Grey's Past

== Summary ==
== Full Text ==
=== Part 1 ===
Grey Bergman: Grey has had a great life. She lived in a Viking village on a small island south of Berk with her parents. Her father was one of the warriors of the village, and her mother was the healer of the village. So, naturally, she learned sword fighting from Dad, and learned a little about healing from Mom. Because she was an only child and had no friends around her age, she often spent a lot of time with them. There were a few teenagers in the village, and they would often let her tag along. However, they spent a good part of the day training and helping out around the village with daily work and/or dragon raids. So, she would spend the day with her mother and/or her father. Sometimes, around the age of 9, she would wander around the forest that surrounded her village pretending to go on an adventure looking for something new to discover. In fact, it was only a year later when she finally discovered something that changed her life for the better.
Ten-year-old Grey had just closed the door to her house and ran to the forest outside the village. Her mother was helping one of the villagers, so the young Viking girl decided it was the perfect day to go outside and explore the forest. So, she said goodbye to her mother and left for the day promising to come back by sunset. She made her way to the forest taking in the sights. No matter how many times she’s been to the forest, the scenery always amazed her. There was always something new to see, and today…she had a feeling that she was going to find a brand new discovery. What could she possibly find? She didn’t know, but that made it all the more exciting.
Unfortunately, she was so busy daydreaming that she didn’t see a tree root causing her to trip and fall to the ground.
“OW!” she shouted when she landed feeling pain shoot up in her knees. “Aw, gods…” She turned around to get a better look at her knees only to see that she scraped both of them. She sighed in frustration as tears formed in her eyes from the stinging pain and stood up wiping the dirt off her shirt and skirt. “Looks like I’m making a stop at the river first.”
With that, she ran in the direction of the river. Luckily, the river wasn’t far from where she fell, so she found it within a few minutes. When she got there, she quickly took off her boots and sat down on one of the rocks that rested on the shoreline allowing herself to dip her legs in. She quickly splashed some water onto her knees cleaning the wounds. When she was done, Grey climbed back onto the grass careful not to slip. She stood up and was about to walk over to grab her boots when suddenly…
Crack!
Grey gasped as her brown eyes went to a nearby bush that she could’ve sworn was moving. Her heart began to pound. She was sure that she was alone when she came here. Did someone follow her? The teens were all busy training, and her father was on a trip with the chief. It couldn’t have been them sneaking up on her, and her mother would never play tricks like that.
“W-Who’s there…?” she asked nervously.
No answer.
“H-Hello…? Is someone there?” Grey asked again. Then she realized that she was a Viking! She wasn’t supposed to be scared! Vikings were never scared! So, she stood up straight and took in a deep breath remembering what one of the teens, Hroar told her.
“Stand up straight…take a deep breath…and look your enemy in the eye showing him that they can’t scare you.”
“Alright, monster,” she said. “You can’t scare me! Come on out and face me, Grey, the bravest Viking ever!”
Suddenly, a single black paw with claws emerged. Grey gasped feeling any courage she was able to muster up fade away. She took a small step backwards as the “monster” slowly came out of hiding, and the young girl widened her eyes as she found herself staring at a dragon with black eyes. She was so scared that she didn’t think to figure out what kind it was or even notice that it wasn’t attacking. It was just staring at her. Unfortunately, her fear got the best of her causing her to step away from the dragon and back toward the river. Next thing she knew, her foot slipped causing her to fall backwards. Pain shot through her head as she made contact with the water.
Grey tried to swim…to scream…anything, but she was getting so sleepy. She was too tired to do anything, her head hurt, and her lungs burned. She tried to keep her eyes open as she sunk to the bottom of the river, but unconsciousness quickly overwhelmed her but not before she caught a glimpse of a black shape diving into the water right toward her. Then everything went black…
=== Part 2 ===
Grey could only see darkness all around her, and she suddenly felt a chill. Although, she wasn’t sure if it was because she was scared or the water was so cold. Wait! Water didn’t have wind, though, so what happened to her? Was she going to Vahalla? To Hel, maybe? Suddenly, she heard a strange sound. It didn’t sound like it was a human voice, but it did sound sad and worried. Did someone save her? She tried to ask who was there only to find that she couldn’t speak.
Instead, she began to cough up what felt like water. When she finished her coughing fit, she opened her eyes already feeling dizzy from both the trauma and the headache that came rushing back as she regained consciousness. Through her blurry vision, she saw a black blob in front of her. She blinked her brown eyes and saw a dragon…and not just any dragon! It was the dragon that she saw right before she fell in. She gasped and shifted backwards putting distance between her and the dragon. Thankfully, the dragon didn’t move. Instead, it just stared at her with its big black eyes.
