He flew through the clouds and, despite the beautiful scene, was weighted down by his sorrow. She had come along because as the head of the elite 'A Team' and second in command, she was also required to be there. The others had stayed back to help with the repairs on Berk. She had broken up with him just days before the trip. The awkwardness was suffocating.

The young chief rode his nightfury in silence, looking for the dock where they were to meet the King and Queen of Dunbrough. He hoped they would arrive soon. The journey was at least a week long. They had only been able to stop a few hours at a time to rest and eat. His dragon was getting tired. "Just a bit longer, bud," he said, patting the side of its head.

"We should be there soon," he called to her. She was flying behind him, not knowing the exact directions to there location. "Hiccup," she said, flying beside him, "Are you sure this is a good idea? You know that vikings have never gotten along with the Scotts. This could very well be a trap to capture you."

"I know," he answered, "but, Astrid, if we don't try to make peace with them, another war could break out. Besides, I did end the war between the Vikings and the dragons..."

Astrid rolled her eyes, "Yes, but-" "But nothing! I don't want to deal with anymore wars than I have to," he replied sharply. His sharp tone startled both her and the dragons. She sighed in defeat and flew back behind him, letting him lead.

The Queen was practically dragging her daughter to the docks to meet the chief from Berk. The King and the prince's were already there and waiting, but the Queen wanted all of the royal family the be in attendance. 

The Princess was skeptical about this Viking Chief. She worried that he could of only agreed to come so he could end the war in a much more violent way.

"What do we even know about this chief anyway?" she asked as her mother pulled her red locks into a loose ponytail. "Well," started the Queen, "I know that he's very respected amongst the Vikings, something of a legend, and very young. His father died about a year ago I believe."

"A legend?" the princess asked. "Yes," replied the Queen, "They say he single handed-ly tamed the beasts that plagued their waters and stopped a three hundred year long war."

The princess had heard of this war and the beasts. They were dragons, giant lizard like creatures with wings and breath of fire. They hardly ever came near the Scottish waters. They seemed to favor the Vikings instead. To be able to tame them would be a great feat.

"Ok. But why do I have to be there to greet him?" she asked as they walked to the stables. Oh, how she wished to be in the woods. "Merida. He's coming to sign a peace treaty. We should all be there to greet him. We wouldn't want to give him a bad first impression now, would we?" the Queen responded.

Merida sighed. "Can I at least take my bow?" she asked. The Queen stayed silent for a moment. "Very well," she said reluctantly.

They were at the docks waiting for the chief to arrive. The Queen was going over the do's and don't's  of the visit with the four children and the King. "He will be here for two weeks, which means you will all have to be on your best behavior. Boys, do try to not cause havoc and listen to Maudie. And Merida, you will need to stay around the castle more often. No wild rides through the forest. You will all need to remember your manners and, what ever you do, Don't laugh at his name!"

Just as she finished her speech, two figures were spotted in the sky. 'Why would we laugh at his name?' Merida wondered. Realizing that the figures were to big to be birds, she placed an arrow on her bow, but didn't raise it. As the figures got closer, they could see that they were giant winged beasts. 'Dragons!' she thought.

Just as she raised her bow, dragons turned, revealing humans on their backs. A blond girl in armor on the blue dragon and a young man with messy brown hair on the black dragon. She heard her triplet brothers gasp in awe and she didn't blame them. It was breath taking.

The two landed their dragons. The man spoke first, "Excuse me, is this Dunbrough?" They nodded, eyeing the dragons consciously. "Then I'm assuming you're King Fergus and Queen Elinor," he said, getting off on the opposite side from them. The girl also dismounted. He walked around and behind his dragon so he could see them. He stood with the black dragon on his right on the girl and the blue dragon on his left. The black dragon's tail moved so it was on his left.

The red on the dragon's tail caught her attention. She looked down go see that the left half of its tail was missing, replaced by a red fabric, but also, the chief was missing his left leg. Instead he had a metal pice of metal shaped like a 'C'.

