How To Train Your Dragon- From One World To Another

Disclaimer:

The Film 'How To Train Your Dragon', is Copyrighted by DreamWorks Animation and Distributed by Paramount Pictures. Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois and released on March 26, 2010

The DreamWorks 'Dragons' were directed by Dean Deblois and Chris Sanders and released in 2013- 2018. I only claim Copyright to my characters and some of the elements of the story that are of my own creation.

Chapter Soundtrack(s):

Author Warning, Notes:

This symbol (*) means that there's something written about this particular paragraph in the Ending Author's Notes.

Viewpoint Signs:

***MS*** (movie scene)

***EMS*** (end of movie scene)

***WPov.*** (watcher's point of view)

...

Chapter 30

Ronja lifted a hand to her mouth to muffle her gasp when she caught sight of the person on the creature's back, slumped over but seemingly still able to have enough strength to pull his or her horse to a complete stop at the junction of the path.

Ronja tried to stay absolutely still and quiet as the person, with some effort, pulled himself into a straighter upright position and peered around at both roads of the junction in front of him before looking back at the road behind him.

'' Is someone after this person?'' Ronja wondered inwardly when she heard the person breathing with some strain. The person's whole countenance was radiating nervousness, as he peered at the area around him, or her.

The figure finally dismounted, shakily, and stumbled over to the long log that lay beside the signpost of Laketown and tied the horse's reins to the gnarly, sturdy branch on the log.

The figure then slid down in a sitting position on the log.

Ronja frowned when she heard the person groan and lift a hand to clutch at his, or her, side. Ronja slowly, carefully stood up from her hiding place but didn't step out, until she heard another groan of obvious pain and saw the person suddenly slide off his seat onto the damp ground.

Ronja decided to put caution to the wind that moment and hurried over to the slumped figure on the ground. She crouched down beside the person and checked him, or her, over even as the horse standing tied to the log nearby gave a quiet neigh and lowered it's head to sniff at the figure's bright red hair the thirteen-year-old girl could see poking out of the lifted hood.

Ronja was shocked to realize that, once she had pulled the person up into a more upright position, that the figure she was helping was only a boy not that much older than her.

Sure, he was older than her, but he was not a man, yet.

'' Hey, hey you,'' Ronja said as she gently shook him on the shoulder, forcing a soft groan to escape the boy's lips.'' What has happened? Are you badly hurt?''

'' M-my side...,'' the boy managed to gasp out before coughing slightly.

And that was when Ronja spotted something she should already have noticed from the way he had been clutching at his side.

The darkening of cloth on the boy's right side. It was no doubt blood seeping out of whatever injury he had been dealt with.

''Hey, don't fall unconscious yet, okay?! Are you able to speak and tell me what has happened to you?'' Ronja asked as she moved her left hand on top the boy's hand that was already pressed over the darkening area of the cloth.

She added pressure over the wound...

''Ahh!'' the boy yelped in agony and pushed himself away from Ronja with sudden speed and strength the younger child hadn't expected from him.

And before Ronja knew it, her jacket sleeve was caught in the boy's fist and a dagger was slid out from a hidden sleeve pocket.

'' WHO are you? And what do you WANT with me?'' the boy asked in a dangerous edge to his voice that had Ronja's heart racing all over again.

'' All I wanted was to help you,'' Ronja answered, eyes narrowing in outrage at the boy's actions.

''And HOW would I know you speak the truth and won't attempt to ASSASSINATE me?'' the boy asked quickly as he pressed the sharp tip of the dagger against Ronja's throat.

...

The Dragons watching the 'movie' with us all growled angrily at witnessing the scene of someone they knew very well being held at knife-point.

Mingling with the ferocious dragon growls were the audible gasps from Hiccup, Snotlout and many of the others in the theatre around me.

...

Ronja uttered a small, choked up sound when she felt the tip of the dagger pierce slightly through the soft skin of her throat. She winced heavily at the sudden stinging pain and the warm liquid that immediately started oozing from the small cut and drip down her neck towards the collar.

'' It's already bad enough that I've been threatened, manhandled and made to follow a stupid 'Game of survival' that someone wanted to see play out for her own amusement. But to be attacked when attempting to help someone?! That's absolutely the last straw! '' Ronja fumed inwardly.

