Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Missing You
"Sigyn!"
Sigyn raised her head, her hands pausing in the work of milking Bertha. Bertha's calf Todd nuzzled closer, almost knocking her off the stool as he tried to get to the bucket of milk. Holding him at bay, she tilted her head listening.
"Sigyn."
Rescuing the milk from Todd she locked him out of Bertha's stall till she could return and finish. She hung the bucket on a hook and pushed open the barn door, squinting through the spitting wet. The day was cloudy and gray, the trees heavy with the constant drizzle of early summer rain. A chill seeped under her collar, raising goosebumps on her neck and down her spine. It was the season of soggy feet and her boots had not been properly dry in almost a week as the almost daily thunderstorms passed over. She'd left her father on the porch and as she closed the barn door she heard him call again. Resigning herself to the slog of soggy toes she set off through the damp grass toward the house.
"What is it, Dad?" She rounded the corner of the house and he came into view. As far as she could tell all was as she had left it, her father sitting in the chair on the porch, the blanket draped over his boney legs. "Do you need something?" she asked, picking the soggy strand of hair from her cheek. "I'm sorry. I haven't had a chance to make lunch yet. I don't think Mrs. Ingerman is coming today with the baby so close to coming."
"Somethings in the house," he said without preamble, gesturing to the partially open front door. It had been left ajar to air out the house.
"What was it?" she asked, pushing the door open the rest of the way.
"I'm not certain. I'd say it was a bird but it sounded too big for that." There was a scuffling upstairs and a thud as something was tipped over.
"You say it wasn't a bird?"
"If it was a bird, it was a large one. Only one way to find out."
"I suppose so," she said, her suspicions aroused as a snarl came from upstairs in her bedroom.
"Be careful," he said as she stepped inside. She took the dusty broom from its corner before tiptoeing up the stairs. Her bedroom door stood ajar and she gripped the broom handle tighter before using it to gently push the door open. The sight that greeted her was sheer chaos. Her belongings had been knocked from her shelves, dresser, bed, and desk. Her laundry basket had been gutted of its dirty innards which were spewed across the floor. But where and what was the spawn of Loki who reveled in this much chaos? Her foot bumped one of the books that had tumbled from her dresser. Dull yellow and purple petals peeked out from between the pages. One of the small flowers Snotlout had dropped on her head the day he'd left the edge. Retrieving the books she tucked the secret back between the pages and turned her attention back to her room.
A scuffle came from the depths of her laundry basket and the mound of clothes shuttered as a small reptilian head peeped out surveying its surroundings. She sank onto her bed still gripping the broom. A dragon. Of course. But why in her room again? The little creature wriggled out of the clothes and in one fluid motion was on the bed beside her sniffing. She leaned away from it. It looked like the same kind of dragon that delivered the letter from Snotlout two weeks ago. Sure enough, there was another parchment tied to its leg along with a bedraggled piece of cloth. The dragon chirped and wriggled closer, its tongue flicking out to lick its eyeball. It didn't look aggressive, but then again her room told a slightly different story. But how to retrieve the letter?
She rescued a pouch from the floor and pulled out a piece of dried fish. She held it out on her fingertips toward the dragon who sniffed. In the blur of motion, the treat was snatched from her and the dragon sat chewing contentedly. While it was occupied she cautiously retrieved the letter. The cloth turned out to be a rather old and ragged sock. Finishing, the dragon shook itself and rubbed along her thigh reminding her forcibly of a cat. As quickly as it had come the little dragon slunk out of her room and down the stairs. She watched it long enough to be sure that it went out to the front door before returning to her bed and the soggy parchment.
Shoving her rumpled blanket to the side she removed the ties and laid the three pages out on her bed. She frowned as she picked up the first. The little dragon must have flown through the rain for the writing was smeared badly, the ink bleeding into unintelligible blobs. She could only make out a few disjointed lines on the first page but the handwriting on the other two made it clear this was indeed a letter from Snotlout.
