Set Fire to the Rain

Chapter 7

Freya leaned back against the sleek white dragon, watching him eat the chicken she brought him. Freya had just recounted her day to Starfire. She ended up spending half of the day over at Wren's house, talking to his mom who was fretting over her and Wren like a mother hen. She was a sweet woman, an old friend of Freya's mom. The rest of the day Freya gathered herbs for Gothi, just so she wasn't slacking in her job, but she took a small break to stop by and check on her dragon.

Looking back at the dragon, Freya let out a tired sigh. This gained the dragon's attention and he turned his head towards her, his ears flickering in her direction, as he tilted his head, "I'm fine, Starfire, I'm just thinking." She assured him. Starfire let out a soft low coo, nudging her with his muzzle, then pushing the half-eaten chicken over to her. Freya's lips twitched up into a smile as she shook her head, "I'm not hungry, but thank you. How is your leg healing up?"

He seemed to be satisfied with her answer as he blew a puff of smoke in her face and then lifted his back leg to show off the healing wound. The girl smiled, patting the dragon's jaw before dropping her hand. Looking up at the moon, she let out another, small sigh. "It's late. I should get back. Gothi will want to have these in the morning." She said as she stood, brushing the dirt off her tunic.

Starfire whined, starting to stand up with her, earning a smile from Freya. "I will be back tomorrow. I promise, but you can't come with me." She said before giving him a small kiss on the tip of his nose. "Bye Starfire." Freya smiled before disappearing into the night, making her way back to their little house to go to bed.

At the ring the next morning, Wren and Freya sat next to eat other in the stands, watching as Gobber passed each of the teens a bucket of water before entering the ring with them. Without any warning, as usual, Gobber opened the cage that contained the Zippleback. Instantly, flammable green gas flooded the arena.

"Today is about teamwork," Gobber explained, taking a position against the wall. "Now a wet dragon's head can't light its fire, but Zipplebacks are extra tricky." He said. "One head breaths the gas, the other head well it lights it. You have to know which is which."

Freya watched, biting her thumb's nail. The teens were already separated, only having their partners next to them. From their position in the stand, neither she nor Wren could see anything that was going on in the arena, only a few shadows of where each person was.

She had heard the twins arguing, along with Snotlout making a ridiculous comment to Astrid. It wasn't long after that did Tuffnut got grabbed by the Zippleback, being pulled into the green smoke. Fortunately, though, he managed to get away, yelling out in pain as he scampered to Gobber.

Only Astrid, Hiccup, and Fishlegs had buckets now. Though Astrid quickly lost hers when the dragon's tail swung, knocking her off her feet. It was up to Hiccup and Fishlegs now. Freya only hoped they could do it.

Suddenly, a single Zippleback head slithered out of the smoke towards Fishlegs. The boy whimpered before quickly dumping the water bucket over the dragon's head. The beast just stared at him before parting its jaws and letting out some green smoke.

"Oh..." The boy whimpered. "Wrong head."

The dragon growled before sending out a wave of smoke at Fishlegs. Gobber shouted at him to get away, and the boy quickly heeded his warnings and ran away leaving only Hiccup in the ring. The Zippleback now turned its attention to Hiccup, the only prey left in reach. The other head revealed itself, sending out a wave of sparks.

Freya watched as Hiccup took a deep breath and jerked his bucket up, tossing the water up. But sadly, not high enough, he completely missed by a long shot, "Oh come on." The boy grumbled when the saw the water simply hit the ground, not even reaching the dragon's head. Freya prepared herself to jump in if necessary. She was stopped from rising from her seat by a hand gripping her wrist. Wren narrowed his eyes at her and shook his head, telling her to sit down and let Gobber handle it with his, with just a look. Freya frowned but slightly relaxed.

The dragon growled, spreading its wings as it advanced on the boy.

"Hiccup!" Freya and Gobber yelled in unison.

Freya was about to break away from Wren's grip but suddenly stopped as the dragon suddenly backed away, letting out a whimper as Hiccup stood, as if it was afraid of him.

"Back! Back!" He yelled at it, raising his hands and guiding the dragon back into its cage. "That's right. You stay there and think about what you've done." He told the Zippleback, only earning a whimper as a response. Hiccup then quickly closed the cage doors before turning back to the others, wiping his hands on his brown vest. Everyone stood there, dumbfounded, even Freya. No one has ever done what Hiccup just did. He made a dragon turn cowardly away by just walking toward it. To say everyone was shocked would be an understatement.

"So are we done?" Hiccup suddenly asked, though received no reply. "Ok well, I'm going to...yeah." With that, he quickly scurried away, everyone watching him leave with shocked faces.

It was a few moments till anyone spoke again, "Did you teach him that, Freya?" He asked in a whisper. Freya could only shake her head no. Then took off running after him before anyone could stop her.

"Hiccup! Hiccup!"

Freya called after her brother as she raced after him. It had taken a few seconds for her to come to her senses after what happened in the ring, but now, all she wanted were answers to how he learned that.

"Hiccup!" She called again as she stumbled through town, determined to follow the mop of brown hair. Hiccup was ducking and dodging everyone and appeared to be completely ignoring her, purposely trying to lose her in the crowd. Freya watched as he disappeared into the forest and she quickly followed him into the greenery.