Adrianna didn't have nearly as many nightmares as she had when she was a child but a few of them sometimes made their way into her sleep cycle. By this time, waking up in a cold sweat was beginning to be almost ordinary. Rather than run to her parents, she merely wiped her face with a towel, changed into a different set of pajamas, and went back to sleep. It wasn't that the nightmares didn't bother her, they did, but they weren't a big deal anymore. But memories had a habit of resurfacing and the one that had popped into her brain and into her dreams was one she would rather push down with the rest.

As she wiped the sweat off her face and finally felt her heart rate return to normal, she began to contemplate what she had just remembered. Trying to ignore its presence was like trying to ignore a hungry Monstrous Nightmare while standing in the food storage. Memories this old weren't very clear but the emotions she had felt returned full force. Relief, hope... sudden fear as the hope was forcefully taken away. The realization that she was probably going to die before she saw her family again...

She pressed her palms against her eyes until little lights flashed in the darkness and began to be almost disorienting. Sometimes when she did this, she liked to pretend she was traveling through space while the little colors and shapes whirled around her as she pressed her eyes into their sockets. For some reason, she found it easier to focus with her eyes tightly shut.

She didn't like keeping things from her father. And it wasn't a secret that could be hidden for long; he would certainly look at the list. He couldn't possibly ignore an item that had been underlined three times. One so powerful that it could heal anyone at any point in the disease, as well as heal cuts when mixed with the right herbs...

If only it could heal the psychological scarring that seemed to linger every moment of every day.

"I need more sleep." Adrianna whispered. "Can't fly without sleep."

But the thoughts of what she had seen long ago coupled with her own concern for her fellow Berkians seemed to wake her up more quickly than freezing water in her face. Was Olaf okay? What about Taryn? And Svala... Lily had indicated that she was having a boy and Adrianna had been excited to tell her about her dragon's ability but now that little boy was in jeopardy. If he could survive this at all. Were Finn and Astrid doing okay with all the stress that had been put upon them so quickly? There were too many questions and not enough answers. All the Haddock girl knew was that she and her father would have to find those ingredients as quickly as possible.

She lay back on the bed and curled under the covers just as Lily let out a contented sigh. She wondered if dragons dreamed the same way people did. Did they ever have nightmares? They certainly didn't have the kind of nightmares humans had. Any monsters that chased them could probably be set on fire and they were always naked in public so those kinds of dreams couldn't plague them. She supposed they could always dream that their teeth rotted and fell out but she doubted it. Dragons probably had their own recurring dreams.

She smiled at her train of thought, shaking her head slightly. If she let it, her mind could wander forever and probably never come back. There were so many things to think about, to wonder about, and so few people seemed to understand that. Her father did and so did Erick. Again, she hoped dearly that Erick would be okay. She wished she could be there for her best friend but this was far more important.

She opened her eyes and was surprised to find daylight seeping in through the window. She hadn't even noticed that she'd fallen asleep! That was convenient and worth thanking the gods for before she rose from bed.

Hiccup was downstairs snacking on, interestingly enough, a loaf of bread someone in his group seemed to have left behind. When he spotted his daughter, he tossed her a second loaf.

"I was just thinking about waking you up." he said by way of a greeting. "Outcast Island is kind of a long way from here and I didn't want to leave too late."

Adrianna could hear her dragon descending the staircase, yawning widely and making funny noises with her throat. Hiccup watched as she immediately walked over to a small barrel of fish and started to eat. Toothless, who had already been fed, was sitting up at attention as if he was impatiently waiting for them to leave.

"I haven't been to Outcast Island." Adrianna said thoughtfully as she sat down on a stool near the fire pit. "Though I definitely don't care for Allie the Insincere."

Hiccup grimaced. "I'm with you there. I sent her a note with Pipsqueak last night so she knows we're coming. And..." he paused for a moment before sighing deeply. "Nyssa came back with a note from Berk. It seems everyone's getting sick now. Astrid and Finn are doing their best under the circumstances."

"Did anyone..." Adrianna faltered. She wasn't sure if she wanted an answer to this question but it was probably best to ask it.

Hiccup understood what she meant and paused for a moment. "Svala lost the baby. A boy. But Mara thinks she'll pull through."

