ten

𝔬𝔫𝔢. . . . .𝔶𝔢𝔞𝔯. . . . .𝔩𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔯
𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔞𝔯𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔭𝔢𝔩𝔞𝔤𝔬

“AAH! YOU’RE A DEMON!”

Hiccup flipped up his helmet and stuttered to the man about the dragon-skinned suit that was made from Toothless’s shedded skin (the idea came to him thanks to the bracelet he made Alora all those years ago).

This evening was not the way Hiccup Haddock III thought it was going to go. Here he was, on a raid, comforting a Dragon Trapper, trying to convince him he was human.

Alora came down, tired of watching the mess unfold. She knocked out the trapper.

“Aly, I had him right where I wanted him.”

The Kryptonian turned, the fire revealed her brand-new dragon-scaled suit. It was a mixture of Stormfly’s and Toothless’s shedded skin. It was blue with black outlining it, and a red ‘S’ in the middle. Like her friends, she too had a helmet. Alora flipped it upwards and gave him her best deadpan look.

“Yeah, well I was tired of seeing everyone screw shit up so I decided to pop in,” she whispered.

Stormfly flew down and Astrid came beside her, flipping her helmet up as well.

“Let’s get to work,” the blonde told them.

“You know, you gotta give me some credit. I mean, no one else knows we’re here.”

Alora heard footsteps in the distance.

“Are you sure about that?” she asked, as he opened a cage.

“ATTACK!”

Alora sighed as she flipped her helmet down and clapped her hands, causing the men to fall back. Hiccup, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Astrid, Ruffnut and Tuffnut all followed in as they each took their own side of the ship. Valka perched up above and observed them, making sure each dragon got out safely.

Alora and Hiccup found themselves fighting back-to-back.

“I thought this was supposed to be a stealth mission!”

“They always start that way!”

Alora kicked the man in front of them.

“Time to move out guys!” she yelled.

“We got ‘em all!” she heard Astrid yell.

Alora flew upwards and started herding the dragons. Her friends followed behind her.

“Lead the way, babe!” Astrid yelled at her.

Alora let out a joyful scream as she flew ahead of them. The dragons all joined in as they followed her to Berk.

They passed the newly made viking and dragon statues. The whole island was covered in all kinds of dragons.

“This is Berk,” she heard Hiccup say to a dragon.

‘Here we go,’ she thought.

“Your new home, away from home. A stunning one-stop, all-expense-paid dream destination. So settle in and let your worries melt away. The service here soars. The cuisine’s fiery. And the locals, are as colorful as you get. Any run-of-the-mill paradise boasts beaches and sunshine. But not us, we’ve got something no one else can touch. We, my friend, have dragons! Lots, and lots of dragons!”

Alora landed on the crowd and sighed as he continued his monologue.

“Gang, meet our latest Berkians!”

Alora watched as Snotlout tried to claim that he was the true hero of the day. . .and then proceeded to flirt with Hiccup’s mother.

“I think the real hero today was Toothless,” Hiccup said, before speaking in a baby voice. “Isn’t that right, bud? What would we do without you, o’ King of Dragons. What would we do?”

“Well, we could train a lot harder,” Astrid said. “That was pretty sloppy.”

“Astrid does have a point,” Valka said. “Perhaps you all rely on your dragons too much.”

She turned towards the brunette girl.

“And Aly.”

“M-Me?” Alora said, looking around the area, confused.

“That’s exactly what I was saying!” Snotlout said. “Just loosen up guys, and Aly, take a break.”

She narrowed her eyebrows at him.

“Your mom’s super impressed with me,” he told Hiccup. “I’m like the son she always wanted.”

He yelped as Alora shot her laser beams at his feet.

Then, she watched as one of the newer, bigger dragons started playing with Meatlug’s baby. . .thus caused it to set off a chain. One by one she watched the houses collapse into the sea.

She could tell Gobber was getting fed up with all of the rescues. But he had a point. Berk was getting over-populated. Not by people, but by dragons. There were too many rescues and not much land to put them on.

“You brought back a Hobgobbler?!” he yelled. “They’re a bad omen. We’re cursed!”

“I think we’ll be fine,” Alora told him.

ᚹ

Though it had been a year, Alora felt as though she was a Berkian herself. Her style had changed, hence the red dress and big brown belt. Her hair had grown longer and she took the time to braid half of her hair while the rest flowed behind her. Yes, things had changed in such little time, but there was still one thing that hadn’t.

As she went to sip on her soup, she was knocked aside by Gobber who was in mid-conversation with Hiccup.

“You’re supposed to be the generation that leads us into the future!” he said, sitting beside Alora.

The brunette looked up and saw her friends in the midst of a food fight. She rolled her eyes but was taken aback as she felt Gobber pull her close to his body.

“It's time to stop worrying about the problems out there,” he pulled Hiccup, “and start sorting out the ones right here!”

“Gobber!” Alora exclaimed.

“Hang up those saddles, suits, and get married!”