"What happened to your leg?" one of her brothers asked. "Hubert!" their mother scolded, "Don't be rude."

"No, no. It's alright," he said, "but it is a rather long story. Probably best if I tell you later."

"Well, then I suppose proper introductions are in order," said the Queen, "I am Queen Elinor and this is my husband, King Furgus, and the Princes, Hamish, Hubert, and Haggus, and the Princess, Merida."

"Ah. Well... It's a pleasure to meet you all," he said awkwardly, "I am Hiccup, Chief of Berk, and this is Astrid, my second in command." Astrid nodded politely at them.

Merida had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at his name. Her brothers snickered and her father snorted. They all stopped after receiving a look from Elinor.

The black dragon looked at Hiccup, upset at being left out, and swept its tail under its rider. Hiccup let out a yell of surprise. "We didn't realize you'd be bringing your..." Elinor drifted off. "Dragons," Astrid finished.

Grunting, he stood up, talking to the dragon, "Now, you didn't think I'd forget about you, Bud, did ya?" The dragon gave him an irritated look. "...And this is Toothless. He gets grumpy after a long flight. Is there a place we can take them to rest?" he asked.

"Yes, of corse," replied Elinor. She turned to her children, "Merida. You and the boys can show Hiccup and Astrid to the stables. You can join us in the dining hall later." The group started walking away. "Oh! And boys," she called after them, "listen to your sister!" The triplets rolled their eyes and continued walking.

Hiccup had noticed that there were absolutely not body guards with the royal family. He wanted to ask them about it, but he couldn't figure out how to word his question. Lucky for him, Astrid did.

"Why don't you have any... I don't know... body guards?" She asked as they walked. "Don't need them," said the princess simply. This took both Hiccup and Astrid by surprise. 'Is Dunbrough really that peaceful?'

They stopped in there tracks when they heard someone scream. It was a woman being mugged by a shady figure. She fell to the ground and the figure ran off with something of hers. "STOP! NO! PLEASE! Someone stop him!" she yelled.

"Come on!" said Merida, breaking off into a sprint. Her brothers followed. "Astrid, check if she's ok!" Hiccup said, following them, "Come on bud!" He jumped on Toothless while Astrid checked on the girl.

Merida was on his tail with her brothers behind her. She had taken out her bow, ready to shoot at a moments notice.

The man ran into the crowded market place. Merida shouted over her shoulder to her brothers, "Split up! We'll cut him off!" She continued directly following the man while her brothers dispersed into the crowd. While the man was fast, Merida was agile and light on her feet. She dogged and jumped over people and carts, impressing Hiccup who was flying overhead.

They came to a less crowded area when he tripped. Merida had her arrow ready to shoot. He got up and tried to run, but was soon cut off by the triplets and Hiccup. The boy hadn't seemed to notice exactly who they were, only that he had been caught.

Now, the group got a good look at him. He had dark brown hair, tan skin, and defiantly was not Scottish. He looked like he was around 15.

Noticing he was trapped, he stopped, dropping the bag he had stolen. "Alright, I surrender.," he said, reaching for a dagger behind his back. Toothless growled at the weapon. Merida quickly shot it out of his hand. He sharply turned to face her. "P-p-princess!" he said, fear evident in his voice. He bowed to her and started begging for mercy. He obviously knew what she could do with a bow. "Aye, that's me," she said, looking at him like he was a pathetic creature. "Princess Merida, please, I-" he started apologizing and begging. She cut him off, "You are to be taken to the castle prison. Your fate will be decided later." She motioned for he brothers to take him to some guards.

Once they were gone, she turned to Hiccup. "Well, I guess now I know why you don't need body guards," said Hiccup. Merida smirked at him before turning back towards the direction they came. She picked up the bag that was stolen and started walking. "Come on," she said, "We should check on that lass."