Apologies

I'm sorry for not posting lately. I've been busy with research on what the object could be. No one, not even the dragons working together could lift it or even move it. A newcomer washed ashore yesterday, and he seems particularly fascinated by the object. He tried and it appeared to glow slightly for a brief moment, before falling dark again and remaining firmly in the crater it created. Frankly his manners are atrocious, making Snotlout seem like an upstanding citizen, and the Twins like perfect Valkyries! He said his name is, if memory serves, Thor, but I'm fairly certain he hit his head hard enough to go completely crazy. It's tragic, really.

The Anger of the Gods

How do you know the gods are angry with you? When a bright light flashes in the night, turning the blackness into day. Darrien, Hiccup, Astrid and I were out flying when a blinding light lit up the sky. We couldn't see for a few minutes, even our dragons couldn't see! They stopped, rather suddenly, and hovered until they could see (somewhat), then they landed to check on us. We were fine, a bit star-blinked, but otherwise okay. I'm going to investigate it further while my brother tries to come up with a solution to the gods' anger. If we did anything to make them unhappy with us, we need to figure it out and quickly.
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I'm really interested now. While searching with Darrien and half my Terrors, we stumbled across a strange object in my fields. I was angry at first, then I realized that this was a foreign piece of debris, possibly from an advanced civilization whose technology far exceeded our own. I wrote Hiccup a note and sent it with one of my Terrors. Soon half the village was swarming my farm, trying to get a good look at it. I approached it, ready to dash away at the first sign of danger, and studied it without touching it. There were a bunch of symbols on the side, some of which seemed vaguely familiar. I've drawn them and will post them later when I transfer some of my drawings from paper to computer.

A Decision for the Future

Since my brother and Astrid are now married and living with each other, Darrien and I have unofficially moved into the tree lab, about a two minute flight outside the village. To better understand my tree lab you need to understand the climate in the little valley surrounding it: It's temperate, but not hot. It's almost like a miniature rain forest, but with snow during the winter. I created a little farm in one of the arrow valleys off the main one and so far it's been productive...When it's not being destroyed by the Twins, wild animals, wild dragons, or bad weather! I have lost three harvests due to un-natural, and even natural deviations. The rain I don't mind, as long as my irrigation system can handle the extra water, but when the Twins start getting bored and Hiccup or I don't catch them in time, I lose my crops, and almost lose my cool. If it weren't for my vow to my Terrors that I would never kill a dragon unless it would end their suffering, I would have put dragon meat on the menu years ago. As it is, I get my revenge on the boars that root out my roots, dig up my corn, decimate my Dragon Nip, and otherwise wreck my fields.
I'll see if I can give a rough idea of what my tree lab looks like. (Please ignore the strange shiny thing in the picture, oh and the people too. At least, I think they're people.)

Suspicions Confirmed

Well, I guess I was right on my suspicions for the reason behind Hiccup and Astrid being so eager to marry: They're expecting. Just saying that, or even thinking it makes me smile broadly. Herby actually was the one who confirmed it for m; dragons can smell when a woman is pregnant. Apparently they secrete a certain pheromone that alerts all creatures in the area that she is a special case for her species. Humans can't smell it because our noses are too dull until the levels rise above ninety two percent.

Practicing for the Big Day

Well, the proposal didn't go as planned, but the end result was spectacular. They're engaged now, and they asked me to help them plan it! Okay, okay, let me start with this morning:

I woke up in my tree lab with Hiccup looming over me, inches from my face. I yelped and sat up, bashing both our heads together. We groaned and rubbed the sore spots, before I asked him what his problem was.

"I'm excited, nervous, and anxious. Today's the day, but what if she says no?" he said, a panicked tone in his voice. I swung out of my hammock and sat him down on a stool near my kitchenette.

"If she says no, then it's her loss. End of story. And you woke me up to tell me that?!" I whined. I rubbed my face sleepily, then hauled him to his feet, preparing for either a scolding or a pep-talk. I didn't get a chance to, however, because Mom came in on Cloudjumper, twittering excitedly.

"Today's the big day, Son! You nervous?" she chirped, barely able to contain her enthusiasm.

"Terrified," he replied. His hands were trembling, and he was noticeably tense. I hugged him for encouragement, not trusting my voice to keep from yawning.

"You'll do fine," I assured him after a moment. He ran a hand over my messy braid and hugged me tight before releasing me. I went over to where the Terrors had my soup from last night on to simmer. I lifted the lid and it was ready to serve. I got out a few bowls and dished us out some breakfast. Mom commented on how delicious it was and how did I get so good at cooking? "I've got only one secret: trial and error." Then I explained how there was only one recipe I went by-the-book on: my Feel Better cookies. Basically they're just extra thick chocolate chip cookies. after breakfast, I told Hiccup to go about his chiefing duties to get his mind off it, and meet at the Academy at around sunset. It was Astrid's turn to help me clean up today, and we usually spent an extra hour talking about stuff, both dragon-related and not. 

