𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟
╰───►chapter twenty-four; yrsa
❝ in order to change a trapper's mind! ❞

    TOOTHLESS noticed Yrsa before Hiccup did.

    He heard the sound of wings approaching and peered backwards under his legs. A gummy grin grew on his face when he saw her and Helrose trailing. Hiccup frowned at his dragon's actions, then he heard the roar of greeting characterstic of a Devilish Dervish and he spun back. He flipped up the visor of his helmet, "Wha━? Yrsa!"

    Elegantly, she and her dragon soared underneath, spinning softly through the clouds and coming up beside him. Both dragon and rider peered at the Night Fury and chief's son, freakishly similar in their side-glance; regal, a bit snobbish (as always) but also daring Hiccup to argue. In the five years since Yrsa always followed him━they went through things together. Finding and training Toothless? Together. Alvin and the Outcasts? Together. Dagur and the Berserkers? Together. Viggo and the Dragon Hunters? Together. Johann? Together. And one day, she was sure they'll step into the role of leadership over the village together, and work it out together. Yrsa wasn't going to let him face this alone, either.

     "Did you really think I was going to let you fly out here alone?" she countered, back-straight in her saddle as she arched a brow at him. She always had wondrous posture. "We have no idea who this Drago is, and if I'm going to be your wife in a week, I suspect I should make sure you keep yourself out of trouble."

     Helrose roared to agree with her and she smirked proudly, giving the dragon a thankful scratch to her shining, purple scales.

     She watched Hiccup sigh and look onwards, his hair flying out of the brim of his helmet and past his ears. The braid she had made earlier was still sitting there amongst it all. Toothless warbled up at him, if not a little concerned. They veered left towards the new islands he and Hiccup had found.

     "I know," he said finally. Then, Hiccup managed a small, playful smirk. "But, if I'm going to be your husband in a week, I suspect I should keep you safe."

     Yrsa narrowed her eyes at him and he chuckled, knowing the exact reaction he'd get. "Hiccup Haddock, if you end up cushioning me with furs and never letting me off the island I will scewer you with my axe and watch you bleed."

     "Love you, too."

     She scoffed and tilted her chin up, gazing out towards the ocean. A few Thunderdrums swept out of the depths with fish in their large, flat maws. Deep down, she knew Hiccup appreciated her following, even if he would grumble and mutter things like, "I don't want you to get hurt," knowing full-well she could best him in a fight if it came to it.

     But she also knew that the reason why she came out here in the first place was because she didn't want to get him hurt, knowing full-well he could handle himself extraordinarily. So, she took a deep breath and said, "I'll be careful, as long as you will."

    Hiccup's smile was grateful, "I will."

    "Good," she said, running her fingers back along Helrose's scales. She purred up at her, curious as to why she was so stressed. "But ... I have to wonder, why hasn't your father said anything about this Drago beforehand? What are we walking into? You saw the look on his face ... he was terrified."

    The look on Hiccup's face told her he didn't bode well with the thought of his father being scared of something. Stoick the Vast was mighty, strong, courageous and scared of nothing (unless it was something that might hurt his son). To be scared of a man in a far off land, it didn't settle well for either of them.

    "I don't know," murmured her betrothed. "But his face━that's why we have to find out, Yrs. It's why we have to stop him before this gets out of hand."

    "All right," she agreed, nodding. "So, then, what's the plan?"

    Hiccup swept Toothless around to the distant sea-stacks, one still crumbling from this morning. Yrsa understood and she dived Helrose after him, the two retracing their steps to find a certain dragon trapper who might just have all the answers they needed.

𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟    

    ERET SON of Eret and his men had ventured off on a small shipping boat from their destroyed fort. Yrsa and Hiccup caught sight of him sailing out of the snowy cliff-sides and towards the vast ocean leading West. They shared a glance before dipping down to catch up. Yrsa was ready for some serious interrogation━she and Helrose loved interrogations.

    As they neared, Yrsa could hear Eret's voice drift upwards in the wind, and Helrose growled━still harbouring hurt feelings, of course. She rubbed her scales soothingly, but smirked to herself as she thought of a way to get back at Eret son of Eret for hurting her dragon.

    "Keep your eyes peeled, lads!" he called back to his crew. "With this wind, we'll reach Drago by daybreak. So best we fill this ship up with dragons, and quick! No time to be picky!"

     He jumped back down onto his deck, marching amongst his crew with his sword at his hip and his head held up high. Helrose dipped her head, furious.

    "I know, girl, I know," whispered Yrsa tenderly. "I'm right here."

    At Hiccup's nod, they gained speed towards the ship. One of Eret's men caught sight of them. They stared up, mouth agape amongst rabbit-fur hoods and pointed dumbly. Eret glanced up. In seeing them, he exclaimed, "━Heads! Off the port quarter!" they ran to their stations. "Net 'em, lads! Take them down!"

