Hi everyone :) First, I just want to thank you for your patience (and for all those reviews! I've just been beaming from each and everyone!) Now, this did take a lot longer than expected I completely understand, it wasn't meant to be this way - but fate had a rather cruel surprise for me last week and left me quite uninspired to do much at all.

It seems I foreshadowed my own future when I wrote and published "A Downed Dragon"(so, I guess this will teach me not to write sad fics)because I was forced to say goodbye to my own best four legged friend of almost thirteen years last week. My puppy dog was taken from life rather abruptly and it upset me rather deeply -so that was partial reason for my absence.

So... replies :)

erifetim: I... I... *leaps into screen to give you massive hug* You have no idea how happy reading this made me! Thank you so much - I'm actually amazed in general how many people like this story and its character, but this review just topped the cake and made it unbelievably real! Thank you!

Anonymous: Aw, stop! You're making me blush! I'm actually writing a book of my own anyway XD With plenty of dragons, of course.

awesomepep101: Ayeee :D So happy to read this review! Thank you! And don't worry, we will be seeing more of what you wish to see concerning Astrid and Tryggr... sometime. Not gonna say when XD

Da0Boss0x: I wish i could update more often! Believe me! I do! But life just has a tendancy to get in the way :P (grumblgrumblestupidworkhatemyjobgrumblegrumble)

Hotrod 333: I actually explained this before, but don't worry. Well, Tryggr's full name is Tryggr Ferocious Haddock (the first :P), but I'm assuming you'd just like the pronounciation of his first name. I researched into it, and I'm 95% sure it's pronounced as "tree" and "ger" (as in tiger) put together quickly.

SanctuaryInMusic: *falls out of chair* alert! another happy feeling review* happiness of author overload! This is so cool! Thank you :)

And now, enough chit chat. Read on!

Chapter Seven

"What's it gonna be?"

"What do you mean, love?"

"The baby."

"I don't know. No one can know for sure until it comes."

"What do you think it'll be?"

"What's with all the questions, all of a sudden?"

Hiccup only replied with a small shrug before he leant over again, pressing himself over the armrest of his mother's armchair and continued to watch her stitch the distorted cloth. She had explained it would soon be turned into a toy, but he could not see the proper shape of it just yet. Truthfully, he was not too sure why he was asking so many questions now – but the due time was edging closer and closer with every day. He was beginning to get excited and nervous at the same time.

"Well, I don't care what it will be. In the end, I just want a healthy and happy babe; don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess. I hope it's a boy, though. I really want a little brother!"

His mother smirked. "And if you get a sister instead?"

He shrugged again. "That'll be okay, I guess. I just want to be a good big brother. Snotlout said that I wouldn't be as good as him with Adelaide."

"Well, you're not Snotlout with Adelaide, are you now? You're Hiccup, and you're going to have your own little brother or sister to look after."

"And protect. Just like Dad says I should do!"

"Exactly, love." She paused her stitching and laid it down over her producing belly. She turned in her seat slightly to face Hiccup better and gave him a smile, the sort of smile that made him feel that they had their own secret world between them that no one would ever know of. "And between you and me, you'll be a much more amazing big brother than Snotlout ever will."

"Really?"

"Really." With that, she placed a quick kiss on his forehead.

Hiccup awoke in a sleepy daze, almost completely unaware of his surroundings. He tried to grasp onto and remember the dream he had been having, but it was quickly slipping from his mind with every second he spent awake. After about a minute, he gave up – although he was still sure there had been a kiss of sorts… he hoped he had not been having that dream about Astrid again.

He was also becoming quickly aware of an ache in his back and neck that refused to go away, unlike his dream, and he shifted around trying to get rid of it. He realised he was still sitting upright in Tryggr's bed, and still holding onto his sleeping little brother. He must have been too worried watching the boy after he drifted into sleep after listening to his improvised story about the dragon who lost his wings. He could not have helped it; Tryggr's breath had been too rattled and uneven for his liking.

