To Soar Into the Sunset Ch 10

Chapter 10: Time Enough to Touch the Stars

Disclaimers:  The usual ones apply. Also, there is no guarantee that taking a girl for a ride on a dragon will win you her heart. Results may not be typical.

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea."- R.A. Heinlein (The Notebooks of Lazarus Long)

Okay, I will admit Hiccup's words to the Sticky Fire Person were actually more earth shattering than I let on. He was realizing the truth about my People: we are not killers. Our natural state of being is playful, protective, kind, and eternally curious about the world. We do not hoard gold, as Firemakers think, but rather we delight in collecting experiences and memories. We are good friends to have at your side, especially if you have fish.

I now had a fully trained Firemaker, one who had as keen as interest as I in solving this problem.

Now I had to figure out how to get us both onto cracking this problem. Obviously, there was going to be no one else who wanted to help us. It's just us two: an outlawed Person from the remote ends of Asia, and a misfit barbarian from the remote ends of Europe.  The childhood prodigy and the freak show attraction.

The sun was pretty much a memory in the sky when my Firemaker made his way home. He first had to pause at Boondocks Manor (he'd stashed some soap there) to wash the sooty residue from his face and hands. He had to scrub his hair out at least three times before it washed back to his normal color and didn't crackle around his hands from the sticky residue of the explosion. His clothes were a lost cause- he'd have to launder those out later when he could get proper hot water.

Me? I just walked into the lake, rolled a few times, and my hide was back to its original sleek near-black color. Is there nothing as well designed as one of the People?

My Firemaker looked up me, soap running in his eyes from his latest attempt to get his hair to stop standing up, and kicked a friendly blast of water at me.

That night, I got my opportunity to enjoy some delicious, well served revenge. I had been trying to figure out how to deal with the Sarmatians, and I'd tried to catch them on the Dreampaths.

Seems like things were busy in the flat lands, and my so called friends were not getting much sleep because I did not hook up with them.

But, tonight, we had an ever friendly reunion which started, quite appropriately, with me doing a cordial dive-bomb attack.

As soon as I realized they were in contact with me and our spirit forms (or whatever mumbo jumbo it is) were in place, I flung myself in the air and dive bombed onto the Turkmene's back, blasting a plasma bolt.

Oddly, my plasma bolt did not shoot out (huh, maybe they don't work in your dreams), but I still brought the Turkmene down hard enough that, if this were reality, I would have broken her back. Her saddle might also have protected her, as it took most of the blow.

Her Rider (sleeping near her) rolled out of the way as she rolled onto her back, swung up to her feet and glared daggers at me. When I swooped back at her on a second dive bomb attempt, she met me, rearing up and thudding her iron hard hooves on a side blow on my chest.

She was trying to knock me off of balance, not attack me, and it worked. I was probably heavier than she, but she hit me at just the right angle, so I was spun off of my flight plan.

I had to land and went into defensive mode, growling at her, my teeth exposed to their longest.

The Turkmene mare just stared at me, ears back in warning, but not in aggression.
Her Rider was by her side suddenly, a very nasty looking knife out in his hands, and a supporting hand on her shoulder. He looked at the Turkmene and then at me with those oddly focused eyes.

Then he threw the knife so it landed at my feet. He dropped to his knees and spread his hands out, exposing his neck and chest and stomach.

The Turkmene just looked at me calmly, not making any move of aggression. Her head was up, casually exposing her throat in case I might just want to tear it out for some fun and entertainment.

:: Drama, drama! :: I thought-sent sarcastically. :: By the way, if you say anything along the lines of 'Do What You Will', I am so going to attack you.::.

:: It is really up to you what you want to do next:: she finally sent, cautiously, ::We'd both totally understand it..::

I gnashed my teeth and blew out an angry blast of air (no plasma- strange). ::Can't you barbarians ever be original?::

:: Come on, dragon. Can't you accept a gesture as genuine without making it into some opportunity for a snide remark?::

I lowered my head threateningly.  ::All right. I'll change the subject. If I kill you in the Dreampaths, what happens in reality?::

:: Look at this way, Toothless. You have the perfect chance to try. We're not going to stop you.::

"Can you make up your mind, friend?" Gatalas asked, "I feel very silly in this position, but I won't leave until you get your vengeance. 'kay?"

I found myself sitting back on my haunches and shaking my head in confusion, ::You two are the weirdest thing to ever have fallen in my life.::

:: C'mon. We're waiting. You want to punish us, and we totally would feel the same way. We did not realize one of your Signalers would intercept us, and we were trying to help. And we did not realize they would exile you for us getting involved.

