CHAPTER 10

Hela and Astrid are cuddling in Hela's bedroom as she just finished telling Astrid about Hiccup's first flight with Toothless and Astrid wished she could go flying on Stormfly.

"Hey, um Hela? " Astrid started.

"Yeah?" Hela said as she stroked Astrid's hair.

"Can you help me fly on Stormfly? " Astrid asked making Hela smile.

"Stormfly huh, so you finally named her," Hela said.

"Yeah, I kinda came up with it last night while I was feeding her and the other dragons," Astrid said.

"It's good that you are strengthening your bond with her", Hela said.

"Yes it is but you still didn't answer my question," Astrid said as she sat up and faced Hela.

"Of course, I will I was just waiting for you to ask me," Hela said and Astrid thanked her with a deep and passionate kiss.

"When do we start?" Astrid asked.

"How about tonight," Hela said. She got off the bed as Astrid stared at her in shock before she also got off the bed. She watched as Hela strapped her sword to her belt.

"Umm, Hela there's something I've been meaning to ask," Astrid said. Hela looked back at her but seeing as she was looking at her sword she knew that she was going to ask about it.

"Sigh, as much as I'd like to take credit for it I didn't make this sword it was a gift sort of, " Hela said as she unsheathed and gave it a few swings before handing it to Astrid who admired it for a bit but the sword was a lot heavier than it looked like she couldn't hold it for long so she dropped it.

"How we're you swinging that thing like it weighs nothing and who was it from?" Astrid asked making Hela chuckle.

"Well, I guess I'm just that strong," Hela said as she picked up her sword and sheathed it, "as for your second question it's a complicated story that's hard to believe"

"Try me," Astrid said now interested in the story behind the sword and she guessed that the headpiece and the ring are connected to the sword as well since she didn't have them before.

"I'd like to show you since seeing is believing so come on we'll stop at the forge to get your saddle"

"You made me a saddle?" Astrid asked surprised.

"Of course, I have a dragon's scales are not comfortable to sit on for long periods," Hela said as they walked out of the house.

{The same time at the forge}

Hiccup was laying on his desk with sketches of Toothless everywhere, his mind thinking of a way to end this war between dragons and Vikings plus the fact that his sister can understand what the dragons are saying since yesterday he watched her have a serious conversation with Troels about which fish tasted better than the other Salmon or cod and it seemed like Troels likes cod since Hela was quite keen on telling him why Salmon tasted better and in the end they settled on tuna all the while Toothless drooled to the side while also listening to the conversation attentively.

He also noted that some of Hela's behavior was more dragon-like, like how she acted with the dragon nip, that time after he used the eel on the zippleback she wouldn't get anywhere near him the whole day, and then there's that sword, headpiece, and ring that she got out of nowhere.

His thoughts were interrupted by his dad walking in making him jump and start collecting all the sketches of toothless.

"Dad! You're back! Gobber's not here, so..." Hiccup said before Stoick interrupted him.

"I know. I came looking for you" Stoick says with a serious look on his face.

"You did?" Hiccup asks surprised.

"You've been keeping secrets," Stoick says.

"I... have?" Hiccup asks nervously.

"Just how long did you think you could hide it from me?" Stock asked.

"I don't know what you're..."

"Nothing happens on this island without me hearing about it" Stoick says seriously. "So. Let's talk about that dragon" he adds making Hiccup full on panic.

"Oh, gods. Dad I'm so sorry. I was going to tell you. I just didn't know how to..." Hiccup started to say in his panic only to be interrupted by his dad laughing hard. "You're not... upset?"

"What?! I was hoping for this" Stoick says happily.

"Uh... you were?" Hiccup asked confused.

"And believe me, it only gets better! Just wait 'till you spill a Nadder's guts for the first time and mount your first Gronckle head on a spear! WHATA FEELING. You really had me going there son! All those years of the worst Viking berk has ever seen. Odin, it was rough, I almost gave up on you, and all the while you were holding out on me, OH THOR ALMIGHTY," He says excitedly not seeing the disturbed looks on Hiccup's face. "With you doing so well in the ring, we finally have something to talk about" He adds which is followed by a long awkward silence.

"Oh, I... brought you something to keep you safe in the ring," Stoick says seeing Hiccup was not going to talk before holding up a Viking helmet and giving it to Hiccup.

"Wow, thanks," Hiccup says sincerely.

"Your mother would have wanted you to have it. It's half of her breastplate" Stoick says before knocking on the one on his head. "Matching set keeps her close y'know. Wear it proudly you deserve it, you've held your end of the deal" He adds before Hiccup fakes a yawn loudly.

"I should really get to bed," Hiccup says before they start talking over each other.

"`Yes, Good! Ok. Good talk. See you back at the house. We should do this again. I'm great. Thanks for stopping by. Glad I stopped by. I hope you uh, like the hat. And for the... the breast hat. '"

Stoick leaves the workshop happy as he walks towards the house he crosses paths with Hela and Astrid.

"Hey dad when did you get back?" Hela asked.

"We just came back thus afternoon " he says before turning towards Astrid, " Astrid how are ya lass, I hope my daughter has been treating you well while I was gone."

"I'm good chief and yes Hela has been treating well." Astrid said making Hela smile.

"So Dad I take it you found the dragons nest since you are unusually happy?" Hela asked hoping he'd say no.