Hiccup was overall amazed that he had not been woken up in the middle of the night. His heart clenched at the realisation. It could either mean something very good, or very bad; and he had a horrid feeling it was the latter.

After releasing a wide yawn, Hiccup moved to place his hand on Tryggr's forehead to feel his temperature. He retracted almost immediately with a gasp. He was hot. Too hot and too pale and too flushed all at the same time.

"Tiger?" Hiccup murmured softly, giving Tryggr a firm shake. He had to wake him up, and he had to do it now. "C'mon, kiddo. Up we get."

It took much longer than Hiccup liked, and even with the boy's eyes slowly fluttering open and closed with each shake, he seemed completely dead to the world around him. At last, Hiccup managed to wake him completely, but his worry only increased. Tryggr's normally bright eyes were glazed over with sickness. He gave a rather rough sounding cough and moaned. "Wanna sleep…"

Hiccup swallowed. "Okay, it's okay. Just keep on resting," he said quietly, but quickly, petting the top of Tryggr's head reassuringly. "I'll be back in a moment, okay?"

"M'kay…" Within seconds, the child had dozed off again, but not before releasing another chest racking cough, practically tearing into Hiccup own chest just with its sound alone.

Hiccup slid off the bed. "Okay, okay, okay," he muttered under his breath, trying to calm his panic as he slipped on his boots. He needed to get help. He needed to get help fast. But he could not leave Tryggr. No. He was too sick. Hiccup could not leave him on his own. Not again. Not again…

He practically slid down the stairs just to get down them quick enough and nearly ran head first into the door before he could even tear it open. He stood there on the front step, trying to keep his breathing steady and calm – but it was slowly failing. Tryggr was sick, he was really, really sick, his little brother was sick…

Out of the corner of his eye, Hiccup spotted another risen Viking making their way up to the Great Hall and felt relief for an instant second before his stomach plummeted. It was Fishlegs. Gods, when had he last even talked to his old childhood friend? He shook his head. Now was not the time to fear about past or future; well, on one future anyhow.

"Fishlegs!" Hiccup yelled, trying to catch the larger boy's attention.

Fishlegs yelped at the sudden sound and spun around, his eyes widening at the sight of Hiccup hanging outside of his door. "Oh… hey, Hiccup! What's going-"

"Fishlegs, please! I need you to get a healer!" Hiccup begged, his gaze rapidly switching between the teen and upwards towards his and Tryggr's loft. He had to get back…

Fishlegs' eyes widened. "Why? What's wrong?"

"It's Tryggr! He's… he's really sick! Please, Fishlegs! Just find me a healer!"

Hiccup was beyond relieved when Fishlegs turned and ran off towards the healer hut without another word; but it was only short lived before he heard loud coughing from upstairs again. Racing on all four limbs, he dashed madly back up the stairs only to find Tryggr leaning over the side of his bed, still hacking.

"I don't feel well," he moaned, clutching at his stomach.

Hiccup paled. Oh no…

He made it to his brother's side just in time before the child proceeded to vomit all over the floor. He could not do anything put rub Tryggr's back soothingly and comfortingly until it was all over, but the sight just made his heart clench. He could not ever recall a time his little brother had been this unwell since he was about two and had come down with a particularly bad fever; and even then he could not do anything. He hated these moments. He hated being so powerless.

"See what happens when you don't listen to your wise, old brother?" Hiccup tried to joke, hoping to bring some sort of smile onto Tryggr's face. There was no such luck. The child only whimpered and curled up against his side, burying his face into Hiccup's fur vest. Hiccup noticed with a frown that he was also shivering, and so he pulled up the blankets over Tryggr's curled form in attempts to stop it.

There was a loud and rapid series of knocks from the door downstairs, capturing both boys' attention. "Who's that?" asked Tryggr, giving a loud sniff afterwards.

"Hopefully the healer," murmured Hiccup in reply, quickly petting the top of Tryggr's head comfortingly. "I asked Fishlegs to bring one up here for you."

