Adventurous Appreciation

Prologue:

I sat on the roof of our house, keeping Hiccup company as he repaired a few holes from where the Bewilderbeest's ice had broken through the house. We'd already replaced the logs in the front, making the place ready for the upcoming winter. As he hammered in the last nail, another Night Fury flew in low with gorgeous red and orange markings. My brother missed the nail entirely when he noticed the other dragon. He hit his thumb and yelped, hugging it to his stomach and growling something between dragon curses and people curses. 

The dragon landed and it was then we both realized it had a rider. We exchanged glances then jumped down, making our way quickly to the town square, where the Night Fury had settled. As we approached, I instinctively took inventory of what we had on us to defend ourselves then mentally noted what I saw on the rider and dragon for weaponry.

"Hello," Hiccup said, taking the lead. I blinked, startled from my thoughts.

"Hello," replied the rider taking off his helmet to reveal hair that seemed to have a life of its own, dancing freely at the slightest breeze. It looked like it was made of fire itself. The next thing I noticed were his eyes. "This is Berk, I assume?"

"You presume correctly," my brother replied. "I'm Chief Hiccup, son of S-Stoick the Vast, and this is my sister, Nina."

"Pleasure to make your aquaintence," I said extending a hand on reflex.

"Same to you," the rider acknowledged, shaking my offered hand. "My name is Trey, and this is Fire Prince."

"Where do you hail from, Trey?" Hiccup asked. Something about his tone made me glance at him. His demeanor hinted to me that he was hoping Trey would be a good friend of his that was around his age. "We've never seen you here before."

"I was born and raised on an island far from Berk, but my family was forced to flee," he started. "We ended up staying with my cousins on Outcast Island before the same thing that chased us from our home found us again. My sister, Spinefin, and I were the only survivors." His eyes burned with a fire that I recognized. It was the same flame that shone in Hiccup's eyes when I was threatened or challenged. It was the sign of a brother's love.

Chapter 1:

A few weeks later, Trey and Hiccup flew off to discuss something, and I secretly tailed them after informing Toothless so he didn't screech at Darrien and I.

"Remember, my sweet one," I murmured to Darrien as I leaned over to speak to him. "Keep out of sight, and stick to the clouds if they go over the ocean." It was an overcast day, but didn't look like rain. We flew along at a good clip and I could occasionally hear Hiccup and Trey laugh at something or other. Oh how I longed to just fly alongside them without beign told off by my brother. He hadn't had a friend from another island since Heather. I smiled gently.

Trey had told us that he and Fire Prince had been staying on Berk without our knowledge, in a large hut that was seemingly abandoned. He and his sister had lost their parents while fleeing a massive Monstrous Nightmare that seemed to have been lit by bright green fire. He had been wounded and spent a while with Gothi recovering. He and his Night Fury had been a bonded pair for a long time.

Darrien stopped suddenly, catching me off-guard. I started as I was thrown against his neck. I leaned over. Hiccup and Trey were directly below us. If either of them, or their dragons, looked up now, we would be spotted. I nudged my Nadder back until we were in the safety of the cloud-cover once again.

(Hiccup's POV)

I followed Trey's eyes skyward. I caught the barest tip of something, but it was gone before I could focus in on it, so I assumed it was my imagination.

"Yeah, it's up to you whether you stay," I said in response to his question. "Might give Nina something to do. She gets bored when she's not out hunting."

He nodded his head, jutting out his chin in an almost thoughtful way. A gentle breeze blew past and I could have sworn I heard a voice say "That's not true!" in a hushed tone.

I snickered when I thought of how Nina would have reacted if she were here. Her eyes would be blazing, but they would be the only thing portraying her true emotional state. The rest of her body language would say she was calm, relaxed even. I had noticed how mentioning my sister's name would cause first a soft tenderness then an almost despairing look to pass briefly over Trey's face.

"So," I said breaking the silence. "What do you think of my sister? Just from what I've told you, do you think she's dateable?"

(Hiccup's POV)

Boom. There it was. His tone told me that he didn't feel worthy of dating Nina because she was my sister and he was an outsider. I chose my response carefully. If I said something wrong, Trey might be chased off, possibly for good.

"Well if she's interested in someone else, she hasn't told Mom or me," I joked, adding a laugh. I noticed Trey eyeing Toothless' saddle then his own. There was a startling difference between the two. "Your saddle looks...serviceable." 

