Aurora smiled softly when Hiccup spoke, telling her she would never have to go back to that. She nodded and stayed there against him, the smile still on her face until she noticed the dark clouds over head. She sat up straight, looking up, a worried look on her face as the hail began to fall. Then, as it began to hail harder and the wind blew more, she had a bad feeling. She moved to hold on to Hiccup tighter as the storm grew too much to bear, leaving them flipping through the air on Toothless's back. It wasn't long before they went crashing down, straight into the mud below.

When they hit the mud, the impact caused Aurora to loose her grip on Hiccup and roll off of Toothless's back. She whined softly she layed there, covered in the mud and sore all over. The wind continued to blue and the hail continued to fall, but down below and not int he air, it was a little less intense. She groaned, and sat up, blinking as she wiping the mud from her face and shook it from her hair. She was hurt and worn out, but at least they were away from the Vikings and back on Berk. hey were safe and that's what mattered.

Looking over at Hiccup and Toothless, she slowly moved over to where they were, the storm continuing to bring the elements against them, "D-does this normally happen here?"

Toothless spread his wings enough to shelter the two from the storm and hunched his body against the pelting hail- the leafy canopies helped to somewhat shield them from the storm but the weather remained to be horrible regardless of whether they were down here or still in the sky. Hiccup pushed himself up and grunted as his prosthetic stuck in the mud. Immediately he crouched back down and dislodged it from the gunk with a wet sucking sound of ‘plonk’, falling back on his rear. Looking vaguely miserable he crawled under Tootless’ wing to meet Aurora.

And he tried not to notice how frail she looked now that the sail had been dislodged. “All the time. This is Berk most of the year. Freezing weather, pelting hail, slick ice and blizzards…” He curled his knees to his chest and tucked back against Toothless’ warm side. Knowing that in this weather it was best to just conserve heat for a time and wait the worse of it out. “Once the hail lets up we should try to get to the village.”

Aurora nodded slightly, looking around, staying under Toothless's wing as she mimicked Hiccup's movements in attempt to stay warm, pulling her own knees to her chest as she sat there, though didn't tuck herself against him or Toothless. She stayed where she was, looking absolutely miserable as she sat there, soaked and waiting as he said for the hail to let up so they could head back to the village. Even the stables would be a welcome sight compared to the conditions they were in now, "This is so different from my home lands...." She stated quietly, looking up at the dark skies from under Toothless's wings, "The home I came from, where my herd lived...it was always so sunny.....so bright....storms were rare there....."

Her eyes grew sad for a moment before she shook her head slightly, "I don't know if its that way anymore. It's been so long since I've been there. I hope it is. I can't wait to go back. To see my family again..." She, to be honest, wasn't even sure if her family was there any more. Or if they were still alive. The night she had been taken had all been such a blur. She had been young which made her memory of that day all the worse. She knew some in her herd hadn't made it. But...someone had to have.....right? She could only hope they had. The thought of really being the last Arcus dragon was a scary and sad thought.

Shaking her head slightly, she sighed, and looked back at him, doing her best to give him a a small smile, "Not that I don't enjoy it here.....it would just be nice...to go home."

Hiccup knew that climate varied between places and that Berk was a bit of a pit when it came to sunny weather. It was his home though and despite the way he had been treated in the past he knew he would miss it… He never really thought about dragons and their families however because Toothless never seemed to long for anything else. He gave him the ability to fly on his own and he had still come back, to stay at that (no debate when he smashed that tailfin). The other dragons had hatchlings but when they were big enough most of them had flown away.

“You’re free to go where ever you want Aurora… I won’t make you stay here.“ Toothless made a few small clicks before his tail scooped Aurora against Hiccup and pinned the two of them against his side. His wing enveloped them in a warm pocket as the hail continued to come down. “I think he’s warming up to you….” Hiccup mumbled past his embarrassment.

Aurora gasped softly when Toothless moved his tail so that both she and Hiccup were pinned to his side close together. She found her cheeks heated up as she looked at Hiccup and then at Toothless, "You think?" She asked, a little surprised, and didn't complain, not with the warmth it gave her. Maybe this male dragon wasn't so bad after all. She leaned against both he and Hiccup to stay warm as she spoke to him, "I couldn't leave right now. Not with my wing being hurt. I have to wait until it heals if I want to make the trip safely." She sighed. She didn't know how long it would take for her wing to heal, but she had a feeling it would be a while.

She stayed there against the two males silently for what seemed like a long time until the hail had lightened up greatly, making it okay for the three of them to travel back to the village. She stood up and began walking back with them and when the stables came into view, she shifted, remembering Hiccup's warning about not being in her human form near the village. She huffed and shook the mud from herself as they finally go to the stables. She yawned and moved over to Hiccup, rubbing her head against him purring before she looked at Toothless and giving an amused look, blew a puff of smoke in his face, though unlike the other times, this was in more of a playful way. Making a sound similar to a laugh, she turned, going to enter the stables.

