Hello, everybody! So, this is my first HTTYD fanfic. It is of course going to be an AU. It is going to remain an 'M' rating just in case because of what some may call sensitive content. Now, let me tell you what's gonna go down! So this story is not necessarily going to be accurate to the world of HTTYD that has been created through the TV shows and HTTYD 2. This will be based off of the first movie, but I will take elements from the TV shows and HTTYD 2 and use them in the story as well just not in a completely accurate way. I don't know. Confused? So am I. So, before I confuse you lot or myself more, read on...

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: The Dragon Rider

*Fire. Raid. Fighting. Cries of warning. Pain in the back of head. Blacked out. Woke up. Ship. Island. Struggle. Surrounded by men. Struggle. Afraid. Broken. Helpless. Overpowered. Naked. Vulnerable. Touches. Hands. Screams.*

Astrid woke with a start. Her eyes looked about frantically as she panted for air. She had dreamt another nightmare, but the horror wasn't over.

She shuddered in the damp space of the cage she was in, pulling her knees closer to her chest. She wore only a thin nightgown. It was the only thing they had provided her.

She whimpered as she shrunk further into the corner. This was a living Hel. She wanted to get out. She wanted it to stop. Her loose blonde hair was tangled and matted across her shoulders and back. Her body was already becoming frail after three days of this abuse by her captors.

Three days. That is how long since she had been defending her village of Berk. She had been engaged in a dual with one of the attacking Outcasts when someone yelled at her to "Watch out!" Then her head had lit up with pain. She had blacked out. When she woke up, she had found herself to be gagged and bound onboard an Outcast vessel headed towards her captors' base of operations. It hadn't taken her long to figure out what happened. She had been captured during the raid.

Astrid had fought and struggled when they brought her into the fortress. She had been determined to not go down without a fight, but fight as she did, she couldn't stop them.

Astrid trembled in the dark cage. She heard the moans and whispers of the other prisoners in the other cells. She buried her face in her arms and gave a sob.

How did she get here? How did she become a prisoner? How did she become encaged like an animal? Why was this happening to her?

She had suffered through more horrors in the past three days than the whole twenty-one years of her life. She never felt so helpless since that day six and half years ago when she lost someone she hadn't realized she cared for. She heard him die. She glimpsed the creature that committed the deed. It left no body. Just bloody pieces of a shirt and a dagger. She should have saved him. She could have saved him, but she had left him alone for that short amount of time. She should have never left him alone. Guilt and pain had been her life for those next few months. It took a while but she finally got over it. This time however, she felt helpless because she was the victim.

Astrid shivered as she thought of what happened the past few days. It had scarred her emotionally and mentally. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be with her parents. She wanted to feel safe in her bed.

The past few days had terrified her. She had fought at first, but she was just one woman against numerous men. She had been beaten. She had been groped and violated.

It was a miracle that she still kept her virginity, but she shuddered at the future possibility of that being taken away also by force. And the worst part is… she would be helpless to stop it. That is what scared her the most. For the first time in her life, she felt vulnerable in ways that shook her down to her core. She could do nothing.

There was a clinking on the bars to her cage, and Astrid gulped as she flinched into her corner, terrified blue eyes staring at the Viking that was opening her cell door.

The man held the door open and looked at her.

"Good evening, princess. Time to go."

Astrid gulped and shook her head, trying to give her best glare at the man but failing. She tried to be brave, but that was something that was quickly leaving her. With each passing day, she was losing more and more of the tough Viking woman she was before.

The gruff looking Viking growled at her, marching into the cage and grabbing the young woman roughly by the arm, resulting in a small cry of pain from her.

"You are coming, whether you like it or not."

He threw her out the cage and kicked her, sending her sprawling onto the dirty floor. There were other people in the cages as well. Prisoners of war. Other women. They all watched her with compassionate gazes. Some called out words of compassion to her. Some called out insults at the Outcast that was taking her away from her cell.

Astrid wobbled onto her feet and squeezed her arms together across her chest as she slowly walked down the hallway. She instinctively looked for escape routes, but she knew that there weren't any. Any entrances and exits were guarded. Without a weapon, she would only be captured again and beaten… again. She didn't want that to happen. She didn't want to be surrounded by a group of men again, naked and afraid. The thought nearly made her legs give out, but she reluctantly continued, hearing the footsteps of her captor behind her.

She stuttered out a question, trying to sound brave and composed. She already knew the answer. She asked out of a foolish hope of getting a more pleasant answer.

"W-Where are w-we going?"

The brown-bearded man gave her a shove.

"Shut up and keep walking! You know where we are going. I'm gonna enjoy it. You… probably not."

Astrid shuddered and complied. She was broken. Three days of the abuse given her would do that to anyone.

Her bare feet felt frozen as she walked upon the cold stone and out the door of the barn-like building. It was a dark night. The stone structure ahead of her was intimidating. She didn't know if that was because of its appearance or what was waiting for her inside.

Astrid began to panic. In desperation, she made a dash for the docks at the bottom of the hill, but big burly hands caught her. She half screamed and half whimpered at the action.

"Let me go! Please! What else can you possibly do to me?!"

She felt the warm breath of the man on her neck as he chuckled devilishly.

"Many things. Now…"

She felt his hands on her chest.

The Viking gave her a threatening whisper.

"Now, are you goin to be a good girl and do as she says? Or do I need to teach you some manners?"

Astrid gulped and stopped struggling, shivering with fear.

The Viking released his grip on her and shoved her forward, making her stumble.

"Good. Now, move!"

Her heart beat faster and louder the closer she stumbled towards the door. She was walking into a room to be practically tortured, to be surrounded by a group of men, to be touched and fondled, to be abused, again, for the second time. She didn't want to go through it again. Who would? She prayed to the gods for a miracle.

She was pushed through the door and into a room full of men. The brown-bearded Viking grinned at his fellow Outcasts.

"Ello boys, I brought the entertainment!"

There was a chorus of evil snickers about the room.

"Where's Alvin?"

"He's off on official business. Now, are we going to make her sing or not?!"

"How about I take her out back and knock her up, eh? It's been too long."

"Ha! You? I'll do it!"

Astrid closed her eyes and tried to block out the words being spoken around her. She tried not to think of what was coming. She prayed for a miracle. She prayed for an escape.

Her heart beat accelerated.

Suddenly she felt hands grabbing her arm and flinging her onto a table. She screamed and lashed out at her abuser, kicking him in the face, but was quickly subdued.

She panicked as the group of men surrounded her and held her down. She whimpered as she felt the nightgown being pulled up.

No! No! NO!

She writhed against their restraining hands.

"LET ME G—" She gasped and squirmed as one of them stuck their hand between her legs. She wanted to kick, she wanted to kill the man who was doing this to her, but she couldn't. She was restrained. She bit back her tears as she writhed with discomfort and shame, trying to break free of their grasps but to no avail.

They had pulled her gown up past her chest. She heard evil snickers and doubled her struggles once she felt their violating touches.

She couldn't take it anymore. She needed to get out of this! She needed a miracle!

It seems the gods heard her prayer…

Suddenly there was an awful shrieking sound that seemed to pierce throughout the building. All the men fell silent. Even Astrid froze in fear.

Everyone knew what that sound meant…

"NIGHT FURY!"

Suddenly the wall of the building was ripped open by an explosion. The force knocked Astrid off the table as the inside of the building became a hot furnace as fire ignited in the room and the roof began to crumble.

She hit the ground hard and cried with pain. All the Outcasts rushed out of the collapsing and burning building with no regard for the woman's life.

Astrid forced herself to her feet, pulling the nightgown back down, and launched herself for the door. She felt the searing heat against her back and bare legs. She heard the roof give a little more and knew that it was going to be close.

She dove out of the blazing building and into the chaos of the night, moments before the roof gave and came crashing in where she once stood.

Astrid got to her feet, heart thumping hard into her chest and adrenaline filling her veins.

She looked in horror at the red and orange flames pouring out of multiple buildings on the island. Some of the Outcasts were climbing an untouched defense tower.

She flinched at the sound of the Night Fury screech above her and was stumbling backwards in shock as the tower before her exploded with a flash of purple, sending the men climbing it hurtling back and to the ground below. For a brief second, she glimpsed a shadowy shape speed past and race up amongst the smoky night sky, the terrifying sound of the infamous dragon piercing her ears before another fireball erupted from the other side of the island.

There were ships at the docks that were untouched and abandoned. The dragon had not yet destroyed them.

Astrid's fear was replaced by hope as she realized that now was a chance to escape while her captors were distracted by trying to douse the flames and combat the unholy spawn of evil.

She dashed for the docks but was knocked to the ground by an explosion that demolished a building next to her. Once again, she saw only a shadow race past in the sky above her. She felt the heat against her back and rolled around to face the blazing structure. There were cries of agony coming from inside.

It was only a moment before she felt hands pulling her to her feet. An angry Viking was glaring down at her wielding a sword.

"Where do you think you're going, bitch?! I swear I will—Uff!"

Astrid had slammed her elbow into his stomach, making him release his grip. Pure desperation and determination to get away fueled her. She needed to get to the docks. She would be able to steal a ship and make her escape. If she didn't, she would die trying. There was no way she was going to allow them to do those horrible things to her anymore.

She started to run in that direction but screamed as she felt someone grab her by her hair and yank her to the ground. The Viking was not letting her escape that easily.

There was another screech and the docks erupted into a blazing fireball. Astrid's eyes widened.

NO!

That was her only shot at escaping. She was helpless. She wasn't going to escape. NO! There was another way. There had to be—

She was yanked to her feet by the Outcast and was starting to be dragged back towards the lodge.

She cried in desperation and anger and gave the burly man a kick to the kneecap, causing him to release her hair. She inwardly smirked. It seems she hadn't lost herself completely just yet, but she knew her position was still drastically outmatched without a weapon.

The man roared as he rounded on her and sliced his sword at her in an upward motion. She jumped back to dodge the slice and was quick enough to escape with her life but not enough to escape unscathed.