:: So our actions led to you being the one to get hurt for our error. That is cowardly. We have wronged you and not faced the punishment in your place, and my Rider's honor is at stake. You basically have to strike us down now, now, punish us for our mis-deeds. Otherwise, we'll have to commit suicide to keep Gatalas' family name good.::

::You Sarmatians are insane.:: I snorted, but I was touched at their almost innocent (if overdramatic) sense of justice.

::Get on with it. You probably have a busy day tomorrow working on that dragon attack problem:: The Turkmene said, :: Strike us down, and then you can go to bed and put this all behind you.::

:: But I … but I?:: (Damn… you're not making it as fun for me as I had hoped.)

"Get on with it! Please!" Gatalas was getting irritated, "Either you strike us down, or I use that knife and finish the job on my friend and I."

Just to test things, I strode right up to Gatalas. The Turkmene did not move, just looked at me calmly.

I snorted at Gatalas until his tangled blond braid hair shook.

He just waited calmly.

They really wanted me to do this, really wanted me to kill them to save their honor… or they'd commit suicide? Mad creatures, indeed.

And I found myself not as willing to destroy them as I had hoped.

I thought of my Rider and wondered how he, who sees things in a weird way, would puzzle this one out.

Then I knew. I made sure my teeth were fully shot out, growled and then brought my face to the Sarmatian Firemaker's.

Then I nudged him really hard, like dragon kittens do to each other (and we can get rough in our games), sending him toppling onto his side. I pulled my teeth back in my head, bunted him on the shoulder and licked his face.

:: There you go. I struck you down. So, now we're even and your honor is restored.::

It was a truly emotional moment for the dragon fighters, and they both lowered their heads and started trembling with shuddering, great sobbing breaths.

They were laughing hysterically.

"That was BRILLIANT!" Gatalas called out, getting to his feet, "You amaze me, dragon!"

:: It's not worth holding a grudge in the end:: I told them, knowing only the Turkmene would understand me, ::It doesn't solve the problem.. I just want to get things over and move on.::

The Turkmene trotted up behind me and snorted softly, raising her head. I realized that my head now came up over hers, and she was tall for a horse. I lowered my head and bunted her forehead.

She whickered back. :: If only more of us realized that, more problems would get solved. And, it's a good thing you didn't kill us, Toothless. We have some answers for you.::

Oh, and did they! I had hoped Gatalas would sketch out a plan for me, as Hiccup would have, but he would not. He just smiled and shook his head, staring at me with those oddly focused silver blue eyes. I put that off to his people being illiterate.
Instead we did a reverse of what we had done before, but now I pulled the data from the Turkmene.

Ah, I see the difference now. The priests (or whoever had read the data) had isolated the blank area with a different border. I sure had no idea what that meant.

:: The elders here think it's a gap- a kind of a pocket that has been sealed off so most creatures cannot perceive it. These are like mini alternate realities, but they fit snugly into the existing one.::

I shook my head ::Sounds stupid to me, sorry.::

:: But they do exist. Haven't you heard of creatures who suddenly disappear into thin air? The Firemakers of many cultures have tales of discovering wild Firemakers who walk in from the woods, beings who they find who have no ability to understand Firemaker behavior. They attribute to being raised by wild animals, but what if that human had stepped through another reality?::

I listened, but with my teeth half in and half out- confused.

:: Or how do you explain when stones fall out of the sky on a clear day? Or you see life forms in a place where they should not be, like frogs in a barren desert? Or have you ever gone through an area and it was suddenly, for a moment, a different temperature than usual… but only for a moment?::

I gestured with my muzzle ::Yes, but that could be wind currents::

::True. Except for when it isn't.::

I scratched a few senesless lines in to the dream dirt with my claws :: So you are telling me this threat is hidden in some sort of magical pocket?::

::Not magical… temporal. A kind of a bend in reality. Just stay with us here, Toothless, even if it seems strange. These places exist, and you're going to need a Firemaker to help you find it. They usually are the ones who do find them. You know already they can make leaps in judgment that you and I cannot. ::

I could vouch for that. There are many who say the Lightning People are among the smartest of the People, but even their intelligence comes from memories we pass on from one to another. The Firemakers differ because they can take information and then use it to jump forward to a new idea. Oh, boy, do I know that!

That, and not their hands, is what makes them so dangerous.