"Don't wanna see the healer," groaned Tryggr.

Hiccup sighed and tried not to roll his eyes. He supposed he understood though; most kids were afraid of healers and their strange tasting medicines, some especially more than others if they had the unfortunate chance to watch one perform a quick surgery on the battlefield. Tales enough were scary on their own.

"You have to, Tiger. You're really sick."

Tryggr made no more reply, which gave Hiccup cause to worry. Even he knew it was the truth. He was a very ill child.

The knocking came again, louder.

"Coming, coming!" Hiccup called down, extracting himself from Tryggr's tight-fingered clutches. "I'll be back in a second," he reasoned softly before he retreated away from the child's bedside and narrowly missed the puddle of sick. Hiccup wrinkled his nose; he supposed he should try to clean it up before he let the healer upstairs.

His assumption soon revealed itself to be right as he opened the front door. With Fishlegs standing just a little ways behind, the healer, Helga, was waiting on the front porch. Upon opening the door, she raised a curious, but stern brow. Hiccup unconsciously curled his lips in nervousness; too many times had she been called to this household because of his own injuries due to clumsiness and because of his atrocious immune system. He would have bet his entire charcoal collection that she had rolled her eyes just at the realisation she had to make yet another trip up to the Haddock household.

"What's the problem, laddie?" She persisted, already heading inside, clutching her herbal bag close to her side.

Hiccup swallowed. "It's Tryggr; I think he's got the flu."

The healer's tension relaxed slightly upon realising that for once it was not the elder sibling in trouble. "He's upstairs?"

"Uh, yeah. I'll show you up. He was a bit sick earlier, so watch out."

"I've seen worse, boy."

"Yeah, figures," Hiccup muttered very quietly under his breath as he went to gather a cloth and bucket; but he had the funny suspicion she heard anyway. Along with the nurse, she had an incredible gift for hearing the smallest of things – he figured it must have been from looking after children for a very long time; it would only be natural to pick up on the smallest of things over time.

Well, that, and the fact that Helga's eyes were narrowed towards him when he turned around sort of gave away the idea his mumbling's had not gone unheard.

"Tiger?" Hiccup called when he made his way up to the loft. "Helga's here, okay?"

Hiccup was torn between a groan and a laugh. Tryggr had buried himself deep underneath his covers, as if hiding from a monster.

"Come on, little lad, out you come," Helga ushered, steeping around the sick puddle, which Hiccup was now cleaning, to pull away the thick fur blanket.

Tryggr made only a small sound of protest, which was quickly covered up by a loud bout of sniffles. Hiccup perched up his head at the sound and tried to smile encouragingly. "It's okay! She'll help you get better." In his opinion there was no other option.

Helga frowned and motioned for the boy to sit upright. "Well, I'll do my best. What on earth brought this about?"

Tryggr fidgeted uncomfortably as the healer began to feel around the glands of his neck and pressed a hand against his forehead. "I was playing in the rain."

"Not the smartest of ideas, child," tutted Helga, patting one of his cheeks. "Say 'aah'."

"Aaah!" Tryggr opened his mouth wide, but Helga was only able to get a small glance before the boy burst on into a coughing fit from the effort of the sound.

Hiccup fidgeted too, wanting to do something for his little brother. His agitation must have been overwhelming, as well as his hovering by the bedside, for Helga gave a heavy sigh and turned to face him. "Maybe it's best you wait downstairs; you're worse than your father!"

Hiccup was sorely tempted to scoff. Something in common with his father? That was practically unheard of. However, he bit his lip and clutched the handle of the bucket he was holding tighter, unsure whether to obey or not.

"I… er, I don't-"

"Hiccup, wait downstairs," Helga ordered a second time, this time pointing to emphasise her point.

Tryggr shivered. "Hiccup?"

Hiccup sighed, defeated. "I'll just be downstairs, Tiger. I won't be far."