I felt Toothless snort and glanced down at him, shooting him a dirty look. He met my eyes then dove suddenly, toward a rocky outcropping just off Berk's Northern-most point.

(Hiccup's POV)

I chuckled. "Sorry about that. Toothless' wings are starting to bug him. If he hovers for long he sometimes gets finnicky," I said. "I made this saddle and after it got damaged, Gobber repaired it. I offered to give Nina Darrien's saddle, but she either didn't hear me or chose to ignore me. Anyways, she and Darrien fly with a harness that has a detachable saddle, no idea why, but it's her decision."

(Nina's POV)

I growled and tugged Darrien back over Berk's forest, swooping low and shooting Hiccup a glare that could melt ice in passing. The wind from my Nadder's wings would have knocked them both over were it not for their dragons.

I landed at my treelab and made a beeline for my pantry, where a hidden door in the floorboards concealed a ladder leading to my underground forge. When I reached there, I decided to make more arrowheads in case I needed them. I wasn't homicidal, like I wasn't going to kill anyone, but I liked to be overprepared, which has always been my go-to phrase "it's better to be overprepared than not prepared at all." 

Herby tumbled down his chute and landed on my shoulder as I shoved my feet into my forge shoes, and shrugged on my smithing apron. I grabbed some metals and threw them into my Nadder-fire smithy, adding a bit of water to stoke the flames higher. While the metal was heating, I picked up the molds to give the arrowheads their basic shape.

"Everything okay?" Herby said, breaking the silence I'd been working in.

"Oh yeah, everthing's fine," I said sarcastically. He leaned over and silently stared at me, unblinking. "Hiccup said something, it hurt, I flew away, end of story. I was trailing him and Trey, trying to find out more about him."

"Hm..." my lead Terror said thoughtfully.

(Hiccup's POV)

I sighed as I saw Nina flying off on Darrien. Toothless groaned, rolling his eyes skyward.

I'm gonna hear an earful about something or other, I thought glumly. "Sorry about that," I said turning back to Trey. "Nina must have tailed us and overheard our conversation. She's good at spying on people because she doesn't get caught."

(Hiccup's POV)

I stopped to ponder for a second. "Nina's treelab isn't far from here. She won't mind us spending the night," I said confidently, though secretly I kind of hoped she wasn't there, so she wouldn't tear into me. "Follow me." I hopped on Toothless and we sped off, pausing briefly for Fire Prince ((FP)) and Trey to catch up. Then we all flew to my sister's little area. I call it little but it's really a massive tree, about the size of a Viking hut in girth, yet about half the size of the small mountains that weren't far from it. I saw Darrien sitting in his spot at the top and sighed. "Well, they're here. We'll land on the top of the tree. Nina disguised a platform for dragons to land on; it has a ramp that leads down into the heart of her home-away-from-home. It really is a comfortable place, I just don't like visiting when my sister's mad at me." We landed and I showed Trey and FP down into the main area.

Herby dropped onto my shoulder. "Hello!" he chirped happily. "Nina's steaming, Hiccup. Better make it up to her." Then he flew into a hole that angled down.

"When is she ever happy with me?" I muttered.

(Nina's POV)

As I finished pouring the liquid metal into the molds, Herby popped out of his chute. "We've got company," he called over the roar of the flames. "It's your brother and your boy-friend." I could hear his teasing tone and threw a small metal bar at him. 

"He's not my boyfriend. We barely spoke to each other, I hardly know him," I yelled back. I grabbed the molds and dropped them instantly into the water trough, where they hissed slightly, until I dumped a whole new change of water from an icy stream not far away. I released the rope I had pulled to do so and nipped out, preparing to do two things: give my brother a piece of my mind, and make Trey feel welcome.

(Hiccup's POV)

I looked up from where Trey and I were sitting. There was some movement in the pantry. I was preparing to rise when Nina opened the door, glaring at me when our eyes met. I was in for it, big time.

"Think I'm so predictable, eh, brother?" she growled at me. Her eyes were on fire, and she was furious. She had a hand behind her back. Then she brought it out, showing something... I couldn't identify what it was, and then she threw it at me. It hit me square in the chest, covering me in a goopy liquid that I noticed began to stink to the point of making my eyes water. I coughed.

