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❛ ғɪʀᴇ & ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚    ▎❛ 𝐓𝐖𝐎 ❜    ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴀ sᴏɴɢ ᴏғ ɪᴄᴇ & ғɪʀᴇ ꒱


❝ WE MISSED HAVING THAT
BRUTAL HONESTY AROUND
HERE, DANY ❞

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"Move back from the door!" Hiccup commanded once Dany went to chase after Dagur. His friends did as he said, though not without much arguing and shoving. He had Toothless fire a blast at the lock but, to their surprise, it remained intact.

This, of course, fascinated Fishlegs to no end and he rushed forward again to study the metal. "Dragon-proof bars? Ooh, fascinating!"

"Whoever built this ship really knew what they were doing," the brunet commented as he studied the lock.

Snotlout crossed his arms and glared at him. "You know what would be more fascinating? Getting us out of here!"

"Toothless, now!" he called to his dragon by way of response. The Night Fury fired several more blasts at the metal, but it still didn't budge. As if sensing the teens' heightened emotions and Drogon's occupancy, the eels slithered towards the ship once more.

Hiccup glanced to the not-so-far distance where Drogon was engaged with the escape boat and wished he'd reversed their roles. Not wanting to pull Dany away from what was also a very important task, he told the other riders: "we need more firepower. Guys, dragon calls."

They complied and spent the next minute issuing a variety of growls and snarls. That's when the eels struck. The first one launched itself on top of the cage. It bore down on the chief's son with an open mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. At the same time, Snotlout groaned, "why'd it have to be eels?"

Toothless fired another plasma blast at the creature to put it in its place. But that was only the first one the teens had to worry about. Three more glided onto the deck while the Night Fury was busy shooting at some eels that had gathered on a nearby rock.

Growing desperate, Hiccup pulled at the cage even though he knew that wouldn't do much good, especially if they hadn't been affected by Toothless' firepower. At the same time, one of the eels in the trio flung itself forward. Hiccup didn't move in time and it latched onto his metal leg. He gripped the bars of his cage with all his might as he cried out, "Toothless!"

One more blast freed the prosthetic and sent the eel skittering away. Toothless peered over the edge of the cage to look down at his rider, giving him a 'there you go' growl. "Thanks, bud."

The brunet untied his prosthetic leg and balanced precariously on his good foot. He used it as a lever to pry the door open while Snotlout made another attempt to call for his dragon (though in a much less helpful way.) "Uh, Hookfang, help us! I'm important!"

The eels seemed to know how to work together as the riders no longer became their direct target. Instead, they wrapped their long bodies once, twice, three times around the ship. There was a terrible splintering, groaning noise as they squeezed and squeezed and squeezed.

"Hiccup, hurry up!" Astrid exclaimed, panicked, as she guessed what the eels were going to do.

"Toothless!" he called again. His dragon knew what to do and let out a bellowing roar.

The other riders' missing dragons came flying out of the now-morning-blue sky just as there was a great crack! Wood bits flew everywhere as the eels squeezed the ship in two. The halves flew apart, the far side sinking quickly while the half with the teens began to tilt vertically. It must have been the combined effort of Hiccup's prosthetic lever and the weight of five young adults on the cage doors because it swung open in the next second— and caught them off guard.

They all grabbed onto wherever they could, latching onto the crosspieces or each other as they fell. Tuffnut landed at the end of the line, dangling so that his blond braids nearly touched the sea. He clutched Hiccup's prosthetic foot. "That was great!"

He then let out a shout as one of the eels leapt up to try and take a bite out of him. He swung the metal appendage wildly, hitting the creature by sheer luck. Another jumped out and he wiggled out of the way. As the third one made a go at him, a cloud of stinking, green gas filled the space below Tuffnut's head. It lit up orange as Barf and Belch soared through it.

The Zippleback caught its rider as he complained, "oh, so now you show up!"

They all returned to the backs of their dragons and flew out of harm's way. Fishlegs took a deep breath as his adrenaline eased. "That was way too close."

After they'd taken a moment to collect themselves, Astrid opened her mouth to ask what was next, but a sharp, acrid smell— that definitely didn't come from Barf and Belch— filled their noses. They turned to follow the scent and saw a great plume of smoke not too far away. Hiccup's eyes grew wide with concern. "Dany!"

He urged Toothless into a fast speed without waiting for the others to ask questions and flew towards the fire. Thankfully, they saw Drogon also flying towards them, away from the smoke, and met the large dragon halfway. As soon as they were close enough, Hiccup asked, "are you okay? What's with all the smoke?"

"Fine," the blonde replied in the same, short manner she had a few hours ago when he'd questioned her about Drogon's violence.

Not wanting to get into that just now, he followed up with: "did you get it?"

She held up the golden, cylindrical object so that it glinted in the morning light. He gave her a relieved smile and decided that whatever she'd done with Dagur had probably been worth it to retrieve it.

