Double Fury (Book Two)

Chapter 8: Who Are You?

"We found her old village. There was a guy, or a voice at least," Astrid explains. "He called her the last of her tribe, which he called Hermaōr."

"Warrior, obviously," Ruffnut adds, tugging at her hair. "She's from a warrior tribe."

"Against dragons?" Fishlegs asks.

"No way! Why would Thora train a Night Fury if she was taught to fight dragons?" Snotlout argues.

"We were taught to fight dragons," Tuffnut adds.

"Yeah, but we had Hiccup to change us. Not her."

"But...her village, it was weird!" Astrid continues. "It wasn't like Berk at all. The houses were refined and they didn't have any cannons or the stuff that we used to have before the dragons. It was just houses and statues, but then Thora found that sword..." She stops, ruffling her blonde bangs as she tries to make sense of her thoughts.

"Astrid threw her axe at the weird Nadder that attacked us, but it just went through it!" Ruffnut adds. "We couldn't even try to fight it off!"

"What about those scrolls?" Eret pipes up. "Old relics?"

I turn back to Thora. She's still asleep, but some of her colour has returned. Everything that my friends have told me are only bringing more questions. What's more, it's making me realize just how little I know about Thora and who she used to be.

I pick up the items from the bag and examine them again. "Alright. What about these?"

"From her old house. It's just of her family, her mom and dad. She said the sheep was an old plaything and the sword was her dad's," Ruffnut says.

I unroll the scroll, where a painting of a large group of Vikings is gathered. One Viking man in the front holds Thora's sword; her dad. He looks the most like her. I read the inscription at the bottom, furrowing my brow at the name of the village.

"DDS?" Fishlegs asks from behind me.

I hand him the picture so he doesn't have to read over my shoulder, focusing on the second scroll. It looks more damaged, so I unroll it carefully. There's only three Vikings on this one, a family. The man and woman were in the other painting and there's no denying who the smiling little girl is.

"What's she hiding from us?" Snotlout demands. "We've known her long enough! We deserve answers!"

"That voice...he said something about how Thora isn't much compared to what her people were once capable of," Astrid pipes up once again. "I think her people were far more powerful than she's letting us know. She knew something about it. She was muttering about something 'just being stories'."

"So that whole 'they got destroyed' thing was a lie?" Tuffnut asks.

"What if she's a barbarian?" Ruffnut suggests, wiggling her fingers and making a stupid face at her brother.

"Hermaōr...I know I've heard that somewhere," Eret mutters, scratching his chin.

"All of you, be quiet," I command, my tone forceful and far more snappy than I planned.

They close their mouths as I turn my attention back to Thora. I can hear them whispering to one another, low tones passed between themselves.

"Guys, we should leave them alone," Fishlegs suggests, resting the DDS picture down on the bed.

They obey, shuffling out the door and heading downstairs. Eret lingers longest, staring at Thora with pondering countenance. He lets out a long breath as he too disappears. Toothless shambles over to me, nudging my head with his own. I smile weakly, throwing one arm over his neck.

"I know, bud. Don't worry. We'll figure this out," I say.

I take Thora's hand in my own, questions swirling around in my head like a bad winter storm. I've chosen this woman. This is the person that I've chosen to spend the rest of my life with, and only now so I realize just how little I know about her.

"Who are you, Thora? Who are you really?"