"The best way to identify a Gap like this is place names," Gatalas said. He had now placed himself in that painful twisted leg contortion Firemakers seem to love, "Can you remember from your Rider's people any unusual place names? Usually a Firemaker stumbles on one of these gaps and gives it a name, a way to warn others to stay away from the area. Over time, people pass on the name from one generation to the other. Eventually only the name remains, but not the reason why it was named."

He ran a hand through his tangled hair, and I saw from his face how tired he was. He'd picked up rather nasty burns from a recent fight against dragons.
"Look for clues like 'Underhill,' or 'Well' or 'Anchor' or 'Gate' or 'Cave' or…"

I smacked my tail against the ground in surprise, ::Hellheimarshlið- Hellheimsgate! That's it! And my Firemaker just mentioned that region having the name because the fog and the rocks are so dangerous::

:: There you go, then. It's as good a clue as any.::

:: So, I take my Firemaker, we go to Hellheimsgate and then, because he's on my back, we'll discover the way into this portal and….::

Both my friends shrugged a bit.
::Almost:: The Turkmene said, ears half cocked, ::You need two Firemakers.::

"Y'see, my friend here and I ", Gatalas pat his horse on her shoulder, "We discovered a small portal just before we met you. Nothing big, but strong enough for the priests to seal it off. Some hay brained idiot had forgotten to secure the rope holding our sheep flocks in when we were doing the spring shearing, so the flock had gotten loose. Many of us wandered the area, but we could not find the sheep. My little sister, Darya, asked to join in- she has keen eyes. She has not yet bonded with a horse, so she rode behind me on Horsebutt here. Her highness, of course, was not too keen on carrying two people"

:: Have some respect. I was the one carrying you, and you had put on weight.::

"Anyway, when Darya came with us, riding behind me, her arms around my waist, suddenly we walked right into a valley I swear was not there before… and there were the sheep. Oddest of all, it was raining, but when we walked into the valley, the sun was out."

I listened to this, not sure whether to be impressed or to laugh at their wonderful imagination.

::So, basically, what we think, is you need to have two Firemakers who are related to one another go with you to this area- the Hellheimsgate. So, if your Hiccup can bring along a parent or a sibling, then you'll slip through and discover what it is that has been influencing your People to attack.::

I considered my Rider and the loving respect his father had for him. I thought about his cousin, the ever so jealous Snoutlout who was contantly beating him up. I considered the possibilities of how this would work. And I showed the proper reaction.

The Turkmene and Gatalas gasped in surprise.

:: Ah, Toothless… why did you suddenly flop on your back with your tongue out like you´re dead?::
It's hard to thought-send in this position:

:: Dat duh duh..., becauth we ah phetty muth dead::
________________________________________
I think that was the moment I began to see the world my Rider and I had been putting together was starting to crack around the edges. I'd already suffered the consequences of my choices. Now, things were beginning to run into each other for him and, honestly, given the destructive nature of Firemakers, the consequences were potentially far worse than what I had endured.

He came early in the morning, so I knew that there would be training later in the day.
Actually, no. Not training. It was the final class, the one that would determine who was the star pupil at slaughtering my People. Oh, rapturous joy.

He, bless his screwed-up soul, felt the same way.

He had not gotten much sleep, and his eyes were sunk in dark shadows. They had faded to a pale gray-blue, a color I had come to realize meant he was stressed out. Given his usual goofy-happy nature around me, he was very solemn, like a dark cloud had settled on his shoulders. I had an inkling this was the Hiccup that everyone else but me sees.

But he was his usual kind self as he put out fish for me to eat and then unwrapped my bandage.  I drew in my breath (and my teeth) as he ever-so-gently clipped the stitches from my shoulder.  

"Looks like it's healed up and won't leave much of a scar, Toothless, even if I ran ya into the rocks."

I snorted in a friendly way at him. It was worth it to experience the joy of flight we had gotten out of yesterday's test run.

"Anyway, sorry if I am not all sweetness and light here, but my Dad came back last night. We have the last day of the class today, and he'll be watching me."

His dad is back? Well, it's a long shot, but let's give it a try!

I purred at Hiccup and danced a bit around him playfully ::Here is an idea, Rider! Why don't you, me and your father have a day out together! We'll go out into the country, have a picnic lunch, do some fishing, do some male bonding and discover a secret portal!

:: Of course, we'll also have to knock out your father first and tie him to my saddle, but that's a minor complication. It kind of prevents him from killing me on sight. ::

I did not do well on the explanation. Hiccup's eyes were almost crossed as he tried to figure what I was getting at from gestures. Oh, there are times I wish I could speak like a human!