🏹🏹🏹

For once, Dany was more excited about returning to Berk than leaving. While she still had her misgivings about being so close to Hiccup constantly, it looked like her 'few days' would be turning into more than that. After all, she had missed being around her friends; her solo missions had reminded her too much of her childhood and constant isolation. But now, with this new distraction of the mysterious cylinder, she had the feeling that their Dragon Training Academy days were returning— but better— and she wasn't about to complain. In fact, she was glad that Hiccup was so doggedly stubborn about his beliefs because it had led them to the very situation they were in now: watching Gobber struggle to figure out. . . whatever it was.

His brows were furrowed in deep concentration while he used his hook to pry it open. He was half-bent from the exertion, his face turning steadily redder as he applied all the strength he had. No matter how hard he tried, the cylinder remained determinedly. . . cylindrical. Hiccup watched the blacksmith with a thoughtful frown. "Have you ever seen anything like this Dragon Eye before?"

The name made everyone turn to look at him either in confusion or annoyance. Tuffnut scratched his head as he leaned against a stack of barrels. "Dragon Eye? How do you know it's called a Dragon Eye?"

"Because I named it."

Snotlout scoffed and held up his hands in a 'time out' gesture. "Whoa, whoa, aren't we supposed to vote on stuff like that?"

Hiccup let out weary sigh. "Fine. All in favor, say 'Dragon Eye.'"

All the riders echoed 'Dragon eye' much to Snotlout's displeasure. Seeing that he was outvoted, he contented himself with shrugging carelessly and grumbling, "just wanted to make sure we voted."

Gobber still had made no progress with the unknown object. Astrid watched him struggle with her arms crossed against her chest until she grew impatient. "Can you open it, Gobber?"

He let out a long, strained groan as he pulled with all his might, then eased up and barked out a laugh. "Ha, ha! Can I open it? I once opened a 500-year-old giant clam at the bottom of the oceans with my bare hook." He shook his head as if the Hofferson had asked a ridiculous question. "Can I open it? Ha! I think it's going to be— " Something clicked inside the Dragon Eye. "Huh. Aha."

A small projectile launched out of the Dragon Eye. Tuffnut was its unfortunate target and it lodged itself in his stomach. He let out a grunt as it impaled itself past his tunic and into his skin. "Ugh. What is that? That looks like a— "

He abruptly fell flat on his face, completely unconscious. Dany let out a surprised 'oh!' at the sudden thud. Ruffnut laughed at her brother's mishap. Gobber was just as unconcerned, more pleased than anything else that he had gotten a reaction out of the artefact. "Well, that was. . . something. . . maybe."

The blacksmith began to attack the cylinder in earnest now, spurred on by the progress he'd made. Daenerys took a few steps back just to make sure she really was out of firing range. Hiccup had a similar thought and he hastily put up his hands to stop the older man from continuing as he warned him, "Gobber, maybe you shouldn't—"

"Trust me, I—" His hook slipped. The motion caused one of the latches to become freed and it released a very familiar noxious, green gas.

All the riders hastily covered their noses and mouths— except for Tuffnut, who was staggering to his feet. "It's all right, I'm okay. I got hit with something, but now—"

Before anyone could warn him (not that he would listen if they did), he took in a breath of the fumes that were spreading around the forge. He collapsed just as quickly as he had the first time. This time, he convulsed and babbled incoherently as the gas interrupted his nervous system. They only watched him for a minute until Hiccup remarked, "yeah, I'm thinking we should probably go get Gothi."

🏹🏹🏹

The medicine hut's platform was more crowded than usual by the time the teens and Gobber had assembled around the older woman. After they'd explained what happened, she wasted no time in shoving some brew mercilessly into Tuffnut's mouth. Once he'd swallowed the lot, he sagged against the bench he was sitting on as his muscles finally stopped twitching. However, he wasn't completely fixed since he started scratching at his teeth with his nails. "Aah. My teeth are itchy," he whined. "My teeth are itchy."

Gothi grabbed her staff and wrote something in the dirt, which Gobber translated. "She says that's a good sign. Means it's working."

Hiccup moved closer to the older woman. "Thank you, Gothi. We really appreciate this."

The blacksmith gave the Dragon's Eye another curious once over and struck it thoughtfully with his hook. The sound of metal-on-metal made Gothi look in his direction. While she still said nothing, there was a sudden shift in the air as her gaze fell on the foreign object. Her eyes went very wide before she turned away abruptly.

Dany, who always had trouble reading subtle emotions in the room, clapped her hands together and pushed off the railing she'd been leaning against. "Okay! Now that Tuffnut is fixed, let's—"

But Hiccup noticed her change in expression and he bent down to put a concerned hand on her shoulder. "Gothi, are you okay? What is it?"

The Targaryen faltered, feeling annoyed with herself for once again missing what were apparently important social cues. Gothi glanced at the chief's son as if trying to decide whether she should tell him or not, then she held up her arm to reveal an old scar made up of three circles, each getting smaller the closer they got to her hand. The older woman's lips pressed into a thin line before she hobbled away.

"Gothi," Hiccup breathed out in surprise. "Her-her scar. It matches the keyhole."

"Yeah, and it looked like a dragon bite to me," Fishlegs observed, having come close enough to see the mark before the medicine woman had disappeared inside her hut.

Dany glanced at the Dragon's Eye and the three different-sized circles. "That's not from any dragon I've ever seen."

