THE TRANSLATOR, httyd.

the translator, thirty-six.

elina felt a chill run up her spine as she took off her helmet. hiccup's face immediately turned ashen white as if he was seeing a dead man walking. her heart felt like it was being squeezed and stabbed with a million arrows shot to her very chest.

she couldn't find the words to speak. her throat thickened and choked up, and her face flamed with heat. she was barely able to stand up straight; it was like the world was spinning and only her and hiccup's feet were planted to the ground.

"you can't just do this to me, elina," hiccup whispered. his voice started off sharp but gradually became weaker, ending with him breaking down into tears at her sight. elina closed her eyes, clenching her jaw, and took a few steps towards hiccup.

"haddock?" elina whispered. she knelt down, dropping her helmet on the ground. her sore muscles tensed up and cried out in pain, but in that moment, elina couldn't properly function anything. she just saw hiccup's face turn numb. into stone. "hiccup?"

hiccup immediately backed away from her. elina watched, stifling her sob as hiccup walk away from her. stoick looked at elina in empathy, understanding how it was to feel like this while valka put a hand on hiccup's back, keeping him in place yet giving him a gentle reassurance.

her heart raced. "please, say something," she said, her voice on the verge of breaking. she became suddenly aware of the scars on her body, directing her gaze to her arms that held knife cuts and the imprints of her nails from digging into her palms too hard. 

"what else can i say?" hiccup retorted. his green eyes flashed in anger. "you betrayed us. you betrayed me." he turned to look at his mother, shrugging her hand away from his shoulders. he shot a venomous glare at elina.

elina was rooted to the rocks, as if her mind was detached from her body and her emotions.

valka walked towards elina. she knelt down and clasped elina's hands in her own.

"don't be discouraged, elina," valka whispered. 

guilt was written all over elina's face. her ginger hair blew in the breeze, whipping the side of her face and stabbing into her skin. she dug her nails into her palm again, enjoying the way she could feel her skin starting to break beneath her fingers.

she closed her eyes. her voice cracked as she replied, "what point is there? he hates me. in his eyes, i still betrayed him. in his eyes, i still only loved him because it was a game."

"why can't you just tell him that? not the part where you said you loved him because it was a game, but the part where you did it for his protection?" stoick asked. elina heard a hint of curiosity in his tone.

"look, if i just tell him, he'll only be nice to me and probably get back with me because he feels sorry for not understanding. he probably got over me as well, so i don't want to force that upon him, you know? 

"if he wants to forgive me, i'm happy with that. but if he gets a girlfriend and still hates me, i'm happy with that too. because all i ever wanted was for him to be happy, so if he's happy, i'm happy."

elina felt two gazes of approval and respect. "thank you, el," valka said, and elina just forced a small but weak smile.

"no, thank you," elina insisted. "you guys always rooted for me."

immediately, elina found herself getting crushed in a hug by stoick, who had emotional tears slipping down her face, making elina look at valka with a grimace-smile.

was he okay?

"not that i don't appreciate the hug — i really do — but why the sudden embrace?" elina questioned as her feet subconsciously started catching up to hiccup's parents. 

valka smiled at elina. "he just really appreciates you," valka told elina, and elina smiled awkwardly. she didn't think anyone would appreciate her now, considering she was considered a traitor. 

she briefly wondered how the gang would react to her being alive. it was like a spider was crawling on her arm, making her bit the bottom of her lip is nervousness until it drew blood. the iron tang of it didn't even faze elina anymore.

dragons swarmed the town; elina had a suspicion that all of valka's dragons moved from the sanctuary to flock to their new alpha. elina had no doubt that the dragons at her sanctuary was still safe and sound. her dragons weren't taught the concept of an alpha dragon since they never elected one, so they were able to live and survive without a leader.

elina nearly crashed as a terrible terror ran past her. elina recognized the flaming red scales, and called out, "flame!" the dragon immediately turned to her, recognizing her voice. he was much bigger now; almost a full grown terror as it leapt towards her face.

"my, you've gotten so big!" flame nuzzled against her cheek. he nearly singed her cheek by how excited he was; stoick's eyes widened in amazement as elina conversed with flame before she shooed him off.

stoick's jaw was on the floor. "you — you can talk to dragons?" he said loudly, making the dragons turn to them. elina ducked behind his large frame to avoid being recognized.

"yeah... i thought everyone knew," elina said, perplexed. stoick shrugged.

"it's cool. at least you can help me translate what skullcrusher says," stoick pouted, like a child. elina realized how much stoick had changed since valka had returned, and that brought a genuine smile to her face as she watched the couple.

valka suddenly paused, as if remembering something. then, she kept walking. "elina, how do you want be introduced?" valka questioned, stoick looking at elina, waiting for her decision. elina narrowed her eyes; in the distance, she could see the town hall and imagined her friends laughing and sharing meals. 

"i don't know... do i have to be introduced?" elina said, wanting to avoid the problem as much as possible. if hiccup's reaction was any indicator, the others were probably going to be worse, considering how hot-headed they were.

she avoided stoick and valka's sympathetic gazes. "face the problem head on like a viking, elina," stoick rubbed his hands together in an attempt to be encouraging, but it only made elina wince at the reminder.

"okay... i'll just meet them in my hut. how does that sound?" elina asked, not wanting to create a scene in front of all the hooligans. stoick knitted his eyebrows in thought, and valka nodded, the corner of her eyes crinkling.

"of course, elina. we'll let them know," valka answered for both of them. "do you remember where your hut is?"

elina nodded, not trusting her lips. she took a deep breath before they separated, leaving her alone in the street, before she suddenly nearly fell over again as she was crushed by another dragon.

"chameleon!" elina yelped, recognizing the familiar roar. she heard another growl as well, and toothless licked her face enthusiastically. "toothless! what are you two doing here?" she was tackled to the ground, strands of hair already falling from her braided bun.

"we're here because we live here," toothless said sarcastically, but chameleon just hit the back of his head using her claw, and chameleon scowled at her.

"what did i tell you about staying safe?" chameleon hissed worriedly, but elina recognized the delightfulness in her eyes. 

elina rolled her eyes. "i'm alive, don't worry," she smiled brightly. then, it faded. "wait, you guys aren't mad at me?"

"for what?" toothless pondered. 

"uh, for basically saying that i was only taking care of you guys because my father told me to? oh, and that my father is drago bludvist." chameleon hissed at the name of the man.

"blood doesn't mean family," toothless reassured her. chameleon nodded in agreement.

"besides, we heard that you were getting tortured and abused and you only did it to protect us. so... thank you so much, but stop being such an idiot and sacrificing yourself for us," chameleon managed to tell elina off again, making elina smile at the two dragons.

she felt tears coming to her eyes. "i honestly love you guys," she said. toothless and chameleon shared a look.

"we know," they chorused. 

elina delivered a gentle whack to both of their heads.