"Sorry for saying that, sis," I choked out.

 i smirked as Hiccup gagged on the smell. "Say it," I said in an overly sweet tone. Everyone on Berk knew that tone: it meant I was seconds from ripping your spine out and watching you suffer, unless you give in and admit your mistakes. I grinned wickedly and I heard Trey shudder. I glanced out of the corner of my eye at him and he was eyeing me uneasily.

Hiccup coughed and choked, but somehow managed to say "Sorry, sis! I didn't mean whatever insult you perceived." I threw a bucket of goop on him that immediately erradicated the smell. 

"You know where the bedrooms are, you can show yourself to one. I'll give Trey a tour," I said matter-of-factly. He gave me a look similar to one Toothless gave me sometimes when I booped him on the nose.

There really wasn't much to the main hub. I noticed Trey staring at me before he blinked, shook his head slightly and appeared to have to rake his eyes off me. It flattered me that someone noticed me and seemed to find me attractive enough to stare.

"Bedroom," I said gesturing to a corner where a large hammock hung between a thick post and the wall of the tree. A large picture window stood proudly, showing a stunning view West, where the sun sets. The glow of twilight was just beginning to fade. "Kitchen." I pointed to an open area with a big spicerack taking up the wall and a couple counters in the rough shape of a horseshoe. "Library, anything within the red tags is a story, anything outside of it is non-fiction." My bookshelves stood proudly, with two lines of red tagged books. "Bathroom is right there, I have running water thanks to a watermill I hooked up to a strong river. It uses a method I borrowed from the Romans to bring water from a small mountain lake." Hiccup could be heard grumbling and occasionally yelping when the water got down his shirt. He came out, shot me a glare, then gestured to Toothless, who gave a throaty laugh before following his rider upstairs. My brother slammed his door, or at least tried to. I chuckled when it whistled, then gently clicked. He must have kicked it because it gave a loud crash before going still.

"My supply closet is here, my pantry is next to it." I lead Trey over to my pantry and pulled back the curtains that made up it's door. A small rug sat in the middle. "The pantry is also my secret entrance to my forge, which I'll show you another time. Anyways, this way to the bedrooms." I squeezed past Trey and forced myself to keep calm when our chests almost touched. Our eyes met briefly then I was out once again. "Hi-hiccup's room is this one, it's got a large slab in it and also doubles as my study." We could hear my brother complaining to Toothless. I reached up and grabbed a vine, waiting to hear him step off the carpet in there. His metal foot k-thunked on wood and I yanked the foliage in my hand, releasing a stream of ice cold water on him.

"AHHAHA!" Hiccup yelled when the water hit him. I doubled over laughing. 

"Anyways, feel free to choose from any of the rooms down the hall. Hehe," I said, regaining composure. Trey seemed to be biting back his laughter as Hiccup ripped the door open, looking for all the world like a drowned rat. I put the back of my hand to my mouth in an attempt to hide my grinning lips. In a shaky voice I said, "If you need anything, Trey, just come wake me up, or one of the Terrors. Goodnight!" Then I bolted down the hall, shoving my face in my pillow before letting lose my guffaws.

((I just realized we messed up the chapter numbers. We said Chapter 6 twice. Whoops!))

I heard movement outside and sent Herby to investigate. He returned a few moments later giving me an angry look the whole time. "Trey's up reading," he grumbled before pouncing into his mini hammock and curling up, sleeping shortly thereafter, purring softly.

I slipped out of bed and grabbed a towel from the pantry when I reached the main hub. I heard a book rustle slightly, and I knew Trey had caught my movements with his ears. I had intended for this so he wouldn't be startled when I poked my head around the corner and watched him for a moment.

"Good book?" I said quietly. He jumped and looked up at me. "Sorry for the scare. I was just grabbing a towel for my frigid brother." I bit back a laugh at the memory of my sopping brother. I nipped to Hiccup's room, opened the door quietly and slid in, wrapped the towel around his shoulders, draping a corner over his head, then snuck out, almost tripping on Toothless' tail when the Alpha stretched out, practically blocking the door with his tail. I stepped over it and froze when he twitched, nearly hitting me. I made it out of the room and returned to the library. I looked at the spines in the dim light and plucked one titled "Odd-One Out." It was about Hiccup and how he stopped the Dragon War by befriending Toothless. It spared no detail, and told the entire story. I had managed to convince my brother to let me get the whole story down so we could remember it on Berk for years to come. "If you get bored of that, this one is a good read." I handed Trey the book and cast a quick wink his way after a second's hesitation. Then I headed back to bed.