Astrid hissed with pain as the sword left a long gash going from her lower left side of her stomach up to the right side of her chest. She grasped her stomach as she felt the warm blood seeping from her wound, soaking the now ripped white nightgown. The Viking kicked her in the abdomen, knocking the air from her lungs as she fell back and tumbled down the slope towards the burning docks.

When she finally came to a stop, she still clutched her stomach with an agonized groan. Somewhere in her tumble, her head had connected with a rock, making her vision spin and blur.

She tried to get up but found someone kicking her down. She cried out in pain as she looked up to another murderous Outcast looking for someone to take out his anger on, her vision dizzy and blurred to unrecognizable. She croaked out a plea.

"Please… Don't…"

The man didn't listen as they raised their axe to finish her off.

But before they could bring the blade swinging down there was a sudden roar descending from the sky.

Astrid weakly tried to crawl away from the man as he screamed with fright as he was sent hurtling into the flaming harbor by something. Her vision was blurred and blackening, but she saw Outcast Isle ablaze with flames. Every building had massive columns of fire leaping from it. Bells were tolling and people were crying in agony and yelling with terror. The other prisoners seemed to have escaped and were creeping away from the buildings. Some had stopped and were staring at her with horror. She saw something black bounding over to her. She heard someone cry her name, but she was already slipping into the black...

Astrid gave a silent moan as she fluttered her eyes open. Her eyes widened as she took in her surroundings. It was silent. No sounds of fighting. No screech of the Night Fury. Silence. The only thing she heard was the sound of what seemed to be tree leaves rustling in a breeze.

Where was she? How did she get here?

She was lying on a bed of furs. Several layers of furs and blankets lay on top of her. Her body felt hot. She was in some sort of leathery tent. She could make out daylight outside.

She gave a confused moan as she tried to sit up from the furs but winced at the pain in her abdomen. She hissed at the stinging sensation.

Astrid froze at the sound of a deep exhale and blinked in shock as tent was removed from over her, leaving the last rays of the day illumine the area around her. That was when she realized… It was no tent.

Her eyes widened with horror at a scaly black snout and round green eyes that suddenly appeared beside her.

Dragon!

She let out a scream as she roughly pushed herself away from the dragon's head only for her back to collide with a warm scaly body as the furs fell from her chest.

Astrid suddenly felt the cool air upon her chest and realized something.

She was naked!

She trembled as she instinctively snatched a blanket to cover her bare chest while yelling at the dragon.

"Get away from me!"

The dragon gave a shocked look, and its eyes bounced from side to side, unsure what to do. It seemed to decide on something and lifted its head up to give a sharp bark into the woods before turning its attention back on her, head coming closer. Its snout came so close that she felt the warm air from its nostrils.

Astrid cringed in fear as the reptile's eyes inspected her with curiosity.

"D-Don't eat me."

To her surprise the dragon pulled back and cocked its head to the side before giving what could only be laughter of some sort.

Astrid was frozen in shock.

Did it… It did…

"D-Did you… Did you just laugh?"

She didn't know why she asked. The dragon wouldn't understand her, but… She gasped with surprise as the reptile rolled its eyes with a snort and nodded, giving her a look that said 'Of course, stupid human. I can laugh.'

Okay… This is just bizarre. I am actually talking to a dragon… and it understands me…?

She drew up the blanket further up her body, now more self-conscious since she realized that she may be in the presence of an intelligent beast that was capable of understanding things.

This shouldn't be possible. She should be dead right now by the claws and teeth of the very monster that she was now having some sort of conversation with.

Astrid blinked her blue eyes. She looked at the dragon with a mixture of terror and confusion. It seemed to be waiting for her to speak, but she couldn't. She just couldn't. This was too bizarre and… backwards. It was supposed to be a mindless killer, wasn't it? Dragons always go for the kill! So why wasn't she dead yet?

She gulped as she glanced about her surroundings. They were in a clearing in a dense wood somewhere. Somewhere in the relatively near distance was the sound of waves lapping against a rocky beach. The sun seemed to be setting in the west. She was propped up on the dragon, laying in a pile of furs and blankets next to what seemed to be the smoldering remains of a campfire. She noticed a few small crates stacked next to a log to her right. They seemed to contain medical supplies.

Astrid had a thought and carefully pulled back the blanket slightly to look down at her body. She noticed that there was a bandage stretching down her bare front, and she remembered.

She was being attacked. The Outcast had sliced her across the front of her body. Another man was about to kill her when something black attacked him before he got the chance. Something black…

Astrid gasped and looked back at the dragon. It was as black as night. The only parts of it that weren't black were its green eyes, and pink insides of its mouth… Wait… Since when did a dragon not have teeth?

"Y-You saved me?" Her voice was riddled with uncertainty and confusion.

The dragon gave a wobble of its head and an eye gesture that seemed to indicate that he did but he had some sort of help. Astrid looked back at the campfire and other manmade artifacts. The bandage on her chest. How did a dragon do all that?

She heard a rustling in the brush at the edge of the clearing and heard a voice. It seemed strangely familiar.

"What is it, bud? You hungry for dinner? I just caught a few fish by th—"

Astrid whipped her head about to look at the young man that had entered the clearing and was now staring at her in silent surprise.

Her eyes widened as she looked at him. He was a relatively short and lanky man. His shoulders were broad and traces of muscle were built up on them and his arms. He wore a simple green tunic and brown leggings. He had dark brown hair that was close to being black. His eyes were a forest green.

His face lit up with a smile as he sighed with relief.

"Astrid! Thank Thor, you're awake. Finally. I thought you weren't going to wake up for a while there."

Astrid shrunk away from him as he neared, eyeing him fearfully and suspiciously.

"Don't come near me! W-What do you want? Just st— H-How do you know my name?"

She was confused. How in the name of Helheim did this stranger know her name? What was he doing to her? What will he do to her?

The young man slowed to a halt, giving her some space, and raised his hands to indicate he wasn't a threat. His voice had a gentle comforting tone.

"Easy. I'm not going to hurt you. Toothless here won't either. Isn't that right, bud?"

The dragon gave his master a warble before peering back at Astrid with curious green eyes.

The man's forest green eyes were filled with kindness as he slowly crouched down in front of her, giving her a small smile.

"See? Not going to try anything, Astrid."

Astrid felt her heart race, and her eyes flickered between the dragon and the young man, but she eventually relaxed a bit in his presence, although she pulled the blanket further up her body… and the dragon still freaked her out by how close it was.

She repeated her question, blue eyes cautiously watching the dragon.

"H-How do you know my name? Who are you?"

The man gave a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck while using his other hand to pat the snout of his dragon companion, gaining her attention.

"Uh, yeah, about that. Sorry. Um…" He looked at her with uncertainty. "You're telling me you don't recognize me… at all?"

She shook her head and gave him a confused glare.

"No, I don't… Why? Have we met?"

The man gave a sigh, his expression showing defeat as if hoping she would and make this easier to explain.

"Well, can't say I'm surprised. It's been six years, and I have changed a lot since then. Um, sooo…" He ran a hand through his dark brown unkempt hair, eyes narrowing as he bit his lip in concentration. "Oh Odin help me… Okay, how do I explain this in the least shocking way possible?" He seemed to come to a conclusion and grinned at her nervously. "Okay, so six years ago, err, what happened?"

Astrid blinked. Okay, she was missing something. Why would he ask that?

"I-I don't understand."

The man groaned and hung his head in frustration it seemed. He grumbled towards the sky before looking at her with a sigh. Looks like he would have to be more straight forward.

"Astrid, something happened. Something, uh… tragic, although not tragic." He paused in contemplative thought. "Well, not tragic to me but maybe for the village, I suppose. I don't know… Doubt it." He sighed again and looked at her with expecting eyes. "A certain village screw up. Dragon Training…"

As the man spoke, Astrid focused in on his face, specifically his eyes, heart beating faster as they unlocked memories. Where had she seen those eyes before? Why did it seem impossible that she was seeing them again? What happened six years ago? The only thing that came to mind was…

Death. Dragon Training Champion. Green eyes. Brown hair. Small. Scrawny… Oh Thor almighty and Freya help her…

But…

If this was… He wasn't small… scrawny... but it had been six and a half years. A lot could happen… a lot could change…

Oh gods…

It couldn't be…

But it was…

Right?

Impossible! He died!

Astrid's eyes widened, her jaw dropping. Her mind spun with impossibilities as she breathed out a name.

"H-Hiccup?"

The man gave a sheepish grin before he nodded. He gave a very Hiccup wave if his hand, awkward and hesitant.

"Hey, err… not dead. Obviously."

Astrid's breathing quickened and heart beat raced. Her mind raced as the realization settled in, eyes locked on him as wide as they could be.

Hiccup started to look at her with concern.

"A-Astrid? Are you oka—HEY!"

The young woman suddenly punched him in the shoulder with all of her pent-up tension, glaring and yelling at him. She punched his arm again and again, though without any serious force behind them… nothing too too hard that is.

"YOU! MEAN! TO! TELL! ME! YOU! HAVE! BEEN! ALIVE! ALL! THIS! TIME?! Do you have any idea how guilty and heartbroken I felt after you 'died'?! I've NEVER been more miserable, YOU… You… you… j-j-jerk…"

She broke down into a sob, clutching the blanket to her bare chest. Hiccup sat back up, rubbing his arm with wide eyes.

"Heartbroken?" He whispered more to himself than her.

Astrid didn't know why, but she felt her cheeks and ears flush pink at the wonder in his voice. She avoided eye contact, breathing heavily. She tried to back away again but let loose a silent cry of pain as she fell back down onto the furs, clutching her stomach and chest.

Hiccup came closer, concern evident in his voice and eyes.

"Astrid, easy. You got a gash stretching from your shoulder and down your stomach. I stitched you up, but you need to relax before you break it open again."

