Cold Heart

The Dragon Conqueror

I was ecstatic. A malicious kind of ecstatic. I took joy out of the fact that I could destroy them in a heartbeat if that was what it came to.  The fact that I was going into a peace treaty filled with lies and distrust. But it had worked. I expected Stoick to lose his head and fire anger at me, and to be honest, it was disappointing he didn't. Toothless could've given him the fright of his life. However, it still had gone well, and that's what I cared about. 

I was going to save the dragons. 

I landed in the cove, wary of Heather but not unhappy with her presence. She looked up from a drawing she had been making in the dirt. Part of me itched to go see what it was, or to give her a piece of charcoal and paper. I pushed the itch away. 

Throwing my helmet on the ground, I fistbumped the air. This was good. This was very good. Still, it made me nervous to take Toothless into Berk. I didn't want him hurt, or killed. 

That's when an idea popped into my mind. That's what I needed- an insider. Someone who could tell me what people were thinking and what Stoick was planning. Someone who I didn't rely on, but I would be happy with them having my back.

I straightened up, pushed back my grin, and jogged over to Heather. She looked up in surprise and distrust. 

"Hey, could you do me a big favor?" I started hesitantly.

She snorted. "That is why I'm here, is it not? What do you need? Did it go well?"

I sighed. "Stop with all the questions please. Long story short, it went great. I'm going back tomorrow to train the dragons in their kill arena. It would be nice if you would do two different things."

She nodded slowly.

"First- go out on Windshear and collect every fish you can find. I'll need a lot if I'm to train every dragon tomorrow. Second- I would like you to give Windshear to me." She started to protest but I continued. "For a few days. I want you to pretend as though you got stranded on Berk. If possible, I would like you to figure out what they intend to do to me and everyone's overall feelings about me. Eh- try to befriend Astrid and Stoick, but if you can't, snuggle up to Snotlout. That'll get you the most info."

She blinked several times before letting out a small sigh. "I've basically already agreed, so what choice do I have? I don't know how to keep Windshear from following me, but I'll tell her to listen to you as effectively as I can. I'll... Go get those fish first, though." She glanced to the sun, which was almost set already.

I stared at her for a second as she went to climb aboard her dragon. Then I let out a small, genuine smile.

As she flew away I murmured, "Thank you, Heather." Maybe- just maybe- I could have a friend in her.

I turned to Toothless, who was watching my actions through narrowed eyes. I raised my eyebrows. "What?" He just snorted in return.

"Well be that way then, you big lizard. Let's go to sleep." 

The dragon crooned in agreement. It had been a long day. I settled in on his side and fell asleep to the sound of crickets.

***

It was dawn all too soon. Heather woke me up with a hiss, telling me that she was going to go. She gave me a bin of fish, which I wore over my shoulder. It was bad timing for us to both appear on the same day, but I didn't have much of a choice. The less danger, the better it was for me and Toothless. I wasn't as immortal as I made myself sound.

Not to mention today there would be no room for lies. I would have Toothless and only Toothless, and that would be quite obvious. I told Windshear to stay in the cove. She seemed to understand. I knew she wasn't as smart as Toothless, but she was a lot smarter than a lot of dragons I had encountered. I hope she understood.