twelve - part two

"REMIND ME NEVER TO PUT MY FOOT DOWN AGAIN," HICCUP WHISPERED TO TOOTHLESS.

The dragon snorted and Alora smacked his back.

"I heard that. And I agree."

Alora thought she was hugging Hiccup tightly enough, but when she felt her back go backwards she knew she wasn't.

"Whoa!" Hiccup said, turning his body back and putting a hand on her waist. "Okay, forget what I said about your bone-crushing holds, you need to hold onto me tighter."

"Sorry! Last time you said I held on too tightly.

"Don't apologize, that's too out of character for you," he joked, taking his hand off her waist.

Alora scoffed and slid her hands around his waist. It was something she'd done a hundred times, but what she'd never done was place her head on his back. Hiccup was startled at this new action, but didn't say anything.

Alora and Astrid decided to split as they tried to find Stormfly. So when Toothless landed, she immediately tumbled off of the saddle and started yelling for her best friend's dragon.

"STORMFLY!"

Toothless turned his head away from her.

"STORMFLY! IT'S ALY! COME HERE, GIRL!"

But nothing.

"IF YOU COME BACK I'LL FINALLY TELL YOU THAT STORY I COULDN'T REMEMBER. THE ONE WITH THE BOY WHO NEVER GREW UP!"

The two boys glanced at each other in confusion.

"Aly, what are you talking about? What story?"

"Well, I always make time before bed to visit the dragons in their pens and I tell them stories. Toothless knows."

She heard the dragon growl in approval.

"W-Wait, you tell our dragons bedtime stories?"

Alora snorted. "Don't you?"

"Uh. . . Not really."

"STORMFLY!"

"Why are you heading upstream?"

"Because Astrid said it's most likely that Stormfly would try and find her way back to the Edge," Alora said. "Also, I'm really hungry so I think it'd be best if we find everyone's dragons before dinnertime."

"Wait, Aly!"

Alora did not see the rock that was embedded into the ground and tripped. Hiccup jumped after her and instead of saving her, he fell down with her.

Alora felt a weight crash on top of her. She couldn't see anything, but instead, felt someone's breath tickling her skin.

Hiccup's hands were the only thing holding him up. They were placed by each side of her head. As he looked at her, he started noticing a few things. For example, compared to Astrid her eyes were a darker blue. Her honey skin tone mixed with the green blades of grass around the girl, making her stand out. She had a scar that crossed downwards on one of her eyebrows, causing the hair there to stop growing. And he never noticed that there was a tiny mole beside the front right dome of her nose.

"Uh, Hiccup?"

He snapped out of his thoughts and became a stuttering mess.

"U-Uh, are-are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah. Uh, shouldn't we get going?"

"Yes! Yeah, that-that was exactly what I was going to say," he said, helping her stand up. "Get going!"

Suddenly, Alora heard a rustle behind her.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Something's coming at us."

Toothless immediately stood in front of them and Alora used the dragon's body to push herself forward.

"Aly! What are you doing?!"

"I think it's Stormfly!"

Suddenly, she heard a loud screech and oh behold, the Nadder approached them from the clifftop above.

"ASTRID! ASTRID!" she yelled. "WE FOUND HER! WE FOUND HER!"

"Huh," Hiccup said, astonished. He felt his body being pushed forward as Astrid ran towards her dragon.

"There's my girl!"

Alora smiled as Astrid hugged her tightly. The two girls petted the dragon.

"I did it!" Alora said, proud of herself. "Oh, Astrid, I shouldn't have gone to check on the pen. Otherwise Stormfly wouldn't have flown away."

"No, you were right to. I would've rather had Stormfly fly away than be crushed by the debris."

Suddenly, the Nadder put up its defenses.

"What's wrong?"

"Hiccup! Above you!" Astrid yelled.

Alora heard the sounds of a clicking noise and turned. Astrid pushed her friend away from the dragon. A second later and she would've been pierced by its tail.

"There! Now we're even!" Astrid told her.

"Aly, there's a rock formation ten paces to your left! Hide behind it and you'll be safe!"

"'Hide'?! I'm not gonna hide! Toothless!" Alora yelled.

"Of course she's not gonna hide. What was I thinking? She's Aly. She's just as stubborn as Astrid," Hiccup muttered to himself.

Expect chaos, stubbornness, and lots of screaming when you see these two team up.

Hiccup.

Chiefly. Duties. Haddock.

What? So Astrid can help you tell the story but I can't?!

YES.

Okay! Jeez, I'm going! I'm going.

Astrid sat on Stormfly and Alora tried to ride Toothless, but he dodged her every single time. Hiccup ran towards the Night Fury. Alora felt the gust of wind and startled, fell flat on her butt. The dragon noticed her and Hiccup turned around to grab her and toss her behind the rock.

"Stay here!" he yelled.

"This isn't fair! I can do it!"

"We'll discuss this later!"

"Would you two please stop arguing?!" Astrid yelled.

"I can help Astrid! Stormfly!"

But the other dragon wouldn't obey.