"Not even close we didn't even make it past Helheim's gate" Stoick said with a sigh, "But the reason I'm happy is because your brother is finally following in our footsteps, with how well Gobber described him in the ring you'd think his talking about you but less vicious" He continues not seeing how Hela winced at the vicious part now don't get her wrong Hela is vicious to her enemies, she rarely gives second chances but blow that second chance and you'd feel her blade ripping through your heart slowly and painfully.

She also does have some violent tendencies but she keeps it in check for the sake of her family them being the only thing that can keep her calm, like that one time one the male villagers spilled mead on her favourite shirt making her so angry that the only thing on her mind was cutting out his eyes if he can't use them properly so she took a deep breath and headed to the woods to kill some trees and let out her anger which helped a bit but she was still having some brutal thoughts so she went to the work shop to help her brother.

"Yeah, he's finally becoming one of ''us''," Hela said.

"AAy, well anyways Hela I'll see you back at the house enjoy your night stroll, good night" Stoick says before waking away.

"Good night Dad"

"Good night chief"

After that they went to the work shop to get Astrid's saddle for Stormfly saying good night to Hiccup on the way out who was so lost in his mind that he didn't see Astrid carrying a saddle. Once they reached the arena Hela let out Stormfly who ran excitedly towards Astrid making her laugh.

"Hey, girl did you miss me?" Astrid asked as she stroked the Nadder's head who squawked to say yes.

"I missed you too so what do you say we do something special tonight and go to stretch out your wings" Astrid said and Stormfly reeled her head back in surprise before tilting her head to look at the night sky, at that moment Hela felt a deep sense of longing and happiness from the Nadder. Stormfly then turned towards Hela knowing she was the one who made their lives a bit easier so she spread her wing before bowing making Hela smile while Astrid looked on in astonishment.

"What was that about?" Astrid asked.

"Well believe it or not this also ties in with the sword, the rings and the headpiece" Hela said.

"How?" Astrid asked and Hela touched the gem on her forehead making the headpiece liquefy and expand turning into a beautiful silver crown with the gem at the middle. "How did you do that?"

"If you think this a surprise then you are gonna love this" Hela said with a smirk as she pulled out her sword which ignited with green flame and Astrid's jaw dropped to but Hela wasn't done as from her back bursts two black Dragon wings with 25 foot wingspan.

"Someone hit me I think I'm dreaming" Astrid says and Stormfly complies and lightly hits her with her wing making Hela chuckle as the flames of the sword extinguishes. She walks towards her with her wings folded. "How did this happen and when did it happen"

"It happened a few weeks ago the night dad and the others went to look for the Dragons nest actually I went to sleep since I was still kind of exhausted from the dragon raid, you know trying to save as many Dragons and Vikings from killing each other will do that to you, anyway I woke up in a lush green plain when I heard something call my name. When I turned around I saw the biggest dragon I've seen"

"How big was it?" Astrid asked her and Stormfly very invested in the story since they were seated next to each other while Hela paced in front of them as she told the story.

"It was big enough to swallow half of Berk whole"

"Whoa, and then what happened?" Astrid asked while Stormfly squawked to agree with Astrid.

"It talked and told me that the size was to get a reaction out of me as it shrunk to the size of a Monstrous nightmare before telling me her name which was Sapphira the former Queen of Dragons and that I am her successor/heir after which she transferred her powers to me." Hela said smiling as she saw Astrid's eyes widen.

"So that makes you the new Dragon Queen", Astrid said still trying to process what she saw and heard.

"Sort of", Hela said with a sigh making Astrid frown.

"what's wrong", Astrid asked.

"Nothing, it's just that the Dragon Queen is a massive title one which I've done nothing to earn yet plus I still have these powers that I haven't learned completely so you calling me the dragon queen kinda reminded me of the long journey ahead, makes me wonder if I'm even worthy of it," Hela said making Astrid sigh before standing up and hugging her with Hela hugging her back even though she didn't know why she received a hug, her wings wrapping around her out of instinct.

"You don't have to worry about if you are going to be worthy of the title Queen just yet Hela because your journey has just begun and you will have plenty of opportunities to prove yourself, you are a natural leader Hela and I'm sure Sapphira knew that as well otherwise she wouldn't have picked you out of all the people in this world, so don't start doubting yourself now your Highness," Astrid said making Hela laugh at the end before kissing Astrid passionately.

"what did I do to deserve you?" Hela said with a smile.

"Nothing you were just yourself" Astrid answered as they stared into each other's eyes before Stormfly interrupted them making them chuckle.

"Alright, let's not keep Stormfly waiting any longer", Hela said before sneaking their way out of the village. Once they were far enough Hela helped Astrid put the saddle on Stormfly and helped her on. Astrid gripped the saddle hard since she was nervous.

"Let me give you some pointers, first, ease up your grip and try and relax," Hela tells her and Astrid follows taking a deep breath and loosening her grip, " good now close your eyes and give your hand" she takes her hand and places it directly on Stormfly, "do you feel her heartbeat," Hela asks and Astrid nods, "try matching your heartbeat with hers, dragon-riding isn't about control it's about communication and trust now are you ready for your first flight together?"

"Yes," Astrid says before Stormfly takes off into the sky Hela smiles as she hears Astrid's excited yelling before taking off after them. They spend most of the night flying around the island and having fun before heading back.