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: For the HtTYD fans, I've just started assisting Sandy97 in translating her HtTYD/Frozen fic Crossed Souls from Spanish into English, so I can recommend checking that out. It's a fascinating storyline that brings the two worlds together in a remarkable manner, as Drago Bludvist attacks Arendelle searching for the secret to the land's ancient magics, while the new alliance between Berk and Arendelle forces Hiccup and Elsa into a political marriage that leaves them to deal with growing feelings for each on top of Hiccup's enduring love for Astrid and Elsa developing her own complicated dynamic with the blonde Viking.

The Dragon of Wanheda

When Clarke woke up, even her amateur eye could tell that the sun was so high in the sky above the tower that it was at least close to noon, if not already in the afternoon. For a moment she panicked at the idea that she'd missed a meeting, but calmed herself down with the reminder that if past experience had taught her anything, it wasn't likely that the Riders would have left her alone if they legitimately wanted her for anything.

Besides, considering the reasons she'd been late, she had a feeling that Hiccup and Astrid would understand, considering that the three of them had become caught up in the talk about to put Hiccup's wingsuit idea into practice. She might not have been an engineering expert like Raven, but Clarke would like to meet the person who didn't find it cool that they might be able to fly in any way. She'd drawn on every scrap of knowledge she'd gained from the times she'd helped her father do some work to offer Hiccup a few new ideas on how they might get working flight suits for all of the riders. Astrid had even managed to bring up the idea of using some shed scales from their dragons to make the accompanying wingsuits fireproof so that they could more easily fly with their dragons, and the three of them had kept talking until it was so late that nobody was sure what time it was…

Shaking her head as she looked around the Edge from her tower, Clarke's eyes widened when she realised that she saw no signs of activity in the base. She forced herself to calm down when she saw no sign of damage, doubting that anyone could have mounted an attack on the base and captured all six of the other Riders and their five dragons without causing any damage, and she was equally certain that Griffin would have reacted if anything like that had happened.

"Hey," she said, looking over at her dragon with a brief smile, Griffin raising his head to look at her with a dragon 'smile' on his face in return. "Is everything OK with you?"

Griffin rumbled in acknowledgement before he peered over the edge of the tower and then looked back at her.

"We go down?" Clarke asked, slinging her leg over Griffin's back to settle into position on her saddle as soon as he rumbled in acknowledgement. With a couple of beats of his wings, Griffin had taken her back down to ground level, leaving Clarke to get off and head for the main hall area of the Edge. It didn't take long for her to find a small note, held onto a table by a small rock, written in carefully-scrawled English.

Gone on raid.

Back soon.

Riders.

It wasn't a very detailed note, but keeping in mind that she didn't think these people wrote English on a regular basis, Clarke had to appreciate that they'd gone to the trouble of writing a note that she could understand in the first place. Besides, in a strange way, the fact that they'd just left her alone like this marked a step forward in Clarke's view; after leaving her mostly alone the previous day apart from long-range 'observation' by the twins, she and the Riders were now at a point where her new friends trusted her not to do anything to the Edge if she was left on her own.

She was willing to acknowledge that part of her was a little put out that she hadn't been invited along, but when she was still training with Griffin she was willing to trust that they just weren't sure if she was ready yet.

"So," she glanced over at Griffin with a smile, "now that we've got the place to ourselves, care for some practice?"

Griffin's roared response and lowered shoulders were all she needed to confirm that he agreed with her plan. Getting back onto her dragon's back, Clarke once again felt the rush of exhilaration as she and her dragon took to the air and flew off to take up a position above the forests. After a quick look around to confirm that there was no sign of any ships coming towards the island that she might need to worry about, Clarke leant forward and Griffin went into a dive in response, the dragon soon diving under the treetops. Clarke gave a brief tug on Griffin's head-spikes to level the dragon off as they began to weave through the trees, wings close to Griffin's side before another tug from Clarke sent him back up into the sky.