Dragons might have started to live in their village, but that didn’t stop little Grey from being nervous around the fire-breathing reptile… especially when it was one dragon she had never seen before. In their village, there was a mix of Monstrous Nightmares, Deadly Nadders, Gronkles, and even a few Terrible
Terrors, but not one looked like this little dragon. That was when she remembered one certain blank page in their village’s version of the Dragon Manuel. She gasped.
“You’re a Night Fury, aren’t you?” she asked.
The dragon only responded by tilting its head to the right letting out a grunt.
Of course, it wouldn’t answer her, but Grey knew she was right. That was when she noticed that the Night Fury looked soaking wet like she did. Then everything quickly came back to her…falling into the river…hitting her head…seeing a black blob dive in above her. The young Viking widened her eyes as she gasped again.
“You saved me!” she shouted. She couldn’t believe it! Yes, the dragons and Vikings had ended the 300-year war thanks to that Viking from Berk and his dragon, a Night Fury, but the fact that this dragon…a stray Night Fury had just saved her life when it could’ve just walked away and left her to drown. It didn’t! “Wow…thank you…” She slowly got to her knees and slowly reached out her hand to try to pet it.
The dragon stared at the girl’s hand coming toward it. It noticed how the hand was shaking clearly meaning that the human was afraid. The little Night Fury could understand why, but that didn’t stop it from wanting to show the small human that there was nothing to be afraid of. So, the Night Fury gently moved its head forward to meet the girl’s head.
Grey stared in complete awe as the dragon’s snout finally touched her small hand. Just from one simple touch, she felt something…something amazing. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but she knew it was something neither of them would ever forget.
“Wow…” she said as she slowly moved her hand away so as not to scare the dragon.  She slowly sat down and hugged her knees close to her chest as she watched the dragon, who just sat down and watched her. “Hroar and the teens told me how cool bonding with a dragon is, but I don’t think the stories they told do it justice. This is…this is just amazing! I just bonded with a dragon, and it’s a Night Fury, who just saved my life! I bet that’s never happened to anyone before!”
The dragon mirrored Grey’s excitement as it jumped on its four legs and curled up around until it was on its belly in front of her. The young Viking laughed and rubbed the little Night Fury’s belly causing it to shake one of its hind-legs and let its tongue loll out of its mouth. Grey was just in pure bliss as she rubbed the dragon’s belly. The dragon was so cute and friendly that it was hard to believe that it was one of those fire-breathing monsters, who attacked their village almost every night until Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III changed everything with his Night Fury.
“Who’s a good dragon? Who’s a good dragon?” she cooed. “You are! Yes, you are! You-ACHOO!”
The dragon suddenly looked up at Grey, who was sniffling and shivering from a gust of wind that blew through the trees. It rolled over onto its stomach and nudged Grey in the cheek.
“Oh, I’m okay, dragon,” she said with a smile as she petted it on the head. “Just got a little cold from our swim. I should get home, and you probably should too. I bet your parents are worried.”
As soon as Grey said that, the Night Fury crooned sadly and let its head hang low. Luckily, the young girl noticed and became confused.
“W-What’s the matter?” she asked. She then gasped when she realized what she just said. “Oh, I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t want to take you home. I do! But…I thought that since you have parents you…” That’s when she realized what the real problem was. “You don’t… have parents, do you?”
The Night Fury crooned sadly in reply.
Grey wrapped her arms around the dragon and hugged it close. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know…” Then she had an idea. “Hey, you know what this means? You can come home with me! I can take care of you! You can be my dragon, and we can be together all the time! How does that sound?”
The Night Fury began to lick her face clearly happy with Grey’s idea.
“Come on, then! Let’s go home so you can meet my parents! They’re going to love you!”
=== Part 3 ===
“Grey…” her mother said carefully. “Your father and I don’t think this is such a good idea.”
“But…why not?” Grey asked sadly from where she sat on the Night Fury’s back.
“We just don’t think you’re ready to have a dragon, especially a Night Fury, of your own yet,” her father said as he knelt down to her level.
“But I promise I’ll take care of it and to be careful when flying,” Grey replied. “Besides, I told you that it’s all alone. It doesn’t have parents. We can’t just leave it alone. Please, you have to let me keep it. It saved my life! It’s meant to be my dragon! I know it!”
“We know, sweetheart,” said her mother, “and we truly believe that this dragon is perfect for you, too.”
“Then why won’t you let me keep it?!” Grey shouted as tears welled in her eyes. Her parents loved the dragon like she knew they would, but why wouldn’t they let her keep it?