"Okay, buddy, I really wish I could get what you're telling me. You want to knock something out… oh, you're wishing me well in the arena… to knock myself out! You're the best, Toothless!"

He hugged me, and I purred and thrummed and put my wings around him. My silly friend, you want to see the best in everything.

He eventually pushed my wings away and gave me a brotherly pat on the nose.

"I wish it had gone better between my Dad and me. He seems to think I am a great dragon slayer, and I don't know how to tell him it's because I DON'T want to slay dragons. He's going to see everything I've done in the training class as a trick. And I didn't intend that. But if I don't tell him, then he'll feel I've been lying to the tribe- deceiving everyone!" He swept an uneven strand of hair out of his eyes, "So, basically, it's now between me and Ástríður... one of us will win."

::How is that a problem?:: I asked, ::I grew up with three sisters. The answer is simple. Let her win. Problems solved. Then you, your unconscious Dad and I can look for the portal.::

I don't know how much he picked up from me on that, but I for sure picked up he and his father were no closer to each other than before… maybe their relationship was even worse because his father was assuming things that were not true.  And Hiccup was scared to tell the truth, mostly  to protect me, partly because he was enjoying the new found respect from his peers.

Hiccup crouched next to me and scratched me under the chin, "I just have to ask a big favor for you, buddy. Can I put the saddle and harness on you now and have you wear it for today? I honestly don't know how this will turn out, but there is a chance we'll have to leave this canyon. And in a hurry. I have to be ready to jump on your back and throw some supplies on the saddle hooks and have us get out of here fast!"

It was the sincerity of this words that moved me. He loved this island. He would not willingly leave it, but he anticipated something horrible could happen, and he wanted to be ready.

Me, I saw it as a potential. Much as I like Boondocks Manor, if we left this place, I would not cry dragon tears. Maybe we could even find some tribe that would accept Hiccup the way he should be. Then he'd get adopted into a new tribe, be part of a new family, some new relative would hop on my back behind Hiccup, and we'd head to Hellheimsgate. I also felt this messed up Rider of mine had a better shot leaving this place and starting over again somewhere else.

I dragged the saddle from where Hiccup had laid it in the lean-to, and I helped him put me into it. I did growl enough for him to realize he needed to leave the straps loose enough so the saddle would stay on me, but I could still breathe.  

Turns out, I was going to be wearing that saddle for a very, very long time.

The rest of the day was pleasant, and I enjoyed the chance to catch up on some sleep.

I was only awakened on the edge of afternoon and evening, when I heard footsteps and smelled someone who was not my Rider.

Uh-oh. I'd been dozing in the sun near the lake. Carefully I moved off into the shadows, letting my dark hide blend me in.

The newcomer was a young woman, actually the One True Love. It was the first time I'd seen her, and I have to admit she was very beautiful- not in the dramatic way, but in a down to earth, genuine sort of way. That's the kind of beauty that lasts forever.

Like my Hiccup, she was average height for a Firemaker, which made her very small among these villagers. She was slim but with firm muscles, and she walked like one who was comfortable with her body. Her golden hair was not as long as most of the villagers', but it was still long enough that she wore it in a simple braid that fell to her shoulder blades. Some strands that had come loose around her face showed it was very thick and wavy. Her face was typical of Firemakers from this region, and she even had some freckles. I got the impression that she was both beautiful and cute.
Her eyes were a lovely shade of blue, the color of the autumn sky, but at the moment they were hard and angry.

She wore a rather interesting outfit of a mail shirt, shoulder pads and a strange skirt with spikes on it. (How does she manage to sit in that thing?) The metal-and-stone  small animal skull pins that decorated her shoulder pads and skirt were a nice touch. Like my Firemaker, she wore no horned helmet, rather she kept her hair out of her eyes (mostly) with a head band.

She stalked around the canyon, carrying an axe almost as tall as she was, but with no difficulty. Her eyes were narrowed and jaw clenched. Oh, this lady was very cross! I guess Hiccup had won the event, after all. Good on him, but maybe not in the long run.

She glowered at our lean-to and how unkempt my Firemaker kept it. (Hey, we're single guys. We have standards to maintain).
Then she hopped up on the stone where I usually like to sun, pulled a flat stone from her belt pouch and started sharpening the axe. The screeing sound irritated my sensors, and I snarled softly.

This did not look good for my Firemaker. I crouched to the ready.

And here he came, carrying a pack-basket over his shoulder. He had no idea she was here in the canyon.

"We're leaving," he called out to me, "Let's pack up. Looks like you and me are taking a little vacation…forever."

