!"
"Right…" Clarke nodded uncertainly at Snotlout. "Do you want us to-?"
"No, I'll find him," Snotlout said, glaring at Clarke before he walked off into the forest, the other riders looking silently after him for a moment.
"Should we… help him?" Clarke looked at the others.
"Trust us," Astrid looked at Clarke with a grim smile, "when Snotlout's in this kind of mood, it's best to just leave him alone and let him work out his issues himself."
"Hookfang's probably just working off a bit of steam, and this island isn't that big; Snotlout should be able to find him on his own," Hiccup shrugged dismissively before he looked apologetically at Clarke. "Sorry, but until he gets back, we should probably just focus on more general training; there's no point starting something more complicated if we have to cut it off to help get Hookfang back from wherever he went."
"Fair enough," Clarke nodded in understanding, walking over to stroke Griffin's snout with a smile. "So long as I get to spend more time with this guy, that's the main thing."
When Snotlout returned with Hookfang what seemed like a couple of hours later, it seemed to Clarke as though everything would easily return to whatever passed for the normal routine on this base. Griffin stayed off to the side when the other riders began dolling out fish for the other dragons, but Clarke could put that down to the idea that he was just getting used to being part of such a diverse group of other dragons rather than him being naturally skittish about them for some reason. Snotlout had returned with Hookfang after only an hour or so spent searching the island, but the Monstrous Nightmare was still sitting separate from the other dragons, as though there was something bothering him.
"Here, Hookfang," Snotlout said, tossing some fish to the large orange dragon, only for the dragon to throw the fish back in his face after it landed on his nose. "What; you love mackerel!"
Clarke hesitated to protest when Snotlout jumped up to grab Hookfang's protruding lower jaw, as though planning to force the dragon to open his mouth and throw the fish in, but whatever plan he had was quickly cut short when the dragon tossed him back towards the rest of the humans, followed by the mackerel.
"Everyone saw that, right?" Snotlout asked as he sat up in exasperation.
"Yes we did, my friend," Tuffnut affirmed with his earlier overly dramatic tone, "and it was delightful."
"Good sir, can you re-enact it for us?" Ruffnut asked.
"No, I'm talking about Hookfang," Snotlout protested as he stood up. "He's acting weird."
"Uh… what?" Clarke asked.
"Snotlout says that Hookfang's acting weird," Fishlegs clarified.
"In what way?" Clarke asked, as Griffin came up to stand beside her, prompting her to toss him a spare haddock she'd found in the stores even as she looked curiously at the short Viking.
"He didn't listen to me during the race, he ran away, he just spit fish in my face, and threw me against the wall!" Snotlout looked back at Clarke, evidently wanting to ensure everyone understood why he was upset now that he'd been reminded someone here couldn't understand him.
"And… this is weird, how?" Astrid asked.
"You have to admit, Snotlout," Hiccup observed, "that does kind of sum up your relationship with Hookfang."
Glaring sulkily at Hiccup, Snotlout tossed the fish in his hands at Hookfang, only for the dragon to knock it aside with his tail. The rest of the group watched in silence as Hookfang flapped his wings, flew to a position just under a beam on the upper level of the pens, and began banging his head against it.
"So… Hookfang's the problem dragon, right?"
"Huh?" Fishlegs looked curiously at Clarke.
"I mean… well, from what I've seen of the rest of them, Hookfang's the really difficult dragon of this group?" Clarke said, suddenly uncomfortable as she realised how everyone was looking at her when she wasn't even sure what she was saying at the moment herself. "I mean, Griffin's not going to just suddenly start… acting out like that, right?"
"From what I've seen of you and Griffin, I think you'll both be fine," Hiccup smiled at Clarke before looking at Snotlout. "As for Hookfang… well, Snotlout, like Clarke said, Hookfang's always been the difficult one-"
"Hey!"
"Don't blame the new girl for pointing out the obvious," Astrid smirked at Snotlout before giving Clarke a more casual smile.
"My point," Hiccup said, shooting a warning glare at Astrid before he turned back to Snotlout, "is that, if you think there's something wrong with him, you know your dragon best."
"Really?" Snotlout looked at him in surprise.
"Really," Hiccup nodded. "You know what he's like better than any of us, so if you're this concerned about him, lock him up in a pen for tonight just so he doesn't hurt himself, and we can see how he's doing in the morning."
"Yeah," Snotlout nodded as he turned back to the still-head-banging Hookfang. "Yeah, maybe I'll do that."
"And in the meantime," Fishlegs added as he smiled at Clarke, "we can work on giving Clarke and Griffin a crash-course in hand signals?"
"Hand signals?" Clarke looked at the large Viking curiously before her eyes widened in understanding. "You mean for the dragons?"
"Well, if you're sticking around, best you know all the ways to communicate with Griffin here, right?" Fishlegs smiled thoughtfully at her.
"Yeah…" Clarke nodded in agreement as she looked at Griffin, already eager to learn everything she could about how to communicate with her incredible new…
Friend, she realised suddenly, smiling at him. I have a dragon for a friend…