His brother's frightened gaze staring down his back as he left tore Hiccup between affectionate laughter and the desperate wish to plant his feet and not go anywhere. He did as he was asked, though, and still clutching the messy bucket he retreated back down to the main room.

He was surprised and confused to find Fishlegs still waiting by the door, twiddling his thumbs and staring all around the household. "Fishlegs? Don't you have training?"

Fishlegs jumped at Hiccup's re-entrance, and shook his head. "Nope, not today. Gobber had us all take a few days off –something about it being an unfair advantage, even though you could still have about a sixty per cent chance catching up on the lessons."

Hiccup raised a brow. "Oh, ok. That's… comforting?"

Fishlegs shrugged. Hiccup's lips curled again. This was… rather awkward, really.

Hiccup shoved past the large boy to deposit the foul, smelling bucket outside. Once he had rid of it, he sat himself on the stairs to wait for Tryggr's check up to be finished and chewed on the insides of his cheeks worriedly, hoping that the healer could relieve some of the illness. He had never seen Tryggr so sick. It was all his fault. He should have kept a better eye on him, he should have been at the Great Hall quicker that night, he should have done something, he should have-

"So, what's wrong?" Fishlegs interrupted his train of thought rather abruptly, startling him out of his guilt trip.

Hiccup sighed and rubbed a hand exhaustedly over his face. "He's got a fever; probably from playing in the rain. He was just really, really sick this morning; I thought… yeah, it was just really bad."

"Oh," said Fishlegs quite simply, slowly taking a seat beside Hiccup.

"Yeah."

"So… How are you?"

"Could be better."

Both boys sat in awkward and thick silence, looking at anything that was not the figure beside them. Hiccup frowned; it had been too long since they had spoken under such normal circumstances, even though it felt like only a short time since he felt he had become an object of social suicide for anyone in the village.

"Uh, what do you think about training?"

Hiccup nearly scoffed. "Oh, loving it! You know, with all that risk of being incinerated in a burning ball of death with every second, or mashed into splinters, I think it's becoming rather exciting, don't you?"

"I… er, I guess so? Could have done with a bit more teaching than learning; huh?"

"That's Gobber for you; believe me, I know. I've still got several burn scars from the forge if you want to see."

Fishlegs gave a nervous chuckle and shook his head. "I'm good."

There was a very long silence again, broken only by the faint sound of coughing from upstairs that kept Hiccup twitching on the edge of the stair. Fishlegs gave his own cough to break the wall again. "Hey, you'll never guess what I found when I was cleaning my room the other day."

Hiccup raised a brow, confused by the sudden turn of what little conversation there was. "What?" he asked warily.

"You remember that boat we made as kids? I found the old flag that went with it."

Hiccup's eyes widened in astonishment. "The Hopeful Puffin? No way!"

Fishlegs laughed. "Yeah, a bit tattered, but still got it."

Hiccup laughed as well. He had almost forgotten about that silly little boat that he and Fishlegs had worked so long on to make. They would have only been about eight, he remembered faintly; hauling whatever spare wood they could make in order to create a boat that would sail to the edge of the world. Looking back, it had been such an awfully built thing; but they were so proud of those five sparing seconds it had floated. It had been too long since he and Fishlegs had ever done something together that like; and in that second Hiccup realised how much he truly missed his old friend.

Hiccup opened and closed his mouth several times before choosing his next words carefully. "Fishlegs, I-"

"Well, he'll be down for a few days, but he's a spirited one."

Both teens jumped and yelped at the healer's sudden appearance behind them. Hiccup spun around and stood eagerly at the awaiting news. "So, he'll be okay?"

"So long as you keep an eye on him and keep him up on this medicine, then he'll be back on his little feet in no time," said Helga, placing a small bag of mixed herbs in Hiccup's hand. "Maybe take some for yourself too, to make sure you don't catch whatever he has."

"Thank you," said Hiccup, clutching the little bag tightly.

"I best be off then. Boys," she gave nod of farewell and parted between the two teens as she made her way back down to the healer's hut.