There was something Hiccup had forgotten to ask but it seemed meager really. He was curious if Aurora was some sort of nightfury or some other bred entirely- if she was the same as Toothless he hoped the two of them got closer than this. He didn’t want Toothless to be alone because of him and who knew how often another of his kind would come around. His understanding was that they were extremely rare.

Toothless blinked and shook his head at the huff of smoke, looking rather baffled. Then he turned and walked the rest of the way with Hiccup. Pushing through the doorway after his rider and ignoring any protest from the chief as they headed upstairs. It was cold and dark and a decent time for a nap.

Aurora went into the stables and once inside, just as she had the night before, turned into her human form to light the oil lamp so the darkness wouldn't be so imminent in the stables. She never did like the darkness. It scared her. But when she came over, she found the oil was gone and she had no source of light. Her wide rainbow eyes looked about and as she layed back into the hay, she tried to relax, but the darkness was just too much for her. She got out of her stall and moved to walk outside, changing into her dragon form as she snuck into the village, by this time everyone in their homes and heading to sleep.

She sniffed around until she found Hiccup's scent and followed it to the biggest home int he village, pausing outside. She couldn't exactly just walk in, but she didn't want to go back to the stables with it being so dark either. It had already took everything she had in her to make it here in the dark, the thought of not being alone int he dark pushing her to come here. She whined softly and sat outside, her ears pressed against her head, waiting to see if either the human or his dragon would notice she was there.

Maybe Hiccup would have heard the whine if he wasn’t already sleeping but as a human his sense of hearing wasn’t all that great to begin with. His dragon on the other hand was stirred from slumber, lifting his ear flaps in response to the sound and slowly slinking up to investigate. The darkness was Toothless companion- the cloak that had shielded him during raids in the past. He had no fear for shadows but might be able to understand who one of such white scales would be uncomfortable but to bare any resemblance to him… it seemed uncanny.

He nudged open one side of the double doors and shouldered his way out, staring at Aurora while she was looking very much like a lost sheep. He flicked his tail with impatience, demanding to know why she was here at such a late hour.

Aurora waited outside, and for a moment she thought no one was going to come out. Maybe they were too far sleep to hear her. She sat there, looking about, her tail curled around herself, an unsure look in her face and for a moment she was about to stink off, about ready to give up on someone coming outside to her, when one of the doors opened.

She had hoped it would be Hiccup to come out to her, since he seemed to be much more understanding of her when she wasn't feeling good. But she guessed she would have to settle for this hardly compassionate dragon. The impatient look he was giving her made her still want to just go back to the stables, whether it be dark or not. But a strike of lightening and roll of thunder in the skies make her think other wise, making her jump and yelp, moving a little closer to the Night Fury, whining again and looking at him with her rainbow eyes, showing clearly her fear of the darkness and the storm.

Toothless looked to the sky at the clash of lightning, not frightened by the sight or sound but with the usual awe for the power these forces posed. In his moment of admiring though- the dragoness had slunk closer with pathetic eyes and a crumpled posture. He snorted at her show of weakness and turned his head away from her and while it seemed an insult he lifted one wing so she could pass under into the warm home.

There was still a few hot embers in the fire place and the aroma of stew clung to the air- the bowls empty and abandoned upon the table. From somewhere deeper inside monstrous snores lifted from the sleeping chief.

Aurora, while feeling looked down upon by this dragon, wasn't going to pass up the offer of coming into the warm and partially lit home. She slunk under his wing and into the house, looking about. It was nice. Warm. The place she would expect someone like Hiccup to life. Quietly, she walked over to the fireplace and layed down in front of it, curling up there, folding her wings over her back and wrapping her tail around herself as she curled up, content now that she was away from the dark and the storm. Her eyes glanced to the male dragon for a moment, before looking away, ignoring his presence. She knew it was obvious he didn't want her there, and if he didn't want her there, she would make herself less noticeable as possible.

Looking over to the fireplace with only a few embers in it, she blew fire onto it, lighting it again, and using the light reflecting from the white fire, disappeared from view. Nodding to herself at this, she curled up again, making a content purring sound as she did, resting for now and trying to make herself go to sleep.

Toothless snorted at her cool demeanor, he felt that she should be thanking him for letting her in. This wasn’t her home- HE wasn’t even always allowed in here. The chief would probably have a fit finding another dragon here, sleeping in front of the fireplace but then she did the most intelligent thing he had seen from her thus far. She faded from sight showing that she was in fact a stealth dragon, like him, in her own right.

