When the room was finally empty, I opened my eyes.
I finally could sit up and stretch my tense muscles. Laying under a pile of wood still as possible for hours waiting for someone to happen across me was not exactly comfortable. But it always worked. Start with a demand for sympathy.
This time, a group of ragtag young adults about my age had found me. Immediately, I had noticed the dragons. The rumors were true. They had dragons— trained dragons— with them. My heart thumped in my chest as I thought about it.
The band had taken me to the village elder and healer, Gothi, who examined me, cleaned me up a bit, and found me 'miraculously unharmed.'
The first boy to find me, the one with a whiny, sarcastic voice who everyone called Hiccup, agreed to allow me to stay at his house for the time being before they fixed up some kind of small barn nearby. I had lost bits and pieces of the conversation when the group moved away from me, but it was easy to put the pieces together.
So there I was, cracking my neck and taking in the layout of Hiccup's room. I was on a bed, covered in a thick, wooly blanket, and there was a staircase leading down next to me.
Suddenly, there was a huff from a dark corner of the room.
I spun around to see a striking black dragon boring holes into me with his piercing green eyes in suspicious slits.
I glanced quickly back and forth, then slipped my legs off of the bed. The dragon took a step back.
Quietly as possible, I began to speak in his tongue, "Hello. My name is Runa."
The dragon's eyes flew wide, and he gawked, dumbstruck. For a moment, I thought he wouldn't respond. Then, his features softened just a bit, and he opened his mouth, "Toothless."
"You're a Night Fury, aren't you?" I whispered, daring a step closer.
"How are you speaking to me?"
"I know how to speak dragonese." I answered, then eagerly changed the subject. "You have beautiful scales, Toothless. I've never seen a Night Fury before, you know."
I again stepped closer, but this time, Toothless's nostrils flared, and he inched backwards. "You smell like a wild dragon."
Before I could respond, the door creaked open. A tall young man with flowing, brown hair entered backwards, holding a tray with a steaming bowl and a glass of water. I rushed back to the bed and threw myself under the covers.
When he turned around to see me awake, he jumped. "I didn't expect to see you up. How are you feeling?" I instantly recognised the voice of Hiccup.
I didn't respond, just pointed urgently at Toothless.
Hiccup frowned at the dragon. "I told you to stay outside. We don't want to scare her to death!"
He sighed, turning his attention back to me, and sat himself on the edge of the bed. "Don't worry about Toothless. He won't hurt you."
Toothless gave no hint that his name had even been said, and he instead fixed me with an intense stare, emotions unreadable.
Hiccup lifted the tray of food from his lap and slowly passed it into my hands. "It's soup I made. Potato soup. But be careful; it's still pretty hot."
As he spoke, my mouth watered, and my stomach ached. I yearned to smash my face into the bowl and devour the entire meal as I inhaled the enticing aroma, but, exercising a great deal of self-control, I lifted the spoon and slowly fed myself. I wasn't planning on eating it all, but the food tasted so heavenly I couldn't help myself. Almost immediately after emptying the tray, I felt my stretched stomach churn.
Hiccup gave me a chance to finish up, and then the questions began.
"I'm Hiccup," he said. "And you are?"
They were all the same questions as usual: "How old are you?", "Where are you from?", and, of course, "How did you end up crashing on our shores?"
I answered them with the same, short answers I always did: "Runa," "Seventeen," "The Sea Salt Tribe", "I was fishing and got swept out to sea by the storm."
When Hiccup had his fill of answers, he picked up the tray and made for the door. "You're probably tired," he guessed. "I'll let you rest. But I promise, we will start looking for a way to get you home as soon as possible."
My brain felt like it had shattered. That was new. In all the time I spent with other tribes, no one had ever even offered to help me get home. I ignored the sudden anxiety in my chest and spoke quietly, "You'll help me?"
"Sure I will. And so will my friends. If you want, and if you're feeling up to it, you can meet them tomorrow. They're kinda crazy, but I'm sure they'll like you."
I hugged myself and let out a sigh for good measure. "Thank you, Hiccup."
Hiccup smiled and called for Toothless. The dragon hesitated a moment, eyes still trained on me, but with some extra coaxing, he followed Hiccup out.
The door fell shut, leaving me to stare into the dark with only my thoughts.
