EIGHT: The Invisible Rival

If she said she wasn't the least bit interested in the dragons, she would be lying-and Camicazi never lied to herself. Everyone across the Archipelago knew of Berk's peace with the dragons-though opinions of the pact varied. For some traditional Tribes-such as the Murderous and the Visithugs-it was a betrayal beyond all imagining and immediately negated all Treaties, isolating the Hooligans from them. But others-the Bog Burglars, the Peaceables and astonishingly, the Berserkers-had reaffirmed their friendship with the Hooligans of Berk. Of course, her arrangement with Hiccup predated the destruction of the giant Red Death dragon and the end of the dragon raids.

She walked thoughtfully up the village. Superficially, it looked any typical Archipelago Viking village, with longhouses decorated with wooden dragon's heads and painted in typical red and green colours. The scents of fire and hot metal wafted from the forge and mixed with the tempting smells of bread baking from the bakery. Hooligans walked back and forth, driving animals or transporting tools, food or wood around the Plaza and they nodded to the stranger, though their faces were wary and not as welcoming as she would have expected as their future Chieftess. She folded her arms ands watched as a small orange and yellow dragon flittered down to land on an ordinary Viking's shoulder and his face instantly lit with delight.

"Ah-there you are Eyelicker!" he said cheerfully as the dragon improbably licked its own left eyeball and chirruped. "Have you been annoying No-Longer-Silent Sven's sheep again? You know he gets upset when you guys set their wool on fire!"

If possible, the creature looked embarrassed and gave a small chitter. The man petted it with a sigh.

"No doubt I'll end up hearing about it from him-well, you've got that little heart shaped mark on your wing, haven't you so everyone knows it's you! Okay...well, I've got a nice cod there for you back at the house..." And he turned and walked back towards his home, still chatting happily. Cami watched him thoughtfully: as a young girl, she had been taught even the small dragons were dangerous and that they had to be avoided or killed. Yet here, most people had one-even children. And as she looked, the evidence of dragons became more obvious-sleeping dragons on the roofs or behind houses and people interacting with them as if they were pets or any other animal.

Which they were. Just flying, fire-breathing ones. I guess they just need more careful handling...

Then an orange Monstrous Nightmare flew low over the Plaza, seemingly on fire. A voice echoed down.

"ARGH! Hookfang-you're doing this on purpose!" As she watched, the dragon landed and a stocky young man leapt from the dragon, racing to the nearest water trough and leaping in backwards to douse the seat of his pants-which to Cami's eye appeared very singed. He gave a long sigh of relief as the dragon extinguished itself and settled down by the trough, a very playful look o his hideous face. It was only when the rider opened his blue eyes that he realised the Bog Burglar Heir was watching him. He gave a very cheesy smile and waggled his eyebrows at the young woman.

"Well hello gorgeous," he said conceitedly, clambering out of the trough, his pants dripping. "Impressed?" Amused at his overconfidence, she folded her arms and obviously looked him up and down.

"Should I be?" she asked him and he visibly preened.

"Of course," he said brashly and grinned. "I'm Snotlout Jorgensen and I ride a Monstrous Nightmare-the most powerful dragon in the Archipelago!" She raised a blonde eyebrow and tried hard not to laugh.

"Really? I though the Night Fury was far the most powerful?" she asked him innocently. He scowled.

"Well, Hiccup likes to tell you that but..."

"And I heard there was an enormous dragon that Hiccup slew and controlled all the dragons-surely that was more powerful than a Monstrous Nightmare..."

"Dead as a rock, babe," he corrected her smugly.

"Well, Hookfang was captured by the female Deathsong," a new voice pointed out as the twins walked up. The female twin, her hair in three fat braids and wearing an identical helmet and clothes to her brother, was grinning mischievously, her grey eyes filled with amusement. Her brother, his brown eyes twinkling, swiftly picked up his cue.

"Yeah-I bet Garff could easily overpower Hookie even now!" he teased. Snotlout scowled at them.

"No he couldn't," he snapped. "Hookfang is ready for him now..."

"Then why is he snoring?" Ruff asked him, gesturing at the sleeping Nightmare.

"C'mon, Fangster-show these muttonheads how awesome you are!" Snotlout yelled. The dragon cracked an eye open, flicked his tail and sent Snotlout bouncing across the Plaza. "HOOKFANG!"