He dropped the basket right at the base of the rock where his doom awaited. I cringed and willed him to move away fast. But he just knelt down and unlatched the basket, muttering to himself.
Just as he stood up to adjust his flight harness, Ástríður make a deliberate scrape of her stone across her axe.

"Huh? Ahhhh! What the…" Hiccup looked up and leaped back in surprise. "Wha-what are you doing here?"

Ástríður set down her sharpening stone and hefted up her axe, "I want to know what's going on." She leaped down and stalked my friend. I saw that she was taller than he was, though not by much.

I also discovered an amazing thing:  My Firemaker is a Shapechanger!   Suddenly a new creature was in the place of my talented, cheerful friend:  a small, scrawny,  timid teenager with drawn in shoulders, downcast eyes and arms crossed in front of him as if expecting to be hit with either a fist or an insult.  His shaggy reddish-brown hair fell into his eyes, making him look like a nameless thrall-slave, someone everyone ordered out and beat up.  

I realized I was now seeing the Hiccup everyone else sees.

I did not like it.  

Hiccup backed away from her as she approached; to me it looked like a parody of dancing. His mannerism upset me. How could the very same boy who had faced me down when I first pinned him against a rock allow a girl much smaller than I to bully him like this?

The girl glowered and launched into attack mode, "No one just 'gets' as good as you…especially you."

I crouched down and snarled deeply. You know that's not true! Why won't you stand up to her?


"Start talking. Are you training with someone?"

Actually, yes.

Hiccup continued retreating, 'T-training? N-no, I….uh…"  His voice had quieted down to almost a whisper, but he was stammering with nervousness.

I slunk from my current position in the bushes over to a nearby boulder so I could keep an eye on Hiccup if the girl tried to attack him.

Hiccup gasped as Ástríður grabbed his flight harness-hard- and twisted it until he was immobile.

"It had better not involve this."

"I-I-I know…. I know…uh…uh, this looks really bad, but you see this…ARRRGH!"

The girl had thrown him to the ground. I winced and let my teeth shoot out. That had to hurt.

A branch snapped somewhere in the area, probably caused by a forest creature,  and the girl startled, stepping on Hiccup and walking across his body as if he were not there.

He winced but did not react otherwise. It was very sad symbolism for how his people viewed him.

Why do they treat him this way? Why can't they see him the way I do? I snarled again.

Like a sad puppy dog, he staggered to his feet, "You're right, you're right. You're right."

He ran up to her and around her, blocking her in place by standing in front of her. I realized that he was trying to distract her, keep her from discovering me. He was trying to protect me!

Hiccup put a nervous, shaking  hand on Ástríður's shoulder, "The truth is, uh, I've been making…outfits!"

I had a rather bizarre image of Hiccup leaning against me on a winter day in the lean-to, happily knitting a cloak, pins in his mouth and a measuring tape slung around his neck. I have a variety of cloth lengths spread on my neck and back along with some sewing paraphernalia. He holds up the garment, spits the pins out says, "So, buddy. What do you think? Does it match the color of her eyes?"

I shook my head and returned to the current drama in front of me.

"You got me. It's time everyone knew." Hiccup moved his hand to grab one of Ástríður's. He put it on his flight harness. "So drrrrrrrag me back, go ahead. Let's go and….. ARRRRRKKKHHH!"

THUD!

I winced. Ugh. That really had to hurt. She had twisted his arm pretty badly, knocking him down on his back. Even I felt the thud through the ground at this distance. I was not impressed with this girl. And,I am afraid to say, not impressed with my Rider, for putting up with it.

Even if he was trying to protect me.

"OW! Wh-why did you do that?" Hiccup started to say and started to get up. Ástríður kicked him right back down.  I knew that was going to leave some black and blue marks on Hiccup.

I positioned myself into dive bomb mode, thrumming in anger.  She was bullying my friend, but I also hated the idea of someone with her skill agressively kicking a person who was obviously weaker than she and not fighting back.  I remembered Thundershadow's bullying  me when I had been pinned down and helpless and then mind-crippled.  I have a real problem with the stronger attacking the weak.  Bad habit, I know.  

Deal with it.

I  snarled softly.  

"That's for the lies." Ástríður hissed. Then she dropped her axe handle on him. It bounced off his gut and back into her hand. "And that's for everything else."
My Firemaker was gasping in agony, doubled up around his stomach and rolling. Ástríður brought back a booted foot to give him another kick.

::Enough! Back off! NOW! Or I attack! ::

My roar was particularly blood curdling. And it got the appropriate reaction.

