Ch. 11- Starfire

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Hiccup's P.O.V

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Like always, Toothless woke me up early to go on a morning flight. Although, something felt... different about today. Like something was going to happen. Boy, was that feeling correct.

While Toothless and I were out flying, I spotted a black figure far ahead of us. Curious, I guided Toothless towards it. Much to my surprise, IT WAS A NIGHT FURY! I noticed a rider on it. I needed to speak with the rider!

"HEY!" I called out. The rider turned and saw me, I didn't recognize her. Did she live on Berk? I didn't think so. She then said something I didn't hear, and her night fury started speeding off. "HEY! Faster, Toothless. WAIT UP!!!" Slowly, we started catching up with them.

"Faster, Vi," I barely heard the girl. "We can beat them! I know we can!" The night fury went faster and went straight into a cave.

That game, eh, I asked myself. We hovered outside the cave a few seconds. "You know what to do, bud," I told Toothless. He nodded and roared into the cave, using the sound to track the girl and her dragon. "Hello!" I called out when Toothless landed. I hoped off him and went to see the dark rock he was nudging. Wait- not a rock; a night fury. The night fury had it's wings wrapped around the girl.

"S- stay back," the girl stuttered, frightened. She was probably worried about me and Toothless. Not many Vikings are friendly with dragons.

"Shh. Shh," I said softly, trying to get the girl to come out. "We won't hurt you. Just come out."

"W- we?" she asked, making a small peek hole through her dragon's wings. Yes! I'm getting somewhere! There's something special about this girl, other than the night fury. I can feel it. Her dragon growled.

"Toothless- my night fury- and I," I smiled, seeing her green eyes. They looked just like mine. "Come out. I won't hurt you. Neither will Toothless. I don't hurt dragons."

The girl pushed her dragon's wings apart, but her dragon jumped so it was in between us and growled at me. The dragon was protective of it's rider. In response, Toothless jumped in front of me and growled back. Then they stopped growling and licked each other. Did they know each other?

"Violet," the girl said, slightly amused, "Do you know this dragon?" Violet, the other night fury, and Toothless both nodded. I laughed at them. "Are you friends?" Another nod yes.

I laughed. "Hey bud, you got yourself a friend?" I joked, patting his head. The girl took a step back before looking at Violet and then us. Violet was closer to us than her; she probably wanted it the opposite way. "Shh," I said softly, "I won't hurt you. Relax, girl." Why did I just call her girl? Girl! I need her name.

She said something I didn't catch.

"What?"

"Name," she demanded, barely loud enough for me to hear.

"The name's Hiccup, and this is my best friend, Toothless. What's yours?" A look of something I didn't recognize crossed her face when I said my name.

"S-" she started, then looked like she was deciding to tell me her name or not. She nodded yes before turning her attention back towards me. "Starfire."

Starfire!

Could it be?

She continued, "And Violet, here, is my only and best friend."

Starfire!

I was in shock.

I laughed, trying to hide it, "Something we have in common."

Starfire, is it really you?

"You look familiar," she pointed out.

No duh! It's not like you were my best friend for five years before you disappeared! Oh, how much I wanted to hug her in that moment. She looked a lot like me. It had to be her. This had to be my Starfire. "Oh," I responded, "Do I?" I sounded a bit shocked but not surprised. "Why don't you come to my village with me?"

She nodded, then suddenly shouted, "Vi!" and flew off on her night fury named Violet.

"HEY!" I hopped on Toothless. "WAIT UP! CALM DOWN! I WON'T HURT YOU!"

To my surprise, they slowed down. "Violet," Starfire complained. She flew right next to me and communicated with Toothless. "Violet, hurry up! Why are you doing this?" she exclaimed.

I laughed, "Come now, to the village."

"No," she said, stubbornly, shaking her head no once, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Oh, come on! How bad can it be?" I asked.

"What if y'all hurt Violet? I barely know your name. I don't trust you."

"Aw, that hurt," I tried to faked, placing a hand over my heart before letting it fall. It did kind of hurt. She didn't trust me? Maybe this wasn't my Starfire. She didn't seem to recognize my name. Maybe she just forgot. It had been nine years. "Just come. Please? I have a good feeling about you. I can't explain it," I lied. I could explain. Starfire Valka Haddock- I missed you, I thought to myself. But it's obvious you don't remember me.

She nodded, silently, and followed me back to the village.

People were waking up now and some gathered around as we landed.

"Another night fury?" some asked.

"Who's the girl?" others asked.

"Where's she from?"

"Did she train the night fury?"

"Is the night fury hers?"

"Everyone calm down!" a deep voice yelled. My dad pushed his way to the middle of the crowd. "Hiccup! Son! Who is this- is that a night fury?"

"Dad, this is Starfire," I said, emphasizing Starfire. The dad's eyes widened at her, while others gasped. Everyone knew her name. Everyone knew she finally returned home. "This is her night fury, Violet," I said, loudly, so everyone could hear.