"Hey, stitcher girl!
It's been 2 weeks since … …I am not even sure you got… …I realized I never told you how to send letters back… …reason you never replied… …dragons are making it… …You're going to need…"
But at this point, the writing blurred too badly to be read. Sigyn bit her lip and squinted at it but squinting didn't help. Sighing she took up the second parchment which was more intelligible. The writing picked up mid-sentence.
"…so annoying. I mean I know he idolizes me but he's taken it… …even down to liking Astrid. The nerve of that kid. And he just shows… …he wants to be a dragon rider. I know Hiccup promised he… …pray to Odin that day never comes. He was so desperate to prove himself to us that he stole the Dragon Eye and went treasure hunting with it. Hiccup had to go save his butt because he picked a dangerous cave system to explore. Hiccup was furious. The next morning… …was gone. We had no idea where the twirp was until his dragon Fanghook (yes he even copied Hookfang's name) showed up with a ransom note tied to his horns. Not only did Gustav run away but he got captured by Dagur too!"
Sigyn paused wondering. Could he possibly mean that Gustav? Gustave Larson? There was only one Gustav in the village she could recall. But was it really that Gustav Larson, the tailor's son? She had mixed feelings about that kid. On the one hand, she felt bad for him as he struggled to garner attention from his inattentive mother who doted on his younger sister instead. And yet trouble and Gustav seemed to go hand in hand, one way or another, from a simple smashed crock of milk to the incident that had crippled her father. Not that she blamed him for the accident. Still, Gustav's bids for attention were often the source of his troubles. She'd had ample chance to observe him as she learned stitchery from his mother in the months after her father's injury. According to Snotlout, Gustav had continued this pattern even if he now sought approval and attention from an alternative source. If she were honest, she had seen the same tendencies in Snotlout, just to a lesser degree. No wonder he seemed to be at such loggerheads with Gustav. She returned to the letter.
"… Hiccup had to go save him again, only to find out it was all a trap to try and catch him and Toothless. Gustav had double-crossed… …Dragon Eye for Dagur. Only not really. In the end, that runt led Dagur to the same island that Hiccup saved him from the day before with the promise of the treasurer. Apparently, it was a trap for Dagur after all. Whatever none of it would have happened if he had just stayed… …give Loki himself a headache. Anyway, we finally got Gustav and the Dragon Eye back safe and sound. Hiccup even found a new lens for the Dragon Eye, but don't tell Gustav. Dagger got away again but what can you expect? I wasn't with them so of course he got away. After everything, Gustav agreed that "just maybe" he was not quite ready to be a dragon rider. Thank Thor he went back to Berk.
Uncle Stoick got a new dragon called a Rumblehorn. There was this new crazy dragon that kept tearing apart the edge, knocking stuff over, and destroying everything. Like I said, crazy. We kept trying to catch it but had no luck. It got to a point where Hiccup got uncle involved. Turns out, the dragon was just trying to warn us about an enormous wave headed for the island. Fishface says it could probably sense a coming earthquake which would cause the tidal wave. I have no idea. At any rate, uncle took a liking to the dragon. He used to ride a thunder drum but this new one is like a shiny beetle."
Sigyn followed the arrow to where a badly smeared drawing was cramped in the corner of the page. She could just make out the shape. Interesting.
"We found other new dragons recently and it has had Hiccup and Fishface over the moon. Fishface was messing around with the dragon eye and I guess found out about the original home of gronckles or something. All I know is that when he and Hiccup returned from exploring this island they brought a ton of wild gronckles back with them. The reason? Apparently, a new dragon, a catastrophic quaken, pushed them all off their island. When I say a ton of gronckles I mean we were overrun. It was driving us all insane. Well, all of us except Hiccup.
