The 'Dragon Goddess'

Intruder Alert

After a minute or two I was alright to go in there. Toothless and Stormfly were still under the control of Alpine, judging by their slitted eyes. The two riders are still panicking about it all and Alpine's deathly glare doesn't make things any easier for them.

"I take it you followed me back?" I question calmly. The pair turn to me, eyes wide in surprise. "The dragons will not be harmed," I tell them, gesturing to their partners. That's when I notice something that makes my eyes widen.

"Although, I can't place my fingers on how Toothless is evading the Alpha's command."

Toothless quits trying and failing to keep his eyes slits and instead turns to me, suddenly glowing blue. "Alpha form for those not a part of the Alpha species," I remark, more than impressed.

"But around here we don't obey other Alphas. We trust Alpine over here with our lives and if we continue to obey one Alpha, then all others will be ineffective. Now why are you here?"

"We couldn't just leave you after what my mother did," Hiccup is the one to answer. "I honestly don't know what got into her. I'm so sorry."

"As long as she tells nobody of what she knows, I don't care," I say coldly, trying to convince myself it's true. "Humans are always so predictable, in a sense. They only play nice until they've reaped the benefits and then they push you away like you never mattered."

"That's in no way true," Astrid interjects. "I mean, it's true for some people, but not for all of them." "I still prefer dragons," I state. "They either care for you or they don't. No tricks or deceit, just simplicity and honesty."

I look to Stormfly, who is still frozen in place by the Alpha. I look up to Alpine and nod very slightly. He nods back and releases the Nadder. "Stormfly!" Astrid smiles, hugging the blue dragon.

I watch the pair for a moment, smiling beneath my mask despite myself. Then I frown slightly. "How did you get past the patrols?" I question.

"You mean the Sentinels? They tried attacking us but then they just... froze. Then Stormfly came here and Toothless played along," Hiccup explained, petting his partner's head while he spoke. I simply nod. "Well now I know why Alpine freaked out," I remark. The Alpha hung his head at the reminder, so I walked over and petted his snout gently.

"Hiccup, I'm warning you, the Alpha isn't very pleased with your mother right now," I say. "I told him what happened already."

"Um... is he gonna hurt me?" He asked, looking up at Alpine. I decided to let the big boy handle this one. He snorted, dusting Hiccup with frost. Astrid chuckled at him, then shut up when she realised her mistake.

She was given the gift of even more snow than Hiccup got. "Remember this, Toothless?" I question the Night Fury. I didn't erase his memory of his first meeting with Alpine, just who I am and how he got here. He nods and licks at all the snow.

Alpine takes this as his cue and puffs a pile on top of the black dragon. He pops his head out the top and then tries eating some, which he seems to like. He's going to freeze his insides out by the time he's done here.

I notice Stormfly slowly moving behind me, which makes me chuckle. "You can go explore if you'd like, just behave yourself," I tell her, to which she nods and leaves hurriedly.

"Where's Stormfly going?" Astrid asks. "She didn't want to get snowed in so I let her go and look around," I shrug. Suddenly I hear a quiet roar, though it's one of excitement. I recognise it at once. "Sounds like she found Jewel," I remark.

Sure enough, when we leave Alpine's cavern the Night Fury hatchling is riding on Stormfly's head, tongue lolling happily. "A Night Fury?!" Hiccup asks in shock. I'd almost forgotten I'd erased his memories of her.

The moment she notices the two other humans, she scampers over to me and clings onto my back. "She's shy around other humans," I tell Hiccup and Astrid, moving her into my arms. "Can't say I blame her."

"She's female?" Astrid asked in surprise. Jewel seemed to take a liking to Astrid and cocked her head at her curiously, but she continued to cower away into my chest. "You both watched her hatch," I say. "I can restore your memories if you'd like. It would mean you'd be unconscious for a while, but it's painless. It's up to you what you do."

"Maybe another day," Hiccup chuckled nervously. Clearly he wasn't a fan of the idea. "Fair enough," I nod. "So are there any more Night Furies here?" He asks, still looking at Jewel. "Only one," I reply. "His name is Nightshade. He hatched a year or two before Jewel here, so he's the same size as Toothless, but he still acts more playful than this little angel."

"She's playful?" Astrid questions, cocking her eyebrow in a way that I do sometimes. Jewel looks at the blonde with confusion in her big blue eyes. "Usually I can't keep her still for more than five seconds," I chuckle, petting Jewel to calm her down. "I'm starting to suspect it as a common personality trait between Night Furies."

When Jewel realises that Hiccup and Astrid are no threat, she sniffs at Astrid curiously. "She likes you," I tell the blonde before holding out my arm slowly. Jewel walks across it and, when she reaches my hand, hops onto Astrid's shoulder and plays with her braid.

Astrid chuckles and pets the little black dragon gently, causing her to purr happily. "I think she prefers my hair to me," Astrid remarked. "If she becomes too much to handle just tell her to go find Nightshade," I say, knowing she can be a handful. "I'll keep that in mind," Astrid agrees.