"Then you haven't seen all the dragons there are, lassie, because that's definitely a dragon bite," Gobber told them as he continued to smack the metal cylinder against random objects to try and get it to open. "She just doesn't like to talk about it."

"She doesn't like to talk about anything," Fishlegs pointed out.

Despite the fact that he was still scratching his teeth, Tuffnut mumbled around his fingers: "oh, that's why she writes in the dirt with her stick. I thought that was just, like, her thing."

"Yeah, like Snotlout being woman repellent," Ruffnut added with a smirk.

Hiccup was gratified to hear Dany mutter, "she's got that right," as Tuffnut talked over her agreement, still with his fingers in his mouth. "Maybe we could use the stick to itch the teeth."

The brunet walked forward, towards the door disappeared behind, with Fishlegs and only a slightly more reluctant Daenerys on his heels. Gobber pulled out of his Dragon Eye fixation at their movement. "Where are you going?"

"After her," he declared firmly. "We have to find out what kind of dragon made that scar. It could be the key to opening the Dragon Eye."

Gobber held out his hook in a 'wait a minute' gesture. "Hold on. I have ways of making her talk." His slightly evil chuckled made the teens glance at each other with some nervousness, but he didn't seem to notice. "Well, scribble anyway. Give me an hour, we'll all meet and get Gothi to come down to my stall."

As the riders took to their dragons— since none of them had felt like taking the hundreds upon hundreds of steps up to Gothi's hut— Dany made to made to move towards Toothless (as Drogon was far too big to have anywhere near the ramshackle house) when she felt Hiccup's hand snag her wrist. "Not so fast, milady. I thought we'd take the long way back."

While the nickname made her flush, the rest of his words sent unease coursing through her. She knew it was too good to be true with how easily he'd let her explosion of Dagur's ship go. But they were soon the last two remaining and there was nothing she could do but turn and start down the long flight of stairs back to the village. Hiccup fell in step next to her while Toothless bounded behind them, occasionally stopping to peer curiously at whatever caught his interest in the grassy hillside next to them.

They walked in silence for some time, the sound of the wind whistling in their ears breaking up whatever awkwardness might've fallen between them. When they had gained enough distance from Gothi's hut, Hiccup spoke up again and this time his voice took on a concerned tone. "So. . . is there anything you want to tell me about, Dany?"

She would've taken the stairs two at a time just to get to the bottom faster had the steps not been so treacherous. As it was, all she could do was try and avoid the conversation by replying shortly, "not that I can think of."

"Hey, come on," he said, grasping her wrist again, but this time to bring her to a stop. She refused to meet his eyes, though, and kept her gaze focused on the sea that sparkled beyond the cliffs of the village. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Hiccup's words hung in the air, gentle but weighted. Dany's heart pounded and for a moment, she considered confessing everything: her passion to protect dragons that was becoming violent fury, her fear of losing control, how little (to no) guilt she felt about the men she'd killed, and the shame of knowing Drogon's actions mirrored emotions she barely kept in check. But her throat tightened and her courage faltered.

She pulled her wrist from his grasp, crossing her arms defensively. "I know," she replied, straining to put lightness into her tone as she forced herself to meet his gaze defiantly. "But really, there's nothing to talk about."

Hiccup frowned, clearly unconvinced. "Dany, I saw what Drogon did yesterday. That's not the dragon I remember." His own voice was steady, but his green eyes held an intensity that made her want to look away again. "And it's not just about Drogon. It's about you. You've been different ever since you came back."

Her eyes darted away from his once more. "People change, Hiccup. Three years is a long time."

"Sure," he replied, his tone softening but still probing, "but it doesn't mean I stop worrying about you." He took a step closer so that they were almost pressed chest-to-chest in the narrow space. "You've told me before that you're afraid of. . . of what might run in your blood. I thought you trusted me enough to talk about that stuff. If something's wrong, I want to help."

The blonde's head whipped up to meet his, her violet eyes flashing at the audacity he had to pinpoint exactly what had been on her mind— but then again, that just spoke to how well he knew her. Her hands curled into fists as her resolve wavered momentarily but it didn't take her long to strengthen it once more. There was a bite to her words as she grit out: "everything's—fine."

Then, she whirled away from him and hurried down the steps, forgoing the precariousness of the slippery stone in her haste to put space between them. It had only been a day and she was already regretting her decision to stay; distance had suited them best because she hadn't needed— or known— to feel guilty about making him worry.

🏹🏹🏹

Thankfully, it wasn't long before the hour was up and Dany had been able to make herself busy enough that Hiccup hadn't been able to corner her alone again. The gang returned to Gothi's hut to find out what Gobber's method was, which turned out to be Yak Noodle Soup. She stood before the open pot and breathed in deeply, savoring the smell.

The blacksmith smirked at her reaction as he told the teens, "it's the old bat's weakness." Then, enticingly, he raised his voice to address the older woman, "come on. You know you can't resist Gobber's homemade Yak Noodle Soup."

She needed no further invitation and consumed the entire pot in record time, leaving Dany to grimace in disgust as the container clanked loudly to the ground. Fishlegs stared at her in shock. "Ho ho! She downed that like a yak in a heat wave." He paused to reconsider his words. "That makes sense, right?"