Both teenagers froze in place for a few seconds like startled deer.

"Oh, man, that hurt." Hiccup was staggering to his feet. She leaped in front of him protectively.

"Get down!" She hit him again in the gut, knocking him onto his back.

::I said 'enough'! You asked for it! :: I roared.

I plunged out of my hiding place and launched myself at Ástríður, wings unfurled, claws out. I started to pounce.

"RUN!" Ástríður screamed, hauling her axe back to swing at me.

::I dare ya! Go on! ::

Then Hiccup was on his feet, throwing himself between the girl and me. He had somehow grabbed the axe from her and thrown it. It skittered safely away.

I forced myself out of my charge, my claws tearing yellowed grass up. I had to rear up on my hindquarters and spread out my wings, but I stopped in time.

I came back to all fours by Hiccup with a loud thump. I growled menacingly at Ástríður.

::You lay another hand on him, lady, and you'll draw back a stump. I mean it.::

And I did.

Hiccup put a restraining hand on my muzzle, but I shoved against him, angrily. He had to haul his entire weight against me, heels sliding backwards, to keep me from getting closer to Ástríður.

She had turned pale as a ghost, the pupils in her eyes so wide I could barely see the blue irises.

"It's all right," Hiccup told her, "You just scared him, that's all."

::Yeh, right. Pull the other paw. It has bells on it.:: I tossed my head and snapped angrily at Hiccup.

Ástríður did not believe it either, " I scared him ?" she snarled. And then, "Who Is 'Him'?"

:: You continue to impress me every second with your charming diplomacy, Miss Manners.  And it's 'Who is he' if you're going to be technical.  Huh. ::

Hiccup gave a pseudo friendly, desperate smile and made a bow to Astríður as if they were at a party.

"Ástríður, meet Toothless." And a bow to me, "Toothless, meet Ástríður."

I made sure my teeth were out to their longest and gave a bloodcurdling snarl.

::Un-enchanted, I am sure.::

The girl said nothing, but her mouth moved as if she wanted to scream. Then she spun around and took off for the village, dead leaves skittering under her feet.
I snorted indignantly and flexed my shoulders. Think of it as the People's way of cracking our knuckles.

:: So you can make intelligent decisions, after all.  Goodbye!::

Hiccup did not seem as relieved as I was.

He dropped his hands to his side, his shoulders drooping, "Dut duh duh", he sang, "We're dead."

I rolled my eyes.

::That's the basic irony of life, isn't it, Hiccup? No one gets out of it alive.::**

I turned around and trotted back to Boondocks Manor. I wanted some fish and a good nap.

"Heyheyheyhey! Where do you think you're going?"

Footsteps sprinting my side, a graceful swoosh, and then he landed neatly on my back. He gently pressed his left leg into my side, spinning me to turn back around, "We have to catch her, Toothless. If my father finds out about you, we really are dead!"

Good point. I am rather attached to my head and hide. I halted and sucked my breath in for him to tighten the girths. Then I took off as he was clipping my harness to his.

We caught up with the One True Love just as she was jumping over a log. Good old Target Practice. It never lets me down. I grabbed her in my claws and swooped up.

Suddenly the air was full of feminine screaming, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Oh great Óðinn's ghost!"

I smiled evilly (I'm a dragon, not a saint) and flew to a high pine tree, depositing Ástríður near one of the topmost branches.

She clung to the limb by her hands. I landed neatly nearby. The tree bent under my weight. Pine needles rained down onto the forest floor.

Ástríður was pretty brave, I admit. But I heard the ice of fear in her voice as she screamed "Get me down from here right now!"

"You have to give me a chance to explain," I heard my Rider's voice float out over my shoulder.

"I AM NOT LISTENING TO ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO SAY!"

Sigh. Women.

"Then I won't speak," Hiccup said with a very soothing voice, "Just let me show you." he sighed, "Please, Ásta?"

I saw Ástríður look up at my shoulder, her face pale and determined. She worked her way over to my side and then pulled herself to the top of the branch, hissing with the effort. Then she climbed onto my back. Hiccup leaned over, and I could see him try to offer her a hand. She smacked it away.

I growled at her, making it clear that I was not happy about this, either.

I felt her settle behind Hiccup on my back. Her weight was slight, like his.

"All right," said Her Majesty, "Now, get me down."

A hand gently stroked my neck. I growled softly.

"Toothless. Down…gently."

::It really depends on how you define 'gently.'::

I spread my wings out, and the branch started to rise slowly as I did.
Hiccup's voice: "See? Nothing to be afraid of."

