Hey, everybody. I've been looking forward to this for quite some time. 7 months later, here I am with Ghosts. Before we begin, I should put a few notices up.

As I'm sure most of you have noticed, this story is rated M, for violence, language, and sexual themes (not all of them consensual). It's been five years since Bound, and Hiccup and Astrid are married adults. They do married adult things. They also will deal with adults who are... not good people. I'm not going to be writing smut during the course of this story, primarily because I don't feel like there are very many (if any at all) moments in what I've written where such a scene would fit. As for the other reasons for the rating, these are Vikings. They were violent. And then it's really fun to write these characters swearing.

If there are any new readers here, I should stress that this is a sequel. It's of course not imperative, but you'd probably want to read the first book, Bound, to fully understand how the characters have gotten to this point. Bound is essentially a retelling of the first movie with a key change about a year before its events. This story will also begin along similar lines as HTTYD2, but there are obvious differences that must be addressed, and the general story will deviate sooner and never really return.

That's all from me. Read on, and I hope that over the course of this story it becomes as enjoyable as the first book for all of you, if not more so. Thanks to my beta readers: Neon-S, Silvolde, and TheDelta724 for agreeing to help me out. Please consider reviewing at the end, I live for feedback. And thanks again for reading.

This... is Berk. The best kept secret this side of... well, anywhere.

Ghosts

1. The Best Kept Secret

Hiccup woke as he often did these days, blissfully entranced by the warm body at his side. Astrid was tucked against him, her perfect blonde locks let completely down so that they were practically in his face. He was holding her, as he so often was, and he found it even harder than usual to crawl out of bed and leave her. Sunlight unfortunately glittered through their window, beckoning him to rise and greet the morning. The sounds of Terrible Terrors singing seemed to vibrate through the window, off-key and dissonant but still somehow beautiful and moving.

Before he moved to get up, he peered over Astrid's body, scanning the sheets for her left hand. His own right hand was tightly interlocked with hers by her stomach, sharing their warmth between them, but her left arm was at an errant angle nearby, threatening to dangle off the edge of the bed if she moved much further. There, squarely fixed around her ring finger, was a gleaming wedding band.

Even more than six months later, Hiccup still could not believe it. He was married to Astrid Hofferson, the most beautiful woman in all of Midgard. He'd forged the wedding bands himself, using only the finest gold on Berk. On one side of the ring was a tiny Nadder scale, and on the other that of a Night Fury, symbolizing their unity through the scales of their beloved dragons. They'd first been engaged to one another five and a half years ago, at the young age of 14 years. Now, they were both newly twenty, in the primes of their youth while still teetering on the cusp of adulthood and responsibility.

Cautiously, Hiccup crawled out of bed, careful not to disturb Astrid. She was always so beautiful when she slept and waking her felt like a crime against the gods. The sheets fell to cover the space where he'd once been, and he quietly attached his prosthetic and dressed into his daytime clothes—today, a tight black tunic and brown riding trousers. He grabbed his individual pieces of armor and silently shuffled out of the room; donning the suit was a noisier affair than just his normal attire.

The kitchen and common room of their home sprawled out in front of Hiccup as he quietly closed the bedroom door. Fine wood floors absorbed his footsteps, and soft furniture begged to be put to use as he crept to the kitchen counter where the food baskets were. A host of assorted dried fish was kept inside, stored for the two ravenous dragons owned by the happy couple. Toothless stirred on a heavy slab in the corner of the room, designated as his new bed after Hiccup and Astrid married. The Night Fury had been none too happy about being formally removed from Hiccup's room, but the change had been necessary. Hiccup really wasn't comfortable with the idea of his pet dragon sitting in on certain marital activities.

"Morning, bud," Hiccup greeted with a hushed voice. Piece by piece, he donned his armor, and then he grabbed a fistful of dried cod cuts from the basket. He walked over to Toothless, who propped himself up from his slab and sniffed the air. The smell of the fish made the dragon's pupils dilate, and with a happy croon he snatched two cuts of the fish from Hiccup's hand, smacking and licking his lips.

"How's that taste?" Hiccup asked, and Toothless warbled approvingly.

The dragon's green eyes shifted off of Hiccup, looking past him, and her voice instantly cut through the silent indoor air, "Good morning."

Hiccup startled, surging to his feet and groaning in surprise. She'd somehow jumped him in complete silence—even the bedroom door hadn't creaked. "Gods, how do you do that? I never hear you sneaking up on me."

"I'm just a lot quieter than you, babe," Astrid answered.

"I made sure not to make a sound!" Hiccup protested, disbelieving.

