You Are My Romeo

Chapter 6: The Stranger

A low grumble sounded from outside before it was followed by an eerily familiar sound that made my stomach drop. "Calm down, bud, I'm not going to let them do anything to us! I just need to ... check out what's going on here, alright?"

Another guttural grumble came from outside as I rested my hand on the door handle. Could it really be him? Did he really come back? Had he felt the same as I did? Without any warning, I threw the doors open and raised my axe at my new guests, only to let it fall to my side once more when I realized who was standing before me.

At the very edge of my balcony was a large and long, black dragon with luminescent, green eyes which pupils were slit. A low growl emitted from the night fury's throat as it watched me carefully, like a predator hunting its prey. Fighting every instinct within me, I glared right back at the dragon, studying it to see if I could find any weak points I could take advantage of, that's when I noticed it's left tail fin, which was made of ... red fabric? I blinked in confusion for a second before following the wires and cables connected to the tail fin, which all lead to a saddle with mechanic pedals on the side, which I assumed were to control said dragon.

It was then that I remembered that the dragon hadn't come on its own, I turned ever so slightly and found myself suddenly lost within those emerald green eyes from the night before once again. For some strange reason, my cheeks grew uncomfortably hot as I attempted to tear my gaze away from those eyes, those wonderful eyes that I had thought of ever since the last time I had made contact with them.

It was as I forced my focus away from his eyes that I realized I could finally see his whole face. The helmet made of what I had believed to be the scales of his dragon had been opened to reveal the face of the man that hid beneath and when I tell you that he was not what I expected, I meant that in a good way. A really, really good way.

Thick brows rested over those emerald eyes of his which stood quite well with his auburn hair. Somehow I managed to notice the nearly invisible freckles that dotted his cheeks as well as the tiny white scar that was hidden by the subtle stubble that lined his jaw. He wore the same suit of armor made from dragon scales that I had seen him in the night before, which looked to fit him like a glove, indicating that the mystery man was as lean as I had thought. By the looks of it, he was also a couple of inches taller me, but did that bother me? Not in the slightest.

I took a deep breath, shoving away all these thoughts about him as I ripped off the veil of wonders and saw him for the invader he truly was. The man who had attacked the fortress without any good reason. The man who had commanded his dragons to harm others. The man who had almost killed me. I tightened my grip on the handle of my axe as I could feel the night fury the man had brought with him staring me down and probably dreaming of ripping me to shreds. Give it your best shot, pal.

"Who are you and what the hell are you doing here?" I snarled as I pointed my axe at his throat, which made his night fury pounce forward, but the dragon rider stopped him with a simple gesture.

"Calm down, bud, I'm alright." The man reassured his dragon as he raised both his hands, indicating that he was not going to fight back. Displeased, the dragon retreated but kept its rather unsettling eyes on me.

"Are you going to answer me, yes or no?" I barked, but for some reason, all that doofus that was getting his life threatened could do was grin.

A chuckle escaped him. A deep, comforting sound which echoed through my entire body and made me want to laugh along with him, but I kept up my cold front. For all I knew, he could be an assassin trying to get my guard down right before he slits my throat. "Sorry, Sorry. I just find it very hard to take you seriously when you're threatening me in a nightgown."

I raised a brow at the man before I glanced down at myself and remembered that I was still wearing the incredibly cozy and comfortable night gown of sky blue silk my father had gifted me on my last birthday. I loved that night gown, especially with everything that had happened and now this stranger was mocking it, something which I did not appreciate.

I pressed the blade closer to his throat, which his dragon did not tolerate in the slightest as in the matter of a second, he loaded up and aimed a blast at me. I didn't even have the time to process what was happening before the man I had previously been threatening threw himself over me, pushing us both out of the way of the blast and sending us tumbling to the ground as the tower shook ever so slightly. What I thought would be a hard and rather painful landing turned surprisingly soft and I found myself opening my eyes in wonder at how I hadn't managed to hit my head on the cold, hard stone. And sure enough, the man had not only saved me from the blast, he had also saved me from a painful headache by placing his hand behind my head and absorbing the impact.

For a moment I just laid there, in complete shock, with this stranger atop of me as I began to wonder what my life had become. The man placed his hands on either side of me as he used them to support his own weight, which couldn't possibly be comfortable considering the unnaturally red knuckles on the hand that had been behind my head.

"I'm sorry, I don't usually end my first meetings with ladies like this." The man joked, which made me want to laugh just as much as it made me want to punch him in the face. The dragon rider nodded towards his dragon. "He doesn't usually attack people in that way either."

"It's a he?" I asked, my mind coming up empty of any other clever replies.

"Yeah and he's my best friend, which is why he can be a little overprotective at times. Isn't that right, Tooothless?" The dragon rider narrowed his eyes at his dragon, who seemed to huff in disagreement.

"Toothless? But he has teeth?" I asked, gaze turned to the dragon who was still giving me an ugly look.

The stranger shrugged. "He didn't when I met him."

"I suppose that explains ... some things. But that doesn't explain what you're doing on my balcony. Or why you tried to kill me last night." I glared up at him, right before realizing that he was still keeping himself steady over me, which made my cheeks heat even further. He seemed to have realized this as well, because with an awkward laugh, he stood to his feet, holding out his hand to me as if I needed any help up.

I smacked away his hand and stood to my feet on my own, leaving my axe on the ground as I brushed any dust off my night gown. "Sorry about almost killing you, sorry about showing up here unexpectedly and sorry for not introducing myself either! Lovely to meet you, I'm Hiccup, Hiccup Haddock."