Bloom's running through the forest around Berk, getting as far away from the horrible kids her age as quickly as possible - they used to be her friends, but now…now she can't stand them. They're so awful to her! They constantly pick on her every fault, imagined or real, every way she's not like them.

Stoick used to say she came from the Gods themselves, now he doesn't say anything to her at all. He's only ever eternally disappointed in her - it's not her fault he never spends any time at all with her, though! He's always so busy chiefing around the village, she never sees him until he gets home at night!

The other kids used to be fun to be with, up until Snotlout - that gods-cursed idiotic jerk that he is - started picking on her because she's not as strong as the others. And that she doesn't get carried away about killing dragons. And that she's adopted, since they don't know where she actually came from.

All because she went for a walk in the forest out of boredom one day!

The twins were the first to join in, always wanting to make some chaos, and then Asher just stood there and let them. Fishlegs cowered behind them all, too afraid to either stand up for her or join in on the verbal beatings. Which quickly turned to physical beatings, not that anyone else cares.

It started when she decided to take a walk in the forest, since she was bored out of her mind because her dad was busy being chief and the other kids were busy with their parents. When she came back, Snotlout immediately started ragging on her for going on that innocent walk - she started going on more of them, avoiding him and the others since they were half curious, half suspicious as well, and the cycle continued from there.

She gets pulled out of her thoughts by a Terrible Terror climbing up to a rock at her head height to sniff at her. She holds still, holding one hand out hesitantly, then gasps in delight when he sniffs her hand before rubbing its head against it. She instantly resolves to both never kill a dragon ever and find more of them and get them away from the village if she can.

Gobber decides to take Bloom on as an apprentice when she's eight, as she's fast on her feet, good with her hands, she's smarter than most of the village combined - and then some, not smart as the entire village combined because he has to come up with ideas - and he noticed a while ago how the other kids were picking on her so relentlessly.

She proves to be a fast-learner and can be in the worst heat the Forge can make without even breaking a sweat. She's also got an inventive imagination, coming up with things like ways to put out fires instantly or better designs for armor.

Her metalwork is good - beyond good, really - but it's not enough to get the other teens to stop picking on her.

Bloom's nine when she meets a pure white dragon about her size with bright blue eyes the same color as her own in the Cove at Raven's Point, which sniffs her thoroughly before nudging its face into her body.

Bloom scratches the dragon under the chin, then gets an idea and dives into the water of the small pond in the cove they're in. After a good minute she comes back out holding a wriggling fish in her arms. When she drags it over to the dragon, which is looking at her in shock, she dumps it on the ground and backs up a few steps. "It's for you! Do you like it?"

The dragon sniffs it, then eats it whole. Bloom squeals in delight, then runs over and hugs the dragon's torso. "Yay! Do you have a name?"

The dragon shakes its head, then Bloom asks "Would you like one? Brightfire? Or Luna, maybe?"

There's a rumbling sound, deep in the dragon's chest, and then it nods.

"Okay…Brightfire?"

Another nod.

"Yay! Wait, are you a girl?"

A third nod.

"Can you understand me?"

A fourth nod, followed by Brightfire curling up around Bloom happily. Which floods Bloom with heat, for some reason - and when she stubs her toe, the rock she stubs it on goes flying and smashes into a rock wall hard enough to shatter.

When Bloom's not helping Gobber in the Forge, she's in the forest with dragons - as it turns out, there's dozens of dragons hiding in the forest. They just know how to stay out of sight when they want to.

Brightfire helps her learn to control her newfound powers, hide them from the villagers - because, she's sure, they wouldn't react well or understand that they're as much a mystery to her as to them.

A Nadder helps her work on her speed and accuracy - by the time she's ten, she can throw a knife as fast as a Nadder can and can catch one of their spines midair. She's also learned acrobatics - to a point, there's only so much translation that can happen for a dragon to teach a human - and her balance is perfect.

She's basically an outcast on the island they just haven't gotten around to sending away, though - the teens practically hate her, taking every moment possible to criticize her, the adults other than Gobber want nothing to do with her.

Why I stay on this island is beyond me.

The annual visit from the Berserker Tribe doesn't go any better - Dagur's a psycho creep that alternately hits on her and hits her, occasionally throwing knives at her head. He stopped that when she got fed up with the idea and threw one back at him, landing it just beside his arm up to the hilt in the wood.

Asher watches as Bloom heads into her house - when he sneaks around to the side, he sees her almost immediately leave from the back door. If he didn't know any better, he'd think there was some other guy she's seeing - the mere thought makes him feel jealous, but he crushes it at once with the knowledge that the only guys that aren't their age are either far too old for her, seem to hate her, or are too young for her. And the guys their age are Snotlout, himself, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs.

No, she just goes on long walks through the forest to be alone - he's tried following her a few times, but could never keep track of her more than a few minutes before he lost her completely.

AN: Hey, everyone! First chapter is up - I know, its more like a preview or a prologue, but things really start next chapter! I kinda need to know right now, should Bloom forgive Berk in the end or not? If she does, it'll still take a while. Also, Riders/Defenders of Berk isn't going to happen before RTTE...if at all. If it does, it'll be Bloom forgives Berk.

Anyway, enjoy! I think I'll alternate chapters between this and 'The Girl Who Survived' - chores and all. please review, I love reading all your comments!