He stared down at her curiously as she breathed deeply, laying unconscious in the sand. Some of her red hair was long, curly, and wild, while other bits had been burnt to nearly against her skull. He had heard the cry of a dragon, but when he came down to investigate, he only found a girl. Her clothes were odd, not from Berk, but there was some sort of familiarity to their style. She had no weapons, only a shield attached to her back. Her pallid arms were coated in as many scratches as freckles, with scattered burn marks that would take a while to heal, if ever.

Gently, he crouched down to touch her arm, but right before she did, she shot up, gasping for air. They stared right into each other's eyes, and he took the time to memorize the jade bowls set into her skull before she started screaming.

"Dad!"

As soon as I spotted her, I had Shriek fire a boom that was large enough to stop the fleeing girl, but small enough that she wouldn't die.

"You can break out of jail as many times as you want, but you're not getting off this island." I swooped my Thunderdrum down and picked Heather up, flying her back to the cells, and unceremoniously tossed her back in. "Give it up, Heather. We have dragons."

"Reign, I have to get back to Outcast Island."

"Yeah, I bet you do," I huffed. Done with listening to her prattle on, I began to walk away.

"You don't understand. Alvin has my parents!" I laughed at her lame excuse. That was really the best she could come up with?

"Oh, yeah? What happened to the pirates?" Heather sighed, knowing she had been caught.

"There were never any pirates. I made it up. But I had to. I needed you to trust me." I couldn't believe this girl. Didn't she understand that I never trusted her?

"Well, guess what? We don't. Not anymore."

I coldly turned my back on her and walked away, heading to where I knew Hiccup was. He sat beside Toothless, sulking at the fact that Heather couldn't be trusted. I had figured he at least found her attractive, and I was still a little angry at the fact he had put Heather and I at the same level, but I felt nothing but sympathy for him at the moment. So, I sucked it up and sat down next to him.

"You made one mistake, Hiccup. It'll work out."

"That mistake cost us the Book of Dragons, Reign. That's a valuable resource that one of our mortal enemies now has in his hands." As he leaned his head on my shoulder, I began to run my fingers through his hair.

"Hey, you always figure these sort of things out. Even if we don't get the book back from Alvin, you and Toothless can help train everybody to defend the dragons and Berk." I gently rested my nose against the top of his head. "You're so much smarter and braver than you give yourself credit for. So what if you couldn't see through Heather's rouse? You immediately jumped on your dragon and made a mad dash after her, only giving up when you got hurt."

Softly, I kissed the top of his head.

"You're going to figure this out. And I'm right here to help you." He lifted his head and looked at me with somewhat of a smile- as much as he could muster at the moment.

"Then I guess we should get going now. We have to train to attack."

I whistled for Shriek, and she quickly dashed over, after which Hiccup and I gathered up the others and rounded them up at the academy. Hiccup went over the plan he had been formulating, and the two of us watched as training began. Snotlout drew back a mini catapult with a boulder on it, shooting the rock directly at Meatlug, who caught it in her mouth and devoured it.

"Hey! That was a little close, Snotlout!" Fishlegs cried.

"Quit whining, Fishlegs!" Meatlug fired a ball of lava at Snotlout in retaliation. Luckily, he ducked out of the way just in time.

"Hey, cut it out!"

"Quit whining, Snotlout," Fishlegs mocked. Hiccup stepped in to break up the fight.

"Nice job, guys. But remember, the Outcasts are not going to be coming one at a time."

"You don't need to remind me. We're under enough stress."

"Remember, we're only gonna have one shot at getting the Book of Dragons back," I added.

"Uh, did I not make myself clear about the stress?" Fishlegs moved out of the way, enabling Ruffnut and Tuffnut to make their entrance. Barf and Belch created a line of gas leading straight to Snotlout and Hookfang, then ignited it. But Snotlout began to panic, and threw himself out of the way.

"Too early, Snotlout," I sighed. "You have to time it perfectly!"

"It wasn't me, it was them," he accused.

"Uh, sorry."

"We're still working out the kinks," Tuff laughed. Hookfang lit himself aflame and began throwing himself around the academy in a fit.