Astrid flinched away from him, and for a brief moment, he saw terror and dread in her eyes. He froze where he was and sat down to appear less threatening. His eyes narrowed at her in concern and compassion, those clever eyes piecing together reasons why she would be acting like this. His voice was soft, barely above a whisper.

"What happened to you? Why are you like this?" His widened a bit with a thought, eyes flashing with deep compassion and understanding. "They did something. The Outcasts. Something horrible. Didn't they?"

The young woman rolled away from him to face the dragon's body.

"No," she choked. She didn't want to tell him the truth. For all she knew, he could be exactly like those savages. Lustful and bound to hurt her or touch her or rape her or…

"Astrid…"

She closed her eyes with a shudder as he whispered her name in such a gentle way.

"I know that is a lie…" He continued with that warm and gentle voice of his.

It seemed to make its way down to her very heart, warming her, comforting her. Why did he have this effect over her? Why was he so special? He was Hiccup, that's why. He couldn't hurt a fly. Although, that could have changed in these past six years since he did not die all those years ago. Regardless…

She let out a shuddered sigh, shaking her head both from disbelief that he was still alive and to emphasis that she did not want to discuss the horrors she faced the past couple days.

"I-I just don't want to talk about it, okay? I-I just found out you're alive, which I still cannot believe!" She let out a heavy sigh, head hung low. "It's all too much to take in…"

Astrid suddenly had a thought, and her eyes flashed down at her covered body. She pulled the blanket tighter around her.

"H-Hiccup? Um… Why am I naked?"

She heard an awkward laugh behind her and turned over to look at the grown-up Hiccup.

He was rubbing his hands together nervously and was blushing a deep red.

"Well, um, I needed to cut the bedgown off you so I could, uh… tend to your wound. Soooo…"

He gestured to her covered body with an almost apologetic grin as he continued

"… you're naked. Sorry, but it was either doing it or letting you bleed to death. I thought you would prefer the option that involved- you know- living, so I cut off the bedgown since it got in the way. Err, to be honest it wasn't doing you much good anyways with the rip across the front, haha errr- Don't worry though, I-I kept you covered as best as I could. I didn't… I wasn't… you know… peeking. Promise." He blushed a bit with a reassuring grin. "I've been working on making some new clothes for you using some of my own and other things, but they aren't ready yet. So, uh yeah, do us both a favor and keep that blanket over you."

He looked away, taking interest in anything that would not involve him looking at her.

Astrid felt a hot blush on her own face. She was embarrassed by the fact that he may have seen her naked. Him, Hiccup, seeing her naked. It was… beyond awkward, but she could tell by his equal amount of embarrassment that he was telling the truth when he said he tried to keep her covered as much as possible. All in all, she was willing to forget all about it, both because he was honest… and because she rather not think of Hiccup seeing her naked.

"I-It's okay. Can…Can we just not talk about it? It is a little… you know—"

Hiccup tapped his hands on his knees nervously as he cut her off, still looking the other way. He seemed to be just as eager to change the subject as she was.

"Yeah, yeah. It, uh, didn't happen. Gotch ya. Let's not bring it up again."

He was silent for a moment before looking back at her.

"So, um, you've changed since the last time I saw you."

Astrid forced a grin at him, eyes involuntarily staring at his body.

"Um, thanks. You have too."

Oh, he definitely has changed. Who ever thought Hiccup would look so hot? Wait… Oh, no no no no! Don't start thinking that! You aren't… He isn't… No, he is… He really is… He is so muscular now, not like your typical Viking but in his own way. I wonder what he will look like with his shirt off—OKAY STOP IT!

"Astrid? You okay?"

She had been staring at him with a mixture of awe and horror, reflecting the war of emotions and thoughts inside her head, but now stared at him with just horror because he had noticed. She quickly stuttered out a response.

"Oh, uh, nothing. I'm fine. Err…"

Okay, I need to change the topic. This is just too awkward with me being naked under these furs and blankets… Dragon…

Astrid looked at the scaly reptile who had been watching their exchange with a hint of amusement in its eyes. She still couldn't believe how intelligent and human-like it acted, but it still freaked her out a little that she was this close to a creature so capable of killing her, especially after all the dragon raids she had experienced.

She gulped.

"Uh, Hiccup? Do you mind telling me why you have a pet dragon?"

The dragon in question gave her a glare at the 'p' word.

Hiccup laughed and shoved the dragon's head away from him with unbelievable carelessness. Did he want to anger the beast?!

"Okay, first of all, his name is Toothless. And secondly, he isn't my pet, couldn't stress that enough. He is my best friend. Aren't you, bud?"

The dragon… Toothless, apparently… nuzzled his head into Hiccup's touch, eyes closing with a purr.

Astrid sat up, hand securing the blanket to her chest and hair tumbling down her back, as she watched with disbelief. She had to admit that she half-expected the dragon to attack Hiccup and her at a moment's notice, but then she noticed how friendly it seemed to be and Hiccup's calmness around it. They really were… friends… weren't they?

She shook her head free of the thought and gazed at the dra—Toothless… gazed at Toothless with curiosity.

"So, how… what exactly is he? I've never seen his type before."

Hiccup and Toothless eyes both widened and looked at each other before both started to seemingly snicker about something she didn't know.

She frowned, giving him… them… a glare.

"What's so funny? It was an honest question."

Hiccup could hardly keep a straight face.

"Oh, you're going to love this…"

He rested his head on top of Toothless' and stroked his cheek.

"Toothless here is a Night Fury."

The effect was instantaneous. Astrid's eyes widened and jaw dropped. She even almost dropped the blanket from her chest as she sucked in air. She breathed out in amazement, suddenly much more intimidated by the reptile.

"Hiccup… Are you serious?... How… Wha… Are you insane? This is the most lethal and feared dragon in the whole world and you are… friends with it?!"

Hiccup's smile widened even further.

"Don't sound so surprised yet. You haven't even heard the best part. I ride him."

Astrid blinked. Did she hear that correctly? He rides a dragon? No, not just 'a dragon'? A Night Fury?

"R-R-Ride him? You mean to tell me that you were on his back when he was attacking Outcast Isle? On him? T-That was you, right?"

Hiccup nodded, and Toothless struck a proud pose with a smugness on his snout.

"Toothless can't fly without me."

Astrid raised her hand to stop him from going any further, still trying to understand all this. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Hiccup is still alive, but this just added more to the already long list to ponder.

"Wait. Wait. What do you mean by 'can't fly'? He has wings."

Hiccup got up and walked past her and towards the dragon's tail. He picked up the end of it and showed her.

Astrid raised her eyebrows. The dragon was missing half his tailfin. It seemed to have been ripped off with a great force.

"How did that happen?"

Hiccup gave her a guilty look.

"I happened that's what." He dropped the tail and grinned. "Do you remember the time when I was claiming I shot down a Night Fury but no one believed me?"

Astrid gave a confused nod

"Yeah, but…" Her eyes widened and leaned forward with the realization. "You don't mean…"

He gave her a nod.

"Yep, the one and the same dragon. You ever wonder how I got so good at Dragon Training. He's the reason. I went out after I shot him down to finish him off so that I could come back to the village all victorious and impress my dad. I thought that maybe then everyone would take me seriously, but when I found him…"

Hiccup wandered over to the dragon's head and laid a hand on it affectionately.

"I looked into his eyes, and I realized something. I saw myself in his eyes, afraid and misunderstood. No one gave me the chance to be who I wanted to be. You all said that it was either your way or be stuck being the village screw-up forever. Sort of the same thing with Toothless and all dragons, misunderstood and forced into an identity that is not like them at all."

He sighed heavily before continuing, looking at her with passionate green eyes.

"Dragons aren't what you think they are. They are gentle and harmless for the most part. They are capable of doing great harm, yes, but they only attack unless threatened or have another good reason. They aren't perfect, but they are not inherently evil as Vikings think. In many ways, they are just like us."

Astrid frowned, skeptical.

"Hiccup, you are forgetting that they attack us. The raids. The death. The destruction. If they are all harmless and gentle as you say, why did they attack?"

She noticed Hiccup give a heavy sigh and sit down, keeping his distance from her since he could tell that she was still on edge from her experience.

He looked up at her with a knowing grin.

"They stopped attacking about 4 years ago, didn't they?"

Astrid was surprised and confused by the statement. The dragons had in fact stopped raiding all of a sudden and without any warning. They just stopped. No one knew why. The attacks had lasted for 300 hundred years, and then they just stopped mysteriously. Why would Hiccup bring that mystery up?

"Well, yeah, it was strange, but I don't see why that mat—"

"I was the reason they stopped." He interrupted, and Astrid's eyebrows shot up.

Hiccup for yet another time had surprised her.

"What do you mean you're the reason? How could… How?"

Hiccup grinned at her eager question.

"I did what my dad never could. I found the nest, and I discovered the reason why they had been attacking."

Astrid was curious now. Forget the fact that she didn't have clothes on and was currently covering her feminine body with a blanket in a dead Viking's presence. She was curious, and nothing was going to get in the way of her knowing.

"Why?"

"They attacked because they had to. In the nest, there was a queen. She was massive. Turns out that all the food that the dragons had been taking from the villages were not being eaten by them but by the queen. If they didn't provide her with food, they would be eaten themselves. They were pretty much slaves."

Astrid sat back with a surprised but thoughtful look. It made sense. She could hardly believe it, but it made sense. Survival is what it came down to. But, that doesn't answer her question.

"That kind of makes sense, but how did you make them stop?"

Hiccup gave a sad smile. She remembered that smile a couple times after he had been forced to do something he didn't want to do back in the days when he was still Hiccup the Screw-Up.

She looked at him with a quizzical expression.

"Hiccup, what did you do?"

He gave her a sigh and a humorless chuckle, avoiding eye contact while petting Toothless' head.

"You know? It's ironic. I leave Berk because I didn't want to kill a dragon only to come back two years later and do just that. It was the only way. I had to make the queen choke on her own fire, essentially making her explode from the inside out once she hit the ground. Me and Toothless barely made it out alive."

