Heart of a Chief, Soul of a Dragon

Prologue

            Unlike most mornings, the chatter of villagers and clanging of objects being thrown around woke me up. The people of Berk were, surprisingly, quite silent in the morning, out of respect for those that slept in a little later. But, today there was an exception; today, the people had to start their preparations early... which meant that Hiccup and I were already late.

Heart beating out of my chest, I sat up and twisted my torso, reaching one hand out to smack Hiccup awake. My palm made a distinct 'smack' sound as it struck his arm, causing him to jump. Breathing erratically, his eyes flashed to me, wide and bouncing.

"What was that?" he gasped out. Though I felt bad that I'd startled him that much, I couldn't help but laugh at him a little.

"That was me, genius." I leaned over and kissed his temple, attempting to make up for it. "We slept in, and now it sounds like everyone's starting to set up for the races without us." With a final huff, I turned and pushed myself out of bed.

"Right, right..." After stretching and cracking whatever needed to be cracked, Hiccup stood and made his way over to me. "Good morning," he greeted, wrapping an arm around my waist. "How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty well, all things considered." I flashed him a little smile before attempting to turn away and grab my armor. "Hiccup, I need to be able to move."

"Right, right."

I could feel him watching me as I buttoned up my vest and put the appropriate armor on, preparing to face the cold of Berk in the winter. While my tolerance for the frigid temperatures had certainly improved over time, I still had a tendency to pass out when I was out in them for too long, and now really wasn't the time to take those sort of risks.

Under normal circumstances, if Hiccup and I were in a rush, I'd just make a mad dash out the door and think about food later, but if I made even an attempt to take one step out the door without eating, I'd get chewed out. So, going against my normal judgement, I steered myself toward the kitchen.

"Hey, don't forget about the supplements," Hiccup called down from upstairs, ensuring that the very vital part of my morning didn't slip my mind.

"Thanks!"

I'd been sitting and eating for a few minutes when Hiccup finally came downstairs to join me, pressing a kiss against the top of my head before he prepared himself some food and sat down beside me.

"How're you feeling?" I asked him after a few moments of silence, propping myself up on one elbow.

"Ready for this race," he laughed. "I think Toothless and I can finally take you and Astrid."

I scoffed, playfully rolling my eyes at him. He, Astrid, and I were always locked in a dead heat during dragon races, which had become a pretty common pastime on Berk. While we had some variability in participants, it generally tended to just be between us and our friends, amping up the competitiveness. The whole thing had started a long time ago when we were meant to be herding sheep, and from there, Dragon Racing had become a whole sport. With how long it'd been going on, everyone had a chance to win at least once, though I questioned how that happened with some groups, but the three of us had the lead. Astrid had the lead, which honestly wasn't that shocking, given how fast Stormfly could go.

"You wish," I teased. "Shriek and I are going to own you and Toothless today. You're never gonna see us coming." While he grinned at first, Hiccup's cheerful expression quickly melted away, his eyebrows knitting up. "What's that look for?"