When Fishface asked Hiccup what the plan was to get the gronckles back on their island Hiccup just shrugged and said it was just nature's way. Whatever that's supposed to mean. Nature smachure. I wasn't going to live with gronckles everywhere for the next two years. Apparently, Fishface was unhappy with Hiccup's answer as well. I mean really, can you imagine anyone on Berk just shrugging and saying that's Vikings for you if anyone tried to invade our home. I mean come on, how lame would that be?
I told Fishface we should run that quaken off the gronckle's island. At first, he hated the idea, but he came around in the end. They always do when they see there is no other way. I trained Fishface to face the quaken. To be honest I thought about hypnotizing Fishface again. I know, I know what you would say about that but it would have been easier. I had to teach Fishface how to fight dirty, although I would argue there's no such thing as fighting dirty. Sure, maybe if it's a competition or whatever with set rules but not in actual combat. Hiccup never seems to understand that. When it comes to life and death situations there are no rules other than get out alive. So in the end not only did I have to teach Fishface but we also had to keep it a secret from the others."
She picked up the last page which had been inside the other two and was not smudged at all.
"When we were finally ready to take on the dragon we snuck away. Only Fishface never felt it necessary to tell me just how huge this thing was. I mean the catastrophic quaken is no red death, but I still never imagined it was going to be that big. It might as well be Thor's hammer Mjolnir for all the punch it packs. I swear I thought Fishface was right behind me. It wasn't until I ran into the others who must have guessed where we went that I realized Fishface was still back on the island. So everyone thought I just abandoned him. I guess I forgot to teach Fishface about strategic retreats. I mean come on, he gave me no warning of how huge that thing was. It only made sense to regroup and get help or at least come up with a better plan. But no, not Fishface.
Well, it wasn't a complete disaster. Turns out the quaken was not as ruthless as everyone thought. Just big, powerful, and scary looking. It just wanted to live on the island with the gronckles not push them off. It wasn't a total waste of training, after all, Fishface did have the spine to stand up against the quaken long enough to figure that all out. And hey, he never would have had the courage if I hadn't taught him. But no, while everyone's happy for Fishface growing a backbone I just get lectured about endangering a teammate. As if Fishface was not the one to suggest the idea in the first place. Whatever. It's all stupid anyway.
I hope you're doing better and you're actually getting these letters. You have to write back. No excuses now since I told you how to do it. Tell me everything you've been up to. Tell me anything to distract me from these mutton heads around me. The biggest mutton head is this giant lizard sitting beside me. He is dead asleep. He misses you. All right. All right. We both miss you. So hurry up and write back soon. Later.
Dragon Boy.
Ps: I almost forgot, but I got Hiccup to agree to give me and Hookfang the supply run so I will get to visit Berk more often. I can't stay long but I promise to visit. Maybe in a few weeks. See you then."
Sigyn let the letter drop back onto her bed and flopped down beside it, throwing an arm over her face. It sounded like Snotlout and the dragon riders were pretty busy. A run-in with Dagur, a rampaging wild dragon, and training to fight another. She sighed and bit at her lips before she realized she was laying on the wet sock. Dubiously, she picked it up and examined it. Why in the Norns had Snotlout sent her this old sock? It was threadbare and there was a hole in the heel. Did he want a new pair of socks and this was his weird way of asking her? No matter how she looked at it, it just didn't make sense. Why not just ask? Then again maybe he had and it had just been smeared out. Was he perhaps trying to tell her how big of a sock he needed? He could have at least washed it before sending it, not that she had any room to speak with all her dirty clothes strewn over the floor. Well, whatever his reason for the sock, it was nice to receive another letter.
It was a bit of a relief. She often found her thoughts drifting to Snotlout, wondering where he was and what he was doing. Was he okay? Had he or one of the others been hurt or lost? Had they found Dagur yet? She glanced at the soggy pages beside her. It would not take away all her worry and in some ways it made her worry more to hear about all the wild adventures the Dragon riders seem to have. But something was better than nothing. Well, at least Snotlout was well and had remembered her. Did he think about her as much as she thought about him?