Tears began to fill Adrianna's eyes at this news. "No..." she said through her fingers, which had risen to her mouth. "But they were trying for such a long time."

Hiccup got up and seated himself on the stool next to hers. He put an arm around her shoulders as she cried. "I know. It's not fair."

Adrianna hiccuped and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "We have to get the cure. I don't want anyone else to die."

"I agree." Hiccup kissed her forehead. "Eat your breakfast and put on your coat. Soon as we're ready, we're leaving."

Adrianna's heart broke for Tuffnut and Svala but crying wasn't going to do any good right now. She quickly composed herself and took a generous bite out of the bread before standing up and putting on the layers of clothing she would need for such a long, cold flight.

Xxx

Erick Larson had never really thought about the possibility that the healers would fail to heal anyone under their care. Sure, people died on Berk from diseases but those people tended to be very old and frail. Tasha, the healer before Mara, had amputated limbs without her patients dying. She had been the healer when what was left of Hiccup's foot had to come off. Mara had learned everything she knew from Tasha and had already cured many different diseases, in addition to doing checkups, delivering babies, and whatever else healers were supposed to do. But this time, Mara seemed thoroughly overwhelmed. And with Olaf's life hanging in the balance, Erick was beginning to feel genuinely terrified.

Olaf's condition had only worsened since they had brought him into the Great Hall. After a full day and night of rest and calming herbal remedies, nothing seemed to be doing any good. But Erick was still hopeful even when everyone else told him that he should prepare himself for his father's death. The strongest man he had ever known certainly wasn't going to die on his watch. Olaf still had to meet his newest grandchild (and first granddaughter), who had been born a few days before he and Erick had returned from the Bog Burglars. Even Erick hadn't met her yet since Magnus was still recovering on Snoggletog and he'd been preoccupied with seeing Adrianna again.

Annie.

The thought of his best friend made his heart ache. Every time he had needed her for emotional support, she immediately found a way to be by his side through it all. But with his father deteriorating before his eyes, he had never needed her more. He understood why she had to go but not having her around was agonizing. He had just gotten to see her again after two weeks away (which, he realized, was the longest stretch of time they had spent apart in their entire decade of friendship) and now she was gone during what had to be the most stressful time of his life. His blossoming feelings for her aside, he dearly wanted her around to remind him that it was all going to be okay.

Then again, he thought as he looked around the Hall, maybe those would be empty words. True, some of the younger Berkians who had been infected were slowly healing on their own. But the elderly and disabled only worsened as time went on.

Erick's heart broke for the youngest victim of the disease as he watched Tuffnut hold his wife, who still had tears spilling down her face. Erick had heard everything that had happened the previous night. Every cry of pain and then the agonizing silence that followed. Svala openly sobbing for the baby she had so wanted. Tears had dripped down his own face as he cared for his father. But still he would not leave.

As he continued to scan the Hall with his eyes, he spotted Finn helping several Berkians carry in new patients. Even from a distance, Erick could see dark circles under the teenager's eyes. Had he slept at all? Even Erick had fallen asleep for a few hours when his mother arrived to continue Olaf's care. But despite Finn's appearance, his posture didn't seem to be affected by the lack of sleep. He stood up straight and pointed out places for the patients to be put while they were under quarantine. Benen, the Haddocks' elderly friend, stayed close by and eyed the boy with concern.

Erick turned back to his father and pressed a cool rag against his forehead. This was a horrible place to spend one's final hours. The youngest Larson was determined to make sure that his father wouldn't die in a place filled with the weak and the sick. Olaf Larson deserved better than that.

"Hang in there, dad." the teenager whispered. "You can beat this."

And, for a moment, he thought he saw his father smile.

Xxx

Who knew flying could be so exhausting? Her back hurt from slouching; her feet hurt from the stirrups; her legs hurt from dangling to relieve her feet from said stirrups; her elbows hurt from resting on Lily's horns; and her back end hurt from sitting for countless hours. First thing she'd do once she'd get home (well... the second thing after checking in with Erick of course) would be to put in an order for a new saddle made specifically for long trips.