"Can you calm him down?" Astrid snapped.

"Fine, whatever." Snotlout sprinted over to his dragon and roughly grabbed the horns on his head. Shockingly, Hookfang's fire immediately went out, and he just laid on the ground, tongue lolling out of his mouth.

"Figured that one out yesterday," Snotlout boasted. "He likes it."

"Wait, wait, wait- he likes having his horns pinned to the ground?" I scoffed, unwilling to believe it at first.

"Tuffnut does."

"I do?" His sister lunged at him and pinned him to the ground by his helmet. "Oh, yeah. That does feel kind of nice. The dirt's soft..."

"Can we get on with it? There could be a whole army coming at us."

"Well... we're waiting..." Astrid directed Stormfly into the air, and as soon as she was ready, Hookfang lit fire to the ground, and the Nadder shot out some of her tail spines into it, creating flaming spikes. One of them pinned itself into Tuffnut's helmet, but he just shrugged.

"Huh... kinda like that, too. Make a note."

"That's gonna work great," Hiccup smiled.

"You know, all this training is nice once we have the book, but Alvin's not just gonna hand it over to us." It was time to present the idea I'd been rolling around in my head.

"No, but maybe Alvin will hand it to Heather."

"Uh, I think Reign's been eating Dragon Nip again." Angry, I elbowed Fishlegs in the gut. "Ow! Why is it always violence with you and Astrid"

"It's not violence, it's communication," Astrid answered.

"So, you're suggesting that we let Heather go?" I was trying to find a way to express what I was thinking without giving it away.

"Kind of?"

"Yup, Dragon Nip." I lunged forward and punched him in the gut.

"Reign, can I talk to you for a second?" Hiccup grabbed onto my elbow and pulled me away from everyone else. "What exactly are you planning?" I leaned against the wall and hoped Hiccup wouldn't have a complete freak out.

"I'm going to dress as Heather and go to Outcast Island to get the book back."

"Uh, what? Are you insane?"

And, there it was.

"Well, of course, but that's not the point." Thankfully, that made him laugh. "Look, it's really our only option. It's either me or Astrid, and I look more like Heather, as much as I hate to admit it."

"I-well- you..." He sighed. "You're right. But you better be careful." He reached out and moved a few strands of stray hair out of my face.

"I will be."

I adjusted my wig before taking one last look into the reflective pool of water in the cave. The face staring back at me was a disturbingly perfect replica. I still had the vague outline of my freckles, and my face was a bit more defined than hers, but everything else was spitting. It was a little jarring.

At least it would be believable.

I figured everyone would have been up to speed on what the plan was, but as soon as I came into the shimmer of the moonlight, Ruff and Tuff attacked me.

"Heather!"

"Get her!"

"That rhymes!"

I was pinned to the ground with impressive force as the twins got the jump on me.

"You must stay in your cell." I tried my best to struggle against them, but for as strong as I was, I couldn't move them off me. "How many times do we have to tell you?" Tuff took a split second to adjust his helmet, and that's when I got my chance to throw them off of me.

"It's me, you muttonheads!"

The twins' eyes widened once they realized they'd tackled me, not the real Heather. It took the rest of the group a second to catch on, but once they did, all eyes refused to leave me.

"Whoa."

"Wow!" I stood and aggressively brushed myself off, frustrated.

"Sorry, Reign. Totally unconvincing." I scoffed and shook my head before moving past them to get on the boat that they had been preparing for me.

"Oh, yeah. I could tell," I deadpanned.

"You sure about this?" Hiccup asked me, approaching the side. He had that unconvinced glint in his eye; not a glint that said he didn't trust me, but one that was worried something would go wrong.

"No, but it's our only chance," I reasoned.

"We'll be shadowing you from the sky."

"I don't need shadowing." He reeled back slightly.

"Uh, just in case. You know, it'll make me feel better." I stared at him to gauge whether or not I could change his mind, but it was obvious there would be no budging.

"Fine," I sighed, "just stay out of sight. If Alvin sees you, it'll all be over."