Fishlegs fidgeted. "I never liked her. She's always so scary."

Hiccup snorted. "Same here."

Fishlegs shuffled on his toes lightly. "Well, I need to go. You know, chores to do and stuff."

"I- oh, yeah. Right."

"Tell Tryggr to get better from me."

"Will do."

Both boys curled their lips uncertainly and looked away from each other again. "Well, see you," said Fishlegs, shuffling away from the Haddock household.

Hiccup raised his hand in farewell, even though Fishlegs could not see. "See you."

Well. That could have been better, Hiccup thought with a disappointed scowl.

"Bleh! Bleh!" Tryggr coughed and spluttered, trying to rid of the horrid taste of the herbs in his mouth. It was still there! It would not go away! It was almost as bad as Astrid's drink- no, he gave an afterthought, nothing could ever be as bad as that. Still did not make the medicine taste any better, however.

"Hey, Tiger, feel any better?"

Tryggr glanced up as Hiccup appeared at the top of the stairs and made his way over to his bed, bringing up a clean bucket with him. Tryggr gave a small nod. "A bit," he admitted. "But everything still hurts."

"Yeah, you might feel like that for a while, buddy," said Hiccup, placing the bucket down and sitting down. "No more playing in the rain, okay?"

"O…Okay," Tryggr stammered, yawning widely in between his speech. "D'ya think Daddy's gonna be mad?"

Hiccup smirked. "Tell you what. You just focus on getting better and I'll make this our secret; okay?" The older boy gave him a quick jab in the side, causing him to laugh.

"Okay."

"You all right? Need anything?"

Tryggr yawned again. "Tired," he admitted thickly.

"I can see. Rough morning, huh?"

"Mmh-hmm."

"Come here," Hiccup ushered, placing a hand on Tryggr's forehead with a small frown. "You're still really hot. I'll get you some water."

"Okay," said Tryggr, watching Hiccup leave with heavily blinking eyes. He realised he must have blacked out at some point, because it felt like only a second later when a damp cloth was placed on his hot forehead. He whined in torn protest – it felt nice, but he wanted to sleep again.

"It's okay, it's okay," murmured Hiccup, handing him his small mug.

"Not thirsty," Tryggr protested, shaking his head.

"Just keep up on the water if you want to get better, buddy," said Hiccup, pushing the cup to Tryggr's lips, giving the child no choice but to start drinking.

"I've had enough," said Tryggr after a few swallows, pushing the mug in Hiccup's hand away.

"Okay, need anything else?"

Tryggr yawned again and curled up under his blankets, forcing Hiccup to rearrange his own position in order to keep applying the damp cloth to his head. "Can you tell me the story again?"

"Which one, Tiger?"

"The one about the downed dragon. Remember? The one you told last night."

"You like that one, huh?"

Tryggr nodded and yawned again. He really had enjoyed it. It was different, yes, from all the intense battle stories and legends he was used to, but he remembered really enjoying it – almost as much as the one about the Night Fury.

Hiccup re-dampened the cloth and pressed it on Tryggr's forehead again before beginning. "Okay, let me see… Once, there was an almighty dragon. A powerful beast that roamed the skies, bigger and better than anything that had ever walked this ancient earth or soared its timeless skies. It was a dragon of nothing more than legend. No one could ever see it – it never wanted to be seen. It was invisible. The dragon believed that nothing was ever worthy of laying an eye upon his magnificence and so it would forever fly, attacking anyone who dared to catch a glimpse of his scales.

"Soon, the dragon realised how quickly he was truly becoming invisible. Its scales could blend into any colour of the sky, be it blue, black, pink, yellow, red or grey; there was no finding it. The dragon knew just how powerful it had become. He knew nothing could ever stop him."

Tryggr buried his head deeper into his pillow, smiling as he tried to imagine the invisible dragon – a creature more powerful than a Changewing and bigger than a Monstrous Nightmare. Somehow, his imagination could put together a sharp image, and he kept his vision of the dragon at large, soaring across the skies without any effort.