I wrapped up in my blanket and soon began to doze. Herby twitched and kicked the wall hard, producing a loud KTIK! I jumped, startled out of sleep. I sighed and got up, going through the main hub to stand on the balcony. I leaned against the railing, looking out over the island. I could see Dad's statue about three quarters of a kilometer away, standing proudly over the village he grew up in, had ruled over, and had never gotten a chance to see with Mom. I blinked hard, remembering the battle. What had originally alerted me was Hiccup's voice getting increasingly more and more panicked. I had looked over and seen Dad running toward him, yelling. As if on automatic, I had begun running toward them, thinking that if I could get a shield between my family and the Alpha-controlled Toothless, it would prevent them from being killed.

I had yanked my collapsable shield out of it's holster and opened it up, clipping it into place with the silver hook. I bent down while running to make a decent sized snowball to throw at the Night Fury. Unfortunately, doing so threw me off balance and it tripped, tumbling hard. When I regained full use of my senses, I heard Hiccup yelling for our father. I looked up my breath instantly stolen from my lungs as I saw my father, limply rolling onto his back.

I should have used that anger to kill Drago then and there, I thought to myself. 

But you weren't angry. You were heartbroken, a little voice to my left said I looked and there was no one there, not even a dragon. You can't see me because I'm your voice of intuition, while my twin is your voice of wisdom. And you know the only thing you could do was stumble over to where your father lay, barely able to breathe as tears flowed down your cheeks like waterfalls, kind of like they are now. I sniffed and wiped my eyes. Crying is healthy during sad times. Let's just go to bed, okay? You'll feel better in the morning. I turned and looked at the statue for a few heartbeats more before turning, blowing it a kiss, and heading back inside. I went back upstairs and went to bed, finally falling into a semi-restful slumber.

I woke up early the next morning and grabbed my bow to go out hunting. When I returned, Hiccup was still asleep but Trey had disappeared from where he'd sat the night before. I hovered a hand over where he'd been and felt a very faint warmth, so he'd left only recently. I started a stew for lunch and then cracked some eggs and slivers of pork. I flopped them on a hot rock above the cauldron in my kitchen and soon they were hissing and sizzling. I added a pinch of salt and pepper, then a sprinkle of my hunting spice mix. It was my go-to seasoning for when I was in a bit of a hurry. As I dished out the food, I heard a dragon wake up and jump around the room. I winced when I heard something break. I grabbed some forks and set them with the plates, removing the flattop from the heat. I brought the three plates with me and nudged open Hiccup's door, behind which he was snoring. I took a plate over to him and set it on his nightstand, shaking him with my now free hand.

"Breakfast is ready," I said quietly when his green eyes opened. He looked at me, rolled over and rubbed his eyes.

"Thanks," he said. "Sorry about last night."

"Just eat," I said with a laugh as I left the room. I headed back to where Trey and FP were sleeping, following the noisy dragon. I knocked on the door. "Breakfast is ready."

I smiled and held the plates behind me and above my head. Herby threw some pepper in FP's eyes, forcing the unruly reptile back away from me. "I made eggs and strips of pork," I said handing Trey his plate. "Herby just threw some spice into Prince's eyes. I think he'll think twice before bounding up to me when I have food in my hands."

I sat down at the table and began eating. I smiled when Trey sat down and took a small bite, trying to be polite but not knowing about my cooking skill. As soon as he began chewing, he froze, eyes wide as he looked at the food on his plate. Then he began wolfing down his breakfast. 

"I slept pretty good, did you?" I asked him.

I smiled when Trey told me that. I related in the sense that I often read when I couldn't sleep. "Did you enjoy the book I gave you?" I asked him. We both turned as footsteps sounded on the stairs. Hiccup came down followed closely by a kind of grumpy Toothless. The Night Fury perked up and lost his grumpiness when he saw FP. I laughed when Prince inched his way out from under the table and trotted over to sniff noses.

"Good morning, sis! Morning, Trey," my brother said cheerfully to us.