"He isn't that bad but his dragon loves to prank him," Ruff told the Bog Burglar conspiratorially. "And of course, we love to help..."

"My dear sister-we are the servants of Loki! Of course we help!" Tuff reminded her with a serious expression. Snotlout came stamping towards them.

"Stop encouraging him!" he growled as the twins feigned hurt expressions.

"Us? Dear sister, his unfounded defamation wounds me!" Tuff sighed dramatically.

"You mean you are very much hurt," Ruff translated with a huge grin. Gritting his teeth, Snotlout attempted to resurrect his smooth facade for the visitor.

"Look-I'm the original dragon rider," he said.

"Apart from Hiccup," Ruff corrected him and Cami got the impression the twins were really enjoying baiting the stocky Viking.

"Obviously apart from Hiccup!" Snotlout ground out through his teeth. "I was paired with Hookfang even before Astrid bonded with Stormfly..."

"Though she did ride on Toothless with Hiccup long before we got our dragons and, of course, that was the last time you were ahead of Astrid in anything!" Ruff put in, stirring the pot carefully.

"I am a much better rider than she is!" Snotlout snapped.

"Oh, I very much doubt that," Tuff pointed out. "Remember Thawfest after we got our dragons? You lost every single event-and Astrid was second the Hiccup in every one! And she's got much better since."

"Face it-she's a hundred times the dragon rider that you are!" Ruff added.

"And where is she now?" Snotlout retorted, his face scarlet with anger.

There was a stunned silence and the mood cooled instantly.

"Oh, you did not say that!" Ruff said to him icily.

"It's a perfectly valid..." he began.

"Astrid is our second-in-command and Hiccup's right hand woman," Tuff told him. "She runs the Edge and keeps us all in order. And though she is sometimes a bit mean and has a very short temper, she is brave and willing to admit when she's wrong and will do everything to protect us!"

"And though you hit on her forever she never killed you," Ruff added. "Even though she only ever had eyes for Hiccup. I mean, she kissed him as soon as he was up after that coma once he had killed the Red Death and lost his leg."

"She was the person who went into the Arena when his Final Exam went wrong and risked her life to save him," Tuff added. "She held him back from being hurt when Toothless was captured. And she was the only person to stand by him when he was disowned and shamed after Toothless was uncovered. I know he doesn't like to talk about it..."

"...but we overheard him talking to Fishlegs when we were preparing a Loki Day prank for Fish," Ruff continued without missing a beat. "And he told him that he would have given up if not for her. That she made him think about what he could do. She cleared his thoughts and reassured him. And she stood by him then-and every day since. That he has loved her since he was ten and only ever wanted to be with her."

"Well, way I hear it, the Chief decided that he was never going to be worthy of being Chief around that time and engaged him to..." Snotlout replied and waved vaguely at Cami, who was watching thoughtfully and tensing her fists. "He was planning to disown Hiccup in favour of yours truly and let Hiccup go off the Bog Burglerland or whatever with her!" Then he turned to the watching Camicazi. "But he's still the same scrawny clumsy stuttering fishbone as he was back then while I'm..." He gestured conceitedly to himself. "Perfection..." he finished. Then he leaned closer and took Camicazi's hand, staring into her blue eyes. Normally a Bog Burglar wouldn't allow herself to be treated so patronisingly by anyone but she was shocked by his forwardness and suddenly determined to remind him of a few truths.

"You're certainly a fine specimen," she purred, her free hand sliding down his chest and round his waist. "Mmm...good beefcake..." And then she leaned close. "But I was betrothed to Hiccup Haddock-and whether he is the Heir or no one, whether he is buff or scrawny, he's the man I am contracted to marry..."

"But maybe you should review your options, babe," Snotlout said without any thought. "I mean, he'll just disappoint you. He's in love with Astrid anyway and he is a straight up guy. He won't love you ever because he is hers. And I bet he's a complete disappointment...you know. You should be with someone who can really perform in that department...and who can love and is worthy of you!"

The twins jeered at him as Cami smirked into his face.