. . .
Hiccup's friends were... a lively bunch.
Earlier, he'd taken the time to explain to me the vikings of Berk— the Hooligan Tribe— had indeed learned to train dragons, just as the rumors said, and he and his friends were all part of a dragon training academy right there on the island.
Together they trained in what looked to have once been an arena, with, I was delighted to see, their dragons.
I stepped inside the gate and hesitated for a second upon the sight of the massive beasts.
"It's alright," Hiccup assured me, just as I thought he would. "I promise, they won't hurt you."
I reluctantly nodded, then trailed behind Hiccup as we approached the gang of young vikings punching each other, talking loudly, and laughing.
"Hey, guys!" Hiccup called out. "Guys!"
They quieted down and averted their attention to him.
"Guys, meet Runa."
Just like that, everyone rushed forward.
"Wow! You're not dead!" someone gasped.
"How are you feeling?"
"Woah, guys, guys," Hiccup exclaimed, ushering them away. "One at a time! Give her some space!"
Once everyone had calmed down a bit, Hiccup again spoke to me. "Runa, meet my friends." He pointed to the tall, bulky young man in brown beside him. "That's Fishlegs..."
"Welcome to Berk, Runa."
"...Astrid..."
"Nice to meet you."
"...the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut."
"You're really short." Tuffnut observed, and Ruffnut punched him.
"... and finally..." Hiccup sighed as the last of the group flexed his biceps. "Snotlout."
"I saved your life," he announced proudly and winked. "I kept the boat from crushing you."
My eyes widened, and I raised my eyebrows but didn't reply.
"Today," Hiccup addressed them, "we are going to begin a special mission... we are going to help Runa find her home."
My stomach churned, but I watched silently.
"We are?" Tuffnut questioned. "I thought we were—"
Astrid elbowed him in the ribs, and he let out a huff of air. "Where are you from?" she asked.
"The Sea Salt Tribe," Hiccup answered for me. "Ever heard of it?"
The group collectively shook their heads.
"My dad will probably know," Snotlout declared. "He's been everywhere."
"That's great, Snotlout," Hiccup replied, "We can talk to him when you come over for dinner tomorrow. Runa, if you'd like, you can come too."
Snotlout's eyebrows creased, then his face lightened with remembrance. He rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah... ugh."
Hiccup began to explain their tasks for the day, but my attention turned to behind everyone, where the dragons were.
"Hiccup..." I murmured, then repeated myself when he didn't hear me, "Hiccup."
"What is it, Runa?"
I pointed to the dragons, and everyone followed my finger. "Can I... can I touch one?"
Hiccup hesitated, clearly taken aback. Then, he beamed. "Sure you can!"
Barely waiting for his response, I pushed past Snotlout and Fishlegs and approached the nearest dragon, who happened to be a large, boisterously red Monstrous Nightmare. Upon smelling me, the dragon drew his head back sharply.
"Stay steady and be careful." Hiccup's voice advised as he rushed to my side. "Slowly raise your... hand..." he trailed off.
I looked into the eyes of the dragon, and something passed between us. I raised my palm.
"Ha, he only listens to me," Snotlout snickered.
Almost a moment after the words left his mouth, the dragon slammed his head into my palm. He gently nudged my chest, practically carrying me off my feet.
"Hookfang!" Snotlout cried in betrayal. He rushed forward, but Hookfang growled and scurried away.
The boy huffed and crossed his arms, chuckling uneasily, "He's not usually like this."
"Wow, Runa." Hiccup said. "Not bad for the first time."
"Do you think..." I faltered for a moment as I carefully considered the words on the tip of my tongue. "Do you think I could train one?"
"Of course you can!" Hiccup exclaimed in delight.
"Your tribe may not agree, though." Astrid butted in.
Hiccup shrugged his shoulders and insisted stubbornly, "Well hey, maybe we could, you know... change their minds."
"Can we just move on now?" Snotlout vehemently scowled.
"Right... right." Hiccup shook his head. "Fishlegs, would you mind showing Runa around a bit? And go to the library. There should be some maps there and maybe some information on the Sea Salt Tribe."
Fishlegs nodded with a smile, "No problem." He winked, and I raised my eyebrows.
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "The rest of you, come with me. We have a bit of work to do."