"Don't worry about us. Just get the book and get out of there. We'll be waiting."

Fishlegs came over to push the boat away from shore, but I made a gesture to wave him away, not quite finished here.

With some hesitation, I removed the silver necklace Hiccup had given me from my pocket and placed it in his hands. He took it, but as soon as he realized what it was, he looked at me in alarm.

"I had to take it off for the disguise," I explained half-heartedly, not happy with the decision. "I figured maybe you'd want to keep it with you until I come back."

I moved to draw my hands away, but before I did, Hiccup reached down and kissed the one that was on top. I bushed down an intense blush as Fishlegs moved the boat from shore, sending me adrift and on course to Outcast Island.

"Hey, Reign?" I heard him call. "Be safe."

The dark waters with fog looming over them were ominous, making me a little uncomfortable. I was already nervous, the possibility of Alvin spotting the little differences and realizing I'm not Heather looming over my head, and the atmosphere was not helping.

"Maybe I shouldn't have given that necklace to Hiccup," I muttered. "No, no, come on. You don't need that necklace to comfort you." I sighed and placed a hand on my forehead, trying to push myself through. "Just think of something else. Anything else."

I didn't expect a long forgotten memory to cross into my mind.

Thunder shook the sides of the house, causing me to shrink further down into my covers and cower. I couldn't cry, I couldn't. Our people were too brave for that.

And then, my door opened.

"Reign?"

I peered over the fortress of my blankets to see a large, lumbering figure in the doorway, eyes cast on me with nothing but concern.

"D-Daddy?" I squeaked. He quickly rushed over and pulled me into his arms, rocking my tiny body back and forth.

"The storm can't hurt you in here. You're perfectly safe." I held back every sob that was threatening to claw to the surface as another clap of thunder jarred me. "I'm right here. I'll always be right here for my little girl."

I couldn't remember his face anymore, but his voice was so clear. My mother, my father, my brother... their voices were so clear to me, but their faces were lost in the distant fog. What they had done, the things they said, they lingered. And slowly but surely, they were coming back to me.

As more memories came back, I became more and more anxious to find out who I was, where I came from. It kept me up at night, distracted me during training, any chance they got to invade my mind. I wasn't sure how much longer I could let myself stay on Berk without going out to ask about my family.

I quickly ducked out of the way as a dragon zipped inches over my head, trying to get me out of the way.

"Aah!" To get out of the line of hunting dragons, I moved the boat faster, getting wood to hit sand quickly. Cautiously, I jumped off and began to back my way toward the rocks behind me.

"We thought you'd been captured." I jumped and whipped around to find myself staring at Savage's chest- seeing as how he was too tall for me to look at his face. Self-consciously, I adjusted the wig and looked up at him.

"I was, but I got away." My heart rate sped up as he got threateningly close to my face.

"Well, it's good to see you safe and sound." He turned to the men who had appeared on the cliff side. "Get rid of her." My eyes went wide.

"What?"

"We don't need you anymore," Savage stated coldly.

"Savage, wait! You do need me," I protested. I was not about to leave the island without what I had come for. "I can prove it. You have the book, right?" He paused in his steps and turned around. "I've watched them; I've learned from them. Trust me, that book is only worth something if you know how to use it."

The look on Savage's face shifted to one of intrigue.

"Seems pretty straightforward to me." Alvin slammed the book shut and glared at me with his beady eyes and I tried my best to keep my stern expression from wavering.

"It's anything but straightforward, Alvin."

I tried my best to remain calm and steady in his presence. That wasn't the first time I'd faced Alvin, obviously, but having to keep up an illusion while thinking on my feet before him presented a sort of nervousness I hadn't felt since I first arrived on Berk.

"If there's one thing I've learned, it's that people will say anything to keep themselves alive. Isn't that right, Savage?"

"Right, a-as usual, Alvin," Savage quickly stuttered. I rolled my eyes as Alvin laughed at his manipulation.

"See? Now, you say I need you to interpret what's in this book, to use it properly." He got up from his throne and began to walk closer to me. "I say it's nothing but a ploy."

