Last Remnant

I stretched lazily in bed before realizing the time. I didn't hear the resident Terrors on the rooftop singing, so I bolted upright, thinking I had overslept. My brother, Chief Hiccup, was slumbering gently on the bed across the room from me. Toothless snored softly in his own sleep, twitching occasionally. I smiled and lay back down only to sit up again a second later when I realized that I had to pee really badly. I swung my legs out of bed and snuck downstairs, past my mother, and out the door. I went to our outhouse and sat down on the toilet, sighing wth relief as the urgency dropped below ten.

"Stacy! STACY, WHERE ARE YOU?!" my mother screamed. I sighed and cleaned myself up before leaving the outhouse.

"Mom! I'm right here!" I yelled when she and Cloudjumper flew by frantically looking for me. They both rubbernecked to look at me. When they landed, Mom came up to me and hugged me tightly before performing her usual exam. "Mom. Mo-om. MOM!" I ripped my hand out of her grasp and pinned her arms to the side. "I'm fine! I just had to use the toilet." I laughed.

"Oh," she said after a moment. "Well why didn't you tell me? I could have come with you-" I held up a hand, stopping her words.

"You're hovering again, Mom. We've been over this," I said slowly and calmly. She pouted slightly, pulling me in closely for a tight hug.

"I'm your mother, it's my job to worry about you, Stacy," she said quietly. Hiccup yawned massively and greeted us cheerfully.

"Morning, Mom. Morning, sis!" he rubbed his face sleepily. His brown mop was starting to be mirrored on his chin, something that was both a blessing and a curse. When we hugged, as I got taller, his beard began creeping down my face. After a moment Mom released me and I gave my brother a good morning hug, as per our usual. He rubbed my back a bit and squeezed me tight. I gave him a return embrace that was equal to his. "Well I've got a busy day today, so I'll see you two later!" He hugged Mom before getting back on Toothless, who chattered a salutation to me and Mom before they flew off.

Mom checked me over one last time before heading off to do her own self-appointed duties, leaving me free to do whatever I pleased. I went back to the house and grabbed a bag from under my bed. It had a collection of strange, but beautiful shells that I gathered during my explorations. I tied the bag securely to my belt at my right hip and went down to the beach. I removed my shoes and went into the water, diving to get the shock of the cold over with. Then I surfaced and swam to the bottom of the ocean, holding my breath and scouting for any interesting finds. Something caught my eye and I investigated further, finding a belt with a beautiful golden emblem. The symbol of a sun was etched into the center, so I grabbed it and headed for the surface with a pod of dolphins I had befriended. They, along with a group of Thunderdrums, kept me safe while I was swimming and investigating. I had even bonded with one of the Thunderdrums, giving him the name "Titan." We would sit on a rock a fair distance out and he would bring me oysters to eat, and I would also collect the occasional pearl. 

I hid the belt again and brought out some more of my interesting finds, including some oysters I was certain had pearls in them. I shucked them and was pleased as punch when two of them revealed twin pearls, one set blue the other white. Hiccup came up the stairs with Toothless right behind him. While they marvelled over the pearls I snuck the belt into my hazardous treasures bag, planning on burying it somewhere Mom and my brother couldn't find it.

"Hey, Sis. Where'd you find these oysters?" I heard my brother ask.

"Um. I found them while diving-" I said. Mom's voice rang out clearly.

"You went diving again?!" she screeched like a scalded cat and I cringed. I nodded, knowing the truth would get me in less trouble in the long run. "Stacy! We've been over this! You're not allowed to go diving! Not without Hiccup or I with you! Why do you insist on disobeying the simplest orders?!"

"Mom, please calm down," Hiccup started to say. She silenced him with a glare that could melt ice.

"Mom. Don't limit me like that! You and Hiccup never have time to go diving with me, plus you wouldn't let me go diving like I usually do," I whined. "I have a dragon who keeps me safe anyways. His name's Titan and he's a Thunderdrum. He's kept me safe more often than you and Hiccup ever did!" I regretted the words as soon as I said them. I saw her heart break by watching her face. Hiccup gave me a sympathetic look, but that hurt more than anything I'd ever felt. "Mom. I-I-I'm-" She held up a hand.

"If that's the way you really feel, then fine. Leave," she said in a low voice. Tears sprang to my eyes. I blinked them back, then grabbed my diving bag and ran out the door. Hiccup reached out to me as I went by him, but I brushed his comforting embrace off, not feeling it as I raced from the house.

"T-hi-Titan!" I called. My Thunderdrum met me at the beach and bubbled to me comfortingly. I hugged him for a moment then got on his back and flew off. I don't know where I'm going. But I know I'll be okay. I wish I hadn't said those things to Mom, or Hiccup. But you can't take back what's already been said. I sniffed back the tears, keeping a strong composure. Night was falling, but I wasn't going back to Berk. Twice Titan tried to turn back, but I corrected him each time. He seemed to sense that I felt pain by turning back to the place I'd been raised.