But now, how was she supposed to write him back? The rain had blurred his instructions. Obviously, she would need a dragon, but who was to say which were wild and which were trained mail carriers? She was not about to go searching the island for dragons. How did the dragons even know where to go? If she had a letter ready maybe the next time a dragon came she could tie it to its leg. But would it return to Snotlout? Perhaps the best course was just to wait for Snotlout's next visit and ask him then. Hopefully, that would not be too long.
The yacks were grunting in the barn, no doubt wanting to be let loose to feed on the dewy grass. Leaving the letter to dry on her bed she draped the sock over her chair and headed back downstairs, opting to clean her room later. Back to the mundane routine of daily chores. She had to admit, she did envy Snotlout a bit. His every day was a new adventure and hers, well, there were only so many ways you could alter your day when it was confined to the forest and this house.
She wished she dared to venture into town more often… but dragons. She didn't even like getting as close as the Ingerman's house and they were on the outskirts. All because of her debilitating fear. She hadn't always feared them, well not to this extent. She used to train to protect the village from the dragon raids like all the other children. At that time the whole village feared dragons. But even then, no one in the village had been petrified when they encountered one. No one just froze up. But she did, even after the truth of the dragons had been revealed. Ever since the incident nine years ago, she could not face dragons, particularly monstrous nightmares or deadly nadders. She had tried, she really had, but she'd never been able to get past that… except with Hookfang. That was a miracle in and of itself. It still seemed hard to believe at times. She had ridden a dragon… and enjoyed it! Even wanted to do it again. She had even tried to go back into the village recently but whatever spell Snotlout and Hookfang had woven over her did not extend to other dragons. She wished it had. It would have made taking care of her father easier. Although these smaller ones were perhaps manageable although not necessarily desirable.
She had been ten when the incident with the dragons happened. Afterward, her father had arranged to move outside the village as most of the attacks seemed to happen there. He'd taken great pains to keep her sheltered from dragons as much as he could but at the age of 14, their roles had reversed. Her father was injured and Sigyn was forced to become the caretaker for him. She had arranged it all with Chief Stoick. She would become a tailor which would allow her to stay at home with her father. In return, their basic needs and rations would be provided by the village. She would receive these rations and the tailor's orders through the Ingermans. She had tried to make herself comfortable going into town after that, she had, but every time she froze at the sight of the large dragon lumbering around the village. It was simpler to avoid them altogether. So she stayed home and tended to her father.
It wasn't easy taking care of her father, especially right after his accident. He was not a small man and at 14 Sigyn had not had the knowledge or the muscle to move him around and see to his bodily needs. It had been a steep learning curve and both had shed tears of frustration and grief. But as time passed she had grown and they had worked out the easiest ways to maneuver him around. Eventually the unfamiliar and uncomfortable became routine and what had been almost impossible was managed without a second thought. As difficult as it was for her to adapt, she knew it had been even harder for her father. He'd gone from a powerfully built fighter to a paralyzed blind man who relied on his daughter for many of his daily needs. For several weeks after his initial injury he had been despondent and sullen as he'd recovered. To lose both his mobility and sight in one go was a debilitating blow. The incident had nearly killed him. He'd been lucky to survive. Those first few months had been the worst. Then one day his attitude radically altered. She still wasn't sure why he'd changed, but she had been relieved and grateful.
"Sigyn?" came her father's call from the porch. She jumped and realized she had been standing in one place gazing at the wall. She set the broom back in its place amidst the dust and strode out onto the porch and froze.
"I take it this little reptile was the bird," he said dryly. He sat there in his chair calmly scratching the chin of the dragon who minutes before had terrorized her laundry. The little devil lay in his lap growling contentedly. She sank into the chair opposite her father, eyeing them both leerily.
"Another letter from Snotlout?"
"He's doing well."
"Are you going to write him back?"
"I can't. His instructions were washed out." She leaned back in her chair.