::I happen to take the more minimalist approach to 'gently.' Hang on, kiddies::

I grinned evilly and launched myself upward as fast as I could, throwing them both backwards. I heard screaming behind me from both my passengers and felt my saddle being pulled backwards. The chest strap held it in place. Hiccup was safe, but Ástríður did not have flight straps.

I picked up from my Rider that Ástríður almost fell off my back, but she wrapped her arms and legs around him as I flattened out.

His thoughts roiled. :::I can't see anything! She's got a hand right on my eyes and mouth! Pfff! Ummph! This was not how I envisioned being hugged by her! Especially since she's going to kill me for this!:::

She must have moved her hand because then he could speak again.

"Toothless! What's wrong with you! Bad dragon!" Hiccup was laughing helplessly, "He-he's usually not like this!" he yelled at Ástríður.

I curled my lips back. ::If she had not hit you, I never would have done this.::

I looked down at the sea and banked to the right.

"Oh, no….." Hiccup moaned.

:: Oh, yes!   We are now starting our descent into the North Atlantic.  Please ensure that your saddle clips are secure and you are sitting in an upright position... ::

I plunged towards the ocean and then came up just at the last second, bouncing across the water surface. Chilly water splashed over us all. The shrieks were very gratifying.

"Toothless! What are you doing?" My Firemaker's voice was sharp with fear… and anger, "We need for her to like us!"

::No, buddy. We need for her to respect us.  I've had enough of this using my Rider as a punching bag.  ::

I decided to throw in some spinning; I was curious how it would affect the sound of Ástríður's screaming.

Turns out, it was a very interesting noise.

"And now for the spinning." Hiccup said flatly, as if this was a daily performance. "Thanks for nothing, you useless reptile."

::The pleasure is all mine, you silly mammal.::

And I meant that, too.

I stopped spinning and dove down again.

"Okay, okay!" Ástríður's quavering voice came from my back, "I'm sorry! J-just get me off this thing!"

I heard the genuine regret in her voice and nodded my head. I had been waiting for that. I wanted her to feel the same helplessness my Rider had felt when she had beat him up. Mean of me, maybe. But I am not as forgiving as my gentle Rider is.

I leveled out and slowed down. The wind died down, and the only sounds now were the beat of my wings and the sea crashing gently on the shoreline.

During the acrobatics the sun had started to go down, staining the world in a beautiful ember red color. I had to admit it was peaceful and enlightening.

On my back there was some shifting as someone sat up straight. I felt Ástríður's legs come down to my sides again. From my Rider's mind, I picked up that she had put her hands now on his shoulders to secure herself on board. He turned to look at her and make sure she was all right.

Awww, isn't that sweet? Okay, just for this once I'll play the part of the horse.

So I was the knight's noble steed, and I took them on a romantic flight. Hiccup let me take the lead, just shifting his feet in the pedals to adjust the tail fin. I picked up a gasp of amazement from the girl. She had not realized such a device was possible… or that the Annoying Fly at the Feast could actually make something useful.

Or could have bonded with the most dangerous dragon her people knew, forging an amazement partnership. It was a possibility she had never considered.

At that point, I think he moved in the Ignoring Scale up to the level of Unexpected Pleasant Surprise.

The path I took was actually the circuit I make – err- used to make when I did Signaling duties. I'd coast around the Isles, checking for fog patches and dangerous new rock formations. But this is a beautiful area to cruise. With the fall colors now tinting the mosses and grasses and trees to colors of fire, it was lovely from the air.
Remembering the way the Turkmene had linked Gatalas to me, I realized I could do the same for Ástríður, via my Rider.

And since we were all in contact, I started picking up feelings from her as well.
She was experiencing an emotion she had not felt since her family moved to the Birch Island. It's called wonder.

She had loved living in Southern Norway, loved her friends. She was trained how to fight as a warrior, but she enjoyed dancing and playing the flute and drawing pictures. Best of all, she loved riding the family's fjord horse, Toppur, at a mad gallop across the beaches, dreaming that he would grow wings and she could reach up and touch the clouds.

And then, one day, her parents told her that they were moving. There was a need for a ship designer on Birch Island. It was hard leaving Toppur behind, but this island was no place for a horse. For good reasons, it turned out. Horses were dragon food.
Suddenly she was thrust into a whole new world, one where being a warrior was all that mattered. She wanted to be a warrior, but she also wanted to have other things in her life. The people here were at perpetual war against dragons, so all resources of the village went to this battle. Gone were the dances, the songs, the drawings, the dreams of clouds. There was only the fighting.