"Heat blast!" Clarke yelled, indicating a mountain range a short distance from their current position. Griffin opened his mouth and let out a loud roar that launched a blast of hot air at the mountainside, steam rising from the red-hot rock. Looking at the rock face, although she freely admitted that she wasn't sure about the science of hot air versus fire, Clarke was struck by the thought that Griffin's lack of fire was actually a good thing for her. She wouldn't go so far as to say that hot air couldn't kill anyone, but people were less likely to die from it than they would if her dragon was launching fire at them.

It was a small detail, but after she'd spent so long causing more death even as she tried to save everyone, she appreciated anything that would help her not kill people.

Maybe… if I ever go back… Griffin can help me show them there's another way…

Clarke shook that thought off as soon as it crossed her mind; she barely owed anything to the people who had basically forced her to commit mass murder because none of them were willing to face their own problems, but the Riders had accepted her as one of their own when all she had to do was be kind to her new friend.

Maybe she'd go back to at least see her mother and a few of her friends at some point, but as far as she was concerned, the Ark and the Grounders could manage by themselves for a while; she had found something better here and she was going to enjoy it.

Turning her attention back to the current agenda, Clarke and Griffin spent the next couple of hours flying around the island, alternating between testing Griffin's firepower, having 'races' against the clock (Clarke was grateful she'd managed to keep her father's watch working so far), or just leisurely flying over the island to take in the area. As she passed the newly-installed hatch, she briefly wondered about the runes and other boxes she'd found down there, but as nobody had expressed any particular interest in her new sword so far she didn't think it was worth asking them about it. Besides, she'd heard a story or two about a time when the twins had found some old rock that apparently declared that this island had been discovered by an ancestor of theirs before the rock was destroyed. The furniture and other items she'd found down there were probably just remains of whatever expedition that man had been part of, rather than anything she needed to worry about herself.

God, for all I know, it could just be some clue one of the original park designers created as another 'clue' for one of those games they were meant to run here…

Putting thoughts of the possible past aside, Clarke returned her attention to staying on Griffin's back as the dragon resumed his rapid pace through the air, weaving and ducking around the trees with the occasional blast of hot air when she indicated the time was right.

After a few practice blasts, Clarke began to get more invested in the training herself, encouraging Griffin to dive down towards the ground so that she could jump off and draw her sword in the same moment. She had a couple of close calls, nearly cutting her arm the first time and missing the sword on the second attempt, but by the third her timing was just right so that she could draw the sword and slash out at a nearby tree to leave a distinctive mark on its bark.

She did the same thing against a couple of other trees to ensure that the first one hadn't just been a fluke, before she decided that it was time to head back to the main outpost. Back on Griffin's back, they flew directly back to the stables, Griffin heading to the feeding trough to swallow down a few fish while Clarke picked up a few loose scales from the ground, stroking them softly between her fingers as she smiled thoughtfully. She obviously didn't have much experience with animals, and hadn't encountered many reptiles back on the mainland, but from descriptions on her books she couldn't imagine that any standard scaly animal would be this smooth to the touch, firm yet comfortable…

Taking a closer look in the stalls as Griffin casually strolled around the stable, it soon became clear that the dragons must shed at least a few scales each night just through their daily activities. Clarke briefly wondered if they ever shed their skins completely, but when she thought about it she was fairly sure that was just snakes; she vaguely recalled an old biology course about how lizards could just shed some scales at a time, and she doubted that Hamish Haddock would have managed to 'edit' that detail out of the dragons' primarily lizard biology.

Thoughts of the dragons' origins put aside in favour of the more immediate questions, Clarke started to gather the loose scales together into small piles in a corner of the stable. It was probably a minor effort that may not even be needed if Hiccup could find a better material, but Clarke had a feeling the potential fireproofing would outweigh the challenges of getting the material together in the first place, especially when it didn't hurt the dragons.