"Hiccup, please, I heard you loud and clear before you ever even shuffled out of bed." Astrid crossed the room, eyes clouded and drowsy. Hiccup reached out and wrapped one arm around her and lovingly tucked her close.

"Maybe that's why you're so tired lately. I don't know how you get any sleep, since you're clearly awake the whole time listening for when I get up," Hiccup quipped.

"If that's the case, can we go back to bed? Surely your dad will understand," Astrid suggested. Her mouth opened in a great, lengthy yawn.

"Unfortunately, it's not our honey month anymore." Gods, did he mean that, "And as much as I would love to go back to sleep, I have an unfortunate prior arrangement," Hiccup said. Six days a week, he ate breakfast with his lovely wife and their dragons. But once a week, he shared breakfast with his father, a compromise they'd made to make up for all the daily meals they ended up losing when Hiccup and Astrid moved into their new home together.

"And I, too," Astrid conceded. In response to Hiccup and Stoick's compromise, she'd made an identical one with her parents: one breakfast a week with them in her childhood home.

The window rattled and a squawk filtered into the house, closely followed by the appearance of a Deadly Nadder with shining blue scales. Stormfly squawked again and nudged her head in through the window, beckoning Astrid to her. Astrid slipped out of Hiccup's embrace and walked over to the window to scratch the Nadder's chin. Stormfly clucked appreciatively, leaning into the young woman's touch.

"Hiya, girl. Did you hear me talking with Hiccup?" Astrid cooed. Stormfly squawked in answer, seemingly affirming Astrid's question. "And I'm guessing you're hungry. Let me go get you some fish from the basket."

Hiccup offered Astrid his hand, still full of fish. "Here. Already got some."

Toothless immediately protested as Hiccup took a few steps forward to pass the extra fish to Astrid. Hiccup barked back at him, "Yes, it was originally for you, I know." Toothless snorted and laid his head back down on the slab, mocking Hiccup with a roll of his big eyes. "Oh, don't give me that tone, you know you're going to be fed plenty when we're at Dad's. Gluttonous reptile."

Toothless didn't have a retort for that and quieted down, and Stormfly greedily accepted the fish from Astrid's hands. The Nadder slurped down the helping and nuzzled against Astrid, combing a lock of her wild hair with a careful tooth.

"Okay, girl, I could use a bath. Once I'm dressed, I'll get you some more breakfast and we'll head to Mom and Dad's house, okay?" Astrid suggested. Stormfly squawked and took off to get in a morning flight. Astrid turned away from the window.

"I'll take that as my cue to leave," Hiccup said.

"You know, you could always join me," Astrid said in a sudden, flirtatious tone. Hiccup stiffened as she bit her bottom lip and she sauntered close to him, running a few tantalizing fingers down his armored torso. Her touch seemed to burn through the metal and leather, making him feel naked and disarmed as she dragged him completely under her sway with only her fingers and whispered words. "A little hot water, no clothes, a closed door. Could be fun."

Astrid's hand was on his thigh as she finished her sentence, grinning like mad as Hiccup squirmed. He both loved and hated what she could do to him with only her words, and he suspected that she loved what she could do to him as well. She'd embraced the role of occasional temptress ever since their wedding, something that Hiccup previously had never imagined she'd not only be able to do, but also be so damned good at.

When he told her once that one of the reasons he loved her was because she could do anything she put her mind to, he hadn't necessarily been thinking about that.

Hiccup shivered, "As amazing as that sounds, I really need to go. Knowing how my dad operates, I'm probably already late." Astrid dropped her hand from him, nodding. She knew that he wouldn't stay, that he couldn't, but she had enjoyed giving him an unacceptable alternative to breakfast with his father. If it was still their honey month, he would be able to get away with such a tryst, but not anymore. "I'll see you at the race, though?" he offered.

Astrid nodded, enthusiastic. "Yeah, if by seeing me you mean seeing Stormfly's backside, since we're gonna be beating you today."

Hiccup answered with a haughty scoff, and Astrid laughed. "Oh-ho, is that a challenge, milady? We'll be seeing about that, won't we?"

"Maybe we will, if you aren't too distracted thinking about what you're going to be missing in there," Astrid gestured to their bathroom, and succeeded in setting Hiccup on fire once again. In retaliation, he snaked his arms around her lower back and tugged her in close, nearly touching his forehead to hers.

"That isn't fair," Hiccup growled.

Astrid smiled, pearly white teeth gleaming. Her blonde hair glowed under the sunlight streaming in through the window. "Fair is overrated," she murmured, inching closer and closer to him and practically reaching for him with her lips.