"No," the Targaryen informed him.

He merely smiled back at the blonde. "Ah, we missed having that brutal honesty around here, Dany."

Now that the medicine woman had eaten her fill, she relaxed in her chair and seemed more receptive to unpleasant conversation. Hiccup made sure not to miss the opening he'd been given and requested, "now, tell me about this bite mark."

Gobber went over to her so he could translate her writing as she began to tell her story with each stroke of her staff in the dirt. "'I was a turkey neck—'" Gothi struck him with her stick, indicating he'd read it incorrectly. "Ow! 'Teenager.' Sorry. 'I had a longing to climb Glacier Island to find pure glacial water, known for its healing properties. So, I went with two vegetables—'"

She struck him yet again. "Ow! 'Vikings.' Sorry. I'm a bit rusty. 'We had only been at the summit for a few hours, when we were hit by a terrible snowstorm. That's when it attacked. It was vicious, relentless, and impossible to see in the white-out. The Snow Wraith. I'll never know why it didn't finish me off that day. I left knowing only one thing: that I never wanted to smooch that dragon again.' Smooch?" She hit him one more time. "Ow! 'See! Never wanted to see it again!' You know, your drawing ain't what it used to be." Gobber flinched as she raised her staff. "But your swing, strong as ever."

While Gothi told her story, Hiccup's mind whirred quickly to put the pieces together. By the end, he'd figured out what their next move needed to be. "Gothi, a tooth from the Snow Wraith is the key to unlocking the Dragon Eye. You have to help us find it."

The older woman's eyes went wide and she quickly wrote something else down. Gobber peered at it, then looked at her in alarm. "I can't say that to him! He's the chief's son."

She sighed and erased it to write something more appropriate, which the blacksmith then willingly shared with them: "she says, no way she's ever going back. And besides, Berk needs her. It's true. She's the best healer we've got."

"Gobber can cover for you," Hiccup suggested.

"Huh? Well, uh, of course I can," he said with more bravado than he felt. "I've watched Gothi work so many times, I know this place like the back of my hand." He lifted his hand, but it turned out to be his hook. He chuckled nervously and swapped it to hold up his actual hand.

Hiccup met her wary gaze imploringly. "You remember the viciousness of the Snow Wraith. I get that. But you also remember how it was to be my age, to want to explore, to need to see what else is out there. To get answers to questions you haven't even asked yet." He picked up the Dragon Eye and extended it to her. "This will help me do all of that. But only if you help me unlock it."

Her expression changed from suspicious to determined and she gave a short, sharp nod of agreement to finalize her decision. Hiccup turned back to the other two teens. "We leave for Glacier Island in the morning—"

"I'll let the others know!" Dany volunteered hurriedly, her feet already on the move to take her back to the village— anything to keep from having more awkward conversations with her best friend.

🏹🏹🏹

The farther north they got, the more Dany longed— once more— for the south. Now that she had experienced above-freezing temperatures on a daily basis, anything less made her more familiar climate seem unbearable. But she was a Viking so that meant she'd been brought up to be tough enough to withstand such discomforts without complaint. She simply huddled closer to Drogon's back and hoped that his large, muscled frame would block out the worst of the chill. She also occupied her thoughts with everything she knew about this particular dragon— which was pretty much nothing.

That didn't stop the 'dragon nerds' (her, Fishlegs and Hiccup) from getting excited about seeing a new dragon in person, especially when it was a dragon from one of the fiercer classes: strike class. If Gothi's story was anything to go by, there would certainly be some kind of confrontation in order to get the tooth they needed and Dany was looking forward to seeing what kind of firepower the Snow Wraith had— and how it would hold up against both Drogon's size and blasts.

It took several hours to reach the glacier they were aiming for with not much to see except for water and gray, cloudy sky. There weren't many dragons that made the far north their home and those that did tended not to make themselves known. By the time their target was in sight, Dany was shivering even with her thick leathers and other layers she'd specifically worn for their ride. She'd always been more sensitive to the cold than the others thanks to her warmer-than-unusual body temperature— it seemed to make her more susceptible rather than act as a buffer— and her face was quite pink from the icy wind, which felt like it grew stronger the closer they got to the glacier.

Fishlegs spoke up over the gusts so the others could share in his excitement: "oh! The Book of Dragons mentions the Snow Wraith but doesn't have any information on it. Can you believe this? A brand-new dragon! It's been so long; I've forgotten what this feeling is." He winced at the twins' judgmental looks. "Sorry. Excited about the new dragon."

Astrid pinned him with an inscrutable stare. "You mean the dragon that single-handedly wiped out Gothi's entire search party?"

He bowed his head, momentarily abashed. "That would be correct." Then he brightened and pumped his fist in the air. "So worth the long flight!"

"Speak for yourself!" Snotlout scoffed, jutting his chin over his shoulder to indicate the healer who sat behind him. "Your neck hair's not covered in old lady drool."

Dany grimaced. "I didn't need that mental image."

Astrid urged Stormfly to put on a spurt of speed before the Jorgenson could make even more of a fuss. "Okay, here we are!"

