Chapter 1:

This story just came to me, and I just had to write it down! The story is set either during or after Defenders of Berk, and focuses on the dragons as well as Hiccup and Astrid's relationship. This is my first fan fiction.

Life on Berk is never dull. Whenever one adventure ends, another begins.

And you can never be sure what's waiting for you around the corner.

Hiccup was in his room with Toothless. He had been letting his mind wander, and his attention had turned to Astrid, his girlfriend.

Hiccup was the first to admit that he was head over heels, well HEEL, in love with her. The only problem was that he had never been able to gather up the courage to tell her that. He had been trying to find the right opportunity to talk to her, just the two of them alone, without any of the other teens butting in. But whenever he came close to actually getting the chance to speak with her, it was always with a witness or two.

Toothless could tell that something was bothering his trainer. He had been sitting at the table in his room, looking at his drawings indifferently. The Night Fury cautiously walked up to his friend, and nudged him gently. Hiccup turned and looked at his friend. The Night Fury gave him a curious look as if to say, "What's bothering you?" Hiccup sighed.

"Toothless," Hiccup said, "I can't stop thinking about Astrid. I really like her, and I want to tell her that, but somehow I just can't. It's never just the two of us, there's always someone butting in and making things hard for me, no offense. I just want to spend some time with her." Toothless just sat and listened, feeling sorry for his friend for not being able to tell the love of his life that he loved her. Yes, LOVED her. Hiccup had said that he liked her, but he didn't want Toothless to know how much he really cared for Astrid. Even though Toothless was his best friend.

Hiccup sat still and quiet for a while before an idea suddenly sprang into his mind. What if Astrid and I went to Dragon Island together? There aren't any people there who will interrupt us, and I was planning on going there to explore anyway! That might give me the perfect opportunity to tell her that I love her.

It was true; Dragon Island was pretty much deserted, since most of the dragons had come to live at the village. Yet, there were still many things to be discovered about the island, in case of a new dragon that needed to be trained.

Hiccup turned to Toothless, a big smile on his face. "Hey Toothless," he said, "What if Astrid and Stormfly came with us to Dragon Island, huh?" Toothless looked at Hiccup as if he were crazy. "That way we won't be lonely," Hiccup explained, hiding the fact that it was in his mind, a date, "And if we need help, they can, well, help us." Toothless tilted his head and looked at the ceiling, obviously thinking about what Hiccup had suggested. After a while, he looked back at Hiccup and nodded. "Great!" Hiccup said, "We'll ask them if they want to go in the morning."

Toothless nodded again, and then bounded onto his bed. He scorched the surface of the bed and then lay down on the hot surface. Hiccup smiled as he watched his friend settle in for the night. He looked back at one of his drawings. It was a hand-drawn picture of Astrid. It had taken him a long time to perfect it, and it was one of his best. It looked almost realistic. Hiccup's smile widened at the thought of the two of them, hopefully spending time with each other on the dragons' old island home. Of course, they would need their dragons to get there.

Hiccup then stood up and made way to his own bed, catching a backward glance at the drawing of Astrid while doing so.

The next morning, Hiccup woke up early to go and ask Astrid if she wanted to go to Dragon Island with him. He found her outside her house with Stormfly, her Deadly Nadder. He stood at a distance, watching the two of them together. Astrid was feeding Stormfly a basket full of fish, with the occasional chicken drumstick. The chicken seemed to have a strange effect on Stormfly, increasing her speed when flying. Astrid had used this to try to beat Hiccup and Toothless when they raced. There had been a few times when she and Stormfly came close to winning, but the Night Fury would pull ahead at the last second.

After watching the two for a while, Hiccup slowly approached, remembering that Stormfly can be very protective of her rider. Stormfly was the first to notice him as he approached. Astrid noticed Stormfly, and turned in the direction Stormfly was looking. She smiled when she saw Hiccup approaching them.

"So, what's up?" she asked when Hiccup had reached them. "Well, you know how Toothless and I were planning on exploring the dragons' island?" Hiccup asked. "Yeah, why?" Astrid asked. "Well...I was wondering if maybe you and Stormfly would like to go with us, you know to sort of...help out?" Hiccup said, a little nervous at the thought of Astrid's response. "Sure," said Astrid, "we'd love to come with you guys, right Stormfly?" The Nadder nodded and made a warbling sound. "Really?" Hiccup asked, trying to hide his excitement. "Yeah," Astrid said. Hiccup couldn't remember a time he had been so excited. Astrid had said yes. To him! He did his best to make sure he didn't burst with excitement.

"OK, so...tomorrow then?" Hiccup asked calmly. "Sure, tomorrow sounds nice," Astrid replied. "OK," Hiccup said simply. He then realized that this could be the time to talk to Astrid and confess his feelings. But he had already decided to do it when they had the chance to talk on Dragon Island. "So, I guess I'll...see you later then," Hiccup said. Astrid nodded, "Yeah, see you."

Hiccup then turned and walked away, occasionally catching a backward glance of Astrid as he did so. When he was sure that he was far enough away that she couldn't see or hear him, he burst with overflowing excitement. "Yes! She said yes! I can't believe it!" He then turned and noticed that Toothless was looking at him, his green eyes narrowed, and he seemed to be smiling. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Hiccup asked. Toothless seemed to shrug as he continued to give his friend the look.

What do you think? Is it good, or can it use some improvement? Leave a review, and I'll update as soon as I can!