Astrid bit her lip. That sounded terrible, but it had been the only way. Ironic? Yes. The war against dragons was finally ended with the help of a dragon. Now, that's ironic, but Toothless was one dragon. She was quickly warming up to him. He was like a big kitten, but he wasn't all dragons. He was a Night Fury, a dragon that no one knew anything about, except Hiccup apparently. She only had the words of a dead man to go by. For all she knew, Toothless was the only exception to the 'murderous mindless beasts' definition for dragons.

Words of a former dead Hiccup…

"Hiccup. That night when you 'died,' what happened? All I know was that we had an argument and I left you alone in the forest. The next thing I knew I was turning back around, feeling guilty and all and I hear you screaming or something… I thought you died. There was blood and everything… I was… I…"

She sighed and looked him in the eye.

"I don't know why I am going to tell you this, but… I cried for you Hiccup."

Hiccup's eyes widened. She understood why. She had never really cried before then. She had always been the tough shield maiden, fearless, never going to shed a tear, but that night when he died… when she thought he died, all the guilt, remorse, and heartache hit her hard all at once.

Heartache… There was that word again, 'heart.' Heartbroken. Heartache. Why do they keep coming to mind?

Hiccup coughed awkwardly.

"Well, that's very touching Astrid. I didn't know you felt that way about me."

Astrid gave a solemn nod before the realization struck her.

"Oh."

She looked at him. Her eyes widened, another blush flushing her cheeks.

"Oh! No no no no no no! Not like that. Wait…"

That was when she noticed the smirk he was giving her and she groaned.

"You were just kidding around. Gods. I hate you."

"Love you too Astrid."

"Shut up."

"Hey, it is perfectly normal to actually have feelings for someone. I will completely understand if you love m—"

"I said shut up, Haddock!"

She glared at him with a flushed face before her expression softened a bit with a slight amusement upon her face. She looked at him with a curious expression on her face, her mouth curling up ever so slightly in the corners.

"Hang on a second. Were you just flirting with me, Hiccup? Gods, you changed. What happened to the awkward kid who could barely find the words to actually speak to me?"

Hiccup smirked. Astrid felt her heart flutter a bit in her chest. Why?

He got up from where he sat and dusted off the dirt from his baggy leggings.

"I guess he grew up or something. A lot can happen in six years."

Astrid actually smiled.

"I-I guess so."

Damn it, Astrid. Pull yourself together. Stop staring into those big wonderfully handsome green eyes and—Stop! Change the subject. No more flirting! No more feeling attracted to the flirting. Gods, why did Hiccup have to come back to life and be so handsome… He isn't handsome! I didn't think that! Thor above, this isn't happening. Since when did Hiccup have this effect on me? My mind is in tatters because of him… But how is he still alive? What actually happened?

Astrid looked at Hiccup again, biting her lip and pulling the wool blanket closer around her.

"So, what did happen that night when you led everyone to think you were dead?"

He gave a nervous chuckle and smile, eyes a bit apologetic.

"Well, it was more like you assumed I was dead. It-It was kind of an accident. Okay, so, we had that argument…"

Six and a half years ago

Fifteen year-old Hiccup was wandering through the forest in the retreating sunlight, toting a basket full of supplies. He hoped no one saw him leaving the village. It would make this so much easier.

He was leaving. Maybe it was an act of cowardice, like the tribe would pretty much call it, but he was leaving. To them, they would see this as being afraid and a coward since he was backing down from killing a dragon. But, he did not want to kill a dragon! He would not do it! There was no possible way for him to set aside his morals and ignore the fact that he would be killing a creature who would in any other scenario be a peaceful dragon, minding their own business. It was disgusting! A part of him wanted to stay and try and convince his father and the village about the truth he had discovered about dragons, but alas he knew that they would be just too stubborn to understand, too close-minded, too much the dragon-killers they had been raised to be.

Hiccup sighed. The scrawny fishbone of a boy was going to actually be doing this, running away with his best friend and leaving his life on Berk behind. Too be honest, it was about time. He should have done this before. It would have spared him a lot of pain and suffering by the hands of the village, but he had been obsessed in trying to prove himself to be someone he was not. He was not a dragon-killer. He knew that. Oh gods, did he know that…

He had befriended a Night Fury! The offspring of lightning and death itself! Gods, when he told Toothless that full title, the dragon may burst from his ego.

Hiccup smiled at the thought and shook his head, pausing to take a break after carrying the filled basket a good distance. He heaved a sigh and swiped his forehead.

He took a few moments catching his breath while looking around the forest he had known throughout his childhood. He had run off many times into this forest to escape the oppression of the village, but not nearly as often and long as he had been for the past couple weeks. He had a good reason. He found a friend in the most unlikely of creatures… a dragon.

It was ironic really. His own village, who was supposed to be his friends and family, treated him like trash, but his supposed archenemy, a dragon and Night Fury, had grown into the closest friend Hiccup could ask for, caring, stubborn, pain in the ass sometimes, but, nevertheless, the perfect picture of what a true friend was supposed to be.

Speaking of Toothless, he was waiting for the boy to get back with what he needed for his new life: clothes, food, tools, boots, blankets, water, a couple of blank leather-bound journals, and his trusty portfolio of sketches and designs along with all of his charcoal sticks among other things. He brought some personal items along as well.

Hiccup picked up the basket once again and finished the last legs of his final journey from the village to the cove, ducking under the rock archway and unware of the girl who had been trailing him.

He sighed thinking about how much he wanted to leave this island and never come back. He looked around the cove and called out as he dropped the basket.

'Bud! We're leaving. We're leaving! Let's pack up! Looks like you and me are taking a little vacation, forever!" He knelt down next to the basket and began to put more things in that he had piled next to the rock, and didn't notice the Viking girl coming to sit upon said rock with an angry and vengeful look in her eyes.

Hiccup suddenly realized just what he was doing. He was leaving! He knew he was before, but he actually was leaving! 'Taking a little vacation, forever.' Yep, that pretty much summed it up.

Forever…

"Oh…man…" He murmured at the thought.

That was when he heard the sound of someone sharpening metal. How did he know that that is what the sound meant? He was a blacksmith's apprentice, for Thor's sake! And with that fact that the sound was in fact not just Toothless trying to sneak up on him and in fact someone there with him, his head shot up and he toppled over in surprise.

"Aggggh! What the-" He gazed wide-eyed at the blonde Viking girl in spike shoulder pads and skirt with a tight blue tunic around her upper body. He quickly composed himself but still quite in a panic, eyes flicking around the cove in apprehension of what Toothless would do to her if he saw her. "What are you doing here?"

Astrid hopped off the rock and twirled her axe menacingly, showing she meant business, eyes fixing him with a glare.

Hiccup could see that she was a bit… angry, and he had a pretty good idea what it was about.

She growled at him, pointing her axe at him as she approached.

"I want to know what's going on. No one just gets as good as you do. Especially you. Start talking! Are you training with someone?"

Hiccup was now praying that Toothless was in a deep sleep and wouldn't hear anything while answering lamely.

"Uh...training?"

Wrong answer. Astrid flared with anger, and when she got angry like this, she got physical. She suddenly grabbed him by his flying harness, blue eyes flicking down at it with a slightly curious glint.

"It better not involve... this." She looked down, referring to the harness.

Hiccup held his hands out defensively.

"I know this looks really bad, but you see...this is, uh..."

He heard a rustle from the opposite end of the cove.

Oh Thors-dammit, Toothless…

Astrid seemed to hear it too and dropped him. She started to move to investigate the odd rustle, suspiciously.

Hiccup's eyes widened with fear… not for Toothless, but for Astrid. She has no idea what she is getting into.

Uh oh… Think! Think! Think! Do something!

He scrambled up from the ground and quickly got in front of her.

"You're right! You're right. I'm through with the lies. I've been making..." He glanced at his harness and hastily gestured to it. "… outfits. So you got me. It's time everyone knew." He grabbed her hand and ut it on his chest, trying to get her to take him back to the village in a lame and hopeless attempt to do so. "Drag me back. Go ahead. Here we go."

He turned her around and began to get her to take him back to the village. He caught sight of a black dragon gazing with concerned interest over a rock at them, but Hiccup quickly shook his head when Astrid happened to not be looking, telling the dragon to not worry and hide. Toothless reluctantly dropped back down behind the rock after seeing the desperation in his rider's eyes.

Hiccup nearly sighed with the relief that flooded over him… but Astrid had other plans it seemed.

He cried out in pain as she roughly bended his hand backwards.

Relief gone!

"AAAAUUGGGHHH! Why would you do that?!" He complained through the pain while he fell to the ground.

Astrid smirked with cruel satisfaction, standing over him.

"That's for the lies."

Then she bounced the hilt of her axe off of his stomach hard, causing him to yelp.

"And that's for everything else."

It must have been a miracle that Toothless hadn't responded to the pain of his friend.

Astrid took one more glance to the other side of the cove before deciding that the noise was nothing and rounding on the boy who just got to his feet, shaking his hand in an effort to stop the aching in it.

Hiccup held it up to her with a frown.

"Seriously?"

Astrid smacked it out of the way with a roll of her eyes, shoving her axe at him.

"So, are you training with someone?!" She yelled at him, her patience wearing thin and jealousy getting the better of her once more.

Hiccup groaned and threw his hands in the air.

"For Thor's sake, Astrid! No! I am not! Why does it even matter?" He frowned at her. Now that the panic of Toothless getting involved had subsided, he was starting to get pretty annoyed that she was here, nearly messing up his plans to leave, something he realized he really wanted to do.

Astrid growled at him, eyes blazing with anger.

"Why does it matter?! It matters because you… you won! How?! How did you win?! You just got good overnight!"

She began to pace in front of him, seething in frustration and anger, and even… jealousy. Oh gods above, Hiccup actually made Astrid jealous. She had always excelled in everything she did, so she never had a reason to be jealous. But now…

Hiccup shook his head and leaned against a boulder, still calmly frowning at her.