The sharp tip was suddenly pressed a tad deeper, and Ronja found her restraint snap entirely.

'' I COULD HAVE JUST SLUNKED OFF INTO THE UNDERBRUSH AND LEFT YOU TO DEAL WITH THE INJURY ALL ON YOUR OWN!'' Ronja shrieked out loud with such volume that it seemed to momentarily stun the boy.

He froze, and it was all Ronja needed to make a counterattack.

She grasped the thicker wrist holding the dagger, twisted it and wrenched it away from her throat before leaning back and kicking out with her feet at the same time.

Thumppp

''AHH!'' the boy yelped as the kicks landed against his upper chest with force and made him topple over backwards over the log behind him, and away from Ronja's immediate vicinity.

In his weakened state, such reaction to the kick may have been inevitable, but Ronja's adrenaline pump had been another reason for her next quick reaction.

Ronja wasn't about to stay in the immediate area to find out how quickly the boy would be on his feet again.

The animosity towards her had left her really shaken her up, and made her wonder how many more of such reactions would be heaped on her shoulders in the near future if she were to approach the local people of Laketown.

Ronja panted slightly as she stared at the boy who, by now, had managed to raise himself up in a crouched position on the ground and was eyeing her with an unreadable expression to his face.

Ronja had her right hand clenched over the handle of her' 'puukko knife' (that she had pulled out of her backpack and strapped to her belt before leaving the Viking ship anchored at the bay).

She wouldn't be taking chances less this boy decided he would attempt to attack her again.

Ronja didn't know how long they stared at each other in cold silence, the other keeping himself upright by clutching at the log before him and clutching a hand to his injured side.

And then the boy finally spoke to her.

'' My name is Dagur. My... friend and I... went to explore a tavern in that direction.'

He pointed a hand at the road Ronja seen him approach from.

'' Things got out of hand in that tavern and as my friend and I were escaping the bar-fight, someone shot a crossbow arrow at me. W-we were both able to escape the scene, but had to go in different directions to avoid getting caught by those pursuing us... cough, cough, cough!''

Another coughing fit had 'Dagur' doubling over with a cringe of obvious pain and made Ronja's heartstrings twinge with sympathy despite the outrage she still felt.

'' My name is Ronja,'' she answered in a clipped tone.'' I was heading towards Laketown.''

She was trying her hardest not to sound too rude despite her misgivings over her harrowing experience.

'' I- I was heading there myself. W- Would it be possible for us to travel the same way together,'' Dagur said, swallowing thickly as he tightened the hold he had against his side.

Ronja jolted at the words, her mind immediately baulking against the idea. '' NO WAY IN HELLHEIM!'' she screamed inwardly but her heart (curse it) was already deciding she needed to sympathize with the boy's condition and situation.

'' It wouldn't be right leaving him alone like this,'' Ronja thought, her forehead creased in thought.

Dagur must have seen the indecision on Ronja's face, for he said: '' Look... I really do need your assistance to get to Laketown.''

'' No apology then, huh?!'' Ronja thought, drawing in a sharp breath and looking away for a moment and pacing forward down the road to Laketown before spinning around on her heels to speak to the older boy who was still looking straight at her.

Dagur's expression was earnest, and with a tiny hint of plea to it, that was so different from how he'd acted not that long ago.

'' Is he beginning to see me as no threat? Could I really trust him to not bring harm to me again? Gods, when will my life ever return back to normal?! But it doesn't really matter if he doesn't trust me now, does it? I'll still need to help him to the place where he needs to be. His family wouldn't take kindly to me just leaving him when he is in such vulnerable state of health,'' Ronja thought as she cautiously made her way back to Dagur.

The red-haired boy breathed a noticeable sigh of relief and grinned weakly up at her even as he slumped down into a sitting position on the log.

***Wpov.***

Anca uttered a worried whine as she sat up to nuzzle my shoulder with her snout.

''You never told me of this incident, Ronja! Neither you nor Dagur!''

''Oswald the Agreeable knew what happened upon me meeting Dagur. But I take it he didn't tell you of this incident,'' I commented, wincing at the disbelieved shout of my uncle Stoick.

I looked into Anca's kind, golden yellow eyes, as I petted her skin. I felt embarrassed at my past actions.

