Left In The Night

Chapter 17

It was evident that it would not be easy for Einar, or Ragnhild, to get to know Zyrah. Given their past, and how she was raised in an entirely different environment and worldview, trying to convince her of anything related to a negative view of dragons would be impossible.

As they made their way back to the ship, they noticed tracks of sand and wet footprints, as well as some of their notes and maps missing.

"Shit-" Einar growled.

"What is it?"

"Those gods-damned riders broke in. They took the map!"

"What?! How do we get it back?" Einar paced around the room, trying to think.

"We're gonna have to be very careful with the next few interactions with her, and her... friends. If we want to get to that island, we need that Night Fury."

"Which one? There's two of them now."

"The female, you idiot!" He shouted, "the male cannot fly without his rider, the Berkian chief. And we cannot risk the attention that would come if we even tried to kidnap them. The female... and Zyrah are a better option."

"So our original plan... take her away with us and force her into a hunter, out the window?" Ragnhild questioned. Einar huffed, going to the desk and looking through papers.

"I don't know. She's still young, her mind doesn't fully comprehend the world yet. There's still a chance. We'll have to think this through."

"I still want to show her where we come from. At least give her that."

"Ragnhild, you're going to have to wait. This isn't going to be an easy process. Let me handle most of it, you just do... the background work. I know you're good with pulling some strings." She smirked at the compliment.

"We won't hurt her, right?"

"Not physically. But I can't promise there won't be damage."

***

While all of that was occurring with Zyrah's family, Hiccup and the riders were beginning to understand what Einar and Ragnhild intended, though it seemed Einar was doing most of the work.

"He's one intense dude. It's like if your dad was way meaner." Tuffnut commented. Hiccup wanted to snap back at him, but he was not in the mood.

"So you think he plans to find the last Night Fury colony?" Fishlegs asked, trying to help keep Hiccup focused.

"It seems that way."

"Are we even sure there's a colony?" Questioned Astrid, she wanted to believe that was the case, but how could they know for sure? After all, there wasn't even the outline of an island where the circle was drawn below Firewind. It was just a guess as far as they could tell.

"Well, to be fair, we thought Toothless was the last Night Fury until we arrived here," Ana reminded, "and Zyrah told us that Blueheart showed up seemingly out of nowhere. So if I had to guess, she came from somewhere, and maybe it's not as far away as we think."

"She has a point," Hiccup agreed, "with that said though, we need to keep an eye on them. Until they prove they have good intentions and they want closure with their birth daughter, I wouldn't play the risks. We can't let them figure out we have an idea of what their original intentions were."

Meanwhile, Toothless tried to distract himself from the worry he sensed from Hiccup, but Blueheart had told him how rocky the reunion was for Zyrah and her birth parents.

Do you think they'll get along? He asked.

I have no idea. She was raised so differently from their line of work, I know there's going to be a lot of clashing and head-butting. I will say, however, I don't trust the relationship between her birth parents.

I feel the same. The moment I saw them I had a bad feeling. But what can we do about it?

I don't know, Toothless. I'm going to my duty and keep an eye on my girl to keep her safe.

Toothless, hm? She eyed him.

Why the confusion?

Don't you have a birth name? He inquired with a shy smile. She quirked a brow at him.

All dragons do.

Well, in that case... another thing I do remember from my past is my birth name.

Is that so? He ruffled his ear plates in acknowledgment.

Mhm. If we can both be on a 'birth' name basis. She snorted at the word use, it was cute, and she couldn't deny that.

Ha, 'birth' name basis. Fair enough, though. My birth name is Myrai. His ears perked up in delight.

That's a beautiful name. Mine's Ryvir.

Ryvir... She echoed, gazing at him. With a lighthearted smirk, she grazed her tail against his face. In reaction, he scrunched his nose, taking in a deep whiff of her scent. Gods, he'd never met any dragon like her. Should he tell her? Should he confess his feelings?

In the past week or so since they'd arrived here, he'd truly fallen head over heels. And who could blame him? The first female Night Fury he'd seen in practically decades, and she was stunning. And her telling him that the rest of their species was still kicking, had him over the moon.

And something told him that she felt the same. Her scent was driving him crazy.

Y'know, you're the first one I've told my birth name to in quite some time. He admitted.

Really? Not even Stormfly or Hookfang or the others?

No, actually. At the old nest, they just called me Night. They didn't know where I came from or how I ended up there. But I suppose we Furies have a reputation amongst other species. Up until we all wound up on Berk, no one had a real reason to get to know me. And now that I'm Alpha, my closest friends just call me Toothless.

I see.

Do Killgrave and Lightbolt know your birth name?

They do, but they prefer to just call me Blueheart. I'm guessing it's out of respect, but I don't mind it.

So our birth names... just between us? She beamed at him.

Just between us.