Chapter One: My Life? Whose Life?

Have you ever wondered if your life has just been a mistake? Like you were never supposed to exist in the first place, or that you have too many questions about yourself that no one can really answer?

For me, that's pretty much been my life since I confirmed that I wasn't really the daughter of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and his wife, Astrid – the Chieftains of Berk. That was eight-ish years ago when I was able to understand a bit about life but even so, they're still 'Ma' and 'Pa' to me, just not 'Mum' and 'Dad'. Don't get me wrong – they're the best family I could hope for...I just wish I knew who my real family was.

My name's Ember. That's really the only thing that I do know about myself. It's pretty obvious that I'm not the Chief's daughter even though Astrid and Hiccup try not to let me know otherwise – my hair is jet black that somehow shimmers auburn in the sunlight, my skin has no freckles whatsoever and my eyes are, of all colours, bright green-yellow. Seriously, who has eyes that colour? Well, me, obviously but I was being hypothetical. Flint says they look like dragons' eyes – I agree with him and am just grateful that he doesn't rub it in my face twenty-four-seven. Flint is Astrid and Hiccup's real child and their oldest son, by the way, and to be fair he's pretty good as a sibling figure. He's the spitting image of his dad except he's got his mum's blue eyes and blonde hair (although it was streaked with auburn if you looked close enough).

Flint and I have been good friends since forever but we still have our disagreements. For example, one time during dinner when we were five he made fun of me for having sucked in Combat Training that day and I just about lost it with him, going as far as to literally leap over the table without disturbing the food (don't ask me how), tackle him and pin his arms behind his back until he screamed for mercy. Okay, Astrid had to wrestle me away and Hiccup needed to calm me down but I prefer my version of events better. To make up for it, Flint promised that he wouldn't make fun of me again in Dragon Training but since then I've never given him cause to do so – I don't want to brag but I'm the best trainer our age in the village.

Outside Dragon Training, I used to be the weirdo of the village but that didn't necessarily make me the 'outcast' – I was, and kind of always have been, just a girl who's never quite been the same as everyone else my age – to be fair, it's just the fact that I don't know much about myself that set me apart during our childhood so it's not that big of a deal. Hiccup says that being that way isn't a bad thing – heck, he didn't exactly start having real friends until he was thirteen – but my main problem was that the other teens, excluding Flint, never used to see me as one of them because I'm not really native to Berk (it's not a problem anymore, just used to be). I've never quite understood that – I've lived here as long as they have, shouldn't that be enough to call Berk my home?

"Sounds like someone we knew." That's what Hiccup said to me once when I told him about it. He ignored my question of "Who?" and instead turned in the opposite direction having 'remembered' that he had a farming problem to sort out with the Ingermans on the other side of Berk. I asked Astrid about it and she simply told me that Hiccup didn't like talking about it and suggested that I go out to practise my axe-throwing skills in the forest. Yeah, trust my adopted mother to suggest combat practise to take your mind off things.

Speaking of my family, I might as well talk about them. My adopted father is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, also known as Hiccup the Dragon Trainer/Conqueror/whatever you want to call him, who just so happens to be the Chief of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe of Berk. He's not what you'd call your typical Viking – he's not the biggest man in the world (he makes up for it in height) and he prefers to negotiate and figure out problems with his head rather than his muscle but that's kind of what I like about him. He's probably the smartest man I know, not to mention a great chief (not that he likes the job that much, he just happens to be good at it). He's the one who took me into the family and, even if I don't know where I come from or how I got to Berk in the first place, I'll always be grateful to him for that and I'd do anything for him. Some people call me a 'Daddy's Girl' because of that but I don't think that really applies here given that he's not really my dad, hence why I just call him Pa. It's easier that way.

Astrid Horrendous Haddock I, also known as Astrid the Striking (so named because she is a good-looking lady and she packs a punch on the battle field – trust me, I've seen her), is, as I mentioned earlier, my adopted mother, although I just call her Ma. Whilst she's like Hiccup in that she's not the biggest Viking but she's still strong and can fight like a Valkyrie if she wants/needs to (sometimes a combination of both, although I'm not sure how that works). Like Hiccup, she is very smart and if there was one woman I'd love to be like when I'm older, it would be her. Whilst she can be a strict mother to me, Flint and the others at times, somehow I know that she means well and just does it to protect us. I don't know how I know, I just do.

