nemophilist

(n.) a person who loves the forest for its beauty and solitude

The day after, you and your dragon got up earlier than usual and headed to your planned destination, you calculated that you would arrive there midday and your assumptions were correct. Dragon's edge came into view and you couldn't suppress the smile that was formed on your lips. 

When you neared the island Crystal went to the training ring straight away. As you were nearing it your eyebrows furrowed together because you expected everyone to be there like yesterday, but Astrid and her dragon were the only ones there. 

"Hey." you awkwardly greeted her and hopped off Crystal. Internally you cursed yourself for arriving at the wrong time and suppressed a grimace from appearing on your face, instead you still kept your sheepish smile. Astrid turned around and greeted you back after that she threw an axe in the barrels stacked in front of her, to that you only rose a brow at her accuracy because it hit right in the center.

"You're here early." Astrid commented and smiled. Suddenly you stopped what you were thinking and frowned because you were convinced she actually meant it when in reality she was probably joking.

"I am? I should've came later. I'm so sorry! I could probably go back and come later?" you quickly apologized and the thought of being a burden was the only thing you could think of at the moment. You took some steps back, ready to leave but Astrid laughed and waved her hand signalling you to stop.

"No no! I was just kidding." Astrid tried to reassure you still keeping her laugh but it slowly died down before she spoke again."Plus we'll have more time to practice." After she said that Astrid went to retrieve her axe. Once she went to the barrels she pulled it off with ease and you couldn't help but be amazed at her strength.

"Yeah, uh, where are the others?" you finally asked the question that was on your mind since you came. 

"Probably sleeping." Astrid replied and threw the axe with more force this time, she went back to retrieve it with a mad look on her face but quickly changed it into a happy one when she came near you.

After that neither of you said anything for a while and you were looking around, thinking of possible ways to start a conversation when suddenly your gaze fell on the a Deadly Nadder standing in the corner and looking at the way Astrid threw her axe.

"I love your dragon, what's his name?" you asked and Astrid spun around, looking at you like you said the funniest thing she had ever heard.

"First of all its a she." Astrid laughed and you corrected yourself right away. "Her name is Stormfly and she's a Deadly Nadder. She may not be rare but she's the most beautiful, for me at least." Astrid said and patted her dragon, that had just came. You searched around for your own dragon and found her on the opposite side, she was just boringly laying on the ground not caring enough to go to Stormfly.

Your eyes darted up to see a Terrible Terror flying down towards Astrid and it seems like she heard it as well because she spun around just as it landed on her shoulder.

"Mail." was the only thing she said before taking out the small paper that was tied on the dragon's leg. You stayed silent, waiting for Astrid to read it and it wasn't much before she spoke again.

"It's from Berk, they need us, but it doesn't say why." Your smile fell in a thin line and you noticed a hit of worry in her eyes. The name sounded familiar and you remembered that Hiccup had mentioned that name when you first met him. Astrid scrunched the paper in her hand and before you had the time to ask any questions she ran away, at the same time telling you to get on your dragon and to head east and that the gang will catch up with you.

You had nothing else to do and wouldn't mind helping them so that's why you didn't argue, just mounted Crystal and headed to the direction you were told. For some minutes you were boringly sitting and flying with Crystal when a plazma blast was shot in front of you, making you jump a bit because you weren't expecting it.

You spun around to see Hiccup and the rest flying gracefully. The corners of your lips rose up in a smile when you saw them flying in a perfect V formation, before that you only saw the dragons individually but now they were all together and you thought they looked amazing. You slowed down Crystal and flew back to the group, when you came near enough they all greeted you and of course you greeted them back.

After that they began talking to each other, you on the other hand only listened to their conversation and laughed when someone told a joke. You were nearing an island which you assumed was 'Berk'. But even if the sky was clear and not a single cloud in sight there was a thick fog hovering over the village. Only the roof's of the houses were visible, barely.

"Fog monster!" Tuffnut gasped loudly and pointed at the village and that made everyone groan in annoyance. You just gave him a sheepish smile, which he couldn't see because Crystal was flying behind Barf and Belch.

"Tuffnut, we've been over this. It's not a fog monster, its a group of dragons." Astrid rolled her eyes and explained to him briefly. It didn't take you long before you remembered about that type of dragon, a year ago you actually came face to face with one when they tried to steal things from your training place.