"At least, that was everything he believed in until one night."

This was the part Tryggr did not like. The part where his little fantasy was ruined.

"There was a boy who had sworn to bring down the invisible dragon, no matter what it took-"

"Why?" Tryggr had asked this last night too, but he still wanted to hear the answer.

Hiccup paused slightly in wiping at his brother's still warm forehead. "I don't know. Just to make everyone happy, make himself seem useful for once, that he wasn't a failure. To be everything that dragon was. He had to take it down to do that however. So, under the cover of night, when they were both nearly as invisible to the world as each other, the boy managed to shoot him out of the sky.

"The dragon was furious. It had believed it could never be taken out – no one could ever believe it. Everything he had ever known was torn from him… exactly like his wings."

Tryggr winced.

"Suddenly, its greatest gift became its greatest curse. It was an Invisible Dragon – a dragon no one had ever seen nor could ever be sighted. The dragon had no help. Its beauty and magic hindered him just as useless. No matter how he screeched and roared, no one would ever find him. It was forever stuck, still to this day, looking up at the skies and wishing one day to be reunited with its painted pallet."

"Didn't the boy ever find it?"

"The boy didn't deserve to find it. Not after having severed the magic himself."

"Oh," Tryggr frowned before giving another wide yawn. He was not used to stories like these; lacking with the excitement of war and instead dashed with sadness; but all he could imagine was the pretty pictures that could have gone with such a story. He would love to see the invisible dragon in his big brother's imagination.

He yawned widely again and shut his eyes. Maybe it was time for sleep after such a long time. "I hope the dragon's okay…" he mumbled before succumbing to slumber.

Before he embraced the welcoming embraces of rest, however, he felt Hiccup stiffen suddenly and mutter; "Uh oh."

Toothless!

Oh gods! He had forgotten about him!

He was barely thinking about him! The invisible dragon had taken a life of its own, merged both from Hiccup's own life and the life he suspected of all dragons in general. He was still stuck in the Cove! Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods!

What in the name of Thor am I going to do, he thought wildly, having stopped dampening Tryggr's forehead for a while now. He was grateful the child was resting at long last, now it just left him with his panicking. He had a dragon to take care of too; he could not believe he had actually forgotten about that.

"Tiger?" Hiccup whispered, giving the boy a light shake. Tryggr groaned and tried to swat away his older brother's hand. "I need to do something; I'm gonna be gone for a few hours. Are you going to be okay I'll send someone up to watch you."

Tryggr only grunted once, both in annoyance and quickly ushered agreement, before rolling away from Hiccup's blabbering mouth.

Hiccup stood and slowly backed away from the bed. "Okay, okay," he murmured, trying to collect his thoughts. They were barely in a packaged bundle by the time he made it downstairs and out the door. "Urgh, what am I going to do?" he groaned, tearing at his hair. He had to make sure Toothless was still okay. He had to watch his little brother. He had to practice for Dragon Training. He had to focus on not screwing up. He had to do too much. He came very close to releasing a frustrated yell.

"Ye alright, lad?"

Hiccup nearly jumped out of skin at the voice coming from the stairs leading to the Great Hall and spun to face the owner. He glanced over the face of the woman, unable to bring up any recollection of who she was, but he spotted the little boy clinging close to her skirts and managed to rack through his memories.

The boy was one of Tryggr's friends… what was his name? O… Oli… No. Olaf. That's right…

"Er, yeah, just fine," he called back with a small wave, hoping that he would be left alone to his still swirling thoughts.

"Where's Tryggr?" asked Olaf, titling his head. "He didn't come to breakfast! Can he play?"

Hiccup sighed. "Not for a few days. He's kind of sick."

"Aw," Olaf pouted.

"Poor little mite," his mother tutted. "Knew he didn't look too bright yesterday. Shouldn't ye be up with 'im?"

Hiccup winced. Drat.