This new saddle would have at least three layers of padding for her bottom and lower back. Perhaps she'd request some elbow guards to protect her forearms from Lily's bony horns, or maybe even some purple bands to slide onto the horns themselves. After this trip she was positive that she'd never go on a long trip again until she had the perfect saddle for such an occasion.

Adrianna sighed again for the millionth time that hour. Dusk was approaching and with it came the cold. Thankfully her father had told her to put on her coat in advance. Smoky clouds billowed around them in a hazy atmosphere, which she had enjoyed at first. It wasn't hard to find shapes and images in the clouds and by extension drown in a stream of never-ending thoughts on a topic drawn from the shapes. For a while she'd entertained herself with lots of thinking, but even a hard thinker could grow tired of the silence and overall lack of activity.

And she couldn't help but feel at least a little pensive as to their destination. Though she'd never been to Outcast Island, her prior experiences with some of the people who'd visited Berk a year and a half prior weren't exactly her closest friends. Then again, they weren't to be there for very long. She knew her father would work quickly to find the ingredients they needed and they'd leave as soon as possible. As far as she knew, he didn't have a great relationship with the Outcasts either.

However, it would be late by the time they'd arrive. There was no telling what mood Allie the Insincere would be in at their intrusion and it wasn't likely that she'd offer them a house to stay in for the night. Not everyone was as generous as Camicazi had been, so they wouldn't expect anything different.

A loud sniff and hot exhale blew her hair off to one side and Adrianna angled her head up at Toothless to give him a straight-faced expression. The Night Fury chortled at her impassivity, gliding to eye level with Lily. The Monstrous Nightmare gave a wiggle of excitement when Toothless gave her a questioning growl; she seemed to be excited that the silence was being broken after so long.

"Toothless, you're disturbing the peace. Ow." Hiccup remarked flatly when Toothless smacked his thigh with an ear plate.

Adrianna giggled and realized for the first time that her father was laid back in his saddle, an arm wrapped around his head like a pillow as he gazed up at the purple sky, his foot and prosthetic the only things keeping him attached to Toothless. She couldn't help but wonder just how many times he'd fallen off of his dragon to be so nonchalant about the danger. She herself had only fallen off of Lily once before and that had been a frightful incident...

"Comfortable?" Adrianna asked him as she leaned back into her saddle with an unsatisfied grunt.

Hiccup hummed quietly. "Yes."

"Good. I'm not."

Hiccup chuckled. "I'm sorry."

"No you're not. You've got the best seat."

"The best seat?"

Adrianna looked upwards at the clouds. "Am I hearing an echo?"

"Ha ha..." Hiccup made a face as she stuck her tongue out at him. "Careful, I just might have to pull that out."

Adrianna snorted. "Please, what would you do without hearing my soft, sweet voice every day?"

"You could still make noises. Communicate dragon style!" Hiccup chortled at her overall look of disgust.

"No, I'm afraid I have enough social issues as it is, thank you."

"Psh..." Hiccup shook his head, looking up to the skies once more. "Society is overrated."

"I don't know," Adrianna looked around at the vast expanse of nothing all around them. "I kind of miss it."

Hiccup took in a deep breath of air and exhaled heavily. Adrianna looked over at him and was surprised to see a nostalgic look on his face. "Sometimes..." he began quietly. "I miss the good days when I was younger. Not a lot of responsibility, nowhere super important to be..." Adrianna snorted and he narrowed his eyes at her for a moment. "Just a boy and his dragon, traveling the oceans and lands, searching for dragons and studying new dragons... trying new tricks..." He abruptly ended in a shrug.

"Then we happened." Adrianna murmured, but it carried in the wind so he heard. She saw him sit up out of the corner of her eye and lean over Toothless' head to see her better.

"And it's the best thing that ever happened to me. Me and your mom." He smiled wide and she knew it was the truth. "If it weren't for you and your brother, I think I'd still be doing stupid things while thinking there were no consequences."

"Ah, so we were the final straw then?" Adrianna spoke before thinking and then bit her tongue. Sometimes her brain just decided to be awkward and dumb...

But to her relief, he laughed and nodded vehemently. "Oh, for sure. I don't deny it a bit."

Adrianna still frowned. "But..." she paused, almost afraid to question her next thought. But his green eyes burning into hers, the eyes that she reflected, she couldn't hold it back. "So many bad things have happened to you and mom... Don't you get... tired of it?"