But then she had to ruin it by purring and a gurgling laugh escaped him, he clacked his gums together in amusement and turned to head up the stairs. Dumb dragoness. It was any wonder if she would ever make it in the wild. She’d be pickings for terrors after one night.

At the laughter coming from the male dragon, Aurora lifted her head before she curled tighter into a ball as she layed there. It in ways hurt. She had hoped when she did meet a dragon that was even similar like herself she would get along well with them. Of course though, she hadn't exactly been very likable at first, but at least she was trying to be civil now. But even though this male dragon did nothing but mock her and look down upon her. It wasn't hard to see what she liked his human better than him. At least the human understood. She was scared. New to all of this. She had been locked up for twelve years, a prisoner to humans. Right now she didn't need all the bad feelings this dragon was throwing at her. She needed the understanding that Hiccup gave her. And yet, he was the only one who seemed to care enough to try.

But, even then, such a thing wouldn't last forever. Once she was healed, she would have to leave. But, his words from before rang in her ears. Hiccup had said she was free to go anytime she wanted. But she couldn't go. She couldn't fly. But, should she have let that stop her? A true Arcus dragon should be brave. Should be strong. An Arcus dragon like her mother or her father would make it back to their homelands as soon as possible, injured wing or no injured wing.

But she wasn't. She was weak by even Arcus standards and unfortunately, not brave either. She would never be able to do that. She thought this over for a long time there and the feeling of loneliness she felt as she layed there alone and disconnected from everyone in this village but Hiccup, made her feel....lost. Sad. Hopeless. But she clung to the hope that once she get better and could fly home, she would feel better. She would see her herd again and everything would be fine. She could listen to her mother's songs. She could hunt with her father. She could be with her family again.

The sooner she got well, the better. She had a feeling it wouldn't take long. Surely it wouldn't. Dragons healed faster. Already the hole in her wing was started to scab around the edges and was slightly and almost unnoticeably smaller then the day before. Yes, she would be home before she knew it.

Sighing she finally closed her eyes and took faith in those thoughts as she drifted off into a deep slumber.

...

It was only when the morning came and tiniest bit of light shown through the windows that Aurora woke with a yawn and stood up, stretching slightly as Hiccup wandered down the stairs. She stood there for a moment, the white fire int he fireplace still burning, giving her the means to stay invisible for the time being, and she stood there, unsure if she should show herself to him or not, not wishing to anger him by being in the home without his permission first.

Coming down the stairs was always a bothersome ordeal in the morning. He was only partially awake and the steps were obviously made for someone much larger than himself, while he had grown over the years it still often felt like a treacherous decent. First thing he noticed when reaching the bottom of the flight that there was a fire lit. Having untended flame in a house compelled most of wood and stone was never the brightest idea- but then for whatever reason it also appeared to be an odd white color not common of the element. He reached for a bucket of water but before he could douse the fire there was a knock at the door.

The hour was still early so he was confused about the nature of the visitor. He set the bucket back down and went to open the door. “Astrid!” He gasped a bit surprised, vaguely remember taking off in hurry when she had been trying to get his attention yesterday. “What… are you doing here?…” Cold air was rushing in, winter having descended quickly upon Berk. The girl elbowed her way in.

“I want to know what that was about?” Before he could deny whatever she was accusing him of she went on. “You just… took off! And no one knew where you had gone.”

“You know Astrid.” He braved, “I can make my own decisions, I don’t have to always check in with someone.”

She slugged him in the arm, hard, enough to stumble him back a step. “It started to storm and you were yet to come back. I had worried something had happened to you and Toothless.”

When there was a knock on the door, the still invisible dragoness stood p and watched as the Hiccup opened the door. She was not happy at all to see the human girl there, and more importantly coming inside the house so rudely. She already didn't like this girl and her acting this way was sure not helping her case in Aurora's eyes. She took a few silent steps forward and when the girl punched him hard enough to make him stumble back, she shifted then, showing herself to them and went over to Hiccup, sniffing him to make sure he was okay before her angry rainbow eyes looked at the girl, a growl forming in her throat as she stood protectively in front of Hiccup. She didn't care if the girl was doing so playfully or not. She didn't like anyone hitting Hiccup.

After a moment of growling, she sat down and stopped the angry noises, though her hard gaze didn't leave this girl, obviously not wanting her to get too close to Hiccup from the way the dragoness sat so close to him. She moved her tail,so that it layed on the floor around Hiccup's feet and then curled herself around him, purring to him and rubbing her head fondly against him.

Astrid withdrew with a look of unease that quickly transformed into a scowl. “Where’d she come from?” She posed with an edge of sourness that came from the fact she had been spooked by the dragoness’ sudden appearance. “I thought your dad doesn’t allow any dragons but Toothless in here.”