"I see," he said as the dragon settled itself. "Did he say when he would be back?"
"A few weeks maybe," she said with a sigh.
"You miss him." It was a statement, not a question.
"And so what if I do," she shot back. "Is there a reason I shouldn't?"
"No reason at all. I'm glad the two of you are so close."
"I don't exactly feel close at the moment," she admitted. "I'm also not sure Snotlout would admit to that description even if distance were not an issue."
"Mmmmm…. perhaps, but he seems less unyielding than his father."
"Is his dad that bad?"
"You don't know Spitlout Jorgenson," he said with a slight frown. "Stubborn to a fault as is any Jorgenson, prideful, and unyielding, to say the least."
"Is he mean?" she asked. Her father was silent for a moment thinking.
"If so it's not intentional. Spitelout would not waste the time or energy. He would not intentionally cause someone bodily harm save in line duty and he's not one to raise a hand against a woman or child. But he is not often careful with his words. I dare say it never occurs to him. He is blunt and tactless and certainly offends more often than not. But to his credit, he and Gobber have served well at Stoick's side even though he hasn't always seen eye to eye with his brother. It pays to have him with you in a tough situation. He's not one to shirk hard work… if it's his work to do that is."
"Did you work with him a lot before the accident?" she asked.
"Often enough."
"Snotlout doesn't seem to get along with him much?"
"It does not surprise me. One has to be almost indifferent to him to deal with him well and that is something a son could never be to his father. It's in a son's nature to crave his father's approval. Spitelout does not impress easily and doesn't think to give affection freely. It's not in his nature, never has been. The only one I have seen him be affectionate with is his wife and I dare say that he is not so open about it as he once was in his youth."
The little dragon stretched lazily in her father's lap, its mouth gaping wide in a toothy yawn. She instantly grew more attentive, watching the lizard as it scampered from her father's lap and in the direction of the barn. She got to her feet.
"Where are you headed off to now?"
"I need to let the yaks out and I have a sneaking suspicion that the dragon is headed for the chicken coop."
"You could be right. At least the rain has let up for a while."
"How about eggs for lunch if your friend hasn't eaten them all?"
"Sounds wonderful."
Grabbing the broom once again Sigyn set off in the direction of the barn. Perhaps the dragon was trained to carry mail but that didn't mean it wouldn't steal eggs. She wondered vaguely when the next letter would come.
Two and a half weeks later the third dragon arrived. Sigyn had just set mutton chops over the fire to roast and settled down at the table to continue her stitching when her father spoke.
"I believe we have another visitor."
He'd paused the rudimentary stitches on a tunic in his lap and tilted his head toward the open door. Claws clicked on the wooden porch and Sigyn turned from the fireplace to see a dragon hesitating in the doorway. Its nose twitched, no doubt smelling the meat beginning to roast. This dragon was smaller than the other two and a soft blue-green. She waited for it to come inside but the dragon did not cross the threshold. Setting aside her work she went to open the door all the way, the promise of a letter drawing her near. The door opened fully, the dragon sniffed at her boots but did not make a move to come inside.
"Rather well-behaved little spitfire, isn't it," said her father, putting his stitching on the table. He gave a short whistle and snapped his fingers near the floor. The creature remained still. Frowning he tried again, pursing his lips to make a kissing noise. Cautiously the dragon moved into the house, its nose twitching as it took in the surroundings. Her father held expectant fingers towards it and in a few moments was rewarded with a timid lick. Grinning, he pulled the creature into his lap like another cat.
"There now, you must have flown a long way," he said, scratching under its chin. "Sigyn, a bowl of water please." Shaking her head she went for the water. "I'll take that," he said, handing her the letter. She took it and gently pressed the water into his outstretched hand.
"Anyone seeing you would think you had a dragon all this time," she said as she untied the bound pages.
"You can't honestly tell me you are afraid of this cat-sized dragon after flying on Hookfang with Snotlout."
"That depends. You know how I feel about dragons leaping through my window. And the other one tore apart my bedroom."
