The Gift of the Princess (HTTYD)

Conquering Fears

Chapter 45: Conquering Fears

Eira and Toothless spent a surprising amount of time with Luna. The Light Fury would not let Eira get close to her, but she tolerated her presence. After awhile, Eira decided to let her spend some time alone with Toothless since she seemed so interested in him. About an hour later, he returned to her, seeming satisfied. Figuring this was enough for one day, the two of them headed back to Ingrid and Valka. By then it was nearing dinnertime, so Eira recounted her day while they ate outside at the edge of the village, away from everyone else.

"Well done," Valka said at the conclusion. "You did a wonderful job, Eira. You too, Toothless." The Night Fury snorted before diving into his fish.

"Yes, this is excellent!" Ingrid beamed. "I'm sure you'll be friends in no time!"

Eira shrugged. "Maybe, but we'll still have to win over all those Night Furies."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Valka said. "Perhaps we should make an initial village to their island tomorrow. Ingrid and I have been talking, and we think we know how to approach it."

Eira nodded. "Sounds good." She glanced back at the village, and something caught her eye. "Hey, Ingrid, I think Snotlout is staring at you."

"What?" said Ingrid. "No way!" She followed her sister's gaze to Snotlout, who alternated between talking to Ruffnut and Tuffnut and looking at the group. "Ugh. Why doesn't he just come over and join us?"

"He probably thinks you're going to yell at him."

"Not without good reason." Ingrid angrily mashed her meat with her fork. Then she glanced behind Eira into the forest, and her eyes lit with surprise. "Now, that's interesting."

Eira turned her head and nearly let out a gasp. Luna stood several yards away from them, staring at her. She took a step forward but then hesitated upon glancing at Ingrid and Valka. She returned her gaze to Eira, her eyes filled with uncertainty.

"Hello there, Luna," Eira said in a light tone.

"'Luna?'" said Valka.

"That's what I decided to call her. Do you think that's alright?" Eira looked to Valka for confirmation.

Valka nodded. "I think that's just fine." She smiled at the dragon. "Hello, Luna."

"She's so pretty!" said Ingrid.

Eira noted that Luna still looked uncomfortable, but it was a good sign that she was there at all. Maybe the scent of food had lured her out. That gave her an idea. "Hey, Toothless, why don't you give her one of your fish?" She would have offered her own food, but she was not quite sure the dragon would like it.

Toothless looked like he wanted to protest at first, but when he glanced at Luna's hopeful face, his expression softened. He picked up a fish by the tail and padded over to her. He dropped the fish and nudged it with his paw. Luna sniffed the fish before taking the whole thing in her mouth. A second later, she spit half of it up. Grinning, Toothless slurped up the offering.

"That's gross," Ingrid said.

Valka chuckled. "It means they're friends."

"We'll all be friends soon," Eira said. Luna let out a happy noise and then looked at her. Eira smiled back at her. Yes, there were many reasons to hope for a fruitful outcome in this endeavor.

***

As soon as Hiccup landed on Berk, Swiftwings ran off to find Eira. Meanwhile, the young chief headed home. He stopped outside his house, smiling at Toothless and Astrid, who waited for him. Toothless bounded over to him with excitement. "Hello there, bud! I missed you too." He rubbed his head until the dragon calmed down.