“I didn’t know she was here.” In Hiccup’s defense it was true, he was utterly baffled by this turn of events but with Aurora rubbing at him at least she no longer looked ready to bite into Astrid. He didn’t understand the hostility either when the Viking girl hadn’t even brought her weapon in. Aurora couldn’t have possibly felt threatened.

“We need to talk Hiccup. Without the dragon.” She made sure to say the ‘without’ clearly and firmly but even so he pressed the subject with a wary air.

“About what?”

“Outside Hiccup.” Astrid offered in response before turning and strutting out. Hiccup looked after her departure for a moment before stepping over Aurora’s tail to follow.

Aurora sis not like this human girl. At all. The way she was bossing Hiccup around was infuriating. Like he was a pet or some other animal that could be jerked around by the collar! And more so, when she asked to speak to Hiccup without her, it didn't make her position any better in Aurora's case. As if this human was looking down on her! Aurora showed her dislike clearly with a snort the human's girl way as she walked out and was even more annoyed with Hiccup actually followed her outside! She grumbled quietly and when Hiccup went outside and shut the door behind him, she sat there for a moment before deciding she wanted to hear what this little brat had to say to Hiccup.

She stood up and carefully made her way over to the door, her earflaps up as she listened carefully. She didn't know what this girl had to say to Hiccup, but she had a feeling from the tone and attitude she had, it wasn't going to be on anyone's part. She sat down by the door and waited to hear the conversation, a very unhappy look on the dragoness' face.

“Hiccup your spending too much time with this dragon, we haven’t seen heads or tails of you in days.” Astrid started with a level of patience. “I’ve been trying to talk to you. Winter is here and many of the dragons are starting to fly south. The villagers are worried.”

“They do this every year Astrid.” For tough Vikings they really fretted over their misplaced dragons, even if this became a normal happening. “Besides… it’s always winter.” He finished with a drag of sarcasm.

“You know what I mean. The elder is predicting it to be one of the worse.” Her tone was still hushed, hiding bad news from any passerbys.

“And we’re ready for it. Like every year.” Hiccup pressed before quirking the corner of his lips with disbelief. “What’s this about Astrid?”

“I’m saying you need to send that dragon home before the weather gets too bad for travel.” Astrid said, sharper now.

“I can’t send her anywhere, she’s injured besides Astrid… if she wants to stay she has as much a right as any other dragon here.”

“She’s an enemy dragon!”

Hiccup wondered if she knew how ridiculous she sounded. “They were all ’enemy dragons’ remember? They raided the village but now you’d miss Stormfly if anything happened to her.” He said with a gesture to the nearby nadder who lifted its head at the mention. “She’s not going Astrid, not until she’s ready, IF she decides to leave.” He said sternly at her rising outrage.

She opened her mouth to speak but turned and stomped away with a huff instead. He thought she meant well, she was just a little rough around the edges- a Viking all the way through.

Aurora stood by the closed door listening and snorted at the human girl's comments. The human girl obviously didn't like her and the dragoness really didn't care. Let the human girl hate her, but she wasn't about to keep her from Hiccup. She could forget about that. Aurora wasn't going anywhere any time soon. Not until at least her wing was healed. Until then, this human girl would have to just deal with her being there. Then the human girl claimed she was an 'enemy' dragon. She rolled her eyes at how the girl thought that. And Hiccup set her straight rather quickly, saying how her own dragon had once been an enemy and how Aurora wasn't leaving until she was ready.

Good. She was glad Hiccup was taking her side. She listened and heard a paused before angry footsteps were heard walking away from the house. She moved from the door and back over to sit in front of the fire acting as if she hadn't been listening as Hiccup walked through the door. She looked over at him before she walked over to him and purred, rubbing her head against him affectionately before looking over at the door and back down at him, as if asking what had happened with the girl, hoping to hear his opinion on how the annoying human girl had been acting toward both she and Hiccup himself.

“It was nothing Aurora, Astrid was just worried you wouldn’t be able to get home before winter set in.” He went to scratch behind her earflaps but the nightfury had slunk down from upstairs and pushed between them. Rubbing against Aurora before nudging into Hiccup. “Uh… are you okay Toothless?” The dragon gave him a gummy smile before heading towards the door. It was strange that he was being so friendly all the sudden, but maybe he had come around? That or he was playing at something.

He put a head on Aurora’s head. “Come on, I got an idea.” He said before heading outside as well, not seeming to mind the biting cold too much. It was normal weather for Berk, though he was careful about the ice under foot. “Let’s get out of the village first though. I don’t want anyone over hearing.”