The gods must have been in a good mood today because not a single yelp came from the Terrors, and in fact several times I heard them comment on how much better this was than working in my lab. Well class ended and Astrid and I began cleaning up, straightening the desks, sweeping the floors, and rearranging the equipment for the next day's lesson. A whistled a shrill note and my Terrors began dropping a few rose petals at a time around Astrid. Soon she was surrounded by a shower of petals that began settling on her shoulders and hair, one even on her nose. Then Hiccup entered and began whistling. I took that as my cue to leave, so I slipped out quickly and quietly, joining Mom and the rest of the village to watch the proposal unfold. They performed the song almost flawlessly, as Astrid had been singing to the wrong tune, but I couldn't correct it without giving anything away. But she got it eventually though. At the last line Hiccup knelt down on a knee and asked her to marry him. She was stunned, and could only nod as tears of joy flowed down her face. A cheer rang out from the crowd and the village threw a party for them. It was at this party they asked me to help them plan their wedding. I happily agreed. 

Congratulations, Hiccup and Astrid, and may you have many years of happiness together!

Possible Disaster

I think Astrid might be suspicious of us. She's been talking in very persuasive tones, but about really leading topics. For example, she said to me earlier that, "Hiccup is a great guy. Anyone would be lucky to have him." That might seem harmless, but there was something in her eyes that told me she was going to get to the bottom of it.

Making Plans for the Future

Well, Hiccup finally, finally asked Astrid's father for his permission to marry his daughter. He was hesitant at first, but eventually, and after a couple glares from me, he consented and shook my brother's hand. Hiccup's hands were shaking so bad I had to help him fly Toothless. He and I swapped dragons until his shaking stopped. Then he asked me to help him come up with a plan for proposing to Astrid. I, of course, smiled and agreed. I'd been expecting him and Astrid to get hitched for a while, so I came up with a series of plans, mostly involving play-fighting with her and suddenly Hiccup pops out of nowhere singing a song. Thing is, no song was right. Then Mom stepped in and helped us out. She suggested "For the Dancing and the Dreaming." Her and Dad's song. Hiccup and I exchanged glances, and we both nodded in agreement. The proposal is set to take place in a month, as it'll take around that long to teach her the song. Herby and I agreed with Hiccup that the Terrors could plan the sparring match, and the atmosphere. Creating romantic environment is a hobby for them, but they're great at it. The rose petals falling down gently, the right lighting, the soft scent of rose water lightly misted in the air, and a garland of flowers (dragon safe, obviously) to adorn the head of the girl. When Hiccup heard our plan, he smiled nervously, then opened his arms for a group hug from the Terrors, Mom, and I. I can't wait to have Astrid as a sister-in-law.

An Unexpected Development

Today, not surprisingly, my Terrors were yelping at the Academy. What is surprising, is who was causing the yelps. To my shock, and indeed everyone who was watching's, it was actually Fishlegs, who was distracted by the fact that Ruffnut was next to Snotlout. He felt bad afterwards, but I was almost too stunned to continue the lesson. If it hadn't been for the fact that it was from the least expected person, I would have lashed out and ripped him a new one. I think it scared him too, because when the cry came from Herby's mouth, he jumped a few feet in the air and pulled his hands in to his shoulders and curled his fingers, a horrified and surprised look on his face. When I told Hiccup, he shook his head disbelievingly. He confirmed it with both Herby and Fishlegs, who was nearly inconsolable over his actions. My Terrors, Hiccup, Mom, Astrid and I assured him that it was an accident, and if he wanted, I could set up separators between each student. He said that would probably be a smart idea.
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Snotlout made a snide comment today. "How come you're teaching us? You've never even gone here to learn!" I rolled my eyes.
"Because, unlike you, I was raised by dragons from the age of 10 on up," I replied. Everyone gasped in surprise. Astrid mentioned that no one knew someone before Hiccup had tried living with dragons without killing them. I glanced briefly at the ground before laughing and looking back at her. Herby flew to my shoulder from his station with Fishlegs and put a gentle hand on my cheek.
"She accidentally killed our tyrannical leader while she was in the woods when she was younger than ten summers. She was watching us as we ate some leftover food she had set out. She had no weapons and moved slowly and calmly. Then all Hell broke loose as our leader landed on her head and began attacking her. She had posed no threat to us, but he attacked. She panicked and grabbed her frying pan, freshly cleaned, and swung wildly, killing him when it hit him in the head," he explained. As if everyone wasn't already shocked! "She didn't mean to, and felt horrible for it. She began crying and by a majority-rules decision, we began to slowly try to calm her down and comfort her. After that we decided that she and she alone would lead us. I would be the go-between because I'm the oldest. And y'know what? Adopting her into our pack was easily the best decision we ever made." He licked my cheek and the Terrors in the Academy swarmed me, landing where they could and giving me a big group hug.