Nostalgia hit his face once again for a moment, but then it softened into something more... sweet. Adrianna couldn't place it, but she waited with bated breath for his response.

"A lot of bad things have happened. And almost none of them have been easy. It's been a long, hard road to travel. Both your mother and I have had many things taken from us over the years... some of those things we weren't fortunate enough to get back." Adrianna frowned emphatically when Poppy and Nana's images flashed to her mind. "But," Hiccup smiled with a happy glint in his eye. "That's life, isn't it? You can't have life the straight and easy way, or else you wouldn't learn anything. There'd be no reason to fight for the things you love or no reason to work hard for the things you care about. It'd just be handed to you on a silver platter."

"But were all those terrible things worth it in the end?" Adrianna asked, images flashing to her mind that she forced down with a hard blink. "Can there really be something good that comes from the bad?"

She could see the wheels turning in his head. She knew that they were probably thinking some of the same things; she knew that he could be thinking many more terrifying things that she could never dream of. She had so many secrets that she didn't want to think about, let alone talk about... terrifying secrets kept in a hidden compartment in the recesses of her brain that no little girl should ever have had to deal with.

Yet she still wanted to know: could any good come from bad?

Hiccup finally smiled softly at her and it was almost enough to melt her hardened soul. "Absolutely. The bad things that happen to you..." Toothless gently glided closer as if reading his mind, and Hiccup gently reached out to rest his hand on Adrianna's. "Can build you... but they will never define you. Sure, there's scar tissue that comes with any wound, but so does healing. It's a process, a part of life. Bad things happen to good people all the time, Addie. But that doesn't turn them into bad people."

Adrianna rested her other hand over his and quietly replied, "But when push comes to shove, they could turn into bad people."

"They could. But I guess that just depends on the person and who they spend their time with." Hiccup sighed, "And a part of healing is forgiveness. You can never fully heal from something until you let the problem go. Do you think your mother and I would still be together if we'd never forgiven each other?"

Adrianna shook her head with pursed lips. She knew that to be true. "Or do you think you and your mother would have a great relationship now if you hadn't forgiven each other?"

"No." Also true.

She knew he was right. He always was and he was speaking from experience. She wanted to believe him but... no. Some people couldn't be forgiven. Some people didn't deserve forgiveness. He hadn't experienced the things she had and he had never had to deal with fear and stress like she had. He couldn't expect her to just soak in his words like a sponge and act on them from then on. Life wasn't easy like that. She was on the same page with him on that note.

Adrianna pulled her hands away from his and stretched her arms over her head. She finally sighed with a heavy slouch and frowned at him. "Are we there yet?"

Hiccup blinked at the sudden change in conversation and wondered how they'd even gotten to such a serious topic. But he was glad they'd had it. She had asked some good questions there and seemed pretty receptive to his answers. That had to be a good thing, right?

Facing forward and taking a few glances up at the now darkened sky, Hiccup replied, "We'll be there in about an hour."

"Yippee."

"I know these two are getting tired as it is, but maybe if we pick up the speed a bit we can make it in around forty minutes. What do you say, guys? Want to finish this trip?" Toothless and Lily both growled in agreement, both eagerly pumping their wings a little harder. Their riders laughed and patted or scratched their heads. "All right then, bundle up. No falling."

Adrianna scowled. "Hey, I haven't fallen off yet all this time! You've fallen off your dragon more times than I have in my entire life!"

Hiccup snorted. "Intentional falls don't count."

"Ohhh that's right, you're just falling with style when you do that."

The dragons chortled with laughter at Hiccup's deadpan expression. If anyone thought these two weren't related, there was something seriously wrong with them.

"Alright Miss Smartypants, buckle up. Last one to Outcast Island takes care of our stinky boots." Hiccup snapped Toothless' fastest gear into place and they took off in a swooping dive.

"Hey, no fair!" Adrianna shouted after them. "Come on, Lily! Surely the children are always better than the parents!"

Swooping and diving, barrel rolling and twisting and turning... Adrianna and Lily kept up with the duo fairly well considering they were the master team of the archipelago when it came to bonding dragons and humans. But by the time they reached the outskirts of Outcast Island roughly forty-five minutes later she couldn't feel her face, fingers or toes.