'' If you had left Dagur in that forest Oswald the Agreeable probably wouldn't have been so agreeable anymore,'' Gobber pointed out, which promptly earnt him a glare from Stoick.

'' Yes, thank you for that, Gobber,'' he said in a sarcastic tone.

'' Your welcome, Stoick,'' Gobber answered with a toothy-grin, totally missing the sarcasm in his friend's voice.

Stoick slapped a palm over his eyes and shook his head.

'' I could have told Ronja what her actions could have brought up myself, Gobber,'' he muttered out, causing the twins and Snotlout to utter slight sniggers.

'' Yes, and as you saw and heard, I did think about how Dagur's family might have been wrathful towards me if I had left him there in the forest. Though at the time I had no idea just how important a person he really was. I only found out that Dagur was a Chief's son in Laketown when we came to the Inn he was staying at with his father,'' I murmured, feeling very discomfited over how close, back then, I'd been to actually let my raging emotions get the best of me.

I leaned back against my father's chest, and he gently ruffled my hair and pressed a comforting kiss on the side of my forehead. 

For a moment I did relax, but all of it changed ever so slightly when I heard and saw large feet walking closer to where I sat on my father's lap.

'' May I see?'' my uncle asked softly, gesturing to my throat.

I nodded a little hesitantly and watched his every move as Uncle slowly reached forward to move my collar aside with a gentle touch of his large fingers.

Uncle Stoick heaved in a sharp breath as he let go of the collar and stepped back a little to look me in the eyes.

'' You still have a scar, there, Ronja. I'm going to have words with Oswald about his son the next time I meet up with him,'' he spoke, voice filled with barely held back anger.

The tone of his voice immediately had all the teens look over at me in disbelief. Anca gave another worried whine as she sat up again to nuzzle her snout against my shoulder.

'' You don't have to do that, uncle. Dagur had every right to feel threatened by my presence. I mean, he was attacked earlier. I should have been more cautious in approaching him,'' I muttered out uneasily.

I started petting Anca's snout to calm my mind as my father turned me around a bit and lifted my collar away from my throat to have a look-see himself.

'' But you were trying to help Dagur, not assasionate him!'' Astrid growled out, clenching her hands into fists at her side.

My father gave an agreeing sound as he draped the collar back into position. '' Seriously, child, you had the worst of luck out there,'' he spoke up, sounding worried, and sad.

'' Worst luck for sure, until it turned for the better in Laketown,'' I answered, smiling faintly at the memory of my adventures in that small fishing and trading town.

''For the better?! HOW?'' Snotlout and Fishlegs spluttered out at exactly the same moment.

'' Dagur was actually grateful to me for my help,'' I answered cryptically just as the screen came back to life with the next part of the scene.

***MS***

Another coughing fit had Dagur cringe and slump in his seat on the log.

The sight had Ronja quickening her footsteps.

She crouched down beside Dagur again, somewhat more cautious in her movements after what she had gone through an only short time ago.

But all Dagur did was lean his head against her shoulder when Ronja added the weight of her own hand on top the one he held against his side.

'' Dagur, do you know any shelter nearby?'' Ronja asked, keeping a firm hold against Dagur's side as she helped him to his feet.

Dagur nodded against her shoulder as he tried to cope with what was likely a lot of discomfort and pain from his injury.

Ronja frowned at the sight of his weakened state and escorted him over to his horse.

'' Are you still able to ride?'' she asked as Dagur lifted himself from her shoulder and took hold of the reins of his horse.

His horse stayed surprisingly still, and even nuzzled the red hair on the boy's head.

'' Yes, if you'll add your own strength when it comes to pulling Chestnut to a halt. I can control the stirrups, though,'' Dagur mumbled, stroking his horse's muzzle.'' Have you ridden a horse before, Ronja?''

'' My dad taught me, though I must admit I'm not exactly the best horse rider,'' Ronja answered, holding her palm out to Dagur's horse who sniffed her hand for a moment before nuzzling against it. '' So your name is Chestnut? Good boy!''

'' At least your not a complete newbie, then, hah hah hah!'' Dagur commented, giving a soft laugh as Ronja smiled at the horse's gesture.

The younger kid then moved over to help support Dagur as he painstakingly lifted his foot onto the stirrup.