"Maybe I always had it in me—"

Astrid scoffed at him, interrupting him.

"Oh no! There is NO way that is it! You are Hiccup! You are NOT a dragon-killer or fighter or whatever! You are just the village runt! How did you beat me? You stole the title from me!"

Hiccup couldn't help but feel saddened about how much this seemed to be eating away at the girl. He never told anyone, but he knew about her uncle and how much that was the reason she was the person she was today. Her uncle had seemingly frozen in terror in an encounter with a Flightmare. He had been killed, and the Hofferson family name had been tarnished. It seems that Astrid had tried her best all her life to be the absolute best in order to reestablish the honor of the family name. It worked. She quickly became known as Fearless. Now that she had that title and the reputation of being the best fighter there was in her age group, the only thing she had set her sights on and put everything she had into was becoming the Champion of Dragon Training, something that had been taken away by him it seemed.

It wasn't entirely his fault that he had won. He didn't even want to have the title anyway, but he couldn't tell her that.

Hiccup sighed.

"Look, Astrid, I'm sorry—"

Astrid yowled with fury and slammed her axe into a nearby tree, giving Hiccup a death glare.

"NO! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT, FISHBONE! You screwed EVERYTHING up! That's the ONLY thing you're are good at!"

Was it Hiccup's imagination or were those tears in her eyes?

Astrid turned away with something that suspiciously sounded like a sob and yanked on her axe with one hand.

She cursed loudly when it didn't come out. She grabbed hold of it with two hands, as Hiccup hesitantly approached her.

"Look Astrid, I know that you wanted this. I'm sor—"

Suddenly, she pulled the axe free and whirled around with a yell of pained anger and gave him a hard punch to the face. He fell back, eyes flashing with hurt, as he cried out from the pain.

Hiccup rolled over and spit some blood out of his mouth. He was utterly stunned. A surge of emotions swept over him. Astrid had never punched him before. She never really hurt him before, not like the others did. She had always refrained from doing it as much as possible, which is one of the reasons he had some hope in her, that he and she could actually be friends and maybe more. It was a childhood fantasy that flew right out the window with the punch. He was struck with disappointment and hurt. He expected her to be physical but nothing like this.

He looked up at her with wide watery eyes, scampering away from her.

Astrid was frozen in place, eyes having traces of shock as she realized what she just did. She had just hit Hiccup Haddock. She had never punched him before. That had always been more Snotlout's thing. She had considered herself better than that, knowing Hiccup was weak and wouldn't fight back. It just didn't seem right to do it when he did nothing to deserve it other than failing in his attempts to be like everyone else and being a disaster.

She had a twinge of guilt but her still ever present anger was still there, forcing her rational mind away from her. She spoked in anger.

Astrid pointed her axe at him, voice seeming a bit shaky from emotion.

"I-I hope you that dragon KILLS you tomorrow, Haddock! You deserve it! You are useless! You always screw everything up!"

She seemed to be struggling with her emotions and ran off towards the exit of the cove as the sun became only a thin line of light on the western horizon.

Hiccup whimpered as he sat up on the ground and hung his head, nursing his bruising jaw. He was fortunate to not lose any teeth.

He heard something large bounding over to him and soon felt the familiar warmth of Toothless' snout pressing against his side, silently asking him what was wrong.

Hiccup sighed defeatedly, pushing the dragon's head away lightly.

"I'm okay, bud. Just gonna have a bruise later."

Toothless growled in irritation. Clearly, he wanted to chase after the girl who had done this to his friend.

Hiccup shook his head and looked up sadly into his companion's green concerned eyes.

"No, bud. Let her go. I… kind of ruined her life's goal. She didn't mean much of what she said… Or at least, I would rather think she didn't."

He sighed.

All his doubts about leaving were swept away. All the uncertainty was vanished from his mind. He not only wanted to leave, but he now felt an innate need to. Astrid was right. He always screwed up everything. He was useless. However, the only reason why he always screwed everything up was because he was trying to fit into a tribe and culture where he didn't belong, and they were too stubborn to change. He needed to find a place, a new home, where he could convince everyone there about dragons and finally belong somewhere. The only reason why he was useless here was because he was simply not a Viking, not a true Viking at least. He didn't belong here. He had nothing left to keep him here. Maybe that was extreme, but he had made up his mind. And he wasn't going to change it.

Hiccup stumbled to his feet, ignoring Toothless' concerned warble and began to strap everything to his saddle.

Astrid's words had hit him deep. She had never said that many horrible things to him before. She wanted him dead? No, he was taking that comment too seriously. He knew she had said it more out of anger than anything else, but yet he couldn't help but feel sadness, hurt, and anger from her saying that.

Anger.

He suddenly felt a pain on his hand and he swore loudly as he dropped the dagger that he had not been aware he had been picking up the wrong way.

He shook his hand that now had a rapidly bleeding cut on it.

He felt a surge of stress and anger escape his mouth in a yell, and he yelled for all he was worth, the pitch nearly reaching a scream that would make Toothless proud. He suddenly cut off as Toothless nudged him hard in his stomach, knocking the breath out of him.

The dragon seemed very concerned about why he was yelling, thinking something had been wrong.

Hiccup sighed, rubbing his stomach and giving the Night Fury a weary reassuring smile.

"Sorry, bud. I just needed to get some stress out."

Toothless cocked his head to the side before apparently wanting to try it himself. Hiccup quickly covered his ears as the dragon released a short but loud and powerful screech.

The boy grinned at the cheeky smile the dragon gave him, reaching out a hand to pet him.

"Feels good, doesn't it, bu-? Oh, great…"

He retracted his hand just when he was about to touch the dragon, just now realizing that it was bleeding from the cut.

Hiccup clutched it to his shirt to try and stop the bleeding but then noticed that his shirt was already bloody and frowned.

"Oh, more greatness…" He grumbled, deciding to change his shirt.

He shrugged off his vest and laid it on Toothless' saddle and proceeded to pull off his shirt, smearing even more blood on it by accident.

However, just as he was doing that, he and Toothless both heard a feminine cry of panic coming towards the cove.

Hiccup yelped and somehow managed to rip his shirt in the process, eyes widening in horror.

He threw his arms in the air.

"Da DaDa! We're dead! We're dead!" He began to panic and pace around, unable to think of what to do. Should he stay and try and explain himself to whoever it was? Fat chance, considering he was with a dragon and was bleeding!

Wait! Why would that even matter, wasn't he leaving anyway?

Toothless released a loud roar that snapped Hiccup out of his panicky daze and into action.

Hiccup jumped and met the reptiles annoyed and agitated gaze that said 'What the Hel are you doing?! Let's go!'

"Oh! Oh! We got to leave! We were leaving!" He slapped his forehead with his nonbleeding hand. "Stupid! What was I thinking?!"

He hurriedly stripped himself of the torn sleeves of his now bloody and ruined tunic, except he kept one which he wrapped around his hand as he hastily climbed onto Toothless, but just his luck, as he was climbing onto the dragon, said dragon seemed to panic at the approaching person nearing the entrance to the cove and flinched away.

Hiccup fell off of him with a startled cry and landed with a 'uff!'

Toothless barked with apology at his fallen rider before hissing loudly at the entrance.

The boy's mind thought quickly as he struggled to get back up, having successfully spread more blood upon the rock behind him.

Great! This really wasn't going to look good if that person gets h—

His eyes widened.

The person was almost here!

"Toothless, blast the entrance to deter them!"

The dragon rapidly obeyed and shot a blast into the archway of said entrance, causing the rocks to fall as Hiccup heard and recognized the voice calling his name.

"HICCUP!"

He cursed as he yelled back at her in horror when he realized that she had been in the tunnel when it started to collapse.

"ASTRID!"

The rocks fell in place as Hiccup reached them still yelling her name. Toothless roared as he bounded over to his rider, who was trying to remove the rocks.

Hiccup snapped at him.

"I SAID DETER HER, NOT BURY HER ALIVE!"

The dragon clearly had no idea what was going on anymore and rolled his eyes and warbled sarcastically at the human.

Hiccup was about to yell at the dragon to help him when he heard the angelic voice from behind the blockage in clear distress.

Was she really that worried for him?

He breathed a sigh of relief but flinched as Toothless roared again.

Must this dragon keep roaring, for Thor's sake?!

Toothless looked concerned and frightened and hastily lowered himself to the ground so his shirtless rider could get on, looking like he very much wanted to get out here and never come back.

Hiccup didn't blame him, because he wanted to too.

The boy nodded to the dragon, nervously glancing to the rim of the natural bowl they were in. Astrid seemed to be trying to get over the top. He needed to get out of here.

He wanted to get out of here.

It was a mess! Of course, the gods would not let him leave that easily! They had to make this interesting, didn't they?

Hiccup mounted Toothless with a single leap and flicked the tailfin into the right position right as Toothless leapt into the air, roaring out.

Seriously, Toothless?!

They launched over the rim of the cove and straight into the dark night air, conveniently just when Astrid had made it to the top.

Hiccup grimaced when he saw her fall over after the wind gust generated by Toothless knocked her over, feeling a tad guilty and pretty sure that he just accidently faked his own death by a dragon.

But, he wasn't turning back now. So, what if they thought him dead? It's probably what most of them wanted anyway. Good riddance, they'll say. If any of them felt any grief for his 'loss,' then so be it. They deserved it for all the years of pain they caused him without a single 'I'm sorry.'

Hiccup sighed as he focused on what was ahead of him, ignoring the fleeing lights of Berk behind him.

Good bye, Berk. Not exactly how I wanted to leave you, but farewell. And, hello, world…

Present Day

Astrid gaped at Hiccup when he finished recounting what happened that night.

She blinked in utter disbelief.

"You've got to be kidding me. That's what happened?!"

Hiccup laughed as he stacked the wood for the fire.

"That's what happened. If I'm lying, I'm dying. So… I'm not lying."

Astrid moaned and buried her face in one of her hands. She couldn't believe it, but yet that's what happened. Seems crazy, probably because it is crazy, but it made sense.