A watchtower blazing with a fire pit caught Hiccup's eye and he and Toothless led the girls toward it. A sentry with a hairy mustache under a big, warty nose shouted at them to halt. Along the watchtower's length, a legion of thirty men poised with crossbows armed and ready.

"'o there, what's yer business 'ere?"

Hiccup halted Toothless in midair and called down toward him. "Chief Haddock of Berk, here on special business with your chief! Permission to proceed?"

"Who's that wit' ya?"

"This is my daughter, accompanying me."

"Jus' chief and heir-"

"Daughter only. My heir's at home."

Adrianna groaned internally at the comment yet kept her face placid. Just the daughter; everything always had to do with being the heir. If she were younger than Finn by a few years, or even one year, she'd understand and wouldn't be bothered as much. But seriously, they were the same age; mere minutes apart. Did it really matter? Despite these swirls of annoyed thoughts, she wished the man would just let them pass so she could touch sweet earth again. She eyed the soldiers' crossbows warily, willing them to lower the weapons with her mind as some characters in her books could do.

The sentry looked up at her father with a blank face before he lit up with recognition. "Oh yes, the one wit' the twins, eh?"

"Yes," Hiccup replied curtly, trying to remain civil. "Permission to land? It's been a long flight."

"One mo' question and I'll leave ya be. How long will ya be stayin' at Outcast Island fer?"

"I hope to leave in less than a day, though I will need to speak with your chief on the matter."

"Awright then, I don' see any reason not to letcha pass. You're clear; enjoy your stay at Outcast Island!" The sentry ordered his soldiers to finally lower their weapons and waved the Berkians on. Toothless and Lily wasted no time in swooping past, the Night Fury giving the sentry a final growl of dissent as he passed.

Adrianna frowned once the watchtower was far behind them and Outcast Island loomed ahead of them in all its dank and dusky grandeur. "Why didn't they ask why we're here?"

Hiccup shrugged indifferently. "He doesn't seem like the sharpest knife in the drawer. If I hadn't sent a letter to Allie ahead of time it would be a much bigger deal for us to show up."

"True..." Adrianna eyed the cloudy waters below with a disgusted scowl. "This place seems very..." Try to be tactful. "Clean." Could be better.

Hiccup snickered in his saddle beside her. "It's been worse, trust me. A lot worse. When Allie the Insincere became chief, she wasn't at all impressed with Alvin's poor use of the land and water. The ocean was pretty polluted and the land was hard to till. But over time, she's made some legitimately good choices for the village here. They've got a nice agricultural system going now and eventually the fish have started to come back in, so they don't have to go as far out to sea to fish. I'll give credit where it is due: she's done a fine job in that regard."

Adrianna hummed in surprise. She wouldn't think Allie to be one that cared much about things like agriculture, but the more she thought about it, nobody could lead a village without taking proper care of them. And you couldn't have legitimate followers if your people weren't too fond of you due to poor choices in leadership.

"Stay close," Hiccup warned as Toothless took a hard turn left to avoid a crag in the rocks. "The rock formations aren't as spread out as they are at home, and the people here are kind of skittish."

"They wouldn't just... fire then aim at someone, would they?" Adrianna asked hopefully.

"An Outcast will always be an Outcast, Addie. Rules almost mean nothing out here. You feel threatened by someone, you shoot and ask questions later."

"Aaaand you brought me along for this mission why?"

Hiccup frowned. "I seem to recall you wanted to come when I asked. Besides, I had no intention of coming here in the first place. This was just on the list Camicazi gave me." Toothless rumbled in uncomfortable agreement.

Adrianna looked around the hazy land around her with a furrowed brow. She remembered the story of her father and Snotlout being trapped on Outcast Island when they were teenagers. And the story of his and Toothless' kidnapping. Oh, and Poppy's kidnapping and rescue...

"You've been here way too many times for bad things." Adrianna raised her eyebrows at him. "You and mom should take a dream vacation here sometime. I'm sure they've got some nice... areas."

Her father turned to her a cheeky grin. "Thanks, but I've had enough of adventures here."

"I didn't say adventures. I said vacation. Weren't you listening?"