"Firstly, he can't be such a disappointment since he's knocked this 'Astrid' up," she told him sweetly. "Secondly-this is a political contract not a love match so he will do as he's told for the good of his Tribe-as I do. And thirdly...you aren't worthy of me, Snotlout...not even if you worked for a thousand years at it!" And she turned and stalked away, brandishing something over her head. The twins were roaring with laughter and Snotlout frowned at the leather object. It looked suspiciously like his belt...

The sudden caress of freezing air around his nethers told him that she had stolen his dignity as well as his belt and as he grabbed at the leggings now pooled around his ankles, he yelled and tried to run after her. It he knew it wasn't his day as he tripped and ended head-first back in the water trough. And it even sounded like his own dragon was laughing at him...

"HOOKFANG!"

oOo

Fishlegs was in the Academy, taking a class of wee ones through dragon class identification when Camicazi swung by, still chuckling at the sight of Snotlout plunging into the trough of freezing water. During the long walk down to the former Dragon Training Ring, she had listened a lot harder-and what she had heard hadn't filled her with confidence. Everyone was talking about the upcoming Betrothal ceremony between herself and Hiccup-and absolutely no one was in favour. In fact, pretty much the whole of the Hooligan Tribe was opposed-and the reason was Astrid. There seemed to be enormous respect for the absent woman, mutters that told the listener that her opponent was a respected warrior, a willing helper and a brave and dedicated defender of Berk.

And everyone had expected her to marry Hiccup and become their Chieftess.

So she leaned against one of the cage doors and watched the husky blond viking kindly correct a small brown-haired girl who thought that Meatlug-presumably the brown Gronckle who was sitting by the husky young man with a cute expression on her face-was Strike Class. He chuckled and his round face lit with humour.

"Not quite, Screamhilda," he said in an amused voice. "Meatlug is beautiful and lovable but look at her: she's sort of rock-like in appearance so she's Boulder Class." The little girl gave a solemn nod.

"So Strike Class are..." she asked, her high voice completely serious. The husky young man craned his neck back and looked up into the sky, seeing the streamlined shape of the Night Fury arrow over with the hunched shape of Hiccup low over his neck. Unconsciously, he smiled.

"Toothless is a Strike Class dragon, a Night Fury," he told her. "So is the Skrill. They're fast, powerful, smart..." The little girl frowned and nodded, then walked forward and patted the Gronckle.

"I think I like Meatlug better," she admitted and grinned at him. Fishlegs smiled.

"Thanks-and Meatlug said thank you as well," he said. "Off you go!"

As she ran off, Cami walked forward and gave a smile. "You're very good with them," she complimented him and he eeped and gave a self-conscious smile.

"Um, thank you," he said, rising to face her. "I'm Fishlegs Ingerman, tutor at the Dragon Academy."

"And a Dragon Rider with Hiccup," she commented. He smiled, nodded as he guessed her ulterior motive.

"So are quite a few of us," he admitted. "The Twins, Snotlout, Heather, Astrid, Gustav, Gothi, Spitelout, Formerly-Silent Sven, Mulch, Bucket...even Gobber and the Chief..."

"But you are part of the original group who fought the Red Death dragon and occupy the Edge Outpost," she pressed and he nodded. "So you know Hiccup well. And...Astrid..."

"Actually, Heather is her best friend if you want to ask any questions about her...though she may not be especially friendly." Cami gave an amused look at him.

"I'm the Heir to Bog so she probably won't want to antagonise me," she commented but Fishlegs gave a small smile.

"She's the Heir to Beserk and I doubt she cares," he reminded her. "Astrid is her absolute best friend...Thor, they even kept it a secret when she was pretending to work with Dagur and the Hunters but was feeding us information." He sighed. "That put a huge strain on her relationship with Hiccup for a while...but he forgave her. Because ultimately, he loves her. He was just disappointed with her...even though he could understand her motives, though he didn't agree with them. They talked it out and he relies on her more than ever-and trusts her with his life."

"So tell me about her, please," Cami said and sat down by him. "I mean-everyone here knows Astrid and I keep hearing things about her. So I want to know about the competition." And then Fishlegs blushed and looked away.

"Um...Astrid is my friend so I won't help you hurt her," Fishlegs said firmly as Cami nudged him with her elbow.

"I really want to know more about Hiccup," she said playfully. "Because he is going to marry me so I have to know what kind of woman he goes for..." Astutely, Fishlegs peered at her and shook his head.