"Fine. Give it a try." Alvin tossed the book to one of his lackeys, who threw down his shield and spear to flip through it. He gulped as he stared up at a Deadly Nadder, biting and thrashing because it was being cornered.

"All right. Seems easy enough." He turned to Alvin. "Wh-What kind of dragon is this?"

"It's a Deadly Nadder," I answered. "You need the page number?"

"Uh... nope, nope, nope. Right here. 'Deadly Nadder- likes to preen. Very sure of itself. Constant grooming.' Hmm, all right. 'Appeal to its vanity.'" I shook my head as the lackey shut the book and slowly inched his way closer to the Nadder. "Well, you, uh, certainly are a lovely girl." The Nadder cawed, understanding the praise she was receiving. "O-Or are you a handsome boy?"

That was what did him in. The Nadder screeched and reared her tail, and- recognizing this behavior from Stormfly- I dove and grabbed a shield and blocked the spines from hitting the guy.

"Like I said-" I threw the shield away. "-the book can only get you so far, Alvin." He lowered his gaze and glared at me for a moment, then turned to his men.

"Throw her in a cell for the night. She'll show us how to use the book in the morning." I growled in the back of my throat, but knew it would be better to just bite my tongue and keep my thoughts to myself. I kept that brave face on all the way to the cell, and even when I was thrown in.

"H-Heather...?" My head whipped to my left. Someone was calling out for someone, but technically, they weren't me. Carefully, I looked around for guards, then leaned against the door.

"No. My name's Reign. I'm... here on an operation." The person gasped.

"R-Reign? You said your name was Reign?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Do I know you?"

"You may not remember me. I knew you when you were a little girl."

A little girl? That could only mean...

"You're from where I used to live?" The woman let out a chuckle.

"You could say that."

This was it. This woman was my chance to learn more about who I was.

"Tell me about home."

I set a hand on my hip and extended my arm out as Alvin and Savage attempted to shove me into their own dragon arena.

"What is it?"

"The book. I need it." Alvin scoffed at my request. "Well, I didn't memorize it." He kept one skeptical eye on me as he removed the book from his belt and placed it into my hands. The moment I looked down at its leather-bound cover, Alvin shoved me in and slammed the gate shut behind me. Slowly, I turned around and prayed for a Nadder. Sure, I knew Thunderdrums best, but they likely wouldn't have any of those here, so I needed the next best thing.

"Please be a Nadder, please be a Nadder, please be a Nadder..."

Out from the cages burst a Monstrous Nightmare, already aflame.

"Oh, great..." I opened up the book and flipped to the page on Monstrous Nightmares.

"Well? I'm waiting." I glared up at Alvin before turning to face the Nightmare.

"Okay, boy. It's you, and me." Putting on a brave face, I marched toward the large dragon, starting with the technique I had learned from Hiccup. I extended my hand out and looked away, only to feel an intense shot of heat and be thrown to the ground. "O... kay. Check that off the list. How about the direct approach?" I ran at the Nightmare as fast as I could and grabbed it by the tail, attempting to pin him down as he threw me around like a rag doll. "Aah!" I bit my tongue as I was thrown against the wall.

"This isn't anything my soldiers haven't already tried! You'll need to do better!"

"Ugh." I shook myself off and sat up. "The one time I wish Snotlout was here."

The idea suddenly hit me. I looked up at the Monstrous Nightmare and glared him right in his menacing, yellow eyes.

"Of course." Lacking fear, I raced right at the dragon and jumped up onto its head, managing to get my hands around his horns. Just as I got my foot between his eyes and nostrils, he slammed his head against the wall. I pushed as hard as I could, and somehow managed to get it away from my body. "Ugh... these things don't budge! Aah!" With a sudden surge of adrenaline, I stared the Nightmare right in its eyes, and managed to pin its horns to the ground.

Having won, I sat down on the Nightmare's neck, ready to finish the plan.

"Ugh, what do you say we get out of here?" As the Nightmare stood, I grabbed the Book of Dragons off the ground, when soldiers rushed in. The Nightmare shot out fire at them to send them running away, but just as I was about to leave, Alvin's voice cut through the air.