"I suppose that's fair," he said, settling back in his chair, the dragon already curling up to sleep.
"I think I'm not so much terrified by the small ones as I am startled by their sudden appearance. Just don't let that one slip away. I spent 10 minutes last time chasing the other one away from the hen house."
"I doubt this one will do that," he said, again taking up his sewing, his fingers feeling along the seam until he found the last stitch. Satisfied that the dragon would not cause any immediate trouble, Sigyn gave into the draw of Snotlout's letter. She drew a chair close to the fire so she could turn the mutton as she read.
"Sigyn!
Are you even getting my letters? I chose this dragon because Hiccup let slip that this one was the most reliable. It's been over six weeks since my first letter. Are you just ignoring me? Hiccup said that all his letters are getting through and we've had several responses from Berk. Are you and your dad okay? You have to write back, that's the point of penpals.
Anyway, maybe you heard from Fishface's mom that we were back on Berk a few days ago. I swear I was going to come visit you but just before I got a chance to sneak away, Uncle Stoick was on our case about some ships that had been sunk lately. Did you hear about the ships? Bucket and Mulch both said they were sunk by a dragon rider. But the thing is that the six of us riders were together all day, although I would not put it past the twins. Tuff even got all dramatic and pretended to admit to it. He is the definition of crazy. Anyway, the news of another dragon rider is not exactly reassuring, to say the least. Before we knew it, uncle had us flying off to investigate. Sorry I didn't get a chance to visit.
We followed the trail of sunken boats and finally caught up with the dragon rider. You will never guess who it was. I never would have guessed. Her name is Heather. We met her a few years ago when she tried to steal the book of dragons for Alvin the Treacherous. A few years ago Alvin was giving us riders some real trouble. About the same time that Dagur became a problem actually. Alvin wanted to train to ride dragons himself so he could take over Berk. To be fair, Alvin was holding Heather's parents as hostages. Eventually, Astrid saw through Heather and confronted her. I mean, I would have been upset too if she tried to steal Hookfang, although I think the only person he might willingly go with other than me is you. Anyway, we got Heather's parents back, beat Alvin, and then Heather left with her family. We haven't heard anything from her since. That is until the other day.
She shows up out of nowhere with her long dark hair and green eyes. Thor has she grown! I think I will have to add her to my harem. Unfortunately, she and Astrid are very close so it's difficult to get those two apart. Oh, and did I mention that Heather rides a freaking razor whip for a dragon. Big, shiny, and sharp. But the question was why was she attacking ships? Hiccup, being nosy, followed her and found out she was meeting with trader Johan. There's always trouble around that guy. Johan said Heather's after Dagur because he attacked and raided her village. Her parents were killed. She was raiding his ships in an attempt to find him and get revenge. She's gotten quite intense. I mean we want to get him too but we are not blinded by it…. In fact, Hiccup could use a bit more focus in that area. He's been kind of distracted by all the new dragons.
Hiccup had to go somewhere, who knows where, and all of a sudden Heather got word from Johan. He knew where Dagur was. Heather convinced us to go after him with her even though Hiccup and Toothless were away. Kinda guilted Astrid into it if I'm being honest, but I wasn't about to let them all go without me. I guess it was a good chance to catch Dagur, only things got out of hand. We had Dagur, he was ours, but all of a sudden Heather wants to lop off his head right there on the deck of the ship. I mean I get it, he killed her parents and it would have been simple just to take him out, but Astrid and the others wouldn't let her.
They fought and just as Heather was about to kill Dagur, Hiccup shows up out of the blue. Apparently, he flew back to Berk to ask his father about Heather. Then he breaks the craziest news. Heather is Dagur's sister. She admitted that her parents were adoptive but she didn't remember her family. Isn't that crazy? Heather and Dagger are both Oswald the Agreeable's kids. Uncle recognized the horn he'd given Oswald at Heather's birth. Needless to say Heather had no idea. Quite the thunderbolt from Thor. Anyway, in all the explaining Dagur got away again. Wouldn't have happened if Astrid had just let Heather finish him. Just saying, but then again it's probably for the best. After everything, Heather left to think things over and I guess be by herself or something. So it's just the six of us dragon riders again.