"I… er, well; I want to… but there's something at the… um- forge! Yeah, I really need to fix something up at the forge or Gobber's going to be upset with me… so, yeah."

Olaf's mother gave a small frown, one Hiccup knew all too well from his own mother once upon a time. A frown of disbelief and sternness that usually corrected any child into doing what they are supposed to do. Instinctively, Hiccup fidgeted under the gaze. However, much to his astonishment, she ushered her child along with a wave of the hand. "Go run off and find yer friends for the day, laddie. I'll watch over yer brother until ye come back," she said, turning back to Hiccup.

Hiccup gaped, unable to process his sheer luck. "Oh gods- Thank you! He's just fallen asleep; he shouldn't be too much trouble! There's medicine, and water, and a bucket and- oh, thank you!" He yelled over his shoulder, already running and stumbling excitedly down the hill before the woman could change her mind. He could check on Toothless!

Hiccup was careful to make sure no one took any notice of him (hardly any trouble there) as he made his way down to the food storage shed. Fish. He had to bring Toothless some fish. The dragon had to be starving by now; one fish as an offering of friendship would simply not make the cut this time around. As quietly as possible, Hiccup picked off a small, woven basket and began to rummage through the several barrels of fish for the taking. He knew he could not take too much, though. Winter was almost here, and with the dragon raids not showing any signs of slowing down, Berk needed all the food they could get… well, at least enough to stay alive. He still reckoned they could do with a little 'less feeding'.

He riffled through the barrels, deciding what would be best to bring. He had no idea what Toothless would like. Icelandic Cod? Why not. Smoked Eel? It could not hurt to try. Salmon? Maybe one or two…

"Okay, that should be enough," he muttered under his breath, satisfied how the basket was just about filled. He struggled to hoist it over his shoulder, however, and he gave a grumble of irritation. He knew that he could do with a lot 'more feeding', on the other hand…

"Hiccup?"

"Gah!" Hiccup nearly fell flat on his backside upon stepping outside of the barn, not at all expecting the face awaiting him. Let alone one so curious, confused, frustrated, annoyed, and rather pretty at that. "Astrid! I- uh… what are you doing here?"

Astrid cocked a brow. "Well, I was making my way to the well," she said, giving the bucket in her hand a wave. "What I want to know is what you're doing here? What's in the basket?"

Hiccup stammered, extremely nervous underneath the building pressure. "Just… just a few things. You know. I'm probably going to be held up at home for a while, so I'm just pinching some food to keep us going. Yeah…"

Astrid's hardened gaze let Hiccup know she did not believe him in the least, but she bit her lip and softened her eyes ever so slightly. "How is he?" she asked genuinely.

Hiccup bit his own lip. "Eh, bit touch and go for now really. He was really sick this morning so I had Fishlegs bring up a healer; but she said that he'll be okay after a few days."

"Oh, okay," said Astrid, shrugging the water bucket back up close to her. "I suppose this means Gobber really will have to put off training for a while, huh?"

"Well, by all means, you guys could continue on without me. Really!"

Astrid rolled her eyes. "You don't think I tried telling Gobber that?"

Hiccup dead panned. Well, so much for that sense of comfort. No "oh no, Hiccup, we couldn't possibly continue without you", but instead "yeah, couldn't give a rats toss what happens to you but your meathead of a mentor put his peg foot down."

"So," Hiccup began after a moment's silence, "I'm just going to head off now, and bring this up to the house…" He began trailing off, slowly walking away from Astrid.

Her narrowed gaze remained firm, but she allowed him to leave. "Ok then, I'll probably see you again when you stop acting this weird. Tell Tryggr I said to get better."

"Will do," Hiccup grunted, hoisting up his basket. However, as they both turned to leave, he spun around as something quickly occurred to him. "Hey, Astrid?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry; y'know, about the whole Nadder incident?"

Astrid gave a pause, actually surprised by the apology. She only shook her head and kept on walking. "Just don't let it happen again."

