Daughter of the Wing [ON HOLD]

<Chapter 5>

The Riders shock was broken up by Ruffnut who laughed and hit his sister in humour. "Imagine" He laughed and wiped away a tear before it finally dawned on him. "Wait, is he serious?" He demanded, "I'll get the stake and firewood" The twins turned to walk out.

"Hold on, hold on" Hiccup walked after them, "No one is burning anyone at the stake" "Hiccups right" Tuff admitted, which made both Astrid and Tora look at each other in surprise, "Let's just throw him off a cliff!" She finished with a grin. Hiccup slammed him hand to his face causing Tora to snicker. As an outsider with no previous experience of the famed 'Gustav', it was funny seeing all the other Riders reactions to him.

"I'm sure there's a simple explanation" Hiccup reasoned before turning to Gustav, "Please tell me there's a simple explanation, Gustav" The younger boy stopped swaying and rubbed his eyes, still trying to clear the spots. "Yeah, very simple. By the way, do not look right into that sunsword thing" He laughed and hooted, "Anyway, you said that when I was ready, I could join the Dragon Riders. Well, I'm ready and I'm here to join! Where's my hut?!" Gustav finished. Tora tried not to laugh at Hiccups astonished face, choosing to walk out instead.

As soon as the door was closed, she burst out laughing. "Poor Hiccup and Astrid. And the rest of them as well" She muttered and laughed again.

"Great, so I'm a babysitter" Astrid huffed. Tora looked between the two Vikings. Hiccup was trying to reason with Astrid and get her to 'watch over' Gustav for the time being whilst he made some 'major breakthroughs' with the Dragon Eye. Tora still wanted to know what that thing was, the runes fascinated her.

"Babysitter" Hiccup laughed awkwardly, trying to ease the tension, "No. I mean, come on, he's 16. How much trouble could he possibly be?" He declared. Even Tora was convinced on that one.

A squawk interrupted their debate, causing all three to look up. As if trying to prove Hiccup wrong, Gustav and his dragon, a Monstrous Nightmare named Fanghook, were flying through and around a flock of Night Terrors. Their leader, Smidvard, lay helplessly at their feet. Tora leant down to pat and soothe the white dragon, looking at Gustavs antics disbelievingly. She wasn't the only one either.

"Awesome!" He flew through them once again causing the little dragons to scatter. "Please?" Hiccup begged, turning back to Astrid, "I just need more time. Tora can go with you" Tora looked up startled. "I can, can I? Don't I get a say in this?" She demanded. Hiccup have them both a pleading look. "Fine" They muttered in unison and hopped onto Stormfly. "Gustav, arena, now!" Astrid commanded and took flight. Tora gave Hiccup a salute from behind Astrid before the three were off, Gustav in tow.

Hiccup turned to the white Night Terror. "By the way, your timing? Impeccable" He chided. Smidvard squawked in response and took off. Hiccup glared at him and then sighed. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this arrival bud?" He muttered to the approaching Night Fury. With that, he turned and walked back inside his hut.

The moment they arrived at the arena, Astrid leapt off of Stormfly and instructed the boy to sit down and listen. She went through some battle techniques, remaining oblivious to Gustavs wandering mind. Tora stood on the sidelines and smiled to herself to watch the boys face as the blonde Viking continued to talk. His eyes were soft and distant, looking at Astrid but also at some other day dream. The look reminded her a bit of Arne.

Tora caught herself in shock. Arne? Where had that come from? She tried to chase the memory in her head but it fluttered out of reach again. Cursing, she stamped her foot and glared at the ground. "Ok there Tora?" Tora's head snapped up to see Astrid and Gustav looking at her in confusion. "Yeah, I just, I have to go. Sorry Astrid, it's just. It's a memory..." She tried to explain. The other girl nodded an understanding and offered her Stormfly. "Thanks, but you need her. I'll be back as soon as I can. Bye Gustav!" She waved and ran out of the arena, leaving Astrids commanding voice behind.

"Arne, Arne, Arne" She repeated under her breath, begging her mind to remember. "Come on you stupid head, give me something" She continued like this until finally, she reached Hiccups door. About to knock, Tora paused. Why was she so eager to tell him? It was only a name after all. He had much more important things to worry about.

Hesitant, she lowered her hand and was about to walk away when the door opened. "Tora! What are you doing here?" Hiccup exclaimed in surprise, "Shouldn't you be with Astrid and Gustav?" Toothless walked out behind his rider, tail swishing. He smiled to see Tora and bounded over for a scratch. "Well, yeah, about that. I was there with them and Astrid was lecturing Gustav and then all of a sudden, I just had this memory of someone's name. And it sounds really stupid now for me to come all this way just to tell you, I was so excited back at the arena. But now I'm here, I realise how busy you are..." She drifted off.

"You remembered something? That's great Tora! And I'm never to busy to help my friends, I promised I would help you right?" He reassured her. She smiled and nodded, continuing to scratch Toothless behind the ear. "How about we try and see if we can find the name in any books?" He suggested gently and guided her back to the hut. Toothless moaned a complaint when his ear scratcher left and glared at Hiccup. "Come on you big baby" The boy laughed and held open the door. Grudgingly, the Night Fury followed them.

The pair spent the rest of the morning reading through the books. Nothing. "This is stupid. I'm sorry Hiccup, there wasn't any point in this" Tora sighed and closed her book. "We'll find something Tora, keep faith. Maybe Trader Rohan has something or knows of someone? We haven't explored all of our options yet" He reminded her. Tora gave him a half smile and was about to reply when Snotlouts loud voice came barging into the hut, followed by the Viking himself.

"Hiccup, he needs to go. I can't stand it any longer!" He shouted "Oh, hey Tora" Tora gave a sarcastic wave back. "Snotlout, he's only 16. We have to give him a bit of leniency! He-" "Is irresponsible, boar-headed, childish and more!" Astrid finished for him, arriving at the entrance with the rest of the riders in tow. "Hiccup, as much as I want to teach new Riders about dragons and give Gustav a chance, I have to agree with Astrid" Fishlegs added. "He filled in our boar pit!" The twins added. "Ruff, are you cryi-you know what, never mind" Hiccup decided. "We have to give him a chance guys, he's still a beginner. Remember how we were back then? He's held out for this long, I say we give him a chance. I'll go talk to him about his, uh, actions, and then we will try to figure something out"

He left the hut and climbed onto Toothless. "Just, please try and be patient when I return?" He pleaded with the group before taking off. Grumbling, the Riders dispersed, leaving Fishlegs and Tora. "So, how's the dragon cataloging going?" Fishlegs' eyes lit up and he began recounting all the different facts Ann's dragons he was writing on and how he planned to categorise the new 'Book of Dragons'.

He was just getting to a dragon called the Stripetail when Toothless landed back on the porch. "Have any of you seen Gustav?" Hiccup demanded. "No, we haven't. Why, what's going on?" Tora replied. The boy seemed agitated and also furious. "Hiccup?"

"He's gone. Gustav and Fanghook are gone. And so is the Dragon Eye"