The Rider

Five

Hiccup was about to stand when Rena stopped him. She reached over by Toothless' paws, and produced his prosthetic. Hiccup nodded quietly and reattached his prosthetic. Toothless woke up, his vivid green eyes opening before noticing Hiccup and Rena conversing. He went into a subtle protective mode, wrapping his tail around Hiccup, to which Hiccup smiled at him.

"Don't worry, bud. She's fine." He said, and the Night Fury removed his tail. "Where in Thor's name have you been?"

"Out here. Daystrike and I live out around here most of the time, kinda like you and Dragon's Edge. Cool name, by the way." Rena said, feeding Toothless some fish while Bump rearranged herself on Rena, now on the small of her back. Bean came back, and now sat on her shoulders. 

"Ah. So you've been keeping an eye on us?" Hiccup asked, raising an eyebrow. Rena shook her head. "Then why do you seem to know so much about my team?"

"Let's not forget that I was in 'Dragon Training' class with you before the Red Death." Rena said, making quotes with her fingers. "I've been keeping my distance."

"Why?" Hiccup asked. "There's no reason to hide from us."

Rena sighed. "You do realize I was pushed off a cliff by the twins and Snotlout, right? That I should be dead?" 

Hiccup shook his head, confused. "The twins probably followed along. They'd admit to doing it."

"That and the fact that I have a dragon almost as rare as yours makes me a target. I stay out here, moving around a lot to try to hide my location. I only come to Berk when the traders come. Other than that, I have little to no connection to civilization."

"Oh. Well, bravo. You successfully hid from me for three years. I thought you moved or something." Rena shot him a dirty look. "You were always quiet, trying to stay out of the way, like me. But you weren't nosy like the others."

"I'll take that as a complement." Rena said. "You hungry?"

Hiccup nodded before trying to get up. When he almost fell back down, Toothless tried to help, but couldn't get low enough. Rena stepped forward and knelt next to him, offering a hand. He took it, and let her help him stand up. "Yeah, I know how it feels. It's like a Monstrous Nightmare is cooking your limb while a Zippleback is spitting venom." Rena admitted, gesturing to her four fingered right hand. Where her thumb should have been, there was a small gnarled pink and white scar, like a small version of what remained of his left calf looked like. 

"Anyways, how did Toothless trust you? He normally threatens anyone who approaches him who he doesn't know with a plasma blast." Hiccup asked, lowering himself on a low boulder by the makeshift fire pit.

"He did that to me. Thank Thor he remembered me from the arena when he rescued you from that Monstrous Nightmare." Rena said, recalling the way the Night Fury had locked eyes with her hand for the briefest moment, almost as if he knew she was like him, missing an important body part.

"Huh. Hey, can I ask you something? You don't have to answer it if you don't want to, Rena." 

"Ask me whatever you want. You must have so many questions." Rena said. "We can take turns. You first."

"About your dragon."

"Which one? I have four." Rena said, gesturing to the small yellow Terrible Terror still attached to her back. Hiccup gave her a look. "Daystrike?"

"The Whistlewing." Hiccup cleared. Rena nodded, making a noise of agreement while she put the fish on a stick over the fire to let it cook. She then performed a dragon call. Hiccup waited, trying to hide his excitement.