'' Oh, oww...,'' Dagur mumbled as he kicked off to gain momentum, with Ronja pushing on the bottom of his right foot.

He hissed with pain as he seated himself on the saddle, pressing a hand against his side again. '' T-there is shelter between rocks some fifteen minutes walk from here,'' Dagur added weakly as he pointed a hand in the direction of Laketown.

Ronja uttered a relieved sigh at the information that the shelter was along the way, and not in an opposite direction, and escorted Dagur's horse closer to the large log. 

She was too short to reach the stirrups without it. And even with the elevation, she had some difficulty.

'' Funny, Dagur,'' she grunted when she heard the older boy laugh softly at how awkwardly she was lifting her short leg up towards Chestnut's stirrup.

Dagur reached down to take her wrist as she pushed off from the wood and grunted slightly, his pain flashing across his face.

But his grip on Ronja stayed firm.

'' Thanks,'' Ronja muttered, a bit begrudgingly as she seated herself behind Dagur and took the reins the boy passed to her.

Dagur slipped his own booted feet onto the stirrups Ronja had left vacated.

Ronja grimaced slightly at the situation. She was still uncertain as to whether she would be safe, or if he would end up betraying her in the middle of the night.

But she couldn't afford to just leave him on his own now.

Biting her lower lip, Ronja flicked the reins and nudged the black stallion's side to urge him into a fast trot. 

She wasn't the best horse-rider by any chance but she did well enough in keeping Chestnut going in the right direction and keeping him from moving to a gallop.

And so it came to be that the fifteen-minute walk to the shelter was cut much shorter on horseback.

And a good thing too, because there was still a light drizzle of water from the sky, and Dagur's wound needed to be patched up as soon as possible.

**Wpov.***

''I'm glad I took you, Sonja and your mother with me to the stables to teach you all about horse-riding,'' my father chuckled out with a sigh of relief.

'' Wait, you taught my sister horse-riding?'' Stoick asked, looking surprised.

'' I've been riding horses from a young age, Stoick. At the time I was fifteen, I had my own horse, Salama (*1), to help me teach Sigrun to ride. We had a pact, you see?! She taught me how to fight with weapons, and I taught her horse-riding, '' Klaus answered with a sad smile over the memories that had no doubt ben reawakened by the talk.'' And later we had Revontuli (*2), a gentle female horse to help our daughter's get into the art of horse-riding.''

'' Well that does explain why you were so comfortable on a saddle when you started riding Anca,'' Hiccup commented thoughtfully.

I snorted slightly at his words. '' Hahaha! Comfortable?! It was Sonja who was better at horse-riding while I feel more comfortable and natural flying Dragons, Hiccup,'' I spoke with a slightly sad grin as I patted Anca on the snout when she nudged me on the chest with a gentle rumble.

Then she licked me full in the face, much to my consternation.

The other teens laughed quietly at the scene of Anca nudging her Rider and then licking her.

'' Blegh... you know I appreciate your affectionate gestures, but don't lick me in the face like that again, okay?!'' I grunted out, giving a mock glare at Anca who uttered a honking sound that seemed very much like laughter.

I switched my mock glare on my friends and other Berkians when I heard them laughing good-naturally at our interactions.

***MS***

The rain was beginning to dwindle as the two Riders reached the shelter that Dagur had mentioned.

The wind which had been blowing water into their faces was beginning to die down.

Birds began to make their music once more as they came out of their hide-outs they'd disappeared into at the start of the rain- shower.

They wouldn't be singing long, though, as it looked like it would rain again very soon.

'' There it is!'' Dagur grunted as he pulled his horse to a halt near a large cluster of boulders that, to Ronja's great delight, reminded her curiously of ''Corner Rock' on a bigger scale.

The sight of said rock formation made Ronja's mood slightly lighter and she was silently and inwardly applauding as she gave Dagur assistance in halting Chestnut.

But she might've not been the only one who took comfort from the sight of these boulders if Dagur's audible sigh of relief was of any indication.

'' You think we should stop here for the rest of the afternoon and night?'' Ronja asked as she carefully dismounted Dagur's horse before standing nearby to wait for him to dismount Chestnut himself.

She was ready to give assistance if he stumbled.