Dad gave a questioning look to me, asking if she knew about us. Ever so slightly, I shook my head no, eyes closed with sorrow. Why couldn't my baby sister remember me? Me of all people!?

"Well, hello, Starfire. I am Stoick the Vast, chief of Berk. Welcome to our home, what can I do you for?"

"Well, sir, first of all- please, just call me Star, not Starfire. Secondly- Violet and I have lived on our own for a while now, and we heard that Berk accepted dragons; we are looking for a place to stay for a while. And maybe find more information about my family," she said.

"Your family?" he asked, hopeful.

"Yes. When I was five, my father took me and my older brother on a fishing trip, there was this storm and I fell overboard. I woke up in a cave: Violet had saved me. I don't remember them much about them though- just fuzzy pictures here and there," she explained.

Dad and I eyed each other. Maybe she did remember us. We gave each other slight nods at the same time to each other. "Such a shame," the dad said, turning back to Star. "Stay here as long as you wish. Do you remember any of their names?"

To my disappointment, she shook her head no, "I'm sorry. I don't." I released a sigh, kind of already knowing she had forgotten, but hearing her say it made it so real. "I barely remember what they look like, but it's been nine years so they probably don't look the same." She was correct. Both dad and I had changed. But she had changed too.

"Probably," he agreed. "Anyways, you will stay at our house, sharing a room with Hiccup here, if you two don't mind."

"I don't," Star and I said, simultaneously. It would be like old times, I smiled to myself.

"Okay then. Hiccup, why don't you show her around. I got some chief matters to attend to."

"Bye, dad," I said softly. The crowd dispersed and left the two of us and our dragons alone. I gave her a tour of the island and showed her where she'd be staying. I told her I would move a second bed in here in a day or two and until then, she would sleep in my bed. Then we flew to the academy, where we train dragons.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked. "Who's this?"

"Astrid, Starfire. Starfire, Astrid," I introduced. The others gasped at her name. "Starfire, meet the gang. There's Fishlegs, Snoutlout, Astrid, and the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut." Everyone made some sort of motion as I said their names. "Guys, can I speak to y'all for a minute? In private?" They all nodded. "Please, don't leave, Star," I begged before walking a ways and huddling in a small group.

"Hiccup, it that her? Really her?" Astrid asked, astounded.

"Yes, it is," I answered, excitedly. "But she doesn't remember us. She remembers a few things but no names. I'm going to try and relive some memories of when we were younger to help her get her memories back. Until then, try to make friends with her, okay?"

"Wait," Tuffnut said. "Who's the girl over there."

I face palmed. "Starfire. The girl over there is Starfire."

"Didn't you have a younger sister named Starfire?" he asked.

I shook my head in frustration. "Yes, Tuff. I did."

"Is that her?"

"Yes, but don't tell her that."

"Why?"

"Just don't!"

"Whatever you say, Hiccup."

"Thank you!" We all walked back, smiling.

"Hey, Starfire," Astrid said, cheerfully.

"Star. Just Star, please."

"Okay, Star," she laughed. She kissed me on the cheek before walking to a deadly Nadder and started petting it. "This is Stormfly, my dragon and best friend."

Star laughed, "Hi, Stormfly. Nice to meet you." I chuckled at her. The others introduced her to their dragons before we took off into the air.

"Okay, gang," I started. "Trust exercise. Who's first?"

"Not me!" cried Fishlegs.

"What do you do?" Star asked.

"Jump off and trust that your dragon will catch you," I explained.

"Seems easy enough." She jumped off Violet, but not before closing Violet's tail. Funny. I failed to notice that Violet was like Toothless in missing half a tail. Violet moved so she was in front of Star as she dived head first towards the deep blue ocean. I watched, smiling, as they just stayed like that, every now and then Violet would push one of her shoulders to make her spin around.

I loved the feeling of the wind; it seemed Starfire did as well. After a minute they got close to the ground. Violet turned to make it easier for Star to get on her saddle before she opened the tail, and they began to glide just barely above the water for a couple seconds before going back up.

Snoutlout slid off Hookfang before Star finished. Hookfang didn't notice. Star and Violet were close when Toothless said something to Hookfang in dragon language before he looked down and dived after Snoutlout.

"That was fun," Star said, returning to my left. "We do this all the time, don't we, Vi?" she asked. She made a small gargle that meant she agreed.

"Good to know," I said, thoughtfully, making sure to remember everything I could about her. "Do you ride Violet often?"

"Almost all day, everyday."

I nodded, in deep thought. "Interesting."

She narrowed her eyes in confusion and looked down to see Snoutlout and Hookfang coming back, a frown on Snoutlout's face.

"Good job, Snoutlout," I congratulated, trying to make him feel better. I did the same to the twins, Fishlegs, and especially Astrid. Astrid was perfect in every way possible. I love her, even if we aren't dating. Yet. She keeps kissing me on the my cheek, so I'm hoping she feels the same.

After that we had raced around the island twice and headed back to the academy.