Everyone stopped their fight to look at the couple. Not only that, but the entire hall stopped their conversations and listened in.

“The ‘M’ word,” Tuffnut said.

“Gross,” Ruffnut added. “Unless it’s me.”

“Start ruling like a proper royal couple,” Gobber turned to Alora. “Marry him, please. You’re the only one with any sense around here. With you wearing the pants, there’s still hope. Plus, weren’t you the one who asked to betrothe him first?”

“Wow, Gobber!” Alora said, getting up. “Not awkward at all!”

“Lass! Don’t be like that!”

“So?” Alora asked, twirling in her red dress. “What do you think?”

“Uh,” Hiccup stuttered. “I-It looks nice.”

“‘Nice’?”

“Pretty. Beautiful? Lovely.”

Alora laughed.

“Is it my birthday and I forgot?” he asked, staring at her dress.

She blushed and shook her head.

“Are you sure? Because it feels like it’s my birthday,” he said, pulling her close to him until she sat in his lap.

“Hiccup!” she said.

“Oh, relax,” he said. “My mom’s out and Astrid is training with the group, so. . .it’s just us.”

Then, they heard a low grumble.

“And Toothless,” she added, bopping his nose before standing up.

“Hey bud?” he said. “Mind giving us some privacy?”

The Night Fury grumbled but obeyed.

Hiccup pulled her back and she squealed, as the dragon closed the door with its tail leaving the couple alone to themselves.

Alora flew towards the sound of Hiccup’s voice and smiled as she saw him with his map laid out.

“So this is where you come to get away from Gobber!” she said.

“Oh, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he replied.

Toothless handed her Hiccup’s metal leg that was covered in slobber and Alora cringed as she threw it away, causing the Night Fury to run after it.

“He’s right you know,” she said, wiping her hands on his clothes.

“Really? You think you and I—?”

“Oh, gods no. We’re not ready for that.”

“Yeah, that’s-that’s crazy,” he said in a deflated voice.

“I mean he’s right about all of this,” she said, gesturing to the dragon-filled island.

“It does seem like the whole world knows about us now.”

“You think?” Alora said, sitting beside him.

The leg came back and she tossed it again, causing the Night Fury to fly past them.

“I just wish there was a safe place they could go to. Other than Berk, of course.”

“There might be,” Hiccup said. “Dad used to talk about an old mariners’ myth. Of a secret land at the edge of the world where dragons live, totally out of reach.”

“Well, sailors are known for tall tales.”

“True. But what if it’s real? It could be the answer to all of our problems.”

“You want to move all of the dragons to an unknown, unfound location?”

“Uh-uh. All of us.”

Alora faltered.

“You wanna abandon our home? Seven generations have lived here Hiccup. Your father left you to protect this island! No, we need a real solution.”

They heard a growl and saw Toothless gnawing at Hiccup’s prosthetic leg.

“Well we could take Gobber’s advice and tie the knot!” he exclaimed, turning his back to her. “That should fix everything. But, hey! If you’re having doubts about yours truly, I’m pretty sure Snotlout’s available.”

She scoffed and turned her body towards him.

“He only has eyes for your mom,” she said. “Plus, if anything I’d go with Astrid.”

Hiccup gasped in the most dramatic manner and playfully punched her shoulder.

“Playing dirty now, huh?”

“You asked for it!” she said, looking out to Berk. “Looks like there might be a wedding after all. Maybe a double wedding.”

“Oh, how dare you!” he said, pulling her to him and tickling her. “That is a low blow!”

She pretended to struggle.

“No, no. You are not getting away!”

She whispered nonsense into his ear and his body cringed.

“Okay! Okay! You win!” he said, rubbing his ear. “You always win.”

“You knew what you were getting into,” Alora said.

Suddenly, they saw Toothless perk up. Then, he jumped off of the cliff.

“Bud?”

Alora patted his back and placed his arm around her shoulder.

“I guess we’re following after him.”

She placed his metal leg on him and flew them down towards Toothless. She looked at them and when she saw him. . .she found he wasn’t alone. Her eyes widened and she placed them away from the two.

Of course, Hiccup hid but that didn’t stop his curiosity getting the best of him. His prosthetic snapped a twig and a shot was fired. The two peered out from the trees.

“Oh my gods,” Hiccup said, in awe.

“Sorry bud,” Alora sheepishly smiled at the Night Fury. But her face fell when she saw that the other dragon had her guard up.

It looked like Toothless, but Alora was sure it was a female. It was white with the most blue eyes she’d ever seen.

Blue eyes. They reminded her of. . .

She saw that its mouth opened and Alora pushed Hiccup out of the way. The other Fury flew away and Toothless tried to chase after it. . .only he couldn’t because of his tail.

“It’s another Night Fury,” Alora said.

“No, it’s more like a Bright Fury.”

“Light Fury.”

“Y-Yeah, yours is better. Probably.”

“‘Probably’?”

“Yours is better.”