She didn't know how it happened, but she'd become genuinely impressed with Hiccup's skills during her time on the Edge. She still admired Raven's ability to adapt limited resources, but considering that Hiccup was basically starting from scratch as far as he was concerned, she doubted that even Raven could have pulled off some of his feats if she'd been in his position. Putting aside the idea of him basically rebuilding his own leg, she had to admire how he must have adapted all these saddles for each individual dragon, and that was before she considered what he had achieved in terms of inspiring his tribe to completely rethink their approach to dragons.

Lexa may have accomplished a lot in her time as the Commander when she was a few years older, but from what Clarke had seen Lexa would have probably had the advantage that people would have basically worshipped her once she was appointed to her role, but Hiccup had done so much when all he had going for him was his father's reputation, and that was before she took into account that he'd been a screw-up before he met Toothless…

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a distant roar from further out on the ocean. Turning in the direction of the roar, Clarke smiled in relief when she saw the other five dragons coming back towards her, although she was surprised to see as they drew closer that Ruffnut and Snotlout seemed to have swapped dragons for some reason, with Ruffnut and Hookfang looking surprisingly wet. Slipping the scales into her pocket, Clarke walked out to the front of the stables as the Riders came into land, a nonchalant smile on her face.

"Bit of an impulsive trip out this morning, wasn't it?" she grinned nonchalantly at her new friends.

"Yeah… sorry about that," Astrid said apologetically. "We just… got a message about a raid we had to deal with, and… look, you're doing well-"

"I get it," Clarke nodded in understanding. "It's not like it's been completely quiet since I got here, you've got a lot to deal with, you can't afford to drag along the rookie, and… well, I appreciate the trust."

"Trust?" Fishlegs asked in surprise.

"You left me alone here," Clarke indicated the outpost with a smile. "I mean, considering that I'm still new to all of you… well, I appreciate that you trusted me not to do anything."

"Hey, no problem!" Tuffnut grinned over at her as he leapt down from his head (Clarke thought his head was Belch, but she was willing to admit she might be wrong). "You've been pulling your weight, you helped out the Night Swarm, you stopped me doing anything stupid after I got bit; put all that together, you've earned it."

"Well… I appreciate it," Clarke nodded, as Griffin walked up behind her and let out a friendly 'bark' at the other dragons. "I managed to use the time get in some training with Griffin; I'm not saying we're on the same level as any of you yet, but I think we're getting there."

"That… could be good," Hiccup said, exchanging a glance with Astrid before he glanced over at the other Riders; Tuffnut and Snotlout were talking enthusiastically about something off to the side, but Fishlegs and Ruffnut were looking at Clarke, Hiccup and Astrid in a thoughtful manner. "What do you think?"

"She didn't trash the place because we left her behind; she's no Loki devotee, but I can see why people would like her," Ruffnut shrugged.

"I… think we can trust her too," Fishlegs nodded, smiling tentatively at Clarke.

"She's got my vote."

"Well, that's four in favour; we… probably don't need their input right now." Hiccup looked over at where Snotlout and Tuffnut had started wrestling with each other for some reason before he looked back at Clarke. "We have a spy in the dragon hunters."

"Spy?" Clarke repeated in surprise. "You… OK, you mentioned dragon hunters, but there are enough of them that you need a spy?"

"Her name's Heather," Astrid explained. "We helped save her parents from an old enemy of Berk a few years ago, and last year we learned that she'd managed to train her own dragon, a Razorwhip called Windshear, and the two of them were working together to deal with a group of bandits back home. A few months later she made contact with the hunters and managed to convince them that she was willing to help them because… well, her brother's part of the group."

"Her brother?" Clarke repeated in surprise. "Uh… no offence, but if her brother's on their side, how can you be sure-?"

"She was raised in secret away from her brother for her own safety; they only even met last year, and he's deranged enough to care more about her being related to him than what she did before they knew that," Fishlegs explained with a brief eager smile that made Clarke think of Octavia, back in the first few days of innocence before the harsh realities of life on the ground sunk in. "She's been sending us a few tips about their planned raids for the last few months, but…"

"It's getting riskier," Astrid finished for the larger Viking.