Flint, like I've said before, is my best friend and adopted 'twin' brother. Okay, we're not technically twins given that our birthdays are...what? Five months apart (he was born just after Snoggletog – my birthday's halfway through summer)? We just call ourselves twins because we're the same age plus it makes me feel like less of an outsider. In fact, it was the revelation that Flint and I are the same age but have birthdays too far away from each other to be twins yet too close to each other to be separate siblings of the same family that gave it away to me that I wasn't really his blood relative. Okay, probably the entire village knew this before I did but I was a kid at the time! Don't judge. And besides, Astrid and Hiccup both act as if I don't know – I'm not sure if they know that I know I'm adopted but they act as if I'm their real daughter. Flint, like I said, looks like his dad with the exception of his mum's eyes and hair but his personality really comes from his mother – he's smart, true enough (most of the Haddocks are, from what I've seen. Emphasis on 'most', though – it fizzles out on the Jorgenson side of the family), but he is pretty impulsive and will get into fights if provoked. He's also inherited his mum's social skills, something I've heard Hiccup is more than relieved about.

Then there're the ones I haven't mentioned yet – the triplets, Lysa, Nott and Eva. They were born in the autumn eight years after me and Flint and, honestly, I don't think you could find a group of siblings who looked so alike and yet were so different. Lysa is pretty much a five-year-old female version of Hiccup – awkward socially, sarcastic and always with a witty comment up her sleeve. Nott is so quiet you wouldn't notice she was there sometimes and she's so shy she hardly leaves Astrid's side when we go out for walks, often hiding in her cloak or behind her dress or whatever she was wearing. Eva, on the other hand, is the complete opposite – you wouldn't have expected someone so egotistic to have come from the same family as the relatively humble-in-comparison Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Like I said, they looked exactly the same, being the spitting image of their mother except with Hiccup's green eyes (something Astrid was happy with – she's a sucker for green eyes, apparently) and dark auburn hair, so it's really only their personalities which allow people to tell them apart.

That's the family I've grown up with. It's the best family I could have ever hoped for – a fair dad, a protective mum (I don't find it annoying personally – I like the attention Astrid gives us), a best friend brother and the obligatory slightly irritating younger sisters. Though there are times where I think of how nice it would be to know where I came from and who I really was. I mean, Astrid and Hiccup are great parents, but there's always the thought and knowledge that I feel guilty of having – they're not my parents. I sometimes think of how great it would be to have my own mother kiss me goodnight, or my own father take me out flying on our dragons or even my own siblings to squabble with. I fell horrible about it, but I can't deny that the feeling's there.

I have to say though, most of the time I don't really think about things that much. So what if I don't know who my real family is? Hiccup and Astrid are the best parents ever. I've got a relatively good life by Viking standards here on Berk – heck, I even mastered most of the dragon training techniques as soon as I learnt how to walk. I just...get them, if that makes any sense. Especially Hiccup's Night Fury, Toothless, and his family, made up of the Star Backed Night Fury, Windwalker, and their four hatchlings: Starlight, Luna, Draco and the littlest, Pondskater (I called him that after watching him literally hop across the lake in the cove). Pondskater had been around for only a few years – he's the youngest at three. Starlight's coming up to thirteen, being the first-born of Toothless and Windwalker, and Luna is five years younger as was Draco – they're a rare case of dragon twins, having been born at the same time (Night Furies are the only dragons to give birth to live young).

Like I said, I've never known much about myself as a person but that's never really bothered me. Despite the occasional "You don't come from here – you're not a Hairy Hooligan...meh...meh...meh" from some of the others, I'm just a normal teenage Viking trying to survive. Like so many have said before me, we're Vikings – surviving is what we do for a living.

Quite literally.