Do you remember that winter we had those speed stinger dragons come to Berk?"
A shiver went up Sigyn's spine and she glanced at the trap door under the stairs. Did she remember the speed stingers? How could she forget? If there was one thing that contended with her fear of dragons it was her almost equal fear of small spaces. Fishlegs's older brother Shepard had come to help them evacuate when the speed stingers had begun to raid the village. But Sigyn had insisted that moving her father would be more dangerous than staying put. If the dragons caught them while they were outside they would both be helpless. Shepard had been unsure at first but at last, Sigyn had convinced him. Instead, Sigyn had quickly shut all the animals in the barn hoping it would keep the dragons out. She had then barred the entrances to the house and prepared to wait it out.
That had worked until the speed stingers had actually shown up. She hadn't thought of the fact that a tree grew next to her window upstairs. Thank Thor her bedroom door, though flimsy, had been closed. It had bought her and her father the few moments she had needed to get them both into the root cellar under the stairs. She had sat next to her father in that small dark space silently shouting down the voice in her head that screamed at her to get out of the cramped space. Luckily the voice that shouted about dragons in her house had been louder and she had stayed put, hanging all her weight on the rope she'd tied to the inside of the trap door.
Her heart had almost lept from her chest when the dragons had sniffed and growled about the trap door. She would have screamed if her father had not clamped his hand over her mouth. He'd taken over the rope and she'd cowered in the corner trying to keep her heart from beating too loudly or giving out altogether. The dragons had known they were there but try as they might there was no way they could pry up the trap door with her father pulling it down. He may have lost strength in his legs but he was still a large man and his arms were just as powerful as ever.
They stayed there for what felt like days, though the dragons were only in the house for a few hours. They stayed until Shepard had come to tell them the dragons had been driven from the island. Her father said it was not quite 12 hours. It was still 12 hours too long. They had emerged into a ransacked house. She remembered the speed stingers just fine, although she wished she didn't. She resumed reading.
"We ran into them again. It was straight out of a nightmare, I swear. We found an injured speed stinger, just an adolescent, but still. And of course, what does Hiccup insist we do? Yeah, he wants to bring it back to the edge and nurse it back to health. I mean, Hiccup knows these are highly dangerous pack animals and I was sure to remind him of that. Even his father was frozen the last time we ran across them. But nope, the others must have short memories. Not me! I will never forget the two days I spent completely frozen. Speed stingers are dangerous! Ruffnut even got stung while we were trying to splint the dumb thing's leg. Whatever.
After a few days, the speed stinger was up and walking again but Hiccup and Fishface still wanted to keep it around. Did I mention that Fishface was stung while taking care of it? So what if it's only a juvenile and only paralyzes half of your body instead of the whole thing. It went crazy and tried to sting us all. It got Tuff again and Barf. If you want creepy, see a two-headed dragon dragging around a limp head behind it. Even after that Hiccup still didn't want to discuss taking it back until the next morning when the splint was supposed to come off. I decided to keep a close eye on the speed stinger. And then the thing that just snaps it.
I was spying on the speed stinger when Fishface took the brace. Did I mention that they named it? Yeah, they named the dragon Speedy. Real original. But seriously what happened next was terrifying. Just after Fishface took its brace off I saw that thing run on top of the water. It ran on top of the water! Fishface was going on about the evolution of dragons and crap but all I could think was Loki hates us. See if that little speed stinger can run on the water so can its whole pack and that means that the pack could track us to the edge. I thought for sure that Hiccup would see sense then, but there's still no word of moving it back to where it came from. All this time I'm sure its pack is getting closer and closer.