'' Perhaps that might be a good idea,'' Dagur mumbled as he leaned on his horse whilst Ronja proceeded to quickly unstrap the saddlebags strapped to Chestnut's sides.

Once that had been accomplished, Ronja took hold of Dagur's elbow and started guiding him and his steed towards the rock formation where she could see a slightly jutting rock overhead.

''That jutting outcrop will end up a good shelter for Chestnut, too, if it happens to start raining again, '' Ronja thought as she quickly tied Chestnut's reins tightly on a nearby tree before helping Dagur stumble over the threshold of the shelter.

The ground scrunched as Ronja's and Dagur's boots found the earth inside.

There were piles upon piles of dead leaves strewn around and more than enough old acorns and dead sticks laid before them.

The interior of the shelter was wide enough to fit Dagur and her more than just comfortably, and upon looking up at the ceiling Ronja discovered a hole right in the middle of it.

'' I can actually build a fire inside,'' Ronja thought with a wild grin even as she helped Dagur lay down on the ground in a comfortable position before moving to make necessary precautions for the fire she was preparing to light.

A hole was dug into the earth before Ronja put stones into a ring around it. The sticks and leaves were stacked into the hole in a way that they would catch fire and keep burning.

Once that had been done, she quickly rummaged in Dagur's saddle and uttered a sigh of relief upon finding a flint and steel.

Ronja poised the steel over the wood and leaves and struck the flint five times...

Whoosh

A tiny flame took hold of the dry leaves and branches.

'' Thank you so much for teaching me to do this, mother,'' Ronja thought genuinely as she pushed more leaves towards the crackling flame and the thing blazed to stronger light.

Dagur uttered a sigh of relief and shared a grin of triumph with Ronja over the sight of dancing flames as he dragged himself closer to it to stay warm.

'' Right, next thing to do is getting that wound cleaned and patched up,'' Ronja told Dagur who looked up at her with a tired glint in his green eyes.

He nodded, turning himself to lay down on his back, again.

Ronja moved to crouch by his side and used the lighting coming from the flames to check on the wound across Dagur's side.

There was a long hole across the older boy's tunic and the fabric saturated and coloured from what was no doubt blood.

She could very clearly smell the scent wafting from the fabric.

'' Looks like that flying arrow scraped across your side but hadn't dug deep enough to puncture any organs,'' Ronja hummed out loud.'' Its is a rather deep scrape, though, and you've lost quite a bit of blood.''

'' Hahaha, yeah! Thankfully the idiot who shot at me missed hitting me point-blank,'' Dagur chuckled before coughing again.

Ronja winced at the look of pain that flickered over the boys' green eyes.'' Yeah, you're lucky you don't have to put up with my somewhat abysmal suturing skills today. Not that either of us even has a needle and thread with us anyway,'' Ronja scolded out with a slight huff.

'' I really got to work on those skills as soon as possible, and hopefully, I'll find someone to teach me,'' she then added silently to herself as she turned her attention to the saddle-bag on the floor by her side, as well as her own pack.

'' Thank the Gods for small mercies, then... agh!''

'' Sorry, Dagur,'' Ronja mumbled as she continued to carefully cut the entire blood-saturated tunic open from the collar down to expose the wound underneath.

Dagur stiffened again as Ronja pulled out extra linen from his saddlebag and started pushing against the still sluggishly bleeding wound.

''Oh, oww...,'' Dagur mumbled weakly, squeezing his eyes tightly shut.

Ronja grimaced when after a moment of putting pressure on the wound it looked like Dagur had actually lost consciousness.

'' Sorry, again,'' she murmured and reached out to gently stroke Dagur's messy red hair (that felt damp against her fingers).

'' Likely from both the rain and sweat. But there's thankfully no traces of fever at all, '' Ronja thought inwardly just as Dagur slowly opened his eyes again.

'' It's okay, the bleeding is now almost completely staunched,'' she murmured to Dagur who's eyes seemed to wander for a moment before finding her myriad shaded ones.

'' Uhn... that's good,'' Dagur managed to mumble with a wince before he blinked his eyes closed again.

His breathing slowly levelled out...

'' Of course you would fall asleep,'' Ronja sighed as she removed her hand from the boy's forehead to rummage in his saddlebag again.

She pulled out a clay water- flask and another piece of extra linen before proceeding to pop the cap and wet said linen with water.

