Chapter Four

Once Eret had gathered all of his friends up in the Mead Hall we sat at a long wooden table. From what I could remember of the strangers before I passed out there were seven of them. The two blonde twins were sitting on the other side of the table, punching each other and arguing. The self-centered, black haired man was looking at me, flexing his biceps. Cringing I quickly turned my gaze away from him to the husky man who had his nose in a book and was murmuring to himself while he jotted down notes. Eret was also sitting on the other side of the table, and when him and the muscle flexing buffoon locked eyes they glared at each other.

What do they want with me? Why can't they just let me go and forget this ever happened? Sighing I looked down on my left side, where Blackstar was sitting; her posture tense and ready for a fight even in her condition. Her wing looked better than it was, meaning it was probably only dislocated and the only damage to her wing would it being sore for a little while. Her belly on the other hand looked like it was healing but slowly, I was happy anyway. Every little bit counts. But I shouldn't be talking, I'm in worse condition than her. If I had to run I wouldn't even make it a few paces before I fell on my face. Who knows how much blood I had lost from my leg? My hands tightened into fists as the memory flashed through my mind. Had that really been my life? Had my own Father been the one who gave me these scars that are permanently on my body; never to go away? If so, what happened that threw him over the edge? And what happened to my mother? Was she still alive?

My thoughts were thrown off as the door to the Mead Hall swung open, and in walked Hiccup and his blonde friend that I still wasn't quite so fond of. The blonde girl made her way toward the table that all of the odd Vikings were sitting at. At the table the blonde stopped when she noticed I was watching her. With a glare she sat in the seat right in front of me, still never breaking her glare. Noticing the show down I sent her a glare of my own, not looking away or blinking. I was not about to show her that I was scared of her, of anything, even though that was only half true.

Our stare off was broken when Hiccup sat in the chiefs chair. Baffled that someone so young was the Chief of this village I couldn't help but ask the question that flew into my mind. "You're the Chief?"

Hiccup looked at me, first surprise for me to speak up but then he smiled and nodded. "Yes. I've been Chief of this tribe and village since I was twenty…so that would be four years ago."

"Why would you get appointed to be Chief at such a young age?" I asked, but after I finished the whole room seemed to grow tense. Feeling and noticing the bad aura that was emanating from everybody I immediately regretted what I said.

The blonde glared at me, "Enough questions about us. We're not the ones who doesn't know who they are or where they came from. But we intend to find out." Her blue eyes seemed to bore holes into my face the way she was staring at me. Noticing my unease Blackstar nudged my side, I patted her reassuringly on the nose and looked back to the blonde.

"Yes we'll get to the questions but first let me introduce you to everyone." Hiccup, the Chief, said as he pointed to the blonde. "That's Astrid Hofferson, also my second in command." Astrid, huh?

Pointing to the husky built blonde man who always had his nose in a book but he now was paying attention for once. "That there is Fishlegs Ingerman, the keeper of the Dragon Books and the one who adds the new dragon species into them." Hiccup then pointed to the black-haired man who was flirting with me a few moments ago. "That's Snotlout Jorgenson, the two twins are named Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston." The he pointed to himself. "And I'm Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III."

After Hiccup had introduced Snotlout to me he had gotten up and walked over to me. "Pleasure to meet your acquaintance my fair lady." He said as he reached down and picked up my right hand and brought it to his mouth. "I hope sooner than later we can become friends and get to know each other. Then after that I hope we can become much, much more." When he finished my eyes started to get wide and my face started to get red with anger as his hand slowly brought my hand to his mouth to kiss it. But before he could I ripped it out his grasp and slapped him across the face, which emitted a loud sound throughout the now quiet Mead Hall.

A few seconds passed of total silence before the Twins started to laugh, and over their giggles I yelled. "Who in Thor's name do you think you are?!"

Snotlout seemed shocked before he shook his head and glared at me. "Damn women, why the hell did you do that for?"

"You just don't go up and kiss a total strangers hand! Do that again and you'll get something more than just a slap!"

His face switched to anger to a flirtatious smirk. "Oh really? Well I can't wait until that time comes."

My mouth dropped open and my face turned even more red but from anger or embarrassment I couldn't tell. "Why you little-"

"As much as I would love to see how this pans out I can't have that happen. One, that wouldn't be Chiefly and two, Snotlout is going to get hurt." Hiccup interrupted, glaring at Snotlout but there was a hint of amusement in his eyes. Hanging his head in embarrassment from getting rejected he went back to his seat next to the Twins and Eret. When he sat down Tuffnut started to make fun of the red hand sized print on the right side of his face, while Eret and everyone else tried to hold back their laughter, all except for me. I was fuming.

Hiccup cleared his throat and clapped his hands. "Well, now that that is done lets get to why we're all here." He turned toward me and all of a sudden I felt really exposed. "Who are you?"