First Day Under New Management

Well that was fun...Not! The Terrors agreed to help with the Academy, which caused a couple of them to have potential breaks. Pelernia, Herby's daughter, has a dislocated wing from Snotlout, and a broken tail from Ruffnut twisting it to see how it worked. I scolded them both, coaxing a bit of a groan from Hiccup and Astrid. He had stopped by to check out how things were going. I gave him my poor Terror to get her out of the situation. Herby stepped in to fill her position, aiming a glare at the three whenever a yelp sounded. Fortunately, after she was removed, the glares didn't come very often, only once or twice when Snotlout lifted his arm in a funny way. He only tail-whipped someone once, Tuffnut. He had held a Terror upside down and pulled the horns to see the length from nose to tail. The mark drew blood, making everyone see that we take dragon safety very seriously.
Later Mom told me I had done very well teaching them as the Twins and Snotlout both paid full attention the whole lessons.

Surprises, Pleasant and Expected

Well, Hiccup finally stopped beating around the bush and came out with the news that Mom and I have been expecting: he wants me to take over the Academy. The reason is simple: I was practically raised by a pack of Terrors from the age of 10. I start in two days as tomorrow he will make the big announcement. I hope to have my Terrors also help me with teaching. With luck, half of them can be working in my lab while the others help me in the Academy. What's more useful than a dragon you can manipulate to see what happens? I know for a fact that Snotlout, Ruff and Tuff are all tactile learners: they can't sit still (or stop fighting) for more than two minutes! So I will see if my Terrors would be willing to help me with my latest assignment.
While the first bit of news was completely expected, he took us both completely by surprise when he told Mom and I that he was going to ask Astrid's father for his daughter's hand in marriage. Of course we congratulated him, because what else can you say to your brother when he says he's in love and planning on getting married to the girl he's been interested in for many years? If Mr. Hofferson says no, I'll see if I can convince him otherwise. Hiccup might be the chief, but he's not exactly brave when it comes to challenging someone. Drago was a unique case, and that was only because he killed our father and dragon-napped Toothless.
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Mom had a nightmare last night. I'm a light sleeper so I woke up to her speaking, seemingly to herself. I crept downstairs and saw her fighting her blankets. I waited a few moments to see if it was indeed a nightmare before I woke her up. We sat up and talked about it all night, not that it was long until daybreak. Her nightmares seem to almost mirror mine: we're back at Dad's funeral when something happens that he's not dead. Here's where ours differentiate: she dreams that Hiccup died, and I dream that Dad is stuck on the burning ship and for some reason can't jump overboard.
We jump in the water and swim out toward the ship, but can't reach it in time. She asked me not to tell Hiccup about this, so I hope he doesn't come across this blog. Her nightmares do explain her insistent and near-obsessive interest in hugging him whenever she gets the chance. I kind of envy her, as she can hug Hiccup whenever she gets scared, while I have to cozy up to Darrien, or sneak over to my treelab and wake Herby.

3 AA

It's been a year since Dad died. It's still hard to believe he's gone. Every morning, Hiccup and I wake up thinking he's just downstairs, only to be sort of disappointed to see Mom instead. Hiccup's been talking about getting someone else to run the Academy because he's so busy all the time. The way he said it makes Mom and I think he means me. I still get up at daybreak to go for a run, as per something my Terrors and I set up shortly after they moved into my underground lab.
I'll add some drawings I made of Hiccup, Herby, and Toothless curled up by the fireplace at my tree  lab when I find enough time. Gotta go hunting. Wish me luck!
-Nina

A Brief Intro (3 AA)

Hello everyone! I am Nina Haddock, adopted sister to Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, and I recently discovered a way to bring electricity to Berk. It took a bit of persuading to get them believing that Thor is not angry with us, and that I am not using his powers for evil.
A bit of information for you all before I get too far into this thing called a "blog."
AA = After Adoption.
AO = After Orphan-ing
PO = Pre-Orphan-ing
PA = Pre-Adoption
I was adopted by Chief Stoick the Vast, and his son, Hiccup. Later Stoick's wife, Valka, agreed to adopt me, and we became a family of four.