"Yes and since when have I ever had a vacation?" Hiccup inquired with a serious air. "I think the first fifteen years of my life were boring enough to compensate for my utter lack of vacation time now."

Adrianna giggled and punched him in the shoulder fondly. Hiccup looked at the offended limb and then up at her with mock disapproval.

"What did I tell you about hitting?"

"Mom hits you all the time."

"This is old news. Your mother's been hitting me since we were four."

"So?"

"So I've received enough abuse from the women of my household, thank you very much."

"Aww remind me later and I'll kiss it for you." Adrianna smiled sweetly while he stuck out his tongue. A soft growl from Lily caught her attention and she looked ahead to see torch lights in the distance. A decent sized village of dark houses and small gardens on the outskirts stood between two mountain hills. A river flowed past from the depths of the island farther out, which must have provided their drinking water and watering hole for animals and planting. Up in the mountain crags she could make out the occasional house, the beams wedged between hard crevices, uneven ledges and tricky corners.

Adrianna stared at the homes dubiously. "How in the world..."

"Does one build a house on a mountain like that?" Hiccup interrupted quizzically. "No idea. I can't say that in all of my adventures that that was one of my questions to ask Alvin."

"I don't imagine so."

"I admit that it's interesting, albeit a little crazy. Almost like a completely different culture. But hey..." Hiccup breathed a laugh. "Outcasts: it's in the name."

Adrianna smiled knowingly. "And yet here we are riding fire breathing lizards. Vikings: it's in the name."

"Touché."

Finally their dragons began to fly over houses, doing their best to fly quietly (but not too quietly). Hiccup searched for the village square and soon found it. He couldn't decide whether to be surprised or not that Allie the Insincere stood in the center of the stone circle, arms crossed and scowl ever apparent.

Toothless and Lily landed with a trot, skidding to a halt a few yards in front of Allie. Adrianna whispered her thanks to her dragon as she gratefully slid to the ground. Her knees nearly buckled under the sudden pressure but, not wanting to look weak in front of the opposing chief, she held her ground to stand tall with her chin raised. Her father slid out of his saddle, pausing only to hiss at the sharp contact from gravity onto his sensitive stump after so many hours of disuse. Adrianna barely caught the small rise at the corner of Allie's mouth. She'd never understand why this woman loved to see her father in pain.

Hiccup stretched his limbs as he walked toward the other chief before extending a hand. "Hello Allie, thank you for allowing us here on short-"

"Are you two sick?"

Hiccup paused at her sharp question and bold expression. "No. We're not. How did you-"

"Word spreads a lot faster than you might think, Haddock. Don't be so naïve." Allie rolled her eyes and eyed Adrianna critically when she stood beside her father. "Well, I can't say you look quite as homely as before. And you've grown... that's always a plus."

Adrianna frowned. Why was she sizing her up? "It's nice to see you too, Chief." Adrianna put on her largest, sweetest smile... but only because she imagined the sweet memory of a soaking wet Allie from the holes in her mug. A small part of her wished that she could prank her just one more time... but then it'd be obvious who'd done the pranking to begin with. She honestly had to wonder if her father had the guts to prank anyone, and sadly there wasn't much option to choose from beyond that. Bummer.

"My daughter was never homely. Just because everyone has some sort of biased opinion, for whatever reason, doesn't mean that it's true." Hiccup defended his daughter with a hand on her shoulder to draw her closer to his side. "But we're not here to argue with you about petty things." Ouch. Had he just... ouch. Adrianna could see Allie bite back the roguish smirk when her father plowed on, oblivious as to the comment he'd just made. "We need to find a few ingredients on your land for the cure before the sickness gets worse. I'm sure you'd agree that we don't want the entirety of the archipelago undergoing a huge epidemic."

"Which can only happen if one allows those who are sick into their land..." Allie mused while inspecting her nails with an almost bored expression.

Hiccup attempted to reign in his sigh. "We're not sick, I promise. The healer on Bog cleared us and gave us the cure as a precaution. We're completely fine. And, on top of that if you need the extra assurance, we stayed in a house all to ourselves as opposed to with infected people. Now are you satisfied?"

