~~With the Dragon Riders~~

"Alrighty, now, where should we land?" Hiccup asked Merida.

"Hmm," she hummed in thought.

She looked around, trying to find a place with the least amount of people. It would be best if they could land near the door, but that would also carry the risk of her people getting scared. She was about to tell him to land further away near the stables when she noticed 4 familiar figures standing at the entrance. Maybe landing there wouldn't be so bad with them there.

"Land a bit away from the door," Merida told him and pointed at a spot.

Hiccup nodded and told everyone else, "Alright guys, land with me."

The spot Merida picked was big enough to fit all the dragons on it, but there were quite a few people walking near it. As soon as they landed there were gasps of fear, since a lot of people still didn't know what had happened and had only seen the dragons when Lillias and the triplets were causing mayhem.

"Ye're back!" A feminine voice exclaimed.

The riders turned to see Wee DingWall and the Young Ladies running toward them with blankets.

"Kirsteen!" Young Macintosh exclaimed and hugged his younger sister.

Kirsteen blushed, embarrassed at her brother's display of affection despite her being the one to run to him. She kept her gaze down at the ground as she handed him a blanket.

"It's freezing out here," Kirsteen told him.

She saw Eret passing by and quickly called for him.

"Sir Eret!" She exclaimed a little louder than she had intended, causing a few people to look her way.

Eret stopped and turned to her. Her face turned red, but luckily it was that it was still dark out and the red on her face could be attributed to the glow of the torches around the castle. She quickly walked over and handed him a blanket while keeping her gaze lowered and her shoulders slumped.

"Thanks. Oi, I've been meanin' to see something. Could you look at me and stand straight?" Eret asked her.

Kirsteen looked up and slowly did as he asked.

"I thought so, you're almost as tall as I am," Eret commented.

Kirsteen only nodded and looked away from him, but continued to stand straight despite slightly shaking from nerves.

"I like that, looking down at people tends to hurt my neck, so your size is perfect," Eret commented in a tone that Kirsteen couldn't tell if it was flirty or just amused.

Just when she thought she couldn't get more blood to her face he says, "Oi, you're shakin' like a leaf. Here, you need this more than I do."

He wrapped the blanket around her and continued by saying, "My muscles give me plenty of heat, so don't worry about me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Young Macintosh saw the exchange, and wondered what to do. Kirsteen had always been so timid around other people, guys especially. She would often get upset when a suitor seemed interested in her because she thought they were just making fun of her.

She didn't know it, but she had quite a few suitors from their clan, but, ultimately, he had taken care of them. To Ryan, Kirsteen was still just a little girl who needed time to adapt to the outside world. He wasn't about to let any guy come around to tie her to a marriage she was not happy in. He took a step forward when someone hummed beside him.

"If you glare any hard I think Eret will drop dead on the spot," Astrid commented from behind him.

"Hmm? Oh, I wasn't--," Ryan began and stepped back, but Astrid stopped him.

"Woah, you don't have to explain yourself to me," Astrid told him then looked at Kirsteen. "That's your younger sister, right?"

Ryan nodded and Astrid hummed.

"Back on Berk, having siblings was rare for our generation. Before, dragons attacked simply to kill, so the adults were trained to be tough and take care of them. But then, they simply started to steal our food and burn our houses down. Somehow that hurt us worse since lack of food limited the amount of children that were born. Not to mention that the weather on Berk isn't always pleasant, and having to farm was tough enough without our food being stolen," Astrid sighed and stopped herself. "Look, what I mean to say is that I don't know what it's like to have a sibling, so I can't really judge your behavior, but maybe you should just watch for now? You wouldn't want to upset her."

Ryan glanced back at his sister. Her face was still red, but he could see Eret wasn't overstepping his boundaries as she was actually smiling.

Ryan nodded then decided to take the opportunity to learn more about Berk.

"So, there aren't a lot of people your age on Berk?" he asked her.

"Well, it depends on what you consider "a lot" and "my age". Between the ages of 18 and 22 there's about 60 of us, we were born right around the time the dragons stopped attacking to kill and started to get food," Astrid continued to explain.

Ryan listened, interested in all the circumstances she explained, but she couldn't get very far as Hiccup and Merida were beginning to beckon people over to them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sir Fishlegs, are ye alright? My father didnnae hurt ye, did he?" Iseabail asked after she handed him his blanket.

"Oh, uh, yes! I mean no! No! Not at all! I mean, it was just a bit scary, you know, seeing a man like him chasing me, but no, no, uh, other than that I'm— I'm—," Fishlegs rambled as he tried to wrap the blanket around himself but fumbled because he was too nervous. Iseabail found both corners, hugging him slightly to do so and brought them together for him, "—fine."

Iseabail smiled and sighed in relief, "I'm glad."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You know Wee DingWall after what your dad pulled you owe me, you rrreeeaaalllyyy owe me," Ruffnut told him with her arms crossed.