They landed shortly after her announcement in a flat stretch of ice that was large enough for even Drogon to stand comfortably. He made a half-moon shape with his body to protect them from the worst of the wind while they took stock of their surroundings. Dany slid off her dragon's back but didn't stray far from his side as she pressed herself close to the warmth of his scales to ward off the chill.

Snotlout was last to land and he quickly dismounted from Hookfang's back. In an uncharacteristic act of gentlemanliness, he offered his hand to Gothi. She didn't know him well enough to be skeptical of the gesture as the others would've been, so she reached forward to take his hand without question. Of course, he couldn't stand to be nice for even a second, and as soon as she was ready to get down, he swiped his hand away and let her fall into the snow.

"Oh, whoops!" he exclaimed, chuckling at the result of his prank. He shrugged as if his 'clumsiness' couldn't be helped. "Yak hands. Oh, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

Gothi's fierceness hadn't diminished despite her age. As she picked herself up off the ground, her cane swung out and caught the teen around his ankles. She gave it a good yank, which sent him face-first into the snow instead. Astrid smirked, pleased that there was one more person on their team who could take the brunet down a peg. "You know, we should bring her along more often."

The older woman, of course, didn't reply. Instead, her eyes flicked around the clearing intently before she wandered a few paces away to sift some of the snow between her fingers. They waited for her verdict with bated breath, but their anticipation was for naught because all they received in response was an anti-climactic shrug. Snotlout, predictably, let out a loud groan. "Great, just great. She's got nothing. Someone else is wearing that bag of bones home. She's all knees and elbows."

Just as he finished whining, the wind picked up unexpectedly. Astrid crossed her arms more tightly against her chest while Hiccup squinted against the sudden gale. Fishlegs grabbed onto Drogon's side as his feet started to slip, then let out a yelp as he realized who he'd touched and snatched his hand back with an apologetic look at the larger dragon. Drogon remained wholly unbothered and only let out a huff of breath that steamed up the air in response. But even Drogon's best efforts went unappreciated by Snotlout as he complained, "can we please do something? My mouth is starting to freeze shut."

"Don't get our hopes up," the Hofferson muttered snidely.

"Well, then we should work fast to find this Snow Wraith," Hiccup said. "Because we're not leaving until we do."

"We could split up to cover more ground," Dany offered, then promptly added, "Drogon and I will go by ourselves."

Hiccup glanced at her with some concern and vague disappointment before he conceded, "good idea. Dragon call if you come across anything."

They went their separate ways and Dany had Drogon do a few circles around their designated area. It was hard to tell if there was anything under the thick blanket of snow or to see if something moved between the falling flakes. She felt her dragon's unease in the constant shift of his muscles against her legs and knew there was something that was just beyond her ability to observe. But even standing still in hopes of luring the other dragon out proved fruitless and they returned to the other riders just as empty-handed as the others.

"Anybody find anything?"

"All we found was some scattered yak bones," Ruffnut reported.

Fishlegs' voice had a new tremor to it as he shared, "I didn't see anything, but I had this weird feeling that something was watching me."

Dany nodded in agreement. "We didn't see anything but I think Drogon sensed that there was something. . . else nearby."

"Oh!" Snotlout piped up, his tone once more filled with sarcasm. "I had a weird feeling, too. Like this old lady was stuck to my back."

Gothi's bony fingers gripped the boy's vest as she lifted herself up to see over his broad shoulders. Tuffnut nearly jumped out his saddle at the sight of her. "Aah! Two heads!" Barf and Belch grumbled at his dismay. "Oh, sorry guys. I mean, on you two, it works. I've seen it before, I'm used to it."

The wind whistled in Daenerys' ears, causing her to look up at its renewed force. The snow appeared to be falling even more thickly now and the sky grew darker— and it wasn't from the gathering night. She shivered and huddled close to Drogon again, seeking as much warmth as he had to offer as her own heat felt like it was whisked away by the chill. Hoping that the chief's son would listen to her, she suggested hesitantly, "uh, Hiccup, maybe we should get out of here. I don't think I'd like to be here when that storm hits."

For the first time in awhile (and maybe it was a sign of their strained relationship), he shook his head stubbornly at a request she'd made. "No. We should dig in here and wait for the Snow Wraith to show itself. Remember, it likes to attack while you can't see it."

Even Fishlegs' excitement about a new dragon wasn't enough to keep him going as he grumbled, "great. Just great."

They used Drogon as a shield again, this time even more grateful for the barrier of his body. The snow soon became blinding, obscuring all hope they had of seeing anything past their immediate surroundings. Pressed as close as she was against her dragon, Dany felt more than heard the beginnings of the growl that rumbled deep within his chest. The others began to sense it, too, and tensed as a second sound was heard over the howling of the wind.

"It's the Snow Wraith!" Fishlegs cried, covering his head with his arms for extra protection.

Hiccup stood tall against the unseen force and ordered them, "hold your ground and fire back!"

Astrid looked around wildly. "Fire back where? We can't see it!"