“Grey, dear,” her father said trying to keep himself from yelling at his 10-year-old daughter, “it’s only because we’re not entirely sure what happened to this dragon’s family. They could’ve been separated, and its parents are probably very worried. Can you imagine what would happen if two Night Furies found out that their baby was taken from them?”
The young girl’s face fell when she realized that her parents were right. They didn’t know for sure what happened to the Night Fury’s family. They might not have been dead. They really could’ve gotten separated somehow, and the parents were probably looking for their baby right now. It would be bad if their baby in a Viking village and got mad.
“Wow, I never thought of that,” she finally said. “You think we can look for them and give them their baby back?”
“Of course,” her father replied relieved that his daughter was being mature and understanding their point. “We can start tomorrow.”
“Okay, but until we find them, can the dragon stay with me?” she said hugging the dragon’s neck as the two of them looked up at the two adults pleadingly.
Both her mother and father chuckled at the girl and the Night Fury and looked at each other smiling and nodding in agreement.
“Of course,” Grey’s mother replied.
“In fact, we’ll make a deal with you,” her father chimed in. “We’ll give you two weeks, and if we can’t find the dragon’s parents by the time the two weeks are up, then you can keep the dragon permanently. Deal?”
“Deal!” Grey exclaimed. “Thanks, guys! You’re the best!”
All three of them laughed at Grey’s excitement, as the Night Fury looked up at them crooning in happiness.  After quite a while of wandering around the forest trying to survive on its own, it had finally found a home with Grey and her parents, and it was with Grey and her parents. It had no way of telling them that finding its parents was pointless, but they were surely going to figure it out soon enough. That was okay though because it meant that there was enough time to have fun with Grey.
“Well, if I’m going to keep it for a few weeks,” Grey began after their laughing fit died down, “can I at least name it? I don’t think it’s fair for us to refer to it as ‘dragon’ all the time.”
Grey’s father laughed. “I think that’s a great idea,” he said, “but first, we need to check to see if it’s a boy or a girl.”
“How?”
“Hop off, dear. I’ll take a look.”
“Okay, Daddy!” Grey did as she was told and slid off the dragon’s back to stand with her
mother next to the Night Fury.
With that, Grey’s father knelt down on the floor next to the dragon, who looked at him with big curious black eyes.
“Pardon me,” he said to it before lifting up its left hind leg and looking under. “Well, what do you know?” He released its leg and turned back to his wife and daughter. “Looks like there’s going to be another she in the house.”
“She?!” Grey repeated excitedly. “It’s a girl?!”
“Yes, it’s a girl, alright,” her father replied.
Grey squeed as she hugged the Night Fury’s neck as the female dragon nuzzled her cheek.
“Odin’s beard,” Grey’s mother said as she petted the dragon’s head. “A female Night Fury. I didn’t think we’d ever see one.”
“Well, we didn’t think our own daughter would even find one to begin with,” Grey’s father replied as he stood up and wrapped his arm around her.
His wife chuckled and turned back to their daughter. “So, what are you going to name her?”
Grey pursed her lips and looked at the dragon in though. It only took a few minutes until it finally came to her. “I know!” she exclaimed. “I’ll name her Shadow because you can’t see Night Furies when they fly at night time.” She then looked at the dragon with a hopeful smile. “Do you like that?”
The Night Fury crooned happily and licked her new friend’s face earning a laugh from Grey.
“Okay,” she said as she hugged the little dragon again. “Shadow it is then!”
=== Part 4 ===
For the next two weeks after that day, Grey and her father spent all day looking for Shadow’s parents. They had searched every tree…every rock, but so far they had no luck finding two older Night Furies. There were absolutely no traces of them anywhere. It was sad that it seemed like Shadow was turning out to be an orphan, but at the same time, it was great because Grey and Shadow were developing a stronger bond with every day they spent together. They were becoming the best of friends. They played together. They slept together sometimes in Shadow’s makeshift bed. They went exploring in the forest and even
went back to the river where they first met. Shadow was even starting to help Grey with her chores in the village.
The day that would end their two-week search finally came, and Grey and Shadow were back in the forest with Grey’s father searching for the Night Furies. Once again, it seemed like were having no luck in the search, but that didn’t make Grey feel better as she rode on Shadow’s back as the dragon walked. Today was going to decide whether or not she would lose her new friend. Surely, they would find the parents today, and then it would be likely that she and Shadow would never see each other again. She knew that she made a deal with her parents that Shadow couldn’t stay if they found her parents, but she really wished with all her heart that Shadow would somehow be able to stay with her. It made her seem selfish, but could you blame her? She didn’t want to lose Shadow… not after the times they’d spent together for the past two weeks.
