{Wedding?}

Now that she was out of the dark space under her wrecked ship he was able to see that her head was bleeding.

'That looks pretty serious.' 

After he turned around her limp body he saw that she was breathing but very weakly. She seemed to be around their age and was prettier than most of the girls he had seen. Apart from her clothing she only had a horn made out of bone that was attached to her belt. 

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked as he shook her arm but there wasn't a reaction. Neil then lightly smacked her face but she still didn't react. 

'Well, at least she isn't dead. Her clothes are still dripping wet so she must have gotten into the shipwreck very recently. The tide was probably just high enough to hide the large sharp rocks she hit.'

He called Cryo to him and he picked the unconscious girl and laid her face down on the dragon's back. 

Cryo let out a growl showing his dislike of being mounted by someone other than Neil himself. 

"I know you're not a fan but if we don't get her help fast she will die. So for now just suck it up."

After flying for roughly 10 minutes they reached Berk and he flew straight to Gothi's place at the top of the mountain. 

When he got there he picked up the girl and placed her in a wooden bed that the old lady had guided him to. 

She then began to scribble on the ground but he wasn't able to read her writing. All he could do was shrug and explain what little he knew.

"I found her in a shipwreck, other than her bleeding head I couldn't notice any other injuries." 

He didn't know if he had said what the old woman had wanted to know or if she had given up but she began signaling that he was dismissed. She practically began pushing him out of the place. 

'Well, good luck then.'

Neil then headed to the town hall to deposit the fruits of his hunt and to get something to eat. 

"Well hello, Neil! I see you had a successful morning haha."

Neil smiled and nodded, "Not as successful as I hoped but at least my traps caught something."

The large brunette woman nodded and she handed him a bowl of fish stew, "That's the spirit! Say Neil there's something I wanted to ask you."

"Mhm", he replied as he was tasting a spoonful of the warm stew. 

"How would you like to wed my Roetta? Because of the lack of good young men my poor girl has remained alone. She's only 4 years older than you so it works out great. You can even forget about the mundr (Bride-Price). From what I've seen you two seem to get along great and since she met you she hasn't stopped talking about you."

Neil was so surprised by the woman's forward proposition that he froze with the spoon in his mouth. In Reioi he had been through a similar situation once or twice but that's because he was from there. On the other hand, he had only been at Berk for a few days and what's worse he had only talked to the large girl a few times when she was helping her mother. 

"Uh sorry Narra but I can't wed someone I barely know. More importantly, I'm from a very far Village and will eventually return home so you wouldn't be able to see her again."

He expected her to feel bad that she had been rejected but instead, her facial expression remained unchanged.

"Oh if that's what worries you then you can spend more time together! You also have Cryo so monthly visits aren't impossible." 

Neil turned to look at Cryo who was tilting his head after hearing his name.

'If only you knew what she was asking of you haha.' 

"Ma'am the thing is that my Village has a rule that prohibits future chiefs from getting married to someone who isn't from our Village."

After saying that he was sure the woman would understand that he wasn't interested but once again she seemed not to get the hint. 

"Oh Neil, I'm sure that a young man like yourself won't let old traditions get in your way. As a future Chief, you'll simply have to change the rules."

'Seems like this won't end unless I give a clear answer.' 

"Miss Nar….." 

"Narra leave the boy be, you can't force these things. What is meant to be will be, the only thing you will get if you continue to pester the lad will be him running away." 

They both turned around to find Stoick walking their way with an empty bowl. 

"I'm not pestering, I'm simply easing Neil's worries and showing him that there is always an answer."

'Not sure you'll like the answer though', Neil thought to himself. 

"Let the boy think about what you said Narra, otherwise he's going to feel cornered and outright turn down whatever you tell him. Anyway, Neil, there's something I need your help with. Bring your bowl, you can eat while we walk there." 

Neil quickly nodded and gladly followed the large chief.

"Thank you for the save." 

The red-haired man shook his head and laughed, "It was nothing haha, if I'm being honest I did it for my own good. If you were to tell Narra the reason you weren't interested in her daughter she would come nagging to me to do something about you. That said, don't feel too bad for them. The reason the girl isn't married is not because of the lack of young men but the lack of men desperate enough to marry someone with that girl's personality." 

Neil wasn't sure what the Chief was talking about, in the few times that they had met Roetta had seemed nice. That said he took the Chief's word, not that he was interested to begin with. Large women were never his type. 

"Oh, Sir there was actually something that I wanted to tell you. This morning while I was hunting I found a young girl who crashed her boat on some rocks on the beach near a cliff. I flew her over to Gothi and she's being taken care of." 

The Chief nodded and patted his shoulder, "You did great, I'll head there as soon as I can. Do you know who the girl was?" 

Neil shook his head, "No I've never seen her before. My guess is that she must be from a nearby Village. Also from what I could see she was alone." 

"I see, thanks for letting me know."

.

.

.

The rest of the day he spent flying around in Cryo's new saddle. After many attempts at putting the saddle on, he had finally been able to put it on the stubborn dragon.

 The difference that it made while flying was unimaginable, not only was it comfortable he could finally ride without his hands. He could finally use his bow while flying like Neil had always wanted to try before.

On the left side of the saddle, there was a small handbag-shaped cage where Cora could be placed. It was an idea of Hiccup who saw that Neil would stuff her in a bag whenever he was on Cryo. This way she would be able to see the view just like him. The cage could then be wrapped in leather through a system of dragon teeth buttons so that Cora could be protected from the wind when necessary.

On the right side, there were pockets long enough for him to store two quivers worth of arrows. This was Gobber's idea, he claimed that it would come in handy if he ever went boar hunting.

As they were flying saw Tornado and Stoick make their way towards them. From the looks of it, the Chief had just come back from Gothi's place. 

He flew towards them to see if he could get an update on her condition. 

"Neil, the young lady you brought wants to meet her rescuer. That said before you go I need to tell you something. She appears to have somehow lost her memory after hitting her head. Try to see if you can get any information she might have especially about the horn she has. If you see she gets uncomfortable then let it be." 

He was a little surprised by the serious expression that the Chief had but he nodded and began making his way to Gothi's.