Drogon lifted his head and let out a burst of flame, but all that did was create steam as the blast of heat hit the frozen water particles. Toothless growled as their visibility became worse and his tail lashed as he looked for their invisible opponent. That seemed to change the brunet's mind and he shouted, "actually, you know what? Take cover!"

The riders rushed out from the shelter of Drogon's body— as helpful as he was, he just made them a bigger target— in the hopes of hiding elsewhere. A blast came out of nowhere and struck Snotlout's feet, sending him flying into a snowdrift. More snow exploded nearby, causing Hiccup to become buried as well.

Dany didn't have time to relocate herself. A great, pale shape solidified from the mass of swirling white flakes in front of her. It was one of the few dragons that could hold a candle to Drogon's size (briefly thinking back to the Screaming Death, she wondered if all white dragons were destined to be so large.) It's pure-white scales helped it blend in to its surroundings and Dany could see its rows of pointed teeth as its mouth opened and let out a bone-chilling roar. The Snow Wraith's wings spread outwards to an impressive size before it landed back on all fours, the ground shuddering underneath her from its weight. She caught a glimpse of icy blue eyes as its attention turned right. . . to. . . her.

Unbeknownst to the Vikings, the Snow Wraith used thermal energy to see. Hiccup and Snotlout had both been covered in snow, which hid their natural body temperature. Unfortunately for Dany with her dragon-warm blood, she was more like a beacon for the Snow Wraith to find. Fortunately, she had a massive, overprotective dragon on her side. Drogon hefted himself to his feet and faced off with the white dragon. He bared his teeth so that his opponent could see his huge, glistening fangs and let out a rivalling roar of his own.

Hiccup heard the roars of challenge and his mind flashed back to how Drogon had dealt with the eels yesterday. Not wanting another. . . incident like that on his hands, he quickly told his dragon: "Toothless, warning shot."

Toothless fired a single plasma blast in the direction of the Snow Wraith, causing it to become distracted and turn away from the Targaryen and her dragon. The other dragons joined in, adding their own cautionary signals. That did the trick and the Snow Wraith completely forgot about Dany and Drogon (for the time being) to face off against the smaller dragons. The blonde didn't stop her dragon from joining in, but the wind made it impossible for the flames to hit their mark.

It struck dangerously close to the riders, causing Hiccup to exclaim, "cease fire! Cease fire!"

The Snow Wraith whipped around lightning-fast, catching Astrid off guard so that she tumbled off Stormfly and over the cliff. She reacted with her instincts and grabbed onto the first rock she could, digging in with the toes of her boots until her Nadder could lend her tail and help her up. But she hadn't been the white dragon's target: it had returned as a heat-seeking missile for Dany's brightly burning thermal energy.

Its sudden pivot back to Daenerys was clearly calculated. Its icy-blue eyes locked onto her, glowing faintly like shards of winter's fury. Dany could feel her heart pounding as Drogon positioned himself between his rider and the incoming threat. He reared up, wings flaring wide to make himself appear even larger, but the Snow Wraith seemed undeterred, its talons digging into the frozen ground as it stalked forward.

Hiccup's eyes narrowed as the white dragon tracked on the blonde once more. While a part of him wondered what was making the two be drawn together like magnets, the larger part of him was far more worried about her safety. Although he knew that Drogon could take care of her well enough by himself, they needed the dragon in one piece if they wanted to be able to take one of its teeth to unlock the Dragon Eye. He waved his hand towards his dragon. "Toothless, now! Multiple blasts!"

Even though the Snow Wraith was able to dodge every single one of the Night Fury's shots, the attack forced the white dragon into the air and kept it from landing again. It soon disappeared into the gray-white clouds and, to their relief, didn't come back. 

"Everybody okay? Everybody here?" Hiccup called to the other riders.

Astrid raised her arm in response as she finally pulled herself back to safety on the right side of the cliff. The twins moved closer as Ruffnut grumbled, "what do you mean by 'here?'"

Snotlout, expectedly, was quick to chime in with a complaint of his own: "I have a question, Hiccup. What exactly is your plan to get a Snow Wraith tooth? Take it out of one of our dead bodies?"

"If all goes well," Tuffnut replied seriously, "it'll be Ruffnut's dead body and the Wraith Tooth."

The medicine woman ignored their banter and walked forward, leaning heavily on her staff to stay upright against the force of the wind. Hiccup watched as she began to write and the snow and he waved his hand towards the trio to silence them. "Hold on, quiet. Gothi's trying to tell us something."

Fishlegs studied the words she'd written quickly before they were covered by more flakes. "She says we should've left when we had the chance."

"Probably, but I'm pretty sure that Snow Wraith would've tailed me all the way back to Berk if we had," Dany put in.

"Yeah, I noticed that, too," Hiccup said. "It was like it was attracted to you or something." He felt his face warm a bit at the verb he'd chosen. "I-I mean, maybe it's because you're hotter than the rest of us." He froze and scrambled to explain, "run! You run hotter than the rest of us! Look, the Snow Wraith didn't have any trouble seeing us until Snotlout got buried in the snow. And Gothi said it couldn't find her when she fell in a snowbank. I think that's because it sees body heat in the same way that Toothless can find things with sound. That's why it kept tailing Dany."