So I enlisted Tuffnut to help me. She tied up the speed stinger while it was sleeping and we both hopped on Hookfang. We flew as fast as we could because at sunset the little demon would wake up. Speed stingers are primarily nocturnal. Just as we were flying over an island it woke up. Apparently, Tuff should not be trusted to tie up a dragon because it got loose and stung her. She almost fell off Hookfang. Luckily I caught her, unluckily Hookfang got stung too. We crash-landed on the island just as the sun went down. So we were stuck on an unfamiliar island in the dark. Both Ruff and Hookfang are out of commission and it's only then that the others show up and I look like the bad guy again.
I can't believe Hiccup called me, ME, the dragon-napper. I was trying to take it back to where it belonged. Far far away from us and dragons edge. But no, I'm the dragon-napper, not Hiccup, even though this whole thing is his fault for not listening to me in the first palace. I get that he likes dragons but no dragon is worth our lives. Well alright, Hookfang and I guess the others feel the same way about their dragons. But a dangerous wild dragon? No way! But it wasn't exactly the time to be arguing.
By this time, just as I had predicted, the speed stinger pack had tracked us down. So there we were, stuck on a strange island at night while the pack of speed stingers was closing in around us. They got Meatlug and Fishface next. The others were busy with their own speed stingers. They were everywhere. I figured they were only here for Speedy. I had to do something to protect Hookfang, Ruffnut, Fishface, and Meatlug. So I grabbed Speedy and ran. It was stupid I know, but it worked. It drew the pack away from the others… and toward me.
But the weirdest thing, just as the pack was closing in to ambush me, Speedy attacked the other speed stingers. He saved me! I do not understand it, but I'm not complaining. Hiccup said it has something to do with pack dynamics and instincts. Whatever it was, I was just glad to not be stung into oblivion. I hate being paralyzed. It makes me feel so helpless.
In the end, we drove off the pack. You know what else I don't understand? Hiccup. All this time it's like he wanted to keep a highly dangerous dragon, but as soon as it seems that Speedy actually might want to stay and might protect us rather than attack us, Hiccup decides that Speedy should go back with his own kind. I don't understand his brain. I'm not going to lie, I definitely will not miss the speed stingers. Probably not even Speedy. Probably…
Anyway, we eventually made it back to the edge. I didn't get stung and Hookfang is doing fine. We might get to see you again soon. We are running out of supplies and we didn't get all we needed when we came back before. I still don't know if you're even getting my letters. I hope so. I guess if you're not I'll see you soon enough.
Dragon Boy."
Sigyn let the letter drop into her lap with a sigh.
"What did he say?" asked her father, bringing her out of her thoughts with a jolt. He was still stroking the little dragon who was fast asleep. His sewing was finished and set aside. She couldn't help but be struck by the sight. If she wasn't so afraid of dragons would her father have wanted a dragon of his own? He certainly seemed at ease with the scaly little creature in his lap. Was her fear holding him back?
"Sigyn?"
She shook herself. "Hmm?"
"I think the mutton chops are done?" She quickly turned her attention back to the fire only to discover that dinner was thoroughly burnt.
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Alright, thanks so much for your continued patience. Once again it's been quite a stretch since the last chapter was uploaded. But the good news is that I have another chapter to release next week. I was intending to package the two together but figured that 14,000-15,000 words was pushing it for a chapter and there was such a natural break here. So here is chapter 8, and 9 will be out as soon as I finish edits. What do you think of Torban's (Sigyn's father's) description of Spitlout? A few more hints to Sigyn's and Torban's past. Don't worry. You will find out in a few chapters. The next chapter is all from Snotlout's POV. We will see a sprinkling of Hiccup's and Torban's POV in the story as well… but much less. I'm so excited to cause drama in the next few chapters. Can you guess what will happen? Don't cheat and read the comment threads on AO3… or do if you like. Let me know what you think and let me know I haven't lost you all. Thank you all so much for your support.
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