Cloud's Journey: Banished

Berk

My feet were slowly lowered to the grass covered ground. The black dragon released me and I fell the last little way. Hugging myself against the cold, I stepped forward. There was a thud as the dragon landed behind me. I turned as Hiccup was dismounting.

My eyes widened in horror.

"You only have one leg!" I pointed to the metal prosthetic.

"Ya, that's," Hiccup scratched the back of his head, not meeting my gaze. "That's a long story."

"Was it... was it a dragon?" I asked.

Hiccup paused. "Yes." he said. "It was. Sort of."

This is why my parents don't like dragons. I thought, backing away. But as I watched the black dragon nudge Hiccup with adoring in his eyes, I wondered how this could be so.

"What is your dragon called?" I asked. "I have never seen one like it before."

"This is Toothless." Hiccup told me, and Toothless cocked his head, looking very cute. "He's a Night Fury."

"A Night Fury." I mused.

"Hiccup!" Hiccup and I turned at the woman's call. A blonde was running up to us. She stopped beside hiccup. "Who is she?" the young woman asked. She was beautiful, with silky yellow hair pulled to the side in a braid. Her eyes were a deep blue and they were big. Bigger than mine.

"I found her out at sea." Hiccup was explaining.

"What's your name?" the young woman asked.

"Cloud." I told her.

"Cloud?" the girl cocked an eyebrow, so did Hiccup. "I've never heard of that name before."

"I've never heard of the name Hiccup, either." I said.

"I guess we come from totally different places." Hiccup said.

"That's for sure. I'm Astrid." Astrid held out her hand to me.

"A pleasure." I shook her hand.

"We should introduce her to the others before it gets dark." Hiccup suggested, petting Toothless' head. Toothless closed his eyes and smiled: a toothless smile.

"That would be great." I told them, eyeing the Night Fury's pink mouth.

"Let's go then." Hiccup walked forward to lead the way, Toothless glued to his side.

I turned to follow but stopped short with a jump. Another dragon towered over me. A blue Deadly Nadder.

"This is Stormfly." Astrid explained, walking up to place a hand on the Nadder's head. Stormfly faced her rider, seeming to smile.

"Hello." I said, reaching my hand out, but I yanked it back. I could never forgive what dragons had done to me. I looked around at Hiccup's prosthetic. Or what they had done to other people.

"Where should we go first?" Hiccup called.

Astrid and I caught up, with Stormfly following. "We could go to Fishleg's house first." Astrid suggested.

Hiccup nodded.

He's cute. I thought. Even though he's lanky.

We came to one of the many houses in the village. As we walked, Vikings had stared at us and I heard them start to whisper. I ducked my head.