"You're right," Fishlegs agreed. "It clung to her like sweat on a yak in a heatwave." He paused thoughtfully. "Does that make more sense?"

The blonde shook her head. "Fishlegs, no matter how many times you try to make 'yak in a heatwave' work, it still isn't going to make sense. But I get your point; maybe we could use that to our advantage and I could get close enough to grab a tooth?"

"What, by sticking your arm in its mouth?" Snotlout scoffed in disbelief.

She blinked at him. "Yes."

"No— no, Dany," Hiccup insisted while the Jorgenson looked surprised that he'd guessed her plan correctly. "That's crazy! We can think of another way. . ."

"Well, unless you really do plan on pulling a tooth out of one of our dead bodies, I don't hear anyone else offering suggestions," she pointed out. "I'm the only one it's gotten close to so I have the best chance."

"What about the fact that it tried to blow us up?" Astrid argued, crossing her arms against her chest.

Dany mirrored her stance and retorted, "well, how would you feel if strange, bipedal creatures invaded your home without warning?"

"Uh, excuse me," Tuffnut chimed in, raising his hand as he did so, "what do you mean by 'pedal?' If bipedal is a new kind of dragon, can we arrange to meet it later? We're already kinda in the middle of meeting this one."

Daenerys shot Tuffnut a look that clearly said 'not now.' She turned her attention back to Hiccup. "I know it's dangerous, but this is the fastest way to get what we need. Drogon will protect me. It'll probably feel less threatened if there's only one of us rather than a whole group. And if you really are against it, then I won't stick my arm in its mouth— I'll ask for the tooth."

"Ask?" Snotlout echoed incredulously. "Like it's going to politely hand one over and say, 'oh sure, here you go!'"

The Targaryen gave him an unimpressed look. "Dragons are smarter than you think. I'm pretty sure they understand everything we're saying; it just depends on whether or not they want to listen."

Trying to find a voice of reason that would keep Dany from putting herself in what he saw as unnecessary danger Hiccup turned to Gothi, hoping that the elder would have more advice. The older woman studied Dany with unblinking eyes, whose violet ones stared at her right back unflinchingly. Finally, she wrote a short message in the snow, which Fishlegs translated as: "she says. . . 'let her.'"

Hiccup stared at her. "What? Gothi, you can't seriously—"

The healer thumped her staff again, silencing him. She pointed at Dany, then to the swirling horizon where the Snow Wraith had disappeared and then made a sweeping motion as if to say, this is the only way.

Astrid sighed. "I hate to admit it, but Gothi might be right. Dany was the only one it didn't actively attack; we should use that. She has Drogon, and we'll be here to back her up."

"Yeah," Snotlout added. "Besides, if it goes wrong, at least I didn't volunteer to be dragon food."

"Not helping!" Hiccup snapped.

"Actually, it might work," Fishlegs said cautiously. "Snow Wraiths are territorial but they respect strength. If Dany can approach it without threatening it, maybe we don't have to fight at all."

Dany, sensing that the tides were turning in her favor, added emphatically, "I can do this. Drogon and I can handle it. You just have to trust me."

The chief's son wavered at her use of the word trust, remembering how he'd asked her to trust him with whatever inner turmoil she might currently be going through. While she'd essentially thrown his offer back in his face, he thought that, maybe, showing her that confidence would help her feel like she could do the same with him.

"Fine. Fine!" he exclaimed, exasperated. He pointed a stern finger at her. "But the second anything goes wrong, we're stepping in."

Before the others left to go to the overhang they'd pinpointed as their hiding place, Dany felt something warm and wooden press into her palm. She looked down and saw that Gothi was silently pressing her staff into her hands, her pale, blue eyes conveying both her encouragement and wariness. The blonde gripped the staff tightly and gave her an appreciative nod. "Thank you, but I'm sure I won't need it."

A few short minutes later, she was standing alone in the empty clearing as the wind— which had died down ever since the Snow Wraith had left— began to pick back up again. She planted her feet and called into the swirling snow, her voice defiant as she called out: "I'm right here! Come on! Isn't this what you wanted?"

For a moment, there was nothing but the howling gusts and the sharp sting of ice against her skin. Then, through the snow, she caught sight of movement— a faint outline becoming more defined with every second. The Snow Wraith emerged from the storm with a roar, its glowing blue eyes locking onto her. Its massive wings folded as it landed with a thunderous crash, snow and ice exploding around it. Drogon growled low, his wings flaring to their full span as he stepped protectively in front of her. His tail lashed, his molten yellow eyes fixed on the pale dragon.

"Easy, Drogon," Dany murmured, placing a hand on his side. "Let me handle this."

He hesitated, his growl rumbling deep in his chest, but he stayed where he was. Dany took a deep breath, then stepped forward, holding the staff in front of her. She met the Snow Wraith's gaze, her voice steady. "I don't want to hurt you."

The white dragon tilted its head, its icy breath visible in the air as it regarded her curiously. Slowly, deliberately, Dany tossed Gothi's staff to the side. "See? No weapons. Just me."

The Snow Wraith snarled, its teeth bared, but it didn't move to attack. Instead, it watched as Dany took another step forward. "I know we're intruding on your territory," she said softly. "But we're not here to harm you. We just need one of your teeth. That's all."