She shook her head, looking up.

"Wow. I thought you got mauled and eaten by a dragon. There was all this blood. You were screaming. Dragon roaring. You really freaked me out. I felt guilty about what I said to you and was headed back to apologize." She caught the raised eyebrow of the man and glared at him. "Oh, don't give that look. Yes, I was going to apologize." She snapped.

Hiccup held up his hands in defense with a smirk.

"Okay. Okay. I'll take your word for it. The Astrid Hofferson I knew never apologized, that's all."

Astrid grew a little pale at that, biting her lip and sighing. He had a point there. A sad but true point. She needed to do this. She needed to get it off her chest. It had been six years coming. About time she said it.

"Well, I've changed. So, this Astrid is going to say 'I'm sorry.' So, I'm sorry." And looked at him with a sincere guilty look, but he held an indifferent expression. "I'm so so sorry, Hiccup. I shouldn't have done all those things to you I shouldn't have said those things to you, growing up or that night. I-I was just so jealous and angry. My life goal was taken from me, you know? I didn't take it well."

Hiccup snorted, rubbing his hand along his jaw.

"Obviously." He muttered before catching her glare and sighing with a frown, recounting all the bad things she had ever done to him.

"Sorry." He said stepping back from the prepared fire. He looked back at the woman who had her head hung low. She really did feel sorry, didn't she? His mind was alight with possibilities.

She looked up at him with sad eyes.

"I don't expect you to forgive me. You really shouldn't after everything we— I— put you through. I just needed to get it out. It has been something that has been tormenting me for years. Gods, I was so miserable…" She trailed off staring off into the distance. She remembered the time after she had made it back to the cove too late to 'save' Hiccup. She had indeed been miserable. It had been a long while until she found her old self again… well, she had changed permanently after the incident.

She had taken it upon herself to protect and defend the weak, something she hadn't done before. Everyone thought she was milder than she had been, bordering on weak in some of their minds, but she had proved to them she still had her fire when Snotlout started to praise her for a gentle and caring heart toward the weak and defenseless. That had pissed her off. How dare that boy say something like that when his cousin had fallen into the same category of the people she was standing up for and yet Snotlout made sure to make his life a living Hel?! Needless to say, Snotlout spent a couple days in the healer's hut, but that boy just didn't know how to stop. It wasn't until his father saw how violent she was getting on the matter that he had a long talk with his son about not saying such things in order to, in essence, save his life from the tempered blonde shield maiden.

Astrid closed her eyes, remembering the pain of each anniversary of the so-called death. She remembered all the not-so proud moments in her life that she had done something bad to Hiccup. Thinking back on it, it seemed like she hadn't had a soul when she participated in the teasing and bullying of the tribe's runt. No, Hiccup couldn't forgive her. He shouldn't forgive her. She didn't deserve it. To top it off, she had even wished him to be killed by a dragon and said it to his face, so when he had seemed to actually have been killed by a dragon, she had fallen into the deepest depths of guilt and despair. Perhaps that is why she felt she had changed after that? Maybe, but it still doesn't change the fact that she had done all those horrible things to him.

No… She didn't deserve his forgiveness.

That was when she heard a sigh and then…

"I forgive you."

Astrid snapped her head up at him with disbelief. Hiccup smirked at her and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, don't give me that look. Yes, I forgave you." He said cheekily.

Astrid didn't smile but only stared at him like he was crazy.

"Hiccup…" She breathed. "W-Why? I did so many bad things to you, and the things I didn't do, I didn't bother to stop, which is just as bad! I don't deserve it, Hiccup. I don't..." She trailed off when she saw the wide warm smile on his face.

Hiccup shook his head, smile widening.

"You're SO not the Astrid I knew. You've changed… a lot. And, Astrid…" He squatted down beside with a smile, careful not to get too close and make her uncomfortable. "It's a good change. I'm not mad… haven't been for a long time. So yeah, Astrid, I forgive you, and you better take my forgiveness because I will have it no other way."

Her eyes were wide as she took in what he said. She felt the relief envelop her like a warm and welcoming blanket. She felt her eyes beginning to sting but she held back the tears and just put on a big smile as she sighed with relief, feeling the burden come off of her with those magic words of his.

"Thank you…" She murmured, eyes closing.

Hiccup grinned as he wiped his hands free of any dirt they had on them after building the fire.

"Your welcome. Now, how about we get this fire started, hm?"

Astrid opened her eyes and nodded at him, shivering slightly from the cold that had descended upon them with the darkness.

"Fire sounds good right now

She watched him walk over to Toothless and scratched the reptile's chin.

"Will you do the honors, bud?"

The dragon seemed to not look too happy about being disrupted from his relaxation to do such a simple activity such as lighting a fire but he relented.

Astrid was struck by confusion.

The honors? The honors for wha- SON OF A HALF-TROLL!

Her heart skipped a beat as the dragon had quite unexpectedly and suddenly fired a short burst of blue flame into the prepared stack of wood logs. She was breathing heavily and heart was racing. She really had not been prepared for that.

"Uh, Astrid?" It was Hiccup's voice but it sounded weird and nervous.

She blinked as she looked at him to see what was wrong but only to see him turned away, shielding his eyes from her.

And that was when she realized…

"OH GODS!"

She snatched the blanket that had fallen in her fright, which had left the upper half of her feminine body exposed, and clasped it over her, face going a deep red.

Oh Thor, strike me dead. Hiccup just saw my breasts….

"I-I really need those clothes…" Her voice was barely over a hushed whisper when she spoke.

Hiccup nodded awkwardly, still turned away.

"Um, I will finish them right now. How about that? Yeah, now sounds good. Okay, so duly noted that you don't like Toothless' way of starting a campfire. Note to self: don't do cool stuff in front of Astrid or she might expose herself to—"

"Hiccup! Just make the damn clothes!"

"Err, good idea… Yeah, I-I'll just… do that."

Astrid was dozing by the fire, a blanket wrapped tightly around her body while she sat on the log. She still couldn't believe Hiccup was still alive. She had believed for so long that he had perished by that of a dragon. Since then, she had come to terms with his demise. She had made her peace with it and continued to grow up. After his death, she had felt many things. One thing in particular confused her. When she thought that Hiccup died, it felt like her heart had been shot by an arrow. It felt like something had been taken away from her before she even realized what she had.

And now, she just found out that Hiccup was alive and well and was a dragon rider? That confusing feeling was creeping back into her. The same feeling that made her feel like she had lost something before she knew what that something was.

She watched the flames dance around in the fire. She couldn't remember the last time she had sat by a campfire like this. All the fire she seemed to have ever known was that from dragon attacks and raids by Berk's enemies. Now, she was sitting next to fire on a peaceful night with someone who she had thought was dead for years and his dragon companion. Could it get any different?

She heard Hiccup let out a sigh and looked across the fire pit to see him examining his handiwork.

He grinned at her.

"Well, it isn't my best work, but it will do until we get you some real clothes. Here, take them behind Toothless and get changed. I will turn the other way to give you some privacy, and Toothless?" The reptile gave no indication that he was awake or that he heard the man besides a snort of acknowledgement. "No, peeking either, bud."

Another snort, this time a slight sarcastic tone to it as if to say 'Oh really? No, I was going turn and stare at her. Of course, I won't peek!'

Or at least, that's what Astrid pictured him saying.

Astrid got up, making sure to keep a hand on her chest, securing the wool blanket she had wrapped around her body. She got a little anxious when she approached Hiccup, but she managed to grab the shirt and leggings from him before retreating a short distance.

"Thanks."

Once she turned away, she scolded herself for being so scared of him. All he was doing was trying to help. She had no reason to think that he would try anything even remotely close to what those Outcasts put her through. She shuddered just thinking about it. No, she preferred Hiccup by far. He was the one who saved her after all, but she couldn't help but feel wary. He had led her and the entire village to believe that he had died and seemed perfectly content with keeping it that way. He changed over these six years. The boy Astrid once knew wasn't necessarily the man who he had become. In all sense, this Hiccup, this grown up Hiccup, was almost a stranger to her.

Astrid walked around to the other side of the sleeping dragon and looked back to see that Hiccup was sitting, facing the other way, but the hulking form of the dragon provided enough cover anyway.

She let the blanket about her fall, exposing her feminine form. She shivered as the cool air hit her bare white skin and winced at the slight pain that emanated from the gash that crossed her front. She definitely will get a scar from it.

She had grown more these six years. Her body now was more mature, muscles toned to perfection and every inch of her skin stretched taunt over them. Did she know she was a beautiful woman? Yes, she did and loved it, but she also despised it. Many a man, including Snotlout had tried to gain her hand in marriage. Fortunately, her parents were very understanding and sympathized with her warrior spirit. They promised to never accept any marriage contract that she didn't consent to. Which she was extremely thankful for, since Snotlout seems to be unwilling to stop until he has her as his wife. If that happened—and it shouldn't- , she was pretty certain that she would kill him at the wedding ceremony… if it got that far. Hel, she probably would kill him the moment she figured out that the contract had been accepted and then probably scream at her parents with as much thunder and power that Thor himself might wilt under her scolding.

Astrid smiled at that, absentmindedly rubbing at the bandage on her chest. She stopped when she realized that it may irritate the wound and that she had been standing in the open naked for way too long than she should have been comfortable with.

She had a sudden thought of Hiccup turning around to see what was wrong and blushed deeply as she quickly unfolded the first article of clothing. She didn't want to risk Hiccup seeing her naked. It would be just too awkward. Way too awkward and downright embarrassing.

Astrid slipped on the baggy leggings that had been adjusted to fit her nicely. She then slipped the tunic over her head, grimacing at pain stretching her wound caused but sighing with relief when the tunic was finally on. The tunic was loose on her frame. Hiccup had made it from a large section of cloth that he happened to have with him in case of emergencies. She wasn't sure what emergencies would need a big piece of fabric, but she was thankful that he had it because she didn't want to go without clothes.

