Haley and the Dragon Riders

A Fresh Start

It was a tough flight for River, but we eventually made it to Dragon's Edge. Hiccup landed on a landing pad where the other Dragon Riders were waiting for him. River and I landed in a forest behind their stables. I had River wait at the edge of the forest while I met the others. I wasn't gonna put her in any unnecessary danger.

"Hiccup, you're back! Where've you been?" A female voice asked.

"Did you find any new dragons?" A male asked.

"I bet he was hiding from Tuffnut." Another female said.

"Why would he be hiding from me? You're the one that smells like fish." A male, who I presumed to be Tuffnut, retorted.

"I bet he was hiding from both of you muttonheads." A third male voice said.

"Guys, guys. You're not gonna believe what I found. I was out on Viggo's Island-" Hiccup started before getting interrupted by all of them

"What!?" They yelled in unison.

"As I was saying. I was on his island, he never saw us, don't worry. Toothless and I freed some dragons he had captured but we found something even more amazing."

"More amazing than freeing trapped dragons?" One of the males asked. He sounded surprised.

"Yeah. There's someone I want you to meet." That's my cue. I wanted to make an entrance and got on top of their stable.

"Hey guys." I said and they all looked up at me. They all looked up with surprised expressions. Their dragons looked up as well. I jumped down and looked at them. For now my wings were hidden under a cloak and they would stay that way until it was safe.

"How did you? Hiccup how did she? Where did you come from?" One of the shorter males with black hair seemed especially confused by my entrance. Their stable was pretty tall and it's not like Toothless put me up there.

"I found her on his island. And don't worry, she's not with him. Guys, this is… uh.. I'm afraid I didn't catch your name earlier." Hiccup looked a bit embarrassed and gave the spotlight back to me.

"S'cause I never told you. I'm Haley. It's nice to meet you all."

"You've already met me and Toothless." Hiccup began.
"This is Astrid and her dragon, Stormfly. Snotlout and Hookfang. Fishlegs and Meatlug. And finally, the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut along with their dragon, Barf and Belch."

"How did you and Hiccup meet?" Astrid asked.

"Well, he and Toothless searched my hut without permission so I fought him. We went our separate ways after that. Then we met up again when we both found some Dragon Hunter's trapped dragons. He mistakes my dragon for a hostile one so I went to protect it and we got to talking. Y'know, the classical story." Snotlout laughed while the others looked surprised.

"You beat Toothless in a fight?" Fishlegs asked.

"She did. But to be fair she did ambush us." Hiccup tried salvaging a bit of his pride.

"I beat Toothless twice and captured you once. I even gave you a warning shot before I beat you." I couldn't help but chuckle while Snotlout laughed along with the twins.

"You got beaten by a girl, Hiccup. Finally! I knew Toothless wasn't all that great. Ain't that right, Hookie?" Snotlout gestured to his dragon, the Monstrous Nightmare, who promptly lit himself on fire and set fire to Snotlout's hand.

"Don't mind him. You said you had a dragon with you? Can we see them?" Astrid asked.

"She's pretty shy so I'm not sure it's such a good idea right now.." It wasn't the best lie I could've come up with but it was all I could think of at the moment.