/\

"...and that's how the Outcasts formed an alliance with the Hairy Hooligans," Fishlegs Ingerman told a group of younger Vikings who listened to his tale with awe all over their faces. I was passing by on my way back from the forge so I decided I might as well listen. Fishlegs was a good friend of Astrid and Hiccup's, being part of the elite Defenders of Berk team (or even the Dragon Masters, take your pick), and his stories of their adventures were pretty well told to say the least. "From that day forward, they were no longer a danger to our village, nor any other in this group of islands."

"I hope you remembered the part about Dad kicking his butt with Hookfang!" a burly teenage boy called as he strutted past. I rolled my eyes.

"Rather he almost chickened and only came in because Hiccup would have gotten most of the credit anyway!" I shouted back. I'd heard the story countless times from Astrid and Hiccup. Spitface Jorgenson was Snotlout Jorgenson's son – Hiccup's...second-nephew, I guess? What relation is the child of your cousin? – and was just like his dad in every way, shape and form. Heck, apparently he even had that arrogant walk to a tee if Astrid had anything to say about it. Lucky for me, he never hit a girl so I could get away with punching a hole in his ego every now and then.

"Hey, Em!"

"Race ya!"

"Last one to the Cove..."

"...cleans the Great Hall for a month!"

I raced off towards the forest at the sound of the 'Twins'. Well, they called themselves that but in reality they were two kids of different ages – they're cousins, in fact. One of them, Stonewall (we all called him Stone), was the son of Tuffnut Thorston and the other, Sticky (she insists on us calling her Sticks), is the daughter of his twin sister, Ruffnut and Fishlegs, and was a year older than him. I swear to Odin that the Thorston twins purposefully coordinated the names (Sticks and Stones...I ask you). How could two people that stupid be on the Defenders of Berk Team? Okay, I was being mean there - the Thorston Twins admittedly had their moments. I actually asked Hiccup about it once and even he wasn't able to come up with an answer – the only thing he said was that they were better than Snotlout at times, which saying something.

I dropped the axe I was carrying on a nearby cart and raced towards the forest. Glancing over my shoulder I could see Flint, Spitface and Ruffnut and Fishleg's other daughter, Scalene (actually not a bad name by our standards), hot on my heels so I decided to pick up the pace a bit. Not only was I fairly strong for my age I could also run pretty much as fast as I wanted for as long as I wanted – okay, so far my limit was twenty laps of the village at full speed but that was still a heck of a lot more than anyone else could do.

"I hope you guys are hungry 'cos you're about to eat my dust!" I called back, literally kicking up dirt into their faces as I darted through the trees. It wasn't too long before I overtook the 'twins' (I'm just gonna call them that for convenience) so I slowed my pace a little to let the others catch up – hey, I played fair, unlike some I could mention. Despite my slowing down, I still reached the Cove before anyone else did.

"How can you run that fast?" Scalene panted. Despite being one of the larger teens of our group, she was quick on her feet and had remarkable agility to boot. Flint followed closely behind her with Spitface and the twins trailing along soon after.

"I like running," I shrugged.

"That's for sure – you never keep still," Flint smirked. I poked my tongue out at him. "Okay – who's up for Hand-to-Hand Combat?" he grinned. Everyone except Scalene snickered in approval although I was calmer about it – don't get me wrong, I'm a decent fighter I just don't like getting into fights. Still, the occasional Hand-to-Hand practise sessions we had could be fun plus it gave us an excuse to give to Snotlout, the head of Hand-to-Hand Combat Training, when he thought we weren't practising enough.

"I'm gonna stick out of this, thanks," Scalene mumbled. Her sister snickered.

"Come on, sis – people are gonna start wondering if we're actually related," she smirked.

"Yeah, just because you take after Mom, Sticks..." Scalene muttered. It was true – Sticks took after Ruffnut in every way just like Scalene took after her father. It really was difficult to believe they were sisters – it was easier to believe that Sticks and Stone were brother and sister, they were so close.

"Don't worry, Scale," I reassured. "You can be ref – someone will just have to fight twice," I shrugged, taking a sideways glance at Spitface. "Who's first?"

"Us," Flint smirked slyly. I glared at him sarcastically – I hated it when he did that. "Give me your best shot, Em!" My glare turned into a smirk.