Hiccup sighed and rolled his eyes. "Smooth," he growled to himself, making his way back up towards the woods. "Another point for Haddock and the crowd goes wild; yay…"

"Hey, Tooooothless?"

Hiccup glanced around the Cove nervously, unsure where the Night Fury would pop out from. He was in no visible sighting, leading Hiccup to believe he was stalking his unsuspecting prey. Oh, what comforts Hiccup could bring to himself…

"Toothless?" he called out again. "Where are you? I brought some breakfast! You hungry? Toothless? Too- gah!"

He nearly fell over again when the large, black mass jumped right in front of Hiccup, having been watching from the trees. Hiccup growled as the Night Fury began to sniff around him curiously. "Why does everybody insist on surprising me today?"

Toothless gave a growl of his own, having scented the fish in Hiccup's basket, and began to nose eagerly and determinedly at the boy for the meal slung over his shoulder. Hiccup quickly shrugged it off and allowed the basket to topple over. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry you didn't have any food sooner. I was busy."

Toothless apparently could not care less, he was already tearing the basket open. Hiccup rolled his eyes; here he was, trying to talk to and befriend a dragon of all things on a Thorsday. What on earth would his ancestors be saying if they could see him now?

Hiccup watched Toothless feast curiously, wondering what he would enjoy to eat. "I see you like the salmon," he commented, watching the Night Fury enjoying nibbling on one.

"Okay; not as fond of the haddocks. Thank Thor," he muttered with a smirk as he watched Toothless fussily pick around the fish with a disdained, but starved look.

"Whoa, big Icelandic cod fan, clearly." Toothless practically inhaled the things.

Hiccup tensed worriedly when Toothless suddenly froze as he swung his head to claim his next meal. Before he could ask what was wrong, the dragon suddenly began to growl and hiss, backing away warily from the basket. Hoping desperately not to get his head blown off, Hiccup knelt beside the basket to peer at what was left inside. The eel…

Curiously, Hiccup grabbed the end of the tail (by the very tips of his fingernails; he hated eel with a passion) and presented it to Toothless. The Night Fury reared and screeched at the very sight of the snake-like creature and Hiccup could immediately see the beginnings of a fire blast building at the back of his throat.

"No! Okay! No!" Hiccup yelled, throwing the eel as far away as he possibly could. "So… not a big fan of eels too, huh? Glad we've got something in common… well, other than the whole drawing thing."

Toothless gave a snort (and Hiccup could have sworn he had seen the dragon roll his eyes) and resumed to forage around the basket, making sure he had not missed a single scale of fish.

"That's all for now, Toothless," said Hiccup, emphasising on the dragon's new name in hopes the creature could learn to identify himself with it. "I'll come back tomorrow with some more, though."

Toothless grumbled unhappily and pouted, much to Hiccup's amusement.

"I'm sorry," he laughed, watching as the Night Fury spun around and refused to look at him. "I have to go now; I kind of have someone waiting on me."

Toothless turned his head at the sound of Hiccup voice, and the boy was amazed to see just how much attention the mighty creature was paying attention to every word he had to say. The ear flaps were directed towards him and the dragon's big, green eyes were wide and shining with incredible intelligence. Slowly, hoping for the same result, Hiccup held out his palm towards the Night Fury.

Toothless narrowed his eyes for a moment, still having not forgiven Hiccup for not bringing enough fish to satisfy his hunger. However, after a moment, he gave a rumble of acknowledgement and rose to his feet in order to approach the boy. Just like the previous evening, he pressed his snout against the hand with a soft purr.

Hiccup grinned. This was so unbelievably cool…

A flicker of movement caught his eye, and suddenly his focus was directed towards the damaged tail. He bit his lip guiltily. "We're going to have to do something about that tail, huh?"

Toothless only gave a grumble of warning before he hacked up half a cod on top of Hiccup's head.

Hiccup dead-panned. "Glad you agree."

Toothless only chortled in a draconic manner of laughter.

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