I looked down, my hands were fingering the hem of my short sleeved shirt as I got more and more nervous. "I-I don't know…" I replied, hating the crack in my voice. Astrid crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me.

"How do we know that you aren't lying to us?"

I shook my head. "I don't know how to make you trust me." I said as I looked up to her. "But I swear, I am telling the truth."

She shook her head, clearly not believing me. "How do we know that you aren't one of Dagur's henchmen? Or one of Drago's pawns?" At the name 'Drago', Eret visibly stiffened. The whole room seemed to stiffen. This guy must've been pretty bad.

Getting angry I slammed both my hands on the table, making everyone jump except for Astrid. "I don't know who those guys are! And I don't know what you're talking about! I don't remember anything about the life I used to have! I've been on my own for about eight years! With no family and no friends! That is until I met Blackstar!" I yelled and pointed to my loyal dragon. After a moment of silence I let my hand go limp at my side. "If you can't believe me then just let Blackstar and I go. We won't cause you any more problems that way."

"We can't let that happen." My head shot over to look at Hiccup. He had his hands folded in front of his mouth and chin, looking like he was in deep thought from my statement.

"Why not?" I questioned. "You have no use of me being here, why can't you just let Blackstar and I leave and we'll be out of your hair?"

He shook his head. "If you go out into the forest, or wherever you came from, now you could die, you and your dragon. You're not healthy or stable enough to be on your own-"

"But I won't be alone, I'll have Blackstar." I countered, standing up as I pointed to my loyal dragon by my left side.

Hiccup stood and shook his head again. "And what if your dragon dies? Who will be able to look after you then?"

I lowered my head so my bangs were shadowing my eyes. "She won't die. I would never allow-"

"What if she bumps into a dragon trap? The Dragon Trappers will come and take her away from you, what would you do then?"

Tears started to prickle at the corner of my eyes. "I'd go and rescue-"

"In your state? You'd barely make it a couple feet, let alone going all the way to rescue your dragon." A lone tear slid down my left cheek, across my scar, until it slid off my chin and hit the table. My hands clenched at my sides, knowing what he was saying was true, all of it. Blackstar was too weak to protect me, and I was too weak to protect her. Another tear slid down my face and I gritted my teeth. I hated being so weak, so vulnerable. I wish my memories would come back to me, I wish I could remember my Mother. What was she like? All that I know about her is that portrait I saw of her in my dream, but even now that image in my head was becoming blurry. And what about my Father? What had happened that sent him over the edge?

My Father… my hand traveled up to the scar on my cheek and my jaw tightened more. Not being able to stand anymore I sat down.

When everyone saw me sit down there was an inaudible sigh of relief and Hiccup sat back down also. "…Now, will you stay until you and your dragon get better?"

I nodded my head. "But only until we get better, then we're leaving."

Hiccup seemed disappointed at hearing my answer but nodded in the least. "Great, now can we all get back to the subject at hand?" There were silent nods and a quiet "yes" throughout the room. When it was silent again Hiccup started to question me.

"Do you remember anything about your village?"

I shook my head.

"Do you remember anything about your parents?" At the question my whole entire body stiffened with fear. Everyone seemed to notice, but I stayed quiet. Should I tell them? What would happen if I do? If I tell them they could know something about my Mother, and if she is still alive they'd know where to find her.

Fighting with my inner thoughts I finally came to a conclusion. "Yes…I remember something about my Father." I whispered, and I could hear the slightest hint of fear in my voice and hated myself even more because of it. The room stayed quiet so I could continue. When I had composed myself and gathered the memory inside my head I lifted my head up so I could look straight ahead of me. So they could tell if what I was saying a lie or not, but I didn't look at anyone. I think I didn't have the courage to. As I told them about my memory the tension in the room seemed to grow. Everyone's expression turned from boredom before my story to horrified afterwards.

"…and then I woke up." Taking a chance I looked at everyone. It was all the same, horrified. Clenching my jaw I looked away, I didn't want to be pitied. Not noticing it before I could feel my whole body shaking, and realizing my discomfort Blackstar walked up to me and put her head on my lap. In a trance I slowly petted her head, which calmed me and I stopped shaking.

"So your name is Kira Overland…" Hiccup said awkwardly, not knowing how to react to the new information I just dished out.

I gave a light chuckle and small smile that didn't really reach my eyes. "I guess it is…"

"That's why your full of scars! But I wouldn't be complainin' though because you're rocking them." Tuffnut complemented, but the others just stared at him in disbelief, shocked that he would even say that. Astrid was about to yell at him for saying such a thing when the silence was broken buy a hearty laugh, but the kind of laugh that sent chills down your spine. Everyone's shocked faces turned to me. I was doubled over in a fit of laughter, clutching my stomach. When I sat up straight again my eyes were lit up with joy and a smile was spread across my face and tears were at the corners of her eyes from laughing so hard.