Ronja then started to very carefully clean away the blood from the wound, first, and then the surrounding skin. She stilled in her ministrations when Dagur shifted slightly.

But after a moment of pause, Ronja was relieved to find him to have only flinched from having the cloth touch his injury. 

He hadn't been awakened from his rest.

...

By the time Ronja had finished caring for Dagur (by tying off long strips of clean linen around Dagur's midriff as tightly as it might've been comfortable and safe for him), her forehead was deeply greased and her hands were shaking rather violently.

The air inside the shelter felt hot and stifling, but it wasn't due to the smoke inside.

She was still deeply shaken from the recent events, and being inside this shelter was making it hard for her to breathe.

Ronja staggered to her feet with a grunt and swung her pack over her shoulders as she straightened her back.

She wasn't about to leave her pack near Dagur. She didn't fully trust him, yet. She may have sympathized with his condition, but he had yet to gain her trust in him!

Flicking her strawberry blond braid (that had fallen over her left shoulder), back to its position, she hastily made her way outside to stand under the slightly jutting rock overhead that kept most of the rain from falling on her head.

...

As she had thought, it had stopped raining completely while she had been focused on patching up Dagur.

Dagur's horse, Chestnut, raised his head slightly to glance at her before turning back to munching on the moist grass at its feet.

Ronja smiled at the sight of the animal enjoying its lunch before switching her attention over to the boulders that looked curiously similar to the 'Corner Rock' she knew back in Finland.

Finding a low enough area on the boulders, Ronja hoisted herself to the top where there was vegetation growing.

She sat down on the least vegetated area where the rock was bare and rough under her hands and reached up to take off her hair-tie with one hand and then brushed out her strawberry- blond hair from the braid it had been in since early morning.

She hoped it would dry faster in the gentle wind.

A serene smile appeared across Ronja's face as the wind whipped her hair around her head. Just for a while she could actually relax and let go of the stress that had been building up in her for a very long time.

Until she was to be flung straight back into stressful situations, that is.

Ronja blinked in shock as large, wet raindrops dropped right onto the tip of her nose. She looked up at the sky and stared at the quickly appearing murk in the skies.

'' Ei helvetti (oh,hell),'' Ronja sighed out loud and closed her eyes for a moment.'' No more rain, please!''

Her previously good mood had been there to stay until the unfortunate onslaught of more rain was upon her.

Cursing again, she made her way down the boulder and dropped nimbly to the ground near a second, smaller entrance.

She winced when she felt a sudden ache in her head and lifted a hand to her forehead.

She stayed under the rocky outcrop for a moment to regain her equilibrium. Thanks to the jotting rock above her head It was still fairly dry under the outcrop despite the rain falling to earth.

...

Ronja eventually decided that she had stayed out long enough and turned to enter the threshold again.

The dried leaves and branches crunched underneath her feet, but thankfully Dagur only mumbled something in his sleep and shifted into a more comfortable position on the ground.

Shuddering slightly at the still existing headache, Ronja threw some more wood into the fire before taking her water bottle out of her red bag and drinking deeply.

She didn't finish the whole bottle before putting it away as she wasn't sure when she would get the change to fill it to the brim again.

Grumble, crumble, crumble

Ronja cursed quietly at the sound of her stomach complaining of its emptiness as she started checking the area around her for bugs or insects (she didn't want them crawling all over her as she slept) before sitting down to stoke the fire with a long stick.

Her eyes were beginning to close on their own accord, but a sudden loud creaking sound underneath where she sat made her wince and open her eyes again.

'' I wonder if I've picked a stable place to sit,'' she muttered out loud.

But not long could she keep her thoughts en-lined and sharp. She was tired. No exhausted, but comfortable and warm inside the shelter.

She no longer cared if Dagur decided he was upset over her almost leaving him at the road junction. Neither could she care that the older boy could just suddenly wake up, feel vengeful and decide to slay her in her sleep.

All she wanted was to sleep.

And so, many hours before the evening set in, Ronja found herself drifting into the arms of slumber-land with a small, tired smile to her lips.

To be continued...

End of Chapter 30

...

Author's Note(s):

(*1) The name 'Salama' means 'Lightning'

(*2) The name' Revontuli' means 'aurora australis'