     "Not this time," grumbled Yrsa. She leaned forward in her saddle, getting ready for evasive manouvers as the crossbows were loaded with bolas and nets. Once set loose, she and Hiccup dodged them easily, spinning and dipping out of the way.

    "Come on, reload!" she heard the men shout. "Incoming!"

    Hiccup landed Toothless onto the deck and Yrsa followed. She reached back for her axe, gripping the intricacies of the handle with a glower matched only by her dragon. Helrose snarled, baring her teeth. Hiccup was far calmer. Toothless peered back at Yrsa as his rider pulled off his helmet, confused.

    "And here I was," said Eret, scoffing in disbelief. He drew his sword, approaching the group of them. His men scrambled for their weapons, "worried we might turn up empty-handed."

    "Nope!" said Hiccup cheerfuly. He held out a hand to Yrsa and Helrose, a gesture they both knew as stand down. She sat back in her saddle, eyes wide in incredulous horror. Her grip on her axe slipped a little. Helrose pulled back her neck, growling faltering as she tilted her head at Hiccup, just as confused. "It's your lucky day." He held up his hands, grinning. "We give up!"

     Eret's sword arm fell as his whole faced dropped in surprise.

    Hiccup hopped off his saddle, dusting his hands with not a worry in the world. Yrsa narrowed her eyes at him, suspicious as to where he was going with this. "That's one Night Fury━" he gave his dragon a scratch in passing; Toothless shook it off with an annoyed snarl, "━one Devilish Dervish━" Yrsa slipped off her saddle, too, holding her chin high as she glowered at the dragon trappers. She didn't realise Hiccup had gathered up a net until he threw it right over her. Her intimidating facade broke in her jump, eyes wide and mouth agape, "━and two of the finest━" he wrapped an arm around her, taking her axe and leading her towards the below-deck cell, "━dragon riders west of Luk Tuk." He passed her axe right into Eret's chest. He stumbled to catch it. "That ought to make the boss happy, right?"

    Their dragons followed. Toothless snarled at Eret as he passed, daring him to hurt his humans. His tail swished as he walked and the trappers had to jump to avoid it. Helrose reared her wings up when she walked past Eret as well, showing off her height and strength. (And her pride, of course).

    Yrsa struggled to get the net off, which only added to her frustration. Once she did, she flung it to the side and whispered, "What are you doing?"

    He gently pushed to her to the edge of the trapdoor, a subtle look on his face that said, just go with me here. She scowled but climbed down into the dark. Hiccup followed her, holding onto the metal of the cage and spinning back to his dragon. "Toothless━" the Night Fury stopped his growls at his name, ears quivering at Hiccup and Yrsa, "━stay."

    He walked right up to the egde of the trap door, peering down. A curious warble made its way out of his throat, ask if asking, what's wrong with you?

    Yrsa wondered the same thing. But, relucantly, she signalled for Helrose to stand down. She was miffed and incredulous, titling her head and peering at her through her dark, glistening eyes, but listened. She sat back on her hind legs, still wary, but no longer aggressive.

    "Uh, the dragons don't really care for cramped spaces," said Hiccup, closing the trapdoor with a clang. Toothless's ears shot up, very confused. He circled the cage, trying to figure a way to reach them, "so they'll just hang out with you. They won't be any trouble."

     The men━in an instant━held out their weapons. Toothless jumped, startled before letting out a low, dangerous growl. Hiccup quickly poked his head out through the gaps of the trapdoor, "Unless you do that. You know, wooden boats, big ocean ..." he weighed out the options with a slight of hand, "... how━how is your swimming?"

    "Not good," admitted one of the trappers. He played with the dragon teeth on his weapon, bright red. Eret threw his gaze up, annoyed.

    Yrsa still wasn't sure about this. She reached up and tugged Hiccup's hand lightly. He squeezed her fingers reassuringly before grabbing Inferno from its scabbard and extending it up through the lock with a short flame. The men all gasped, jumping back.

    He opened up the latch, poking his grinning face back over. "Oops!" he smacked his head lightly. "Almost forgot. Can't have armed prisoners!"

    Toothless grumbled, sitting down. Yrsa crossed her arms and muttered, "Tell me about it..."

    Hiccup willingly passed over their only weapon. Yrsa wanted to glower and be angry at him, but all she could do was stare, scoffing in her disbelief. She tugged the leather of his suit this time, "How is this a plan?"

     Just hang on, he told her with a small gesture of his hand.

    "Just what every dragon trapper needs!" he turned his attention back to the men on the boat. Two gazed curiously at the hilt of the blade, trying to see how the sword could retract and light up. "One end coats the blade in Monstrous Nightmare gel, the other━" they pressed one trigger and a small cloud of noxious green gas jetted from the mouth of the metal dragon head, "━sprays Hideous Zippleback gas. All it takes is a spark, and━"

     Hiccup ducked at the explosion that followed. Yrsa decided she had had enough, shoving herself up beside him to stare at the scene unfolding. There were coughs and faces covered with ash. The two trappers that held Inferno blinked, a little dazed. "Oh, yeah! There you go!"