"Aye, Lady Ruffnut, I'll make it up to ye, I swear," Wee DingWall told her, giving her an apologetic look and handing her a blanket.

"By the way, where is yer brother? I had a blanket for him as well," Boyd asked.

"He went after my new sis, but I'll gladly take his blanket. Losers weepers," Ruffnut told him and wrapped the other blanket around herself. "Hmmm, cozy."

"Oh, the Princess and Lord Hiccup seem to want us to go over to them," Wee DingWall said.

"Ugh, Great. That means a long, boring lecture," Ruffnut groaned but walked toward them anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What, no blanket for me?" Snotlout pouted as he saw everyone else receiving one.

Ryan and Eret got one from Kirsteen, Ruffnut and Heather from Wee DingWall, Astrid and Fishlegs got one from Iseabail, and he had no idea who had given Hiccup and Merida blankets, but they did.

"Ye're always cryin' about somethin' when I see ye," Catriona mused as she walked over toward him.

Snotlout cleared his throat, embarrassed that she had caught him being less than Snotlout again.

"Here, I had to carry three blankets so ye could get one," Catriona told him and handed him the blanket.

"Awesome! Thanks!" Snotlout exclaimed and took the blanket when he noticed Catriona wasn't amused.

"Uh, I mean, your actions are very much appreciated, my lady...?" Snotlout tried again.

Catriona's eyes flickered with amusement, and the corner of her lips made a slight, almost unnoticeable turn up, "Yer usual mannerisms are appallin' and undeservin' of the attention of a lady of my status."

"Okay, those were a lot of words and your accent made them harder to understand, but the few things I did understand sounded like you don't want me around," Snotlout guessed.

He looked away from her, pouting at being rejected so quickly. It wasn't the first time a girl had told him off or rejected him, but he usually at least got to flirt first. He didn't even try yet and she was already putting him down. He didn't mind constant rejection; Astrid had done it for years, same with Ruffnut and Heather. Maybe he should have tried harder to win Minden over after what happened. She seemed a little interested in him.

"Nae. I find ye amusing, so I won't stop yer pursuit," Catriona told him.

Snotlout just stared at her, so Catriona added, "If ye decided to pursue a lady of my status, I won't get in yer way."

"If you mean your sister, thanks but no thanks. She's pretty, don't get me wrong, but she's not my type," Snotlout replied.

Catriona stifled a giggle then began to walk toward the huddle the young adults were beginning to form.

"Was that not what she was talking about?" He asked Hookfang.

The dragon shook his head and rolled his eyes at his rider's obliviousness.

"Fine then, don't tell me," Snotlout replied.

Catriona continued to walk but decided to say one last thing, "By the by, I hope ye haven't forgo'en about the favor ye owe me."

Snotlout remembered their meeting during the festival where she told him how to win the game on the condition that he would do her a favor.

"But what do you want?" Snotlout asked.

"I'll tell ye later," Catriona replied and walked away.

He was about to walk toward the group when he saw Fishlegs and Iseabail still talking a few feet away from the group. He decided to walk over and ask Iseabail about her sister.

"Hey, umm, Isabell, is it?" Snotlout asked.

"Iseabail, yes?" Iseabail corrected his pronunciation but answered him nevertheless.

"So, like, what is up with your sister? Is she a big fan of riddles or something?" Snotlout asked.

"Snotlout," Fishlegs whispered.

"What? I'm just asking a question," Snotlout replied.

"Oh, nae, it's quite alright," Iseabail told Fishlegs then turned back to Snotlout, "Not particularly, why do ye ask?"

"Well, she just told me I don't deserve the attention of a lady of her status or something, then she said that she wouldn't stop my pursuit?" Snotlout replied. "I thought she was talking about you, so I declined cause you're not my type, but then she laughed which makes me think I was wrong."

Fishlegs and Iseabail immediately understood what she meant, but were very surprised. Iseabail especially since she knew her sister better than anyone else. She was so surprised she completely ignored how humiliating it would be for anyone to find out she was rejected by what they perceived to be a lowly, Viking commoner.

"What do you mean you declined?! Why would you decline?! You were given the chance to court Iseabail and you just declined?" Fishlegs asked incredulous then cleared his throat. "Sorry, I don't know why, umm, I mean, you didn't even know what you were declining."

Iseabail smiled timidly, touched by his outrage and the implications his reaction gave. Maybe just Fishlegs knowing about the rejection wasn't so bad. 

Iseabail then said, "Well, Catriona is usually straightforward and blunt. It's not like her to say somethin' in a cryptic manner. I'll ask her fer ye."

"Thanks, but when you do, could you not mention me? I don't want her thinking I couldn't figure it out on my own," Snotlout told her.

"But you couldn't figure it out on your own?" Fishlegs pointed out.

"Yeah, but I don't want her knowing that," Snotlout replied like it was obvious.