They shared a quick, chaste kiss. When they separated, Hiccup murmured a soft "I love you," and let her go.

"I love you, too," Astrid said, almost automatic. For a split-second, she wished he'd kiss her again. She'd initiated it, but he had a strange way of making one kiss simply not enough for her sometimes.

Hiccup gestured at his dragon. "C'mon, Toothless. Let's go eat with Dad." Toothless grumbled and stood, shaking the sleep out of his legs as he followed Hiccup to the front door of the house. Astrid stuck out a hand to the dragon and Toothless allowed her to run her hand down the entire length of his warm body in a silent farewell.

"See you at the race," Hiccup called, and he closed the door behind him, leaving Astrid alone in their house.

Hiccup knocked on the door of his childhood home, just a short walk from his new dwelling that he shared with Astrid. The sounds of mingling dragons echoed in his ears, the day on Berk already in full swing as people and dragons milled about in the town beneath the hill. The door dragged open from the inside and the almost-comically large form of Stoick the Vast appeared in the doorway. The Chief of Berk beamed through his red beard, seemingly burning away the streaks of grey and white that now permeated the magnificent display of facial hair.

"Son! You're late," Stoick greeted, stepping back so that Hiccup could enter. Father and son shared a quick hug, and the smell of breakfast wafted into Hiccup's nose.

"Good morning to you too, Dad. Something smells good. What are you making?"

"Have a look for yourself, why don't you?" Stoick suggested, and Hiccup walked to the kitchen. Toothless walked in through the front door next, warbling at Stoick. "And good morning to you, Toothless. Hungry?"

Toothless grunted in a familiar way that seemed to say always, and Stoick responded by walking to the counter and fetching a few cuts of fish from a basket to feed to the Night Fury. Hiccup caught sight of the act and made a face at Toothless as the dragon gulped down the fish, his earlier point proven in spades. Gluttonous reptile. Next, Hiccup carefully lifted the lid of the pot containing their breakfast, cooking over a fire in the hearth.

The smell of Icelandic cod, eggs, and bread filled Hiccup's nose, and he sighed in appreciation. His father had been charged with cooking ever since they lost his mother, and he had to say that Stoick had become quite good at it. Astrid was virtually incapable of cooking (though she had improved), and as much as Hiccup loved eating breakfast with her, there was a certain degree of relief involved in having breakfast with his dad; namely, that it was absolutely guaranteed the food would be edible.

A few minutes later, Stoick fetched the food out of the pot and mixed healthy servings of each kind into two wooden bowls-which meant a normal amount for Hiccup and a considerably larger portion for Stoick. Once he was done, the food was served. Hiccup and Stoick sat in seats across from each other on either side of the fire, soaking up its warmth as they ate. The cod was perfectly cooked and melted in Hiccup's mouth. At his feet, Toothless feasted on a mix of assorted fish, gulping each individual one down without a hint of choiceness.

"How is Astrid doing?" Stoick asked between bites of eggs.

"She's good. She's excited about the race this afternoon."

"I can only imagine. She's going to bring the heat after you beat her in last week's race."

Hiccup nodded and flashed a grin, "She's already talking trash." Stoick allowed himself a brief chuckle and watched his son return to eating, pausing over his own meal as he considered how to ask his next question.

"And how are things going in the... heir-making department?" he decided, fairly blunt as he usually was. Hiccup froze, his fork hovering over the bowl and his eyes fixated on the food inside in a way that said, shit. Carefully, he pulled the fork away from the food, tilting his head up and tenaciously avoiding meeting his father's eyes.

"Er, sure. That's going well, I guess. I-I haven't heard anything from her about… results…"

"Are you sure you're not doing something wrong?" Stoick asked, once again blunt as a bludgeon.

"Okay…" Hiccup raised his voice to an awkward pitch, and his fork clattered into the bowl now. Toothless looked up and complained about the sudden noise with an annoyed grunt, but Hiccup ignored him. Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose as he spoke, "Do people have to keep asking us that? That kind of stuff… it's private," Hiccup said as he gestured wildly with his hands, only furthering his embarrassment.

"Well, I'm sorry, son, but you're a married man now. You have duties."

"I'm aware of that, Dad," Hiccup said, annoyed.

"I'm sorry if I struck a nerve."

Hiccup held up his hand and sighed, "No, it's fine. At least you seem to be somewhat uncomfortable talking about my sex life. Ruffnut asked us the same question last week and was very explicit in describing how 'it' happens. She even took it upon herself to suggest some new—and I can't believe I'm telling you this—new positions. Thor, I will never forget some of the hand gestures she made." Stoick grimaced at the mental image as well. "Astrid and I are fine. Of course, we've talked about kids. But it's just going to happen when it happens. Not everyone needs to have a baby on the way the second after they tie the knot."