Adrianna's mind was nearly swirling with this professional talk. She was exhausted, hungry and tired, and very much unused to listening to her father's chief lingo. Why couldn't they just talk like normal people?

Allie snorted. "I'll be satisfied when you get your tails off my island. But I won't be unreasonable."

"Good." Hiccup hesitated, his eyes catching on a few people walking nearby. Adrianna followed his gaze to see a woman and her teenage son, an elderly couple and one man walking alone with a sword on his shoulder. Outcasts. Her father continued in the background, "I don't suppose-"

"No. I don't have any spare houses for you to stay in. If you didn't come prepared-"

"Lucky for you, we did. No need to offer any services, don't worry." Hiccup snipped, apparently tired enough to let some formalities go.

Allie sneered back, "Good. Now get lost somewhere. We'll find you in the morning to tell you where stuff-"

"Chief?"

Allie frowned in confusion when the teenage boy walked toward their circle. He stood in the space between Adrianna and Allie, his shoulder very nearly clearing the younger girl's head. The only one taller than him at the moment was her father, and even then it was by a few inches. He only seemed to be about a year older than her, but was very tall. His light brown hair was at the perfect length so it rested just off his eyebrows and nearly covered his ears, and his tanned complexion was set off by the blue orbs that were his eyes.

Adrianna's first thought when he stood beside her was... wow. She didn't think this in any romantic way because when she rarely (okay generally) thought about boys, the only kind of attractive she really thought of (and was accustomed to) were the traits Erick held. But this guy... hoo boy. She was utterly convinced that he was the village Romeo. Well, if Vikings read good books then they'd probably agree with her.

Allie had snapped at him for his untimely interruption but the boy seemed very unfazed by her outburst. In fact, he seemed to enjoy watching her stew in her frustration as he spoke with almost an air of authority (something neither she nor her father had seen before).

"Sorry chief, I didn't mean to eavesdrop. But my mom and I were thinking that it's going to be cold tonight, the chief and his daughter are tired. They can stay at our place tonight." The boy smiled warmly at the chief, who seemed to stare at him dubiously for a moment.

The apparent mother stepped in beside Hiccup at that moment with an equal sized grin on her face. "Yes please, I can't stand the thought of anyone sleeping in the cold all night. Especially if they're fighting sicknesses on Berk, these two need to keep up their good health in their search."

"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met before..." Hiccup held a hand out to her with a warm smile.

"Lofn Anderson, chief. It's a pleasure to meet you." Lofn gave him a wide smile and shook his hand heartily.

The boy stepped forward with his hand outstretched. "And I'm Brandyn." Brandyn shook his hand and deeply inhaled. "Wow... the great Dragon Master-"

"Oh please," Hiccup snorted. "Spare me, this guy got lucky."

"I'll say." Allie replied with a grunt, suspiciously eyeing his prosthetic.

Brandyn suddenly turned to her with his hand outstretched. "And you must be... sorry, Adelina?"

"Adrianna," she corrected with a forgiving smile and shook his hand.

"That's right, I'm sorry. I knew your brother's name but-"

"Eh it's fine. He's more popular anyway. Heir of the tribe and all, no biggie..."

Brandyn cocked his head at her curiously before turning back to the talking adults. "Anyway," he unabashedly interrupted whatever Allie was saying. Hiccup bit back a grin at Lofn's scolding look and Allie's scalding gaze. "What do you think, chief?"

Allie pinched the bridge of her nose impatiently. "If you two get sick, you're leaving the village."

Adrianna couldn't help it. She openly gasped, "You'd outcast the Outcasts? That's not cool."

Brandyn nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's not cool."

Adrianna was sorely tempted to shout at the top of her lungs that "Allie hates Outcasts!" but she figured that she was pushing the chief's buttons already if her red face had anything to do with it.

"Just go, whatever. I'll find you in the morning." And with that, the chief of the Outcasts marched off into the night.

Brandyn turned to Adrianna with a snicker. "You're a lot more awesome than I expected."

Adrianna winced and looked away as if hurt. "Everyone always says that."

"Ah... sorry."

Adrianna raised an eyebrow. "Sarcasm..."

"Yeah, me too."