"Smothering Smokebreath to be exact." Fishlegs smiled and proudly added that information. You pondered at what he said because in your notebook you named them 'Foggies', which was totally uncreative so you made a mental note to correct the name like the one Fishlegs said.

"Oh, yeah I remember now." Tuffnut said and that made Astrid roll her eyes once again and turn her head facing forward.

Whilst landing the dragons flapped their wings making the fog disappear for a bit and you finally looked at the dragons who made it, but it was just for a second because the fog returned and they all ran away. When you were on the ground all of you were caught off guard by a loud noise coming from a mellow green coloured dragon who also had some red coloured spots.

You immediately recognized the dragon as a Rumblehorn type, but what you didn't recognize was the man riding it. He was relatively buff like every viking you have seen and had a long red beard that went down to his chest which was braided at the ends. He also had a large horned helmet, but that wasn't anything new since everybody around you wore one.

"Hiccup! Thank Thor the message came,  these dragons keep stealing our metal and half of our armory is gone. We've been trying to chase them away, but they keep coming back." The man quickly explained with anger dripping with each word his spoke. His piercing eyes were narrowed and you didn't dare to look into them, though from the corner of your eye you saw him stare at you with a puzzled face. 

Some seconds later the Smothering Smokebreaths dragons came back and flew all around the village taking metal and leaving the poor villagers screaming after them. Hiccup noticed the panic that was spreading and gave orders straightaway. Everybody had to chase away the dragons till they went to another island. When he was done all of you nodded and flew away in different directions.

You were the last one still standing around and saw that none of them went to east so you figured you and Crystal will go there. On the way you saw bunch of the dragons, they didn't have fog around them so they were kind of hard to see. You told Crystal to fire a warning shot and it worked, the dragons surrounded themselves into a fog and Crystal followed them till the end of the island. You watched them go away until you were certain they won't turn back and come again.

The corners of your lips rose in a proud smile because of you simple accomplishment and after that Crystal turned around and flew towards the village. Hiccup ordered that after everyone is finished you should all meet up in the center so that's where you're headed.

You thought you were the slowest and that everybody was waiting for you there, but to your surprise you were actually the first one there. After landing in the center, not a minute passed before Hiccup and Toothless showed up as well. Crystal ran to Toothless and they began chasing each other in circles which made Hiccup and you smile at your dragons playing together.

"It looks like nobody is coming anytime soon." Hiccup spoke so suddenly it made you jump a bit, but thankfully he didn't notice. In response you just nodded and continued watching your dragon chase Toothless, the awkward silence that was slowly spreading was not enjoyable at all so you were thinking of things you should ask and none of them sounded good enough. 

"I, uh, I should probably leave." you said, biting the bottom of your lip. You thought that Hiccup would agree instantly and be relieved you said that, but instead a flash of surprise swept on his face which made you internally wonder why he did that. 

"Why don't you stay for a bit longer? I could give you a tour around Berk if you're bored?" Hiccup offered with a joyous smile and his green eyes were too irresistible you could've sworn he used puppy-dog eyes to make you change your mind so easily. 

"Well alright, I guess that's better than sitting around doing nothing." you agreed and watched Hiccup's smile grow wider in a cheerful grin which made you smile as well.

Firstly the two of you went to a closed stadium thing that had the Strike class symbol above the entrance door and inside there were enormous cages along with piles of weapons in some edges. Hiccup explained that this place is called 'The dragon academy'and how they used to fight dragons back in the days, but now they don't. 

Later the two of you walked to the center of the village and everyone that passed both of you greeted Hiccup and took a quick glance at you, others even glared for some reason. You then arrived at a place which you assumed was the forge because it was full of weapons of all sorts and very opened. While you were busy examining the swords around you, Hiccup was explaining how he used to help around there before he and his friends moved to Dragon' Edge. 

Suddenly a man walked in and interrupted Hiccup. He had his mustache braided and you felt a pang of sadness when you saw he was missing one arm and one leg, but the more you looked around at the vikings the more you realized it was quite common.

The pity turned into fear as the man wobbled to you with a straight face, eyes slowly darting from you to Hiccup. When he came closer his face lit up into a bright smile and he lifted Hiccup in a hug and greeted him at the same time, saying how much he missed him. After that he quickly placed Hiccup back on his feet and he made eye contact with you.