Astrid breathed a sigh of relief. She felt a sense comfort knowing that she was covered. It made her feel less vulnerable, which was a great relief after what she had been through.

She gathered up the blanket and went to join Hiccup by the fire. He was busy roasting some fish over it. Seeing the two fish made her mouth water. She hadn't eaten for three days.

Hiccup looked up at her when she approached and raised an eyebrow.

"How do they fit?"

Astrid walked to over to the log he was sitting at and sat on the opposite end.

"Yeah, they're alright. Thank you. I don't know how I can repay you for this, for all of this. You saved me. You treated my wounds. Y-You made me clothes. I don't know how I—"

Hiccup interrupted her with a dismissing wave of his hand.

"Just a 'Thank You' will be good, Astrid. You don't owe me anything."

Astrid gave him a smile and turned back to the fire. She really couldn't believe how nice he was to her after all the things she had done to him growing up. She still couldn't wrap her head around that he was still alive after all these years. She shook her head in disbelief.

"I still can't believe that you're alive. Wait until the village sees you. They are going to freak out." She smiled at the thought of what Ruffnut's expression would be like when she sees how much Hiccup has changed.

No response.

She noticed Hiccup's silence and turned to see him frowning at the fire. She gave him a confused look. Was it something she said?

"Hiccup?

He didn't respond for a moment, but when he did, his voice was soft but stern.

"I'm not going back to Berk."

Astrid looked at him stunned.

"Why not? Don't you want to see your father?"

Hiccup laughed and shook his head, looking into her blue eyes like she was crazy.

"Yeah, can you imagine how that will work? 'Hey, dad, I didn't die all those years ago. Oh, and I'm friends with a Night Fury.'"

He adopted a deep tone to his voice as he impersonated his father, moving his arms comically to his voice. Astrid was disappointed by this reaction but couldn't help the amused grin that pulled at the corners of her mouth at the sight of him imitating his father.

"'Oh, wow, son. I'm soooo proud of you. I don't mind that you are friends with a dragon. They aren't violent creatures intent on destroying us. Everything is just fine.'" Hiccup chuckled with a smile but then sighed and all of that cheeriness was replaced by a grim expression and serious tone. "Yeah, I don't think it will be that simple. Besides, I like my life. Why should I go back?" He asked to no one in particular as he stared into the fire and threw a stick into it.

"There isn't anything left for me on Berk." He finished.

Astrid looked back at the fire, disappointed at his remarks, but she knew he had a valid point. How would his father react? Stoic finding out that his son is alive will already be an emotional blow. How will he respond to the fact that his son has also befriended a dragon and now rides him? She could only imagine his reaction after what happened to Hiccup's mother. She had a hard time thinking that Hiccup's father would take it lightly…but they are father and son. There should be no reason that Hiccup shouldn't try. He just needed to take it a step at a time to soften the blow.

She looked up at Hiccup to see his head resting in his hands, elbows propped up on his knees. She suddenly had a concerned thought.

"Hiccup, what have you been doing all this time? Six years is a long time to be alone."

He scoffed and looked at her with a grin.

"Who says I've been alone?"

Astrid rolled her eyes but then looked at him with concern.

"Yeah, Yeah, your dragon friend and all, but I mean besides him. I think you have spent too much time away from people… W-Why are you laughing?"

Astrid raised an eyebrow and glared at the chuckling young man seated at the opposite end of the log. Hiccup looked at her with amused eyes.

"I appreciate the concern, Astrid, but I don't think you need to worry about me being lonely."

He grinned with amusement at her confused face and explained.

"When I left, I searched for a new home for me and Toothless, and I found it. I've been living there ever since. I've made friends, Astrid… Gods, you didn't think I was some traveling hermit who has been living amongst dragons for the past six years, have you?"

She just gaped at him. Friends? New home?

"Wait, you mean you have friends that you have not told me about?! Who?! Where?! When did you meet them?! How long?!"

Hiccup shook his head with a grin before standing up and walking over to one of the pouches on the saddle, next to which lay the tail rig.

When he came back over, he was carrying a leather-bound book. He sat back down closer to her, causing her to subconsciously flinch at his presence, but she could tell that it was a sketchbook of some sort and ignored her unease to shuffle closer to him so that she was sitting shoulder to shoulder to him.

"What's this?"

"My Sketch Journal. It has everything that I have sketched in the past 6 years and even before I left. See. This is my first concept of the rig I built for Toothless' prosthetic tailfin."

Astrid looked at the charcoal drawn sketch on the paper. She had seen him making sketches all the time back at Berk but now regretted not taking interest in them before he left. She was impressed by how detailed and clean it was. It was obvious that Hiccup had an artistic skill. As he flipped through the book, she saw a couple of amazingly realistic and detailed sketches of the very same dragon that was snoring behind them. One such sketch showed the dragon's playful side. It showed the reptile rolling around in a patch of grass, trying to catch a butterfly. Another sketch depicted the Night Fury frowning as what appeared to be a group of Terrible Terrors climbed all over him. One of the little dragons was perched directly on the top of the black dragon's head, seemingly unaware that the larger dragon was casting a glare up at it.

Astrid couldn't suppress a snicker as she looked back at the reptile. She would never think a dragon could be so gentle and playful. Maybe there were more to these beasts than met the eye after all.

Hiccup nudged her with a grin, bringing her attention back to the sketchbook.

"You were wondering where I've been? Well, this is the humble village of Dale. It is on the far northeastern edge of the archipelago. It's secluded and better yet, the small amount of people living there were easy to convince about dragons, especially after I gained their trust by saving the chief's daughter."

Astrid was intrigued to see a sketch of an overlook of a village perched at the top of a tall hill next to a cliff face that plunged to the water below. The hill sloped down gently to a single dock where two ships were moored. The island was positioned close to another. Trees filled the opposite end from the village. The large island next to the one that held the village was densely forested. In the background of the sketch, a sunset was depicted, making the landscape seem so peaceful when coupled with the mist that hung across it. If the village was as peaceful as it looked, Astrid could understand why Hiccup wasn't so ready to just leave it behind.

"You've been living there? And they have no problems with your dragon friend?"

Hiccup laughed as he jabbed a thumb back at Toothless.

"Are you kidding? Toothless here is the official guardian of the village… As if his ego wasn't already inflated." He added.

There was a snort from the supposedly sleeping dragon, and an eye opened to glare at the man.

Astrid grinned as she looked at him.

"I think he heard you."

Hiccup chuckled as he removed the fish from the fire and set them aside to cool.

"I'm sure he didn't. Cause that will be eavesdropping, and no one likes an eavesdropper, especially when they are a big lazy reptile who likes to sleep all day. Isn't that right, b- OW!"

Astrid couldn't help a burst of laughter as Toothless whacked his master upside the head with his tail, knocking Hiccup to the ground. The reptile chortled with amused laughter of his own as he got up and stretched his limbs.

Astrid stopped laughing as soon as she saw the extent of the dragon's intimidating form. He wasn't the biggest of all the dragon's but it was obvious that his body was built for speed and maneuverability. His black scales blended into the shadows of the woods behind him. She could see why a Night Fury was never seen. He was the color of night and looked capable of reaching immense speeds for lightning attacks. By the time you realized the dragon attacked, it would already be far away and charging up another blast.

Toothless extended his wings to their fullest, making Astrid's eyes widen.

Now that… is a wingspan. Wow.

The dragon warbled something to Hiccup.

The young man grinned but shook his head.

"Sorry, bud. No flying tonight. We'll go tomorrow. We need to get Astrid home anyways."

Astrid eyes wide eyes got wider and flicked towards the man, stunned. She didn't know if the mentioning of flying aboard a dragon or returning home was more frightening… No, home was safe. She wanted to go home. Yes, that's it, right? She wanted—

"No!" She found herself yelling on impulse before she could stop herself, breathing quickly, eyes widening still further.

Hiccup blinked in surprise, green eyes peering with confusion and amazement at the distressed woman next to him.

"Uh… What?"

Astrid released a shaky sigh while she scolded herself for saying what she said. Why did she say that? The truth was… she already knew the answer. She was afraid and disturbed. She wasn't ready.

She gulped as she looked back at him.

"I-I don't want to go home… not yet…"

Hiccup noticed her haunted look as she turned her attention back to the fire. He frowned with concern as he picked up one of the skewered fish and gently nudged her with his hand.

She flinched a bit at the contact but relaxed when she saw the fish.

Astrid gave him a grateful smile and accepted the meal.

She kept taking glances at him as they ate.

He is so nice and kind. He acted the same as he did years ago, a little awkward and sarcastic at times, but there was something else. He looked different. That is obvious, but this wasn't about the changes that happened when he grew up since the last time she saw him. No, he looked older in the way you do when you have experienced many things that have since become a part of who you are.

That was when she started to notice the scars. She noticed a particularly defined and large scar on his chest when his shirt fell away from it as he leaned forward to stoke the fire more.

She gaped at Hiccup. What happened to him?! That scar was… wow. How did he get it?! She was too afraid to ask, fearing that it wasn't something he liked to talk about.

Astrid noticed his sketchbook laying closed between them. The answer had to be inside that book somewhere. She noticed when he was flipping through it that it also acted as a journal, inscriptions of runes documenting different events of his life, like when he was sketching Toothless he would write a little commentary about what was happening. The book was obviously a treasured possession of his. It was a bit worn from use. It had been carefully wrapped in leather. She also suspected that the book didn't exist for the whole six years. It must be a collection of different sketches from a variety of different origins, from scrap paper to pages extracted from other books.

It was a scrapbook. Yes, that was it. It is a scrapbook. It held memories. Perhaps, memories of everything that happened to him in the past six years?

Astrid was filled with curiosity and hesitantly started to reach for the book only for a certain dragon to thrust his big scaly head between the two humans, blocking her path and scaring her… yet again… in the process.

She gasped at the sudden action from Toothless who was now nuzzling a laughing Hiccup but quickly relaxed.