Adrianna narrowed her eyes at the boy before he laughed. She didn't know what kind of dream this was, but it was very strange and strangely... fun. But unfortunately her father interrupted her moment of glory before she could come up with another comeback.

"You two are totally adorable and all, but I have two tired, starving dragons and I'm about to pass out."

Adrianna blushed at his words, but Lofn blessedly turned the attention off of her. "Don't you worry a thing about the dragon. If they'll allow it, we'll take care of them and get you both some hot soup. Come, we live down this street."

Hiccup gave Adrianna a surprised, approving look before he allowed her to follow close behind Brandyn. Toothless and Lily followed them down the street with their tails dragging, and Hiccup had to quietly coax them into following them the whole way a couple of times. Adrianna felt very bad for them and when they finally reached Brandyn and Lofn's home, she stopped to give each dragon a hug and kiss on the nose.

"Thank you, guys. You're amazing. Sleep well!"

The dragons wandered into the rather sizable pen by the house and plopped next to a rather large Changewing. Brandyn sauntered forward and patted it on the nose.

"It's all right, Syd." he said in a rather gentle voice. "They're friends."

"Interesting name." Hiccup commented as the dragon called Syd finally decided that the two strangers weren't hostile.

"Oh yeah, I've had him forever." Brandyn hurried forward so he could open the front door for them. "He used to be this tiny little thing with the loudest bark. Drove us all nuts. So I named him Syd. Small Yappy Dragon."

Hiccup laughed. "Can't say Toothless' name came from anything accurate."

"Yeah..." Brandyn remarked wryly as he looked out the window to catch a glimpse of the Night Fury's fangs hanging over his scaly lips. "Accurate all right."

Hiccup turned to face the teenager. "Hey, thank you for offering us a place to stay. Addie's exhausted and at least one night somewhere warm will be good for her. I really appreciate your kindness."

"You two can sleep in our rooms." Lofn said cheerfully. "We'll sleep down here."

"Oh no, I don't want to imp-"

"It's no imposition." the mother insisted. "We've got a nice warm fire and plenty of blankets and pillows. We're fine down here."

Brandyn piped from the doorway, "Also, I'd like to accompany you on your quest for ingredients tomorrow, if that's all right?"

Hiccup shrugged. "It's up to your chief in all honesty. We'd appreciate the willing hands all the same."

"She won't care." Brandyn rolled his eyes. "Long as it doesn't get in her way, she couldn't care less what anyone does around here."

"It's getting late, Brandyn, why don't you show Adrianna to your room?" Lofn gestured to an old but very sturdy staircase to their left.

"Right this way." Brandyn allowed the girl to proceed first before following her up the staircase. "It's not much but it's comfortable."

"I'll try not to turn it into a girl's haven." Adrianna quipped with a smile.

"Don't believe her!" Hiccup's voice wafted up the stairs. "You'll be lucky to only find flower petals in your sheets."

"I wouldn't do that to you." Adrianna said as Brandyn opened his bedroom door for her. "It's just the one night. And I left my flower petals at home."

"Ehh." Brandyn grinned cheekily. "I wouldn't mind if you did." he winked at her and, before she could respond, immediately turned and went back downstairs.

Adrianna, amused smile still on her face, turned around and took in her surroundings. Brandyn's room wasn't very big and it certainly couldn't be called tidy. Piles of papers littered one corner of the room while a pile of clothes was on the other. They seemed to be clean and Adrianna's smile widened as she realized that yet another person had too many things on his mind to do something as tedious as folding laundry. She had a pile of clothes in a corner of her own room back home and her mother was constantly telling her to put it away. Brandyn's walls had pictures he'd drawn scattered across it without any real organization. There was also a long sword hanging up above the unused dresser. His bed wasn't made but the sheets appeared to be clean.

As the girl sat down on the bed, her limbs started to feel less tense as her weight was removed from them. She unpacked a set of pajamas and was pleased to note that she would be quite comfortable that night as she snuggled into the blankets. Feeling began to return to her face and her fingers as she put on the pajamas and by the time she was ready for bed, her whole body felt a lot more relaxed than it had been since Snoggletog.

Propping the pillows up so that she could read a book before she went to sleep, the Haddock girl thanked the gods for the kindness of strangers. Maybe the Outcasts weren't as bad as they seemed to be.