The man slowly leaned to Hiccup before speaking. "Who's the new lass, Hiccup?" He whispered but not quiet enough because you heard him and laughed.

"My name is (Y/N)(L/N), sir." you spoke and saw the man's face went pale when you said your last name, his mouth was dangling open and you couldn't help but to notice a rock in his teeth which looked like it fits perfectly. You quickly shrugged off the thought and stared at the wide-eyed man in front, your laugh was long gone and was replaced with endless confusion to why he acted that way.

Suddenly an idea popped in your head so you took out your notebook and wrote some things before handing it to Gobber, which finally introduced himself while you were writing.

"Uh, I think this might help you a lot." You gave him the paper and explained that it was a recipe for making a Gronckle Iron and that it makes very strong metal. Gobber thanked you slowly and said he would use it sometimes which made you smile, after that all of you talked for some minutes before a customer came and Gobber left to make the order, Hiccup realized it would take a while for Gobber to finish the order so he decided he should continue the tour. 

You began walking up on the stone stairs that seemed like they were never ending, but eventually you reached the top and stood in front of the giant double doors. The doors were guarded by Viking statues that were holding a torches, which you assumed are lit up at night.

When you walked in you stood amazed as looked around. The first thing you noticed were the wooden pillars that were scattered all over the place, they were wide and had decorative metal bands and carvings on them. In the center there was massive fire pit, with a wooden table around it and all around there were tables with torches for added light. Another thing you noticed were the tapestries that were hanged on the wall and they were displaying scenes of Vikings battling. 

There were portraits of people hanged on the wall. While you were looking at them Hiccup told you that they were the former chief's and their sons. When you reached the end, your eyebrows arched up when you saw who was painted on the last portrait.

"Hiccup?! That's you!" you exclaimed in realization. That earned a few stares from people around you and a laugh from the boy next to you. You had a confused smile but then it fell. "Hold up, hold up. So that means that the man on the rumblehorn dragon is the chief, which happens do be your father?" you asked him when realization hit you one more time.

"Yes and yes." Hiccup finally replied and watched how you were still stunned. You were now standing like a statue, not moving nor blinking and Hiccup didn't know why this information made you that astonished, but it did.

"Hello? Earth to (Y/N)?" Hiccup said waving his hand in front of you. 

"Yeah, yeah. I'm here." you said, bobbing your head up and down. You finally came back in reality, but your eyebrows were still arched up and you couldn't wipe away the dazed smile that was plastered on your face. The shock was gone and it was replaced with something you couldn't describe, perhaps it was the feeling that you were friends with the chief's son which was quite an honor for you. 

"Okay good, there's one last place I want to show you, let's go." Hiccup said excitedly and rushed to the gates. You shook your head slightly at his sudden excitement and jogged to catch up with him. Both of you walked down the endless stairs once again and saw that Toothless and Crystal were still chasing each other. 

Hiccup was the first one to climb on Toothless and he whispered something to his dragon that you didn't hear. While mounting Crystal, you stared Hiccup weirdly, trying to figure out what he had told Toothless, but gave up moments later after.

You began nearing the forest and you had no idea what you were doing there, but you trusted Hiccup had some sort of an explanation. A fun fact is that you are very easily amazed by landscapes and adored everything that mother nature offered you so the place which Hiccup brought you, left you astounded.

You were breathless when you dismounted Crystal, when your feet hit the ground you spun around with a grin spread on your face. The place was a sunken area deep in the forest and it kind of resembled an open cave. The waterfall in the corner gathered up the pond water which took majority of the space and the vast tree roots stretched from the top of the stones down to the ground and all around them were piles of big and moldy rocks. You were still admiring the place open mouthed, hypnotized by the beauty of the place. 

The only way you could describe this place is that it looked like it came straight out of a fairy tale.

Eventually you sat down and laid next to Crystal while Hiccup began telling you about everything that happened to him. From how he met Toothless in this place to how he lost his leg and you were quite satisfied to finally know the story behind the missing leg, albeit a bit sad. Of course you noticed it was gone when you first saw him but didn't wanted to ask him fearing that he might get offended. 

The cove, as Hiccup calls it, is so special to him and to you it meant a lot that he decided to show it. The sun had already fallen down by the time Hiccup finished sharing his life story and you had already fallen asleep.