"Going somewhere, Heather?" he taunted.

"As far away from this place as possible!"

"Without your parents?" I was shocked as two terrified adults were nudged closer to Alvin, their eyes flashing with recognition as they gazed over who they believed to be their daughter.

"Parents? She was telling the truth?"

"I might see my way clear to trading them for that book. Or, you can leave them, and I'll kill them!"

I sighed. They weren't my parents, but they meant something to Heather.

"Bring them down here!" Alvin complied, coming down along with Heather's parents and a few of his soldiers.

"Well? Let's have it."

"Send them over, first!" I demanded.

"Fine," he grumbled, shoving the pair. "Off you go." The two looked at me curiously, clearing able to pick up the subtle differences between me and their daughter.

"Mom! Dad!" I reached forward and embraced Heather's parents. "I'm a friend of Heather's, I'm here to help," I whispered to them.

"You do realize I'll never let you out of here with that book?"

"No kidding!" I clenched my teeth. "When I tell you, drop to the ground. It's about to get really hot in here."

"Oh, Heather? I'm waiting." With a smirk, I threw the book into the air. "Now!" As soon as Heather's parents dropped, I turned to the Monstrous Nightmare. "Sorry, boy." I reeled back and nailed him square on the nose, causing him to flame up and shoot out a blast right in Alvin's direction.

I'd just managed to get my fingers around the book when Heather's mom exclaimed from behind me. I turned around to see her father's legs tied up, writhing on the ground in an attempt to escape. I couldn't just leave him here. I threw down the book and rushed over to untie his legs, but when Alvin started to storm over, I threw my body to cover the book. However, Alvin simply picked me up and held me in the air, ripping the Book of Dragons from my hands.

"Heather, Heather, Heather..." He set me down on the ground, when he noticed some of the black from the wig had come off on his hand. "Eh?" He stared down at his stained fingers once again. "Or are ya?"

"You have the book, Alvin. Just let us go." He wouldn't take his suspicious glare off of me as we exited the arena and made our way to the cliffs where I knew everyone was waiting. Sure enough, I saw them over the cliff, and waved my fingers in the air twice: the signal. Hiccup eagerly mounted Toothless and flew him over to the three of us, eliciting gasps from Heather's parents.

"Who's this?" he asked me, clearly suspicious as to why there were two people and no book.

"Heather's parents. She was telling the truth, just go with the plan," I grumbled. Hiccup looked around in alarm as we were surrounded by Alvin's soldiers, and he emerged from behind the trees.

"Oi! There they are! Get them!" I gently placed a hand against Toothless' neck to keep him from shooting as Alvin's soldiers closed in on us. "Well, Hiccup," Alvin laughed. "Bet you're surprised to see me."

"Eh, not really. This is where you live, right?" Toothless let out a little roar. "Easy, bud. Looks like he's got us, this time." Hiccup reached out to tap my arm, dismissing me from his side. As hesitant as I was, I knew it was pivotal to the plan.

"You know, Hiccup... With this book, your knowledge of dragons, and my knowledge of warfare, we could make quite the team. How's that sound?"

"Uh... insane, demented, delusional, stupid?"

"All right then, we'll just have to agree to disagree. You're a smart boy, Hiccup. You know I can't let you leave the island."

"And you're a smart, murderous barbarian, Alvin. You know I have a better plan than this."

"So do I."

"Now!"

"Now!" The rest of our Dragon Riders emerged from their hiding place and began to fire at the soldiers, pushing them back into the trees they had emerged from, when a net was suddenly dropped over Fishlegs and Meatlug.

"Help! This wasn't part of the plan, Hiccup!" The heads of Barf and Belch were tied together, and Ruff and Tuff were thrown off. As soldiers got too close to Hiccup, I snatched a shield from the ground and smashed it against one of their faces.

"There's too many of them!

"We're never getting out of here!"

I was backed completely against Toothless, glancing around at the defeat that seemed inevitable, when the net was snatched from Fishlegs, and the rope around Barf and Belch was singed.

"Is that...?"