"For… Heather, you mean?" Clarke asked, wanting to be sure she was keeping the cast list straight. "Not meaning to question your experience, but if she's infiltrating a group of known dragon hunters with a dragon, isn't that automatically dangerous?"

"Thank you," Hiccup nodded at her before he looked back at Astrid. "After all, I wanted her out weeks ago and somebody talked me into-"

"I know I did," Astrid cut Hiccup off. "But things were different then."

"How?"

"The longer she stays there, the riskier it gets, and she's still no closer to finding this… Viggo character."

"Viggo?" Clarke asked.

"Viggo Grimborn, the leader of the Dragon Hunters," Hiccup explained. "We've run into his brother Ryker, and Heather's brother Dagur is pretty high up in the hierarchy as well, but we've only heard them mention Viggo without actually seeing him directly. If we can take Viggo down, the whole Dragon Hunter army will be without a leader and they'll collapse."

"It's that simple?" Clarke asked.

"Maybe not that simple, but from what Heather's heard and passed on to us, most of the hunters are basically following plans laid out by Viggo when they go into action rather than doing anything purely on their own initiative," Astrid put in. "Add in that they're meant to send every dragon they capture to Viggo, and everything we know seems to indicate that taking out Viggo would at least be a major blow to their operations."

"Not the type to have a successor in the wings, huh?"

"Not from what we've heard," Hiccup confirmed. "Heather's committed to maintaining her cover until she's got some clear evidence to lead us to Viggo, and she's got Windshear to get her to safety if she thought they were getting onto her."

"And she's not the type to pull out on her own?" Clarke asked.

"Bingo," Ruffnut nodded at Clarke, before Snotlout and Tuffnut raced past the others, Snotlout being pushed in a wheelbarrow that suddenly came to an abrupt stop, vaulting Tuffnut over the top to land in front of it with a loud whoop.

"Best time ever!" both teens said, before looking at each other in awe. "Oh, my Thor. I cannot believe you just said that! Me neither!"

"Did we just think each other's thoughts?" Snotlout asked.

"Uh, I think we just did, 'cause that's what I just thought," Tuffnut grinned back.

"You know what that means?" Snotlout replied, placing his hands on Tuff's shoulders as Clarke glanced over at the other Riders to see them watching their fellows in a tentative manner that Clarke could only compare to the awed terror of watching a car crash in some of the Ark's old films; evidently their words were just as crazy as it sounded from the tone.

"I have… I have no idea," Tuffnut's expression shifted from a smile to a confused stare.

"We just became official best friends."

"What?" Tuffnut looked at Snotlout with new intensity. "I have never had an official best friend! Always unofficial acquaintances."

"Well, you do now," Snotlout grinned. "Come on, bring it in, but this time, for the real thing."

"Ah, ah!" Tuffnut said, as Snotlout wrapped his arms around Tuffnut in a thick hug. "It's good, it's real, it's real enough-"

"Will you two please take it somewhere else?" Astrid glared over at them, shifting back to whatever Viking language these people had formed in her exasperation. "I can't hear myself think!"

Clarke just rolled her eyes as Tuffnut and Snotlout headed out of the stables before she looked over at Ruffnut.

"Just so you know, I sympathise with your brother being an idiot, but I hope you don't expect me to… stand in for him or anything like that," she observed.

"I'm up for hanging out, but no need for you to go that far," Ruffnut smiled in understanding. "Tuff's always had his idiot moments; he'll be over this one soon enough once Snot does something really bone-headed."

"In the meantime, we should work out what we're going to do about Heather," Astrid added. "I'm just… I really don't think it's going to be safe for her to keep up this undercover role much longer…"

"She'll hold out," Fishlegs affirmed, with the same tentative hope in his voice that reminded Clarke of her own desperation to convince her people of something she wasn't entirely sure of herself.

On the bright side, now that I know what they're dealing with, maybe I'll be able to help them come up with something…

She may not have liked being the leader back home, but if she could just come up with a plan to help protect the dragons…