"You're on!" I cried, charging forward. Flint easily dodged my first attack and came back with one of his own which I used to my advantage – he'd left himself open for a quick punch to the chest which I duly delivered. Thing is he tripped me up and almost pinned me to the ground – I just about managed to roll out of the way so his face became best friends with the floor. In the end we were so evenly matched we had to call a draw.

"Not bad," Flint smiled, brushing off his shoulder armour pads. "You're getting better."

"You're not too bad yourself," I shrugged. "Okay – Sticks, Stonewall, you guys next."

We spent the next ten or so minutes laughing at the twins' attempts at shoving each other in the water. It ended with Stonewall giving his cousin an uppercut which sent her flying into the pond. By the time their fight was over, Spitface had lost interest in practising so we cancelled the last fight. The afternoon was heading our way so everyone except me and Flint started heading back to the village. My best friend and I waved them off as we remained in the Cove – we had other plans.

"Shall we see if those calls Mom and Dad taught us work?" Flint asked, a gleeful glint sparkling in his eye. I nodded, a smile stretching across my face as I cupped my hands to either side of my mouth and howled. Another howl answered and minutes later my favourite dragon in the world came bounding over the side of the Cove and tackled me where I stood.

"Hey, Skates," I greeted as Pondskater began licking my face clean. "Good job answering the call," I added, retrieving a smoked salmon from my belt pouch and giving it to the guy. Pondskater may have only been three years old and small for a Night Fury but he was a wonderful dragon to ride and a great friend. Astrid and Hiccup had taught me and Flint the secrets of training dragons ever since we could walk, which was part of the reason why we were the best kids in the village at Dragon Training, but it had only been when Pondskater was born that I knew which dragon I wanted as my own.

Pondskater was a 100% Night Fury, not a Star Backed one like his mother and three siblings who all had silver markings decorating their hides and forked tails that sparked like lightning. Instead he was completely black like his father and had eyes that were a slightly darker green than his parents. It seemed that different eye colour was common in the family of Night Furies – Starlight had turquoise eyes whilst Luna and Draco were the only ones to share their parents' bright green eyes. I didn't know why – maybe dragon eyes changed colour as easily as cats' fur colour did.

"Your turn," I nodded to Flint who let out a howl of his own – the same type as mine seeing as we both had a Night Fury. Seconds later a jet black dragon with silver flecks dotting her hide – a little older than Pondskater – hopped into the Cove and gently nuzzled her rider's side.

"Hey, Starlight," Flint smiled softly. Starlight was the oldest of Toothless and Windwalker's family and had been born at Snoggletog about the same time as Luna and Draco, making her only a week older than Flint. The two were best friends, just like me and Flint, and they were easily each other's favourite siblings.

"Perfect!" I grinned, scratching Pondskater behind the ear. "It worked!"

"I guess all that practising paid off," Flint beamed, scratching Starlight fondly behind the ear. It was true – we'd spent at least a month driving Ma and Pa up the wall practising our dragon calls. "Afternoon flight?" he suggested, mounting his dragon. I nodded eagerly and leapt onto Pondskater before gently nudging him into the sky, closely followed by Flint and Starlight.

Flying with the dragons, especially in the relatively warm afternoon sun, was pretty much my favourite thing in the entire world. Up here, it didn't matter that I barely knew who I was or where I'd come from. It was just me, Pondskater and whoever else was with us. It was beautiful.

/\

We'd spend entire weeks like this. Practising Hand-to-Hand, working on our Dragon Training techniques, flying in the afternoons...that was pretty much the daily routine for the new Riders of Berk. Given Hiccup's way with words and sharp wit he was able to prevent wars with other tribes, including the Berserkers by some miracle (Hiccup and the Chief, Dagur, had never seen eye to eye), and as our parents had told us many times before, the alliance with the Outcasts meant we no longer faced trouble from them. We were experiencing an era of peace that blessed every aspect of village life.

That is, until the day we had our first visit from the old enemy in twelve years.

AN: IT'S FINALLY HERE! Sorry it's taken so long to get this one going guys – this is a complete rewrite of my original How to Twist a Dragon's Tail so writing has been slow going. Hopefully it's been worth the wait. Also, sorry that I've been really inactive lately - luckily, holidays have now started so I should have some more time on my hands for a bit.