    Helrose sniffed at the smoke, wrapping her neck around Eret to bound towards the embers that drifted down to the deck. Toothless joined her, both dragons playing in trying to catch the small flickers of flame. Trappers rushed away to avoid Helrose's swinging tail and the razor-sharp spines adorning it.

    "Once they see you as one of their own," went on Hiccup, "even the testiest dragons can be trained. Right, bud?"

    "Give me that!" Eret snatched the blade from his men's fingers and flung it off the side of the boat.

    Helrose's eyes lit up and without hesitation, she leapt off to catch it. She's played fetch many times with Stormfly and Toothless━with twigs, big branches, Inferno, Hiccup's leg...

    Yrsa's shoulders slumped, "Oh, gods..." she murmured. Helrose loved fetch more than she loved herring and causing mischief around those she was comfortable around. And she loved the person who played fetch with her even more so. Yrsa could just tell this wasn't going to end well, now that her dragon was going to be obsessed with a dragon trapper who shot her down just a few hours ago. She seemed intimidating and bossy and snobbish, but all Devilish Dervishes were playful and impulsive━and that included their minds. They were a constant dash here, dash there, think about the consequences later. As threw grew older, these irrational decisions mature, quite like humans do into their old age and they become lazy and sometimes even grumpy. Helrose was trained, so she was less impulsive than her wild brethen, but even then, Yrsa couldn't control her; she did what she wanted when she wanted, and she did it with an air of regal arrogance, even if it was fetch. And now, Yrsa was going to have to deal with trying to drag her away from her new found, very dangerous friend.

    Hiccup casually slipped an arm around Yrsa's waist in the dark, sensing her worry. She was sure it was supposed to calm her down, but she was far from that now.

    "What game are you playing?" Eret pointed at Hiccup, scowling.

    Helrose returned, landing back onto the boat with Hiccup's blade in her teeth. She dropped it at Eret's feet. Without realising what he was doing, he picked it up again and chucked it farther this time, furious. Yrsa's dragon flapped her wings in excitement and darted off again.

    "Uh, no game," said Hiccup with a shrug. "We just want to meet Drago."

    "Why?"

    "Because I'm going to chance his mind about dragons."

     The trappers all broke out into laughter. One doubled over in his hysterics, clutching his stomach and stumbling into his friend. Toothless, happy his humans were out of their self-inflicted cage, wrapped his tail around them and set himself beside Yrsa. He nudged his head against her cheek, purring. She gave him a scratch under the chin.

     Helrose returned yet again. In the laughter, she set herself right in front of Eret, expectant. When he wouldn't pay her attention, she dropped the blade and rolled it to his feet. Eret stopped, staring at it, and then her with exasperation. She wagged her tail, waiting.

     Yrsa propped her elbows onto the metal of the trapdoor, shoulder-to-shoulder with Hiccup to say, "He can be really persuasive. Believe me."

     Now that Eret refused to 'play' with her any longer, Helrose turned her gaze to Hiccup, picking up the blade and egging him to chuck it instead. He just gave her a rub on the scales. "Once you've earned their loyalty," he reached the hand out then to Toothless who met it with a purr, "there is nothing a dragon won't do for you."

     Helrose left Hiccup, miffed with the blade in her teeth. She searched the trappers for someone to play with her, nudging their shoulders and sniffing at their beards. They all recoiled, terrified.

     Eret scoffed at Hiccup's words. He glanced at his men, expecting them to laugh with him until he saw their cowering figures at Yrsa's eager dragon. He sighed, annoyed. He turned back to the riders. "You won't be changing any minds here."

    "I can change yours," countered Hiccup. He signalled Toothless to his side. He left Yrsa with a cat-like rub against her back before making his way over to his side. Hiccup reached back for the saddle without looking, latching onto the lever, "Right here━" he pulled it forward and Toothless's tail extended out. Eret's eyes widened, "━right now."

     He was skeptical. Yrsa didn't blame him for his suspicion, of course. She was sure to believe Eret has never had a positive experience with a dragon. When she first went out in search of Toothless, she had been determined to take his head and show it to her mother. But he showed her an entire different side to dragons that allowed her to gain a bond with her glorious Devilish Dervish, the pride of her heart. Toothless started a momentum that changed Yrsa's life forever. She wouldn't be the person she was today if it weren't for him and Hiccup.

     Hiccup let go of Yrsa gently to pull himself out of the trapdoor. She watched him, smiling a little with pride at his willingness to give Eret a second chance. Gods, did she love him with all of her being. "Uh ..." he gestured to Toothless's saddle with a kind smile, "may I?"

    But before Eret could even consider, Hiccup was snatched up into the sky.

𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟

     a/n: yrsa and helrose are both so grumpy on the outside but at the same time like hugs and long walks on the beach. hope you all liked the chapter!! See you soon!

    Does anyone have any headcannons for hiccup and yrsa? I feel like drawing a few things ;)