"You don't want to change-because you are who you are and your Tribe values your individuality and independence," he told her.

"Well, from what I have heard so far, that seems to be exactly the kind of person that Hiccup goes for," she retorted. "Astrid is a warrior, a skilled dragon rider, a loyal second-in-command, able to lie when necessary, will do what she has to. She stood by Hiccup when no one else would. And now she's carrying his child. Not easy to compete with..."

"I would guess impossible," Heather said from the entrance, walking towards them. Fishlegs squeaked and tried to pull away from Cami but she just smiled lazily at the raven-haired Berserker warrior.

"Heather," she greeted easily but Heather folded her arms and scowled at her.

"Astrid is a brave, loyal, fearless warrior," she said determinedly.

"And yet she ran away," Cami replied calmly, testing the other woman. Heather gritted her teeth but recognised what she was trying to do.

"Why would she want to stay, to watch the man she loves, who she knows loves her, being forced to marry some outsider?" she retorted.

"Isn't that cowardly?" Cami enquired gently, her blue eyes sweeping over the other woman, noting her silvery armour that echoed the overlapping scales of the dragon that walked in behind her.

"Why should she endure such pain when there is no need?" Heather riposted. "She is shamed, pregnant with no prospect of marrying the father. Her family will look to marry her to someone else-but that is not what she wants."

"Maybe she should do what her family wishes?" Cami suggested.

"If we did that, there would still be raids scouring the Archipelago," Heather told her. "Outcasts would rule Berk...or my brother...or even the Hunters...but we do what has to be done..."

"Keep telling yourself that," Cami smiled. "Getting a better picture now: self-righteous, hot-headed, probably got a temper, enjoys adventure and disobeys orders when it suits her. I can see how she got Hiccup to fall for her..."

"No you can't," Fishlegs said. "Hiccup fell for her when he was small, probably had a crush on her from ten and has been in love with her for years...but he's shy and lacks confidence..."

"What? He's the Dragon Master-and had no problem in telling me he would disobey his father and the contract that was signed in his name..." Cami scoffed.

"But when he had to speak to Astrid...Thor, he was a mess," Fishlegs sighed. "He worships her and still can't believe that someone as amazing as her would fall for him. He really doesn't understand how amazing he is-because he was bullied and shouted at for years before he finally killed the dragon. And we were horrible to him-though we've become his friends since. All of us owe our lives and our dragons to him, and he never fails to come through. He'll risk his life for any one of us-and Astrid will never give up if he needs her. And he does."

"Then she needs to come back," Cami sighed. "Look, I get you are there friends and I get that you want them to be together. I'm not the bad guy in this, Heather, Fishlegs-I was signed up for this when I was the same age as Hiccup was. The only difference was that I was told about it-and Hiccup wasn't until he had fallen in love and asked the girl to marry him."

"If you had any decency, you'd step aside," Fishlegs told her firmly. Cami shook her head.

"You are an Heir, Heather," she shrugged. "What if it had been your father who had signed you up to marry Hiccup? Would you step aside in favour of Astrid?"

"Yes," she said evenly. "Because an empty marriage, forged only of duty and without love, is not anything I would wish for." Cami shrugged.

"We scarcely have any men on our Island," she revealed. "So if I am to produce an Heir of my own, I require a husband. Hiccup was a friend from when we met as children in the Chief Meetings-and he will do. He won't want to rule Bog and he will want to return to his home as soon as possible. All he has to do is his duty-provide me with an Heir."

"And you would have to provide him with one as well," Heather pointed out. "By marrying you, his child with Astrid-if they survive-will be disowned. You have denied him of the one thing that would complete his world. So you better turn your thinking around, Cami. This isn't for you. Your arrival has cost him the woman he loves, his happiness, his purpose in life in rescuing dragons and fighting hunters-so you damned well better be prepared to do everything to support him and make him happy. He's Dagur's brother-and mine. And if you hurt him, friend or ally or not...the Berserkers will raze Bog to the bare rock! Is that clear enough to you?"

Then she and Fishlegs rose and mounted their dragons, flying from the Arena, leaving the bemused Bog Burglar Heir staring after them. She sighed.

"This is going to be harder than I thought," she sighed.