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Heather has never really had friends before.
Okay. Bluntly – she has never really had anyone before – she grew up alone; was dropped off in the sea and forgotten to all she loved and knew. She lost her parents once, a sibling who’s face and name she can’t even remember, only a vague fleeting image that such a person once existed, and then crashed on an island where… another family found and took her in.
But these aren’t her people, even if it’s her home, and Heather…
She works for a farmer’s family, is good at too many things to count, but girls here aren’t allowed to fight, and she has never much cared for it anyway.
She just – wishes, sometimes that she could’ve stayed on Berk, but her parents need her here, and Heather can’t really complain, can she? They saved her life, after all. She owes them everything.
But Hiccup is still the first friend she’s had and first person she’s known who’s actually close to her in age, and sometimes, Heather just wishes she could’ve… she’ll tell herself she’s being selfish sometimes, but then she remembers air whistling over her as her and Toothless and Stormfly flew through the clouds, and she wonders idly if maybe what she’s really always missed, is whatever it felt like to be free.
The Terrible Terror that Hiccup sent her lands on her bedroom’s desk, chirping and chattering.
Sharpshot, Heather thinks his name was.
She tosses him a tiny piece of fish that he instantly gobbles, then curls up and tucks his wings over himself, sleeping.
“Heather!” She nearly jumps at her mother’s voice, hands freezing where the little piece of parchment that means way too much to her is gripped tightly.
“Yes, Mom?” she calls back.
“I need you down here!”
Heather sets the paper down for later, mentally cursing herself for getting so distracted as she scrambles for the stairs. “Sorry, Mom. I was just reading a letter Hiccup sent.”
“Isn’t he that boy you were with on Outcast Island?”
Heather’s thinking, maybe her parents have a – very wrong impression about their relationship. But Heather doesn’t feel that – she loves Hiccup, but not – not that she’s having that particular conversation right now. “Yes, he’s the one who helped get you back.”
“Just don’t let him get too distracting,” her mother replies, “That ordeal is over. I just want to forget it ever happened.”
They don’t want her talking to her friends.
Heather’s gut sinks deeper but she walls it up and shoves it down – of course, her parents were the ones captured. Heather wasn’t hurt or anything. She was lucky. Of course, anything about Berk reminds them of what happened – and they don’t want to…
But why does that mean she has to give up Hiccup?
She won’t. She can’t. Hiccup’s the first friend Heather has ever had.
She’ll just have to be more careful about sending messages, that’s all.
***
Her dad sees the Terror next – when Sharpshot glides into the literal dining room to drop on her shoulder, happily chattering. He makes the same comment her mom did, and guilt burns deeper.
They saved her life, and Heather’s just making it a problem for everyone, isn’t she?
Does Hiccup even want to talk to her? Heather hurt him so much already, but he’s so nice and he’d never say no if someone was pushing too hard. Maybe her desperation for a friend really is just hurting everyone.
She curls up on the edge of her bed, pulls her knees up and stares longingly at the paper, too afraid to even read.
***
It’s feeling more and more obvious. Her parents don’t want her to have Hiccup, they want her to focus on the farm, or on – whatever she can do for their island, and it’ll be time to marry her off to somebody soon, and Heather doesn’t want that.
If she moves anywhere for good, she wants it to be to Berk.
She wants to live with dragons, with Hiccup and Astrid and Fishlegs and the rest of their crazy friends. The most she can get out to her parents is a single comment before they go “we’ll see”, which means, no.
I wish I could see you guys again, Heather writes longingly in her next message.
But Hiccup has so many things to worry about already. Why should he have to worry about her?
***
I wish I could see you, too, he sends back, complete with a hopeful request for permission to fly out to meet her. But Heather can’t, because that’ll make things a mess with her parents and sometimes she just – wants to get out, but that would be selfish and wrong, and she can’t do that to them.
What if she makes things worse? What if she…?
Heather tries not to think about it, until the day she wonders alone in the woods where streaks of fire and dragon screeches originate from.
It’s a dragon fight.
The small Razorwhip tries spine-shotting at the massive Typhoomerang attacking it, but misses, and the bigger dragon comes down with a blast of fire again.
Heather freezes in her tracks, pressed against the nearby trees to stay low and out of the dragon’s sight to avoid antagonizing them further as she works out a way to make them stop. Food. Food works best on anything.
Typhoomerang eat…
Eels.
Heather throws an eel into the mix, and the Typhoomerang happily snatches it down.
The Razorwhip screeches in fear, and flies straight into her arms. Heather takes off with the thing through the mess of trees, panting a little as she runs, but mostly just running – to put as much time and space between her and the big dragon as possible.
She stops at the edge of a cave, certain they’re safe, and looks down at the terrified, screeching creature. With shining scales so hard they were nearly impermeable, but still – definitely hurt. But is leaking from a few claw marks where the scams were torn.
Green eyes peer right up at her wide, and the little dragon whines.
She’s small and lost, and alone – like Heather was so long ago. Where she found someone to pull her out – but… this creature needs her. This little dragon needs someone, and Heather knows what it’s like to be alone. It came to her, latched onto her, terrified and desperate, and whatever it takes, she has to keep this creature safe.
What if her parents…
This dragon needs her more.
Maybe… maybe Hiccup could help.
Heather takes the dragon home.
Oh, she’s probably going to find a way to mess this up, too, but the only thing that really matters, Heather decides as she watches the silver dragon curled up next to her bed, sleeping with most of her injuries patched up, is keeping this creature safe.
She knows how to feels – to be alone nada afraid. Heather can never undo her life, but she can make sure for good that this amazing little creature never has to endure the same.
And… maybe she can be the one to go to Berk instead.