"Heather."

"Shriek!" I could see her smile down at us as she steered my Thunderdrum to the right, bringing her to us.

"What? Heather?"

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," I apologized to the girl, gently stroking my dragon.

"It's okay. I wouldn't have believed me, either." I smiled at her and hoisted myself up.

"Now let's get your parents." We took off and snatched the two figures from the center of a circle of soldiers.

"Mom! Dad! Hold on!" We started to make our way toward a safe place where we could set Heather's parents down. I looked down at my hands before turning to look back at Heather.

"I feel really awful about not believing you about you parents." Heather raised an eyebrow at me.

"What's with the sudden change of mind?"

I was about to answer her, when I was suddenly thrown from Shriek with impressive force, sending me tumbling down into the thicket below. Trying to break my fall, I grabbed onto a branch and started to hoist myself up, when the branch snapped beneath me and I tumbled to the ground. I looked up in dread at the shadow that loomed over me, helpless as he reached down to snatch me up.

"Why, you little-" Hiccup and Toothless furiously blasted at Alvin as he tried to run away with me, leading to a standoff on the edge of a cliff. My heart raced as he dangled me over the edge, and I fought to get back to land. "Surrender, or I'll..." He glanced at me with a smirk." Hehehe, you know the rest." A look crossed Hiccup's face, but he patted Toothless.

"Do it, bud." I glanced down at the water beneath me to check the drop, when I saw a large creature soaring over the sea, coming closer to where I was.

"Hiccup, don't shoot!" Toothless immediately relaxed, and only a few seconds later, the Monstrous Nightmare I had trained shot up, knocking Alvin and I onto the shore and releasing his grip on me. Taking my chance, I snatched the Book of Dragons from his belt and grabbed onto the Nightmare, bringing me up. Taking that as a signal, Hiccup flew after me, and we went to meet the others.

"Who is that?"

"Just a new friend I made." Heather and I smiled at each other as we met up, an understanding now bonding us.

"Uh, is no one going to talk about how scarily similar Heather and Reign look right now?" The two of us laughed.

Despite everything that had happened, I was sad that she was leaving now. Strangely enough, I felt this connection with her.

"I can't thank you enough, especially you, Reign. You put your life on the line for us. I'll never forget that." I was a little shocked at first when she hugged me, but I soon returned it, feeling a surge as she let go. "I'm gonna miss you," she sighed as she pet Toothless. "Both of you."

"Well, who knows? Maybe we'll see each other again sometime."

"Maybe we will."

"Just promise me one thing. If you need help again, you'll ask."

"I will. I promise." After lingering for a moment, she turned and got onto the boat with her parents, waving as they sailed away.

Ever since dragons showed up on Berk, we've learned to expect the unexpected. But every once in a while, something or someone comes along that surprises us. And when that happens, you kind of hate to see them go.

I turned to slightly face Hiccup, keeping my eyes from meeting his.

"I talked to my mom." He snapped his attention to me.

"You... what?"

I took another breath, attempting to calm myself after blurting out something so heavy.

"She was locked up in the cell next to me."

"Did you...?"

"She couldn't tell me much," I interjected. "Nothing specific, mostly about the island I'm from."

"Did she say the name?" I shook my head.

"The soldiers took her away before she could tell me more. The last thing she told me was that my father was a chief. And then they... just dragged her away." I crossed my arms as Hiccup gently placed a hand on my forearm.

"Are you okay?" I bit my lip before turning away.

"That may have been my last chance to learn who I was, Hiccup. I don't know if the rest of my family is alive, or if I'll see them again. That may have been it." I tried to pull away, but Hiccup wouldn't let me. Instead, he pulled me into a hug and sighed.

"Hey, you'll find out who you are. And just like I told you, I'm here to help whenever you want it." He looked at me. "But for now, just know that you're Reign: the girl who came here on a dragon, who helped bring about peace with them, who fights as hard as she can to keep the people she cares about safe. You're the girl I..." He trailed off, never finishing what he was going to say, but it didn't matter.

"I'm not going to give up until I know where I came from, and who my family is."