Camikazi

Toothless lay curled on the stone floor of the academy, enjoying the sunlight. His rider, Hiccup, had been challenged by the twins to sort out the problem with their Zippleback without help from Toothless. He was halfway across the ring, scratching the leftmost head above its frill. Barf and Belch were more intelligent than most of their breed, but still prone to stupidity.

“Hey, T. How are you doing?” It was Tuffnut Thorston, and Toothless grumbled in response. Tuffnut and his twin Ruffnut were ridiculous, and Toothless had learned to endure them for Hiccup’s sake. “You’re looking good. The whole black scales thing really works for you. A little more red would make it pop, though. Maybe Hiccup can make you a more stylish saddle, with dyed leather.” Tuffnut studied Toothless, who glared at him. What do you think, Sis?”

“I think you should let me do the talking.” Ruffnut looked at Toothless. “You know Hiccup’s dad is the Chief, right?”

“Roo.” Toothless nodded.

“So another chief—chieftess, actually—is coming to visit. She has a daughter named Camikazi, and Hiccup has to hang out with her. Camikazi says she’s Hiccup’s friend, but she’s mean to Hiccup. Like, all the time she’s here.” Toothless narrowed his eyes, and Ruffnut nodded.

“There’s rules for these visits,” Tuffnut took over for his sister. “Stoick and Hiccup have to be nice and make an extra effort for them, and Camikazi and her mom are expected to be really nice back. Camikazi’s never nice. She steals and breaks Hiccup’s stuff, and causes trouble the whole time she’s here. Hiccup takes the blame for most of it, and she laughs at him.” Tuffnut looked at Toothless, oddly serious. “She injures him, too.”

Toothless growled, and the twins took a step back. Humans called his kind a Night Fury for good reasons, and Tuffnut raised his hands in surrender. “Please don’t go all power of lightning on us. We’re trying to warn you. As much as we would love to dump her into the middle of the ocean, Stoick would kill me and her. You can’t hurt her, either.”

Toothless stopped growling, and stared at the two of them. The twins weren’t acting like idiots, and Toothless realized their dragon had taken off with his rider. This was more than their usual explosions and pranks.

They were worried about Hiccup.

Toothless offered them a small nod. “Roo.”

“Good. Now, the first thing Camikazi does when she gets here is tackle Hiccup. Here, I’ll demonstrate. Go stand over there, Tuff.” Ruffnut pointed to the other side of the ring. “Watch me, okay?” Toothless fixed his eyes on her, and Ruffnut ran toward her brother, leaped onto him, and knocked him flat. “That’s a tackle. Then she does this.” She knelt on her brother’s chest, put him in a chokehold, and began screeching. “‘I win. I win again. You’re a loser, Hiccup. You’re still a loser.’” Ruffnut got off Tuffnut’s chest. “We might harass Hiccup…”

“Yeah,” Tuffnut said, rubbing his midsection. “I like it when we get him to face-palm twice in a day.”

Ruffnut tightened her hold on him, cutting off his air. “…but Camikazi’s nasty for the entire visit, and Hiccup’s stuck with her. But if Hiccup’s best friend decided to jump on her, well, it’s not like his Night Fury buddy knew any better.”

Tuffnut wrenched his sister’s arm away. “Good grip, Sis,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Camikazi never changes. We know she’s going to brag about how great she is with a sword. If a large reptile melts her sword, it’s a sad thing,” he brushed away an imaginary tear, “but we do live with dragons. Life on Berk is not for the faint of heart.”

Toothless stared at the twins. Ruffnut wore a wicked grin, and Tuffnut looked like he was begging. They would prank Camikazi, with or without him. If Toothless agreed, he would get vengeance on this girl who hurt Hiccup.

“Hur, hur, hur.” Toothless threw back his head and laughed. “Roo.” He raised his paw and they high-fived him.

This was going to be epic.