Shadow purred as she looked up at her human with concern.
Grey sighed. “Don’t worry, girl,” she replied petting her Night Fury’s head. “I’m okay. Just a little tired.”
“Just one more area to go, you two,” Grey’s father suddenly said as he led the way looking at a map of the forest. “Then we’ll head back. We should be there any second now.”
“Okay, Dad,” she replied sadly.
Her father glanced at the girl and the dragon and sighed. If they found this dragon’s family, then the separation would definitely be a lot harder than he and his wife thought. Grey had come to love the dragon too much over the past two weeks. He hated to see his little warrior so sad like this. It broke his heart knowing that she would probably have to say goodbye to her new friend, but they made a deal. He needed to stay firm no matter what if they found Shadow’s parents. That was when he had an idea on to how let Grey and Shadow have just a little bit more playtime.
“Grey, honey,” he suddenly said. “I’m going to go on ahead and have a look. You and Shadow should wait here and… have fun while I’m gone. I’ll come back to get you once I know something.”
Grey raised an eyebrow at her father. “Uh… sure, Dad,” she replied. He never told them to not go any further for the whole two weeks they’ve been searching. So, why now? Then again, maybe it was just so she and Shadow could spend more time together for what might be one last time.
Her father smiled and nodded before walking on ahead leaving his daughter and the dragon behind.
“So, Shadow, what do you want to do now?” she asked the Night Fury after a brief moment of silence.
=== Part 5 ===
About an hour later, Grey’s father finally came back only to see Grey and Shadow playing one of their favorite games: hide and seek. Shadow was currently sniffing the ground for Grey’s scent while Grey was hiding behind the tree watching her. Shadow perked when she realized that she was getting closer to where Grey was hiding. As soon as the Night Fury came to the tree, the young girl jumped out.
“You found me!” Grey exclaimed as she petted Shadow’s head. “Good girl!” She laughed as Shadow licked her face and nuzzled her cheek.
As much as the proud father hated to interrupt their fun, he knew he had to tell them what he saw. So, he cleared his throat causing both the girl and the dragon to stop what they were doing and stare at him.
“Daddy…” Grey said as she held Shadow close, “…you’re back.”
“Yes, I am,” he said kneeling down to her level.
“What did you find?” she asked still refusing to release the Night Fury.
He noticed his daughter’s nervousness and smiled gently as he took her hand.
“It’s alright, dear,” he said. “I did find Shadow’s parents, but they can’t take her back.”
“W-Why not?”
“I’m not sure, but it looks like they were killed a while ago.”
“So…Shadow’s an orphan…?”
“I’m afraid so, sweetheart, but guess what that means for you two.”
Grey’s brown eyes widened as she slowly beamed from ear to ear. “Really?” she asked carefully. “Y-You mean…?”
“Well, that was part of the deal, wasn’t it?”
Grey squeed and jumped up and down before wrapping her arms around his neck almost knocking him over. “Oh, thank you, Daddy!” she squealed. “Thank you! Thank you!” Then she quickly released him and wrapped her arms around Shadow’s neck. “Did you hear, Shadow? We get to stay together forever!”
Shadow crooned happily and once again licked the human’s face earning a laugh from Grey and her father.
“Well, what do you say we head home and tell your mother the news?” he asked as he stood up.
“Can you go on ahead without us, Dad?” Grey replied. “I just want to talk to Shadow for a minute.”
Her father smiled at her and bent down to kiss her forehead. “Sure, Grey. I’m very proud of you, sweetheart.”
With that, her father began walking back toward the village leaving Grey and Shadow behind. As soon as they were alone, the young Viking girl knelt down to face the dragon. She placed both hands on Shadow’s face so that they were face-to-face.
“Listen, Shadow, I’m really happy that we get to stay together,” she began, “but there’s something I need to tell you. I know I’m not your parents, but I do hope we can be the best of friends…sisters even because I really am glad that we found each other. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Shadow crooned happily and nuzzled Grey’s cheek showing that she agreed.
Grey chuckled. “Good girl,” she said before standing up. “Come on, Shadow, let’s go home.”
Shadow responded by putting herself behind Grey and scooped the girl up with her head so that Grey was on her back. Then the Night Fury walked back toward where Grey’s father waited for them. The whole time Grey had her arms wrapped around Shadow’s neck hugging her new best friend…her new sister knowing that they were always going to be together.
Category:Events
Category:Pre-Season
Category:Grey Bergman