The dragon had his mouth open playfully, not a tooth to be seen. That reminded her…

Hiccup reached into a basket and pulled out a fish.

Astrid smiled and leaned over so that she could make eye contact with Hiccup on the other side of the head.

"So, I thought all dragons had teeth. Why doesn't he have any? I didn't expect the most feared dragon in the world to not have—OH THOR ALMIGHTY!"

Toothless' teeth flashed out in a dangerous manner and snapped around the fish that Hiccup had been dangling in in front of him.

Hiccup smirked at the shocked woman now recoiling in "slight" panic from the dragon, eyes nearly perfect circles with how wide they got.

"That answer your question, milady?"

Astrid started to laugh a bit in shock and awe at what she just witnessed and Hiccup's joke. She had her hand placed over her rapidly beating heart as she sat back up again.

"S-So his teeth retract?"

Hiccup gave her a nod, beaming at her interest.

"Yeah, it's why I called him Toothless. Pretty cool, huh? There is so many things about dragons that you don't know about… For example."

Hiccup began scratching a spot on the dragon's neck and instantly Toothless began to lull his tongue out. His back leg began to twitch.

Astrid laughed.

"So, you can make a dragon look adorable. So what?"

Hiccup grinned and held up a finger and shifted his hand to scratch Toothless' jaw and then cheek. The dragon froze for a moment before his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and his head collapsed onto the portion of the log between them, motionless.

Astrid's eyebrows raised in surprise as she cautiously prodded the reptile's head. She began to grin like she hadn't grinned before in a long time, filled with child-like curiosity and excitement.

"Okay, how did you do that? He's sound asleep. Wh—How—How? Gods. Okay, have to admit. That was pretty cool."

And hot- Shut Up!

Hiccup smiled.

"Depending on the type of dragon, if you scratch them in a specific way, you can get them to fall asleep. Like. That." He snapped his fingers for emphasis.

Astrid shook her head with a smile.

"Wow… You know? He is like a big kitten when he isn't attacking people… I maybe crazy but… I'm starting to believe what you say about dragons. I mean if a Night Fury acts like this. I wonder how other dragons act..."

Hiccup was staring back into the fire, looking thoughtful. He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it only to open it again while turning back to Astrid.

He sounded hesitant but hopeful.

"You know, uh… I could… I could take you back to Dale and teach you a few things, if you want."

Astrid was speechless. She felt her heart soar but also sink at the same time. The offer was tempting, but the thought of stepping so far out of her own life at Berk and into Hiccup's new one seemed a bit… weird. It felt weird. This was the same boy who she thought had died six years ago, and she just found out he was alive shortly before sunset, not too long ago.

He was almost a complete stranger to her after those six years, but yet the offer was very tempting. She didn't want to go back to Berk right away, but yet being so far away from home seemed daunting. She had been kidnapped from her home by a group of vile Vikings during a raid. She had been abused. She had nearly been rap… No, she didn't want to think of that word. She didn't want to think of any of the events of the past couple days. So much had happened in such a short amount of time and had left her wounded in both heart and mind as well as body. She needed time to adjust, but did she really need to travel so far away from home to do so?

She wondered what her parents would be thinking, what her little brother would be thinking. She knew they will be worried. She knew that the longer she was away the longer their pain would endure. She wondered if her chief would launch a search for her at their request. Actually, she knew he would. He had been treating her like the daughter he never had for a while now. Sometimes she wondered if he was going to make her heir instead of Snotlout. But she wasn't ready to be found. She wasn't ready to go back. She had felt violated— No, not felt. She had been violated, though thankfully not in the worst way possible, and returning now would only make her extremely uncomfortable. She knew that they would want to know everything that happened to her, but she knew that she would not be able to tell them without seeming weak and broken.

Maybe she was broken… If she was, that would be even more of a reason not to return right away. She needed some time to heal and recover. She needed a distraction.

Hiccup's offer provided that distraction. Instead of the focus being on her, the focus would be on him and his life, but could she really go with him to a place full of strangers and find peace?

Astrid breathed an uncertain sigh before looking back at Hiccup who was patiently waiting for a response. She gave him a small smile.

"It's tempting, Hiccup. I really want to know how you beat me in Dragon Training. But, I don't know…" She looked away with a sad look. "I have a lot to think about. I mean I just found out you were still alive not too long ago, and after what happened to me…" Her voice trailed off before coming to a conclusion. "Just let me sleep on it."

Hiccup gave her a reassuring smile, and Astrid had a strange feeling that he knew what she was feeling and was willing to help. He stretched his arms.

"You don't have to decide tonight, but I don't have all the time in the world to wait for you. You have till noon tomorrow to decide. I need to get back to Eira… uh... n-nevermind. I have been away from Dale too long, that's all. Three days to be exact. I wasn't expecting to retaliate against the Outcasts upon hearing about that raid on Berk, and I definitely didn't think I would be saving your life either." He gave her a grin before walking over to get something from the saddle bag. "Anyways, get some rest. We'll decide on what to do in the morning."

Astrid looked at him quizzically for a moment before nodding. She was wondering how he knew she was being held prisoner, but it seemed that he hadn't known after all. He must have been in the area, heard about the raid, decided to get a little revenge, and by coincidence saw her and saved her. Regardless, he saved her. Hiccup saved her. She felt indebted to him now as strange as that sounded. Her indebted to Hiccup.

She began to get up to begin to get situated for bed when Hiccup's sketchbook caught her eye.

It was laying on the ground, knocked over by Toothless' intrusion. It was opened to a spot towards the middle of the book. There was a highly-detailed picture of a teenaged girl with long flowing dark hair and gleaming eyes. She seemed to be smiling at the artist with one of the most kind and caring looks that Astrid had ever seen depicted in a drawing. The girl was sitting on a rock at the top of a cliff. Behind her was the calm ocean and a setting sun with traces of a forest to the right side of the sketch. The girl's knees were brought up to her chest with her arms curled around them. She was smiling at the sketcher. Her Kransen restrained hair and dress seemed to be blowing in a light wind.

Astrid found herself leaning forward to pick up the book to get a better look at the sketch when Hiccup beat her to it. His haste startled her as he quickly snapped close the book and clutched it to his chest.

He sounded a bit nervous, eyes glinting with panic as he blushed a bit.

"W-We should probably get some rest, don't you think? Long day tomorrow."

Astrid blinked in surprise and confusion, head ablaze with questions about what she just observed, but she managed to mutter out an agreement and went back to the pile of furs and blankets and brought a few closer to the fire. She laid down on them and pulled the wool blankets over her as she laid back in the bunched-up furs that acted as a pillow.

Hiccup took a spot on the opposite side of the campfire by the sleeping dragon.

Astrid rolled over and noticed him staring at something in the book while fiddling with something on his left leg. She couldn't see what it was on his leg, but she felt like she was prying now. He seemed to have a glint in his eye like he was thinking about something… or someone.

She felt guilty watching him during what seemed to be a personal moment for the man, so she rolled onto her back and stared up at the night sky above her, pondering what she learned in the past day.

Hiccup's alive. He has a dragon companion. Dragons aren't what they're believed to be, and much more.

And then there is that sketch of that girl. Who was she?

Astrid's mind traveled back to that slipup he made. 'Eira'? Who is Eira? She knew that whoever they were, they were probably a girl or woman. Could Eira be the girl in the sketch? Why did Hiccup want to keep her secret? Wait… Did Hiccup have a girlfriend?

She looked across the fire at him, dumbfounded. The possibility of Hiccup being in love hadn't crossed her mind. Well, she knew he had had a crush on her back at Berk. It was kind of hard not to notice that, but him being in love with someone else?

The more Astrid thought about it the more she realized just how little she knew about Hiccup.

Astrid knew it wasn't her business to meddle with his past, but she was filled by curiosity about what happened in his life during the past six years, why he never came back to Berk, why he was being secretive about this Eira, why he was trying to hide the sketch of the girl in the book. She wanted to know who Hiccup Haddock the Third really was, what man he had become.

Perhaps I should go with him to this Dale place. Not only will it distract me from what… from what happened but I may learn more about him along the way. I want to meet this Eira. She has to be his girlfriend, right? It makes since, but still… Hiccup having a girlfriend? It's all too surreal. If he does, I'm proud for him, but if he doesn't, that would make him single and free… Oh Gods, I think I feel attracted to him. I never found anybody attractive before! First time for everything, right?

With that she allowed herself to fall asleep, which was curiously peaceful compared to the other times she fell asleep in the past four days.

Who are you Hiccup Haddock? What happened these last six years?

And scene...

So what do you think? I have no idea how good I am going to be with you HTTYD readers. I hope I captured the world of HTTYD right. To be honest, I've only watched a measly portion of the TV shows. I know I feel bad! But I just don't have time to go and watch them all. Besides, I personally find the movies to be of better quality myself, but that is just me.

Anyways, like this concept? It is not a new AU idea. You know. The whole 'Hiccup leaves before he has to kill Nightmare' idea is nothing new, but I hope I have stirred your interests as to just what happened the past six years in Hiccup's life as well as Astrid's, though the story is going to be focused on Hiccup's past. So, prepare yourself for lots of flashbacks in the future!

Now, depending on the amount of attention this story gets, I might not update often... Actually, I won't update often. I currently am hard at work at Zootopia fanfiction and will continue to give them my primary attention.

Another reason for the 'not going to update often' situation is because of the length of the chapters that I am planning on writing. I mean this chapter was a monstrosity compared to the length of the chapters in my other stories! Around 18k words! Woah...

Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed and have some interest in this, as I think it will be a wonderful story filled with humor, angst, love, and drama!

That's the plan. I know. Not too much of a plan, but hey, I have a vision in mind for this story and I'll see how long it takes me. Good grief... I wouldn't be surprised if it takes me years to get done with this thing. I got to learn to stop making new projects for myself before I completed my current ones! But where's the fun in that? Why make it easier on myself? Geez...

Any who,

Until Next Time!

StoryCrusader