Taming Hearts

Chapter Eight: Quiet

As Adrianna trekked up the hill to her house, she found herself in the vicinity of Allie the Insecure and someone else, probably a friend. The girl might have ignored the two of them and continued her walk back to her house but her father's name suddenly wafted toward her, followed by a derisive laugh. She crept closer to investigate, hiding behind a small patch of trees and deeply thankful for her small frame.

"He thinks he's so tough and brave." Allie was saying to her friend. "But one swipe at that metal leg and he'll be crawling all over the floor after the first ten seconds."

"But wouldn't that count as cheating?" asked her companion.

"It's not cheating, it's being resourceful." Allie sounded exasperated with the other woman. "Besides, you heard about what happened with Dagur. I beat him at this and everyone in the archipelago will fear me and the Outcasts."

"Are you sure about that?" the companion paused for a moment. "I get why you're doing it but Berk is our ally. If we ever need anything, we're supposed to depend on Hiccup and everyone. So how's this duel going to change anything?"

"Because I don't think Hiccup is that great. But everyone else does." Allie said quite flatly. "And I also don't think he beat Dagur because he's powerful. I think he got lucky."

"Lucky how?"

"I saw him with Dagur before the duel. Trying to get us all to go to war to save those kids of his. That makes him weak. And I wouldn't mind so much but the girl is a complete waste of space who is going to need to be saved from this, that, and the other thing for the rest of her life. And that's a weakness I don't want in an ally." the Haddock girl heard Allie take a few steps in the opposite direction. "That's why this duel is important. If we don't stand on our own, someone's going to topple us all way too easily."

"I get it. You're right. You're always right about this stuff." the other woman began to walk away as well. "So about the first match with the older kids, did you want to make some kind of speech before or just get it going?"

Adrianna tuned out the rest of the conversation, gritting her teeth and trembling with fury. So she was going to need saving for the rest of her life, was she? Oh no she wasn't. Not if she could help it. Her story was still being written and nobody but her was going to decide where it went or how it would end.

Her journey home forgotten, the girl immediately crept into the forest in search of the main ingredient of her next punishment. Tarry would have green hair for a long time, or at least until she could find some dark brown or black dye, but Allie needed to be taught a lesson about the capabilities of the Berkians. And she had a plan that would certainly reinforce that lesson once and for all.

Xxx

Finn always was an early riser but Benen, after being freed, found that he liked to sleep past dawn. Despite his happiness in his friend's freedom, Finn wasn't a very patient person and he didn't like to wait until his mentor was awake and felt like talking. That morning, he rose from bed at the usual time and crept out the front door, slowly shutting it behind him. He technically wasn't allowed outside before the sun was shining brightly but he was feeling rebellious... and a little lonely. His mother would be awake any second but she didn't usually fuss over him. That was the nice thing about having a mother like Astrid. She was rarely emotional when it came to parenting, though outbursts did happen on occasion, especially one specific week every month. Finn didn't know why that was but he was careful to avoid his mother on those weeks.

As he walked down the hill to the village, he saw a flash of purple in front of his eyes. Momentarily stunned, he blinked a few times and then looked in its direction. Adrianna was jogging into the woods. His sister... the girl who didn't like to get up until noon.