All through the night we flew, never stopping for a rest. At dawn we saw a small island on the horizon, which grew the closer we got to it. It seemed like a lush island that would be ideal for small dragons. We stopped there so he and I could rest. I took the first watch and he slept, snoring like waves crashing during a storm.

As he slept, I looked out over the ocean, and one thought formed in my mind, loudly, I'm completely alone.

I stood up and stretched, lengthening my legs as I trotted up and down the beach. I decided to go exploring a bit, and stumbled upon some wild berries. Because I didn't know much if anything about wildberries, I opted not to eat them. I saw a rabbit, and used a quickly fashioned spear to kill it. Then I used a small dagger I had with me to clean and skin it, preparing it to be cooked. I gathered some wood and sparked up a fire, grateful that I'd at least been allowed to learn that. I brought the wood and rabbit back to the beach where Titan was waiting for me, patiently. I almost screamed when I realized that Hiccup and Toothless had followed us. As it was, I froze as though I'd been caught doing something bad. He wordlessly approached me and handed me a bag, gave me a hug, then got back on Toothless, who came forward and nuzzled me.

"Be careful out there, Stacy," Hiccup advised. "There's a piece of paper in there with Berk's crest on it, so that if you come across Outcasts, show them the slip of paper and tell them that you're the last child of Stoick the Vast and Valka the Valiant. Our father and Alvin made peace years ago, and we've been allies ever since."

"I'm sorry for saying those things, Hiccup. I was just upset, and miserable with the thought of being confined to the house," I blurted. He dismounted and wrapped me in his arms again. "I'm not going back." My voice was muffled significantly, but he seemed to understand.

"I know. That's why I gave you that bag," he said. "It's got a copy of the map Toothless and I made before I became chief, and him Alpha. Mom's not mad at you, she's just scared she's going to lose you. You're her daughter, and the last piece of Dad that she has, aside from me. And since Astrid is practically part of the family, she's scared that she's going to lose you." I felt him give me a kiss on the top of the head. "Now that doesn't mean she should hover, which I agree has gotten a bit excessive, but she does it out of love, and fear. Just take care of yourself and Titan, and the gods will do the rest. Berk will always welcome you two back, sister."

"I might come back for a visit, from time to time, just to check things out, but I'm not moving back, brother, I just can't stand the feeling of being trapped," I said. He sighed then released me, brushing a stray hair out of my face.

"I know," he said before swinging back up into the saddle, and taking off. 

I watched them circle for a bit, then Toothless shot a small plasma blast into my firepit, which had gone out. I put the rabbit on a spit and began to roast it, turning it constantly to keep it cooking evenly.

The steady dripping of water and hollow moaning sounds of Titan's snoring woke me up the next morning. I sat up quickly and tried to keep from panicking when I didn't remember where I was. Then I caught sight of the bag Hiccup had given me the day before and it all came flooding back: the words exchanged at home, the final goodbye with my brother, and the flight through the thunderstorm. I shivered as the morning dew I was covered in mingled with the rain water that had soaked me. I tried in vain to get the fire going again and suddenly longed for the warmth of the house.

No, Stacy. You can't go back there, I thought to myself firmly. It's a prison, and until Mom learns to not be so clingy, you need to do this by yourself.

A Terrible Terror gave a catcall and I looked outside the cave. I noticed a small flock not far away and decided to befriend them. I dug around in the soggy bag and found five pieces of once-dried meat. I grabbed them and approached the tree.

"Hey, guys, you hungry?" I said softly, soothingly. I held out the meat, which grabbed their attention immediately. I sent a silent prayer to Valhalla as one of them flew to my arm. It sniffed me, then the meat, and kept one bulbous eye on me as it took one of the tempting morsels. They all followed the first one's example, and soon my hand was empty. That's when I realized that the Terrors were quite heavy. My arms gave out and they fluttered around me until they found suitable places to land. One of them chose to land on my head and I tried to suppress a shiver as a finger of wind wound its way through my clothes and up my back. I carried them back to the cave and tried, once again, to start my small fire. I dropped my hands in defeat and the little dragons flew off my body and landed, surrounding the small, pitiful pit. They seemed to talk amongst themselves and then breathed fire at the wood. It caught fairly quickly. I sighed with relief and immediately held my hands out to the fire. "Thank you, guys."

They purred and nuzzled around me, which made Titan a bit jealous. I cooed to him and he came over to get a chin scratch. I stroked each of the dragons on my lap and around my waist hesitantly. They stiffened, but relaxed when they realized that I wasn't going to hurt them.

Once I warmed up sufficiently, I stood up and beckoned for Titan. He came forward and I got up onto his back, then he took off. I pulled out my journal and made note of some major landmarks in my immediate area. I made a mental note to compare my crude drawing to my brother's map. The island I had chosen was quite lush, especially for this far North. I noted that beside the compass bearing. I drew the Sun to the East, and the moon to the West, a trick I had learned while at home.