With one more laugh I pointed at Tuffnut. "I guess you're right, huh? Maybe I should go find my Father and thank him for cutting me up? I'm sure he'll appreciate it!" Before Tuffnut could respond Astrid slapped a hand over his mouth and turned toward Hiccup.

"Hiccup, it's getting late, don't you think everyone should go home and get some rest? We can continue this in the morning."

Hiccup nodded and started to get up. "You're right, we'll continue this in the morning. Everyone go home and get some rest, you'll be called to when the meeting starts." Everyone started to get up and walk out of the Mead Hall. But before I could walk out unseen a and grabbed my left shoulder and turned me around.

"Oh no you don't, you're not sneaking out in your condition." Eret scolded.

I pushed his arm off my shoulder. "What's it to you? Why do you care if I die or not?" Eret stayed silent, not really knowing how to answer that. Turning I started to walk away. "That's what I thought."

"Kira! Wait!" Called out another voice. Growling I turned around, why couldn't they just leave me be? Hiccup walked up to me and stood next to Eret.

"Don't think you're getting away so easily, you promised you'd stay."

I scowled, remembering my promise. "Oh, yeah…that…" Hiccup grinned from catching me red-handed.

"You don't have a place to stay until you heal and I don't have anymore room in my house since my Mother took the guest…"

I smiled and turned on my heel. "Oh! Well that just sucks! I can find my own place to stay. I'll probably stay with Black-"

"I have an extra room that's not going to be used anytime soon." Said a voice that stopped in my tracks.

Eret. "What makes you think I'll stay with you?"

Hiccup frowned, thinking about it then nodded. "I think that's our best bet. Astrid doesn't seem to like you so there's no way in Thor that that'll ever happen. Fishlegs doesn't have room in his house. And I don't trust Snotlout or the Twins giving you a room, so Eret's our best bet."

I gawked at Hiccup. "And what makes you think I'll listen to you?"

Hiccup smiled and counted the reasons on his fingers. "One, I'm the Chief here, and two, you made a promise, and with that promise are things you have to follow."

Eret crossed his arms over his chest and smiled down on me. "Sorry Kira, it looks like he has your hands tied."

My hands clenched at my sides as I fumed with anger. "Fine!" I yelled before I stormed off in a random direction.

"You're going the wrong way, lass!" Eret yelled, humor evident in his voice. I screamed in anger and stopped, waiting for Eret to catch up and show me the way. Behind me I could hear Eret say his goodbye to Hiccup and make his way toward me. When he passed by he chuckled and motioned for me to follow. Burning a whole in the back of his head I started to follow but when I stepped with my left leg pain surged through it and I hissed in pain, falling to the ground.

Hearing my sound of distress Eret turned around and ran back to where I was on the ground. "Are you okay?" He asked as he kneeled next to me.

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine." I said as I tried to get up but was unsuccessful.

Eret scowled at my obvious lie. "No you aren't." Before I could say otherwise Eret had grabbed me around the waist and set me on my feet, but when I was on my feet I tripped and fell against Eret. When I looked up at him to yell at him I realized just how close we were. Our faces were so close I could feel his breath on my cheeks, his hazel eyes boring into my blue-green ones, causing my breath to hitch in my throat. Both of us blushing profoundly I pushed him away, balancing on my own two feet again.

"I said I was fine!" I yelled, my face burning. Eret smiled slightly at me as he nodded and started to walk in the direction of his house again. As I followed Eret Blackstar helped me walk, making sure she was going slow enough and giving me enough support to help with my new-found disability. I sighed, I could already tell that this was going to be a long couple of days.

I'm so sorry I never updated on Sunday! FanFiction wouldn't let me post a new chapter even though it was in Doc Manager. So here's the update, finally. This is probably my favorite chapter, because of the event with Snoutlout and Kira. :) So, wow, 1,075 views! Holy crap, I didn't think I'd ever get that much! Thank you so much to my new followers/favoriters Sousuke Tenki, 19baby94, Sparky888, VulcanTrekkie, kiera666, ghoulvox, darkness surrounds me, HeartluvAnimeGirl,and Takanori Hideto Matsumoto. I hope you all liked the update! This is the last chapter I'm putting on FanFiction because I need to write the next chapter before I upload. Plus, I need to think about where this is going to go from here on, so the story will be on hold for a while.

Just saw "Inside Out" Saturday, and let me tell you, it was freaking adorable, hilarious, and sad. I cried, along with my friend Mary. It was a great PIXAR movie. I strongly recommend it, even for teenagers and adults. How is everyone's summer going so far? Hope y'all had fun with your Father's or Step-Father's on Father's Day!

Until the next update,

~Kat