"That was fun!" Star said, softly but excitedly. She waited for everyone else to get off their dragons before her feet touched the ground. She was still very cautious. My sister was never one for trust though. But she used to trust me. I wonder what I would have to do to make her trust me again.

"Yeah," Astrid agreed.

Fishlegs simply nodded, Snoutlout muttered a "No, it wasn't," and the twins started punching each other for who knows what reason, like usual.

"Glad you had fun," I said with a smile. "Okay then. Class dismissed, but remember we have class tomorrow at nine."

The others made their way out one by one. Astrid blushed a tiny bit before hoping on Stormfly and saying, "Let's get to know each other, Star. Want to meet up tomorrow after class?"

"Sure," Star agreed.

"Great. See you two tomorrow," she smiled before leaving. I smiled at her, pleased that she was trying to get to know my baby sister. Well, Star isn't a baby any more. Oh well, I'm still older. I'll call her my baby sister till I die.

For the rest of the day I showed her around the village again, then above the island, then to dragon island- which is nearby. We had a quick race back to Berk and then at sunset we went on a nice quiet, calm flight with Astrid. It was nice.

That night, I learned that Star hasn't slept on a real bed in years. Since our last night together.

"Really?" I asked, surprised. I felt guilty knowing that. There was hardly a day I slept without a bed, and here my little sister spent nine years without one.

"Yes, really," she confirmed, leaning on her arm, facing me as I sat down.

"Wow," I said. After a few seconds she yawned. I chuckled, she yawned just like she use to. I wish that storm never took her away from me. From our family. From home. "We should get some sleep. We'll need it. Toothless likes to wake me up early."

"Really?" she asked. I nodded. "Vi does the same thing, don't you girl?" She turned to look at her, lying down at the foot of the bed. Violet raised her head as her name was called, then nodded before lying it back down.

"You talk to her a lot," I said, making another mental note about my sister.

"Well, yeah, I guess," Star trailed off, unsure of what else to say.

"It's just that, while talking about yourself or Violet, you tend to ask 'don't we, girl' or 'don't you, girl'," I rushed to explain. "It's not bad or anything," I quickly added.

She didn't seem upset. In fact, she laughed, "I just spent too many years with just Violet, me, and the harsh outdoors, I guess."

"Maybe," I agreed, glad I didn't offend her. "Well, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Hiccup. Thank you, for everything."

"No problem." I rolled over, making it so my back faced Star's. She refused to let me sleep on the floor, so we were on opposite sides of my bed.

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Like we predicted, the dragons woke us up early. Violet woke Star up half an hour before Toothless woke me. Surprisingly enough. While Violet woke Star up quietly, Toothless woke me up by banging on the roof. Thud! Thud! Thud! Pause. Thud! Thud!

When I woke up, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and we exchanged 'good morning's before heading downstairs. Toothless was still banging on the roof.

"Good morning, Mr. Bossy," I teased, walking outside with Starfire and Violet. Toothless made a soft growling sound, and I tried to imitate it, playfully, before we put our gear on our dragons and headed for the colorful sky.

"So Star, do you remember anything about your family?"

"Um, kinda."

"How so?"

"It's kinda a long story."

We landed on a deserted island and sat down next to each other, leaning against a rock as Toothless and Violet ran off to play.

"When I was five, my father took my big brother and I fishing. It was a nice, sunny day. We were surprised to see how quickly the day turned from cool and sunny to windy and cloudy. The waves knocked water in our boat. I clutched onto my brother as he held the boat with one hand, me with the other. Our dad tried desperately to get us out of the situation." I listened as she stared intently at the ground while speaking of the worst day of my life. "Before he could, a wave knocked my brother and I overboard. I swam to the surface but then saw my brother, who was unconscious. I went back underwater for him and pulled him up. My dad grabbed him from me and laid him back in the boat. He was about to pull me back in when another wave pushed me farther and farther away. I heard dad as he shouted my name. I heard my brother's voice join him at one point. I was so happy he was awake!"

I remember that, I almost said. I woke up with a headache and dad shouting "STARFIRE!" over and over again. I connected the dots and realized she was in the water.

"I must've fell asleep, because when I woke up, I was on the beach. I spent a whole day wondering the island. I was scared. Really scared. I had never been alone before, and suddenly, I was completely alone. I found a cave and passed out that night. I woke up with a small fire, and Violet was taking care of me. She saved me."

"Dragons are incredible creatures." I looked over to Toothless and Violet, who were playing with a small tree.

She smiled at me. "That they are."

"What else do you remember?"

"Well, uh, that's the complicated part. All the memories I have come from my dreams, so I'm not sure if they're real or not- but I'm pretty sure they are."

"Okay."

She told me a few of the dreams she's had while she was away. All of them I remembered. My favorite memories were of the two of us together.

We headed back to Berk soon after that. And later that night, when Starfire fell asleep, I walked up to Violet and placed my hand near her head. "Thank you, for saving my sister, for protecting my sister." She closed the distance and put her head to my palm, "and for bringing her home."

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