As the new kid, she was reamed mercilessly. The smallest and thinnest of the children, she was an outsider with a weird name.

Well, not all the kids beat her up. There were two other kids who were outsiders. At first she tried to ally with them, but they were both extremely weird, especially the chieftain's son. When she stepped in one day to defend him, he did try to help her, but just made things worse in the end.

She'd wiped the blood from her nose and told him he could fight his own battles. Her father had praised her, though, for standing up for someone else. But she never did that again. She begged her parents to teach her self defense skills. It was hard, but she worked tooth and nail to prove she was better than these local kids.

Eventually her hard work paid off. The others in the village started recognizing this small, skinny girl was good at whatever she did. And, as she began to grow into a teenager and was no longer the smallest teenager in the village, they began to realize that she was also very beautiful.

Now she had lots of admirers, but not the right ones. Their attention was based on winning her for their own status. She cursed the poor selection of men on this island and just stuck to her goal of becoming the best dragon fighter on the island.

Eventually she hoped to be made into the chief trainer and, perhaps her ultimate dream, the Captain of the Guards.

But tonight, she did not have to be that. Now, while she rode on my back, she could be a little girl again, riding a swift steed in the clouds. She could reach out her hands and touch the clouds. She could laugh, realizing they are made of water, not wool. She could take delight in just enjoying the moment.

And it was the shy young man in front of her…

::Hey, don't forget me!::

… and this beautiful creature who was his friend…

::Thank you.::

… who had given her back something she thought she'd lost forever.

"Uh, Toothless," Hiccup whispered to me, "She's crying against my back. What do I do?"

Huh. That's what you get for being an only child. I was glad I had sisters, even if I sometimes grumble about it.

::Just be yourself.:: I thought back, hoping his hand in contact with my sensor might make help my thought drop in his head ::Right now what she needs more than anything- and what no one has yet been- is a friend.::

I picked up from my Rider's thoughts that he leaned back and squeezed Ástríður's hand where it clenched his shoulder. It must have been a kind, reassuring gesture for someone who is embarrassed to cry, for she put her arms around him and lowered her head to his shoulder, no longer crying but appreciating his kindness.  Especially since she had been so hard on him, and he had never been anything but kind to her in return.  At seven and odds, as the Viking expression goes, he was the better person.  
She sighed into his hair and whispered a thank you to him.

Isn't it funny how when you fly up and look down, the things you thought you knew look very different?

::: Oh, man. This is great. You're the best, Toothless.:::

::I know that, but actually that was you who just comforted her, not me.::

I was feeling warm and happy inside, though. It was nice to help make a friend's dream come true.

I gave them a nice show. I soared up into the clouds, and we followed the path of the clouds until the sun faded and the moon came out.

I heard Hiccup give a little whistle to get Ástríður's attention. He pointed at the Northern Lights pattern that had manifested near us.

Hmm… yes, it is late September now. That is one of the best months of the year to see Northern Lights in this part of the world. I wondered if Firemakers could feel the Northern Lights like we People can… we sense the magnetic pulses in them.

I left the best surprise for last.

We soared down by the village, passing the sentinels, their torches now lit to warn ships in the sea. The village sparkled with candlelight against the backdrop of cliffs and sea.

I heard Ástríður gasp in amazement as she saw her home from the air for the first time. I think my Rider was grinning in childish delight.

I know I was.

And then I swooped away from the village, heading back towards the sea. This time I just drifted aimlessly, and my passengers started talking to each other.

I let them have their privacy and did not listen. It was nice that they were talking, and relaxing with each other. I think they may have been discovering they had more in common than they realized. Every once in a while I'd see Hiccup's hand come past my head , pointing out a star constellation. And she seemed to enjoy it, adding in her own comments, directing his attention to constellations he had not known of.

I smiled and stared at the sea below, the sky clear and dark.

Except for a patch of boiling fog- a perfect oblong of fog, swirling in a clear sky.

Hmmm.

Wait a minute. We are in the vicinity of Hellheimsgate. I know this place! I've flown by here many times and never seen anything like that before.

And then I realized that Gatalas and the Turkmene had been right about the Portal, but wrong about how to discover it.

You need two Firemakers, but not relatives. They have to be a man and a woman.
I flew down toward the misty oblong, my passenger talking softly to each other.

::I hope you two will forgive me for this.:: I thought to them.

And I flew into the portal.

**= Toothless' comment here is parapharsed from a very famous Heinlein quote (The supreme irony of life is that no one gets out of it alive.)
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