She extended her hand toward the dragon, her palm upturned. The Snow Wraith lowered its head slightly, its nostrils flaring as it sniffed her outstretched hand. For a tense moment, it remained still. Then, it leaned forward and allowed her to place her hand on its snout. The Targaryen held her breath at the touch, the warmth of her palm burning against the dragon's unusually cooler skin. It was a pairing that really shouldn't have resulted in such harmony— the Snow Wraith's ice and Dany's fire— but somehow, it worked.

Dany smiled faintly, her voice barely above a whisper. "Thank you. You're magnificent."

The Snow Wraith pulled away and opened its mouth, revealing rows of jagged, tri-grouped teeth. Carefully, it plucked one loose with its tongue and dropped it into the snow at her feet before stepping back and launching into the air with a powerful beat of its wings. Within moments, it was gone, swallowed by the storm. Dany bent down to pick up the tooth, her breath fogging in the icy air. She held it tightly in her hand as Drogon rumbled approvingly behind her.

Meanwhile, back at the overhang, the riders were in trouble. The wind and vibrations from the Snow Wraith's landing had caused the icy cliff above them to collapse, burying the entrance to their hiding spot. Hiccup frantically directed Toothless to blast the debris away, his voice tight with worry. "Hurry, bud! Dany's out there on her own!"

"She's not alone," Astrid reminded him, though she was also straining against a chunk of fallen ice. "She's got Drogon."

"I know," Hiccup muttered. "But that doesn't make me feel any better. I didn't want her to face that thing by herself in the first place!"

"Don't worry," Snotlout cut in, grinning at them smugly. "Hooky's got it, don't you, Hooky?" He tapped the underside of his dragon's jaw with his fist, causing the Monstrous Nightmare to light up in flame.

Fishlegs glanced up at the icy ceiling nervously. "Uh, I don't think that's such a good idea—"

Hookfang charged forward, the heat radiating from his body causing the wall of snow to melt almost instantly. Astrid stared at the now-free entrance with surprise. "Did that actually work?"

"Yes!" Snotlout cheered with a fist pump. "Snotlout got us out of the snow!"

Hiccup ignored the Jorgenson and ran towards the small, white-haired figure that was only visible through the snow due to her dragon's large shadow. "Dany!" Hiccup shouted as he sprinted across the clearing, his booted-and-metal-foot slipping slightly on the icy terrain. It didn't take him long to cross the clearing and he stopped just short of pulling her into a hug, even though he desired to do exactly that. Instead, he contented himself with asking worriedly, "are you okay?"

The Targaryen woman turned at the sound of his voice, her expression shifting from focused determination to relief as she saw him approach. Drogon, ever-watchful, shifted slightly but remained calm as he watched the chief's son approach.

"I'm fine!" Dany told him, triumphantly holding up the Snow Wraith tooth for him to see. "See? Mission accomplished."

That didn't stop him from letting his eyes scan her from head to toe for any signs of injury. His gaze lingered on the tooth in her hand before meeting her eyes. "You're sure? You're not hurt?"

Dany gave him a small smile, her voice light but sincere. "I'm sure. Drogon had my back the whole time. You worry too much."

His expression softened as she acknowledged his concern for her. "I can't help it; it's kind of. . . my job to worry about people. . . I. . . care about."

Her eyes widened and she wondered briefly exactly what he meant by the word 'care,' but she forced down that rather dangerous train of thought. Friends, she reminded herself firmly. He's your friend. It's perfectly natural for friends to care about each other. Then, as if confirming her interpretation, he quickly moved on as if the sentiment he'd expressed hadn't meant much to him. Addressing the rest of the riders, he announced: "alright, we got what we came for. Let's just get out of here before the Snow Wraith changes its mind."

Dany nodded, sliding the tooth into one of the pockets in her leathers. She glanced at Gothi's staff, which still lay in the snow where she'd tossed it and bent down to retrieve it. As she straightened, she met Hiccup's eyes again while the other riders mounted their dragons. "Thanks for trusting me," she said quietly.

"You know I do," he reminded her gently. "And. . . I hope you will too, with whatever's going on with you."

She gave him an uncertain smile. "We'll see."

Despite her vague response, he brightened at her answer; at least she hadn't immediately shut him out like his last two attempts! It gave him hope that, one day soon, they'd be as close as they had been back when it had been just the two of them.

A/n: once again, I hope that I didn't make Dany too much of a 'Mary Sue' with her 'taming' the Snow Wraith. I know an overused trope in the HTTYD fandom is having the OC be a better dragon trainer than Hiccup (and thus having him fall in love with them), but that's not what I was trying to accomplish here— and there will be dragons that Dany can't tame. I liked the idea of the juxtaposition of the ice/fire being compatible, plus if I word-for-word copied every episode, that would get boring. And, okay, maybe I do want Dany to be a *little* better of a dragon trainer than Hiccup, but not to the level that she gets her own Night Fury or anything. 

This also isn't my favorite episode so I'm trying to get through these early ones quickly (while still having the same quality that you're used to) to get more into the heart of s1.