-----

A blood curdling scream caused you to bolt up and snap open your eyes to find the source of it. Your gaze fell on Hiccup who was laying next to Toothless, you were shocked and wondered why he stayed with you all night even though he had a warm bed in a cozy house, but even if you didn't want to admit it you were pretty happy that he stayed. When you heard another scream there was no doubt that it came somewhere from the village so without uttering a word Hiccup and you both mounted your dragons and flew to the source.

Upon arriving you saw a dozen ships surrounding Berk and vikings armed with different weapons coming out from them. Aside from that, in the center of Berk, all the villagers were preparing for the attack and some were marching towards the dock ready for war.
Hiccup saw the gang and you flew where they were standing.

"What happened?" Hiccup asked, his tone was the same, though it still had a hint of panic in it. He darted his eyes from one person to another and awaited an answer.

"We're under attack, duh." Ruffnut replied, rolling her eyes at the same time.

"And we don't have enough armory because the Smothering Smokebreaths took them!" Fishlegs clarified with a fearful squeal at the end.

"But we have dragons! Come on, lets show them who's the boss!" Snotlout didn't waste another time because he flew up with Hookfang and they went towards the docks. The rest of the gang climbed on their dragons and followed him. You and Hiccup looked at each other and shrugged before catching up with the rest.

When you looked down you saw the Berkians letting out battle cry as they swung their weapons and attacked their opponents. On the front you saw the chief fighting with someone, the other person was very familiar-looking but you couldn't quite see who it was so you quickly averted your gaze to Hiccup who was telling orders.

After he gave his instruction everyone went to the directions they were told and fired at the ships. You didn't really want to hurt anyone so you told Crystal to concentrate her fire more on the ships rather than the vikings. This carried on for some minutes until you saw a net fired at Toothless, he opened his mouth to fire but nothing came out and that resulted them to be captured. Your eyes widened as they fell somewhere near the shore, Crystal flew at that direction and thankfully she found them then fairly quickly.

You got down on the ground and told Crystal to help the others, she understood and quickly flew away. You saw Hiccup who somehow escaped and was now trying to get the net away from Toothless.

As you ran towards Hiccup, from your peripheral vision you saw a man emerge from the bushes and after that everything felt as if it was moving in slow motion. Your head was now facing the man and your eyes widened when you saw a devilish smirk appear on his lips, he was now aiming his crossbow at the boy in front of him. Your breathing hitched and with all the might you had, you forced yourself to run faster.

"Hiccup! Watch out!" You screamed, trying to somehow warn him about the danger but that only made him look at you with a confused face. The viking in the bushes seemed to be startled by your appearance and that gave you enough time for you to take out one of your knives. He might've thought that you were too far away so he aimed at Hiccup again, Hiccup was now facing the man with a look of horror on his face. You flung your dagger at the man and jumped in front of Hiccup. At the same time the man let go of the trigger, sending an arrow flying right at you.

A shriek escaped your lips when the arrow came in contact with the side of your stomach, the pain quickly drove through the part you were shot. You saw your dagger hit the man's crossbow, sending it to fly behind him, that was your plan after all. Toothless seemed to regain his fire and shot the net, at the same time hit the ground next to the viking who now fearfully ran away.

You clutched the arrow and yanked it from your stomach, making the pain sting and burn even more. Blood began to spill out more than before and it made your shirt turn dark red colour. Your breathing got faster and heavier as you gripped the part where you were shot. You felt the blood ooze between the space of your fingers while you tried to cover the wound with your shaky hand.

Unable to endure the pain your legs began to tremble and you wobbled back expecting to hit the ground, but you didn't. Instead a pair of arms wrapped around you and you looked at the person holding you.

It was Hiccup.

His lips moved, he was obviously talking, but you couldn't hear anything he was speaking. Hiccup's brows drew together and he bit his lower lip, his face haggard with worry was the last thing you saw before everything turned black.

Elsewhere~

"Sir, we've been informed that one of our man has spotted (Y/N)(L/N) in our battle with the Berkians."

"She's alive? But we left her for dead! How is that possible?!"

"The man that saw her was originally planing to kill Stoick's boy, but she popped out of nowhere and took the shot for the boy."

"My my, we'll have a lot of catching up to do once we meet again."

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