"Oh, son of a-"

"Look! We can't fight this thing if all we're doing is worrying about you!" Hiccup told her.

"Ugh! I'm not some damsel princess in distress!"

"Aly!" Astrid yelled.

"Fine!" She placed her back against the rock. She heard the commotion behind her and soon the noise faded away.

"Okay, let's mount up and get back to the Edge before that thing comes back," Hiccup told her.

But Alora stayed put.

"A-Aly?"

"Well, the last time I asked Toothless and Stormfly for help, they told me no. And so did you. So it's clear that I'm not needed."

Always the dramatic one.

Astrid!

*laughs* What? Am I wrong?

. . . No.

"Look, obviously I can't imagine what this must be like for you. Things are piling up on top of all the lists of problems you've been having. The nightmares, the daymares, the visions, your memories."

"W-Wait you know about the daymares?"

"Y-Yeah."

"H-How?"

"Aly, who do you think wakes you up from them?"

"A-Astrid."

Despite knowing she couldn't see, he shook his head.

"Yeah Astrid does sometimes, but you and I are the only ones in the hut. So most of the time it's me waking you up. B-But the point is, you're Aly. You're strong, kind hearted, stubborn, and when you get knocked down you always find a way to get back up again. You're like. . . A warrior princess."

"Okay, how is any of that going to matter?" Alora said. "What if I never get my sight back? What's gonna happen then?! How am I going to tell my parents?! Hiccup, I can't go back. Not like this."

"Aly," Hiccup placed his hands on her shoulders. "They're your parents. All that's going to matter to them is that you're home and in one piece."

"Hiccup. . ."

"Look, you and I haven't known each other for long. It's only been a few months. Yet you've risked a lot and you've suffered. You saved some of my village's gold. And Astrid told me that you charged and knocked out every Hunter to find me and Toothless. Then, you did the same thing when I got captured and took a hit in the jaw. Not only that but you saved Astrid from a lightning bolt. So if that isn't enough then I don't know what is. But I do know that despite you coming from a completely different world with no memories, you sure are handling yourself quite better than expected."

Alora extended her hand and felt around him until she reached the back of his neck. She pushed his body towards hers and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you."

That was it. Hiccup had broken down her walls and she'd shown a vulnerability that he'd never seen before. What they didn't realize was that this was going to open a lot of new doors and their futures had been diverted into a completely different path. They didn't know what.

Astrid did.

And so did Toothless.

"You have my back, and I have yours," Hiccup smiled.

"That was cheesy, even for you Little Prince," she joked.

"Says the Softie Princess."

"Hey!" she said, smacking his shoulder.

"That's gonna leave a bruise later," Hiccup muttered.

Then, Alora perked up.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Astrid turned around towards the rock cliff.

"Behind you!" Alora yelled.

Hiccup grabbed Alora and threw both of them behind Toothless. Astrid mounted Stormfly and distracted the dragon. Hiccup placed Alora behind a rock and the girl had no idea what to do. Her friends were fighting a dragon she couldn't see.

A clicking noise erupted.

But that didn't mean she couldn't hear it.

Alora closed her eyes and zoned in on the clicking sound. Every other sound was thrown out, and she didn't even feel the droplets of rain wash down upon her. Her senses had completely focused on the clicking sound she'd heard many times before. Her eyes opened and she ran out.

"Astrid! The clicking sounds!"

Astrid listened and yelled, "Stormfly! Spine shot!"

The dragon had no defenses. Then, she heard the clicking sound again.

"Astrid!"

Astrid cornered the dragon and Alora felt out the spines. She took out two. Astrid landed beside her and stood behind the girl.

Without even talking to each other, both had figured out a plan and used it. Alora used the spines to make the same clicking sound.

"Astrid! Aly!"

"Shut up Hiccup!" the two girls yelled.

Alora used the two spines to make the clicking noises and once she felt she was close enough, she held out her hand. She felt a smooth surface touch her palm. Astrid nodded her head, proudly. Hiccup was astonished.

"I think Aly just stole your move," Tuffnut told Hiccup.

"It's not my move, Tuffnut."

It's totally his move.

"Alright, let's get out of the way before the next storm hits!"

∾

The next day, Gothi had wrapped her eyes. She could feel the sun hitting her face and then, she felt a wave of energy coursing through her veins. As Gothi unwrapped her, the first thing she saw was Astrid.

The blonde hugged her best friend and the two girls laughed as they fell to the floor. Stormfly growled in happiness as they continued to enjoy their moment.

For most of the day, Astrid was training the new dragon and Alora got to see it in person. But she was drawn away by the sun. She climbed up to the stables and sat on the edge.

She felt a stronger wave hit her. Something was off. It felt. . . Right? She wasn't too sure, because a certain one-legged Viking sat down next to her.

"A yak for your thoughts?"

Alora sighed and turned to look at him. She never noticed just how green his eyes were. How soft his hair looked as the wind blew through it. Or the scar on his lower chin. Or even the light freckles that were doused over his face. In other words, he was very good-looking.

And that's when she knew something was changing, in a lot of different ways.