Stoick nodded, "I understand. Your mother and I were similar, if it helps."

"You were?" Hiccup asked.

"Sure. Everyone wanted to know when we were going to have a child, especially your grandfather. But it was hard. We struggled to have you, for a long time. And when you finally came to us… well, he wasn't with us any longer. So, there was a time when you were a baby that I felt guilt… thinking that I had withheld my father the chance to hold his grandson," Stoick explained.

Hiccup gulped. "Oh, Dad, I…" He'd known that his parents had struggled for a long time with having children—simple math had brought him to that conclusion ages ago. By now, Stoick was just shy of fifty years old, and with Hiccup having already come up on 20… there was a long gap in there somewhere, his mother certainly hadn't been an old maid when she'd married his father, and he hadn't been the oldest buck in the village, either. They must've had to wait on him for a long time, and surely not for lack of trying. He and Astrid were physically trying. A fair amount, actually. There were just… other things in the way.

"But please, don't think I'm trying to pressure you," Stoick suddenly added, recognizing that Hiccup might've gotten the wrong idea. For all his bluntness, Stoick was getting better these days about considering his words and how they might be received, especially from his peculiar son. "I got carried away there. I may be about as old as your grandfather was, but I don't plan to die anytime soon. Things have changed around here. You and Astrid should do what you want to do. I understand that." Stoick smiled, and Hiccup smiled back. With gusto, he resumed eating, digging into his slice of bread with renewed energy.

It took a few minutes and one look at his father, though, for Hiccup to realize that Stoick was still staring at him. The Chief's bowl was only half-empty, and he'd set it on the edge of the hearth and out of his way. That was unusual, Hiccup thought. He finished chewing the last bit of his bread and unsteadily swallowed it, watching out of the upper corners of his eyes and seeing that Stoick was indeed still watching him. It was getting creepy.

"Uh, Dad? Are you sure everything's alright?" Hiccup asked, looking up again and waiting. Somehow, he could feel the storm clouds swirling, an unwelcome tingle in his extremities that made him believe he was in some kind of trouble. It was a reflex from his formative years, always being spoken to like he'd messed up; and though he rarely tensed up like this anymore, that instinct was one of the few things about him that hadn't changed over the years.

"Fine," Stoick said, in a way that was so very unconvincing. "Son, there's something else I need to speak with you about."

Hiccup frowned, and after a moment's deliberation, shrugged and set his bowl similarly on the edge of the hearth. His dad didn't seem upset with him, at least not yet. Toothless looked up from his mostly finished feast of fish on the floor, warbling in confusion as he picked up on the tension in the room that wasn't quite there yet.

Nevertheless, despite Stoick's relative calm, Hiccup's throat became unexpectedly dry. "Um, sure. Shoot," he said, clenching his fingers around the armrests of the chair as if that could dispel his discomfort.

Stoick rubbed his large hands together and suddenly stood up from his seat. "Well, son, you're the pride of Berk. The others your age look up to you. You're a leader. I couldn't be prouder of you."

Hiccup tensed even further. This was not subtle. At all. But for the life of him, he couldn't figure out where his father was going with this.

"And now you're a married man. You've surpassed every expectation of a chief's son, time and again," Stoick beamed.

"Uh, gee, thanks, Dad. I… I'm pretty impressed with myself too, I guess?" Hiccup injected a half-hearted attempt at humor into the conversation, wilting when that didn't help loosen him up at all.

Stoick turned his back, shoulders rising and falling as if he were psyching himself up for something. When he started to speak, he sighed happily, and there was a lilt in his voice that was so rare, the kind he only employed when he was truly bursting with pride. "And so, since no chief could ask for a better successor—"

Oh. Oh, no.

"—I have decided—"

"Toothless," Hiccup shot out of his chair and pivoted to walk away. Toothless likewise launched to his feet and followed Hiccup in a confusion, warbling after the young man.

Stoick turned to look back at his son, only to find that he wasn't in the chair. In the same instant, Hiccup's panicked, retreating footsteps echoed in the house, making it all too easy for Stoick to look up after him and see Hiccup gunning for the door, Toothless on his heels.

"Hiccup!" Stoick snapped, but the boy didn't listen. The storm was raging at full force now, flashing bolts of self-doubt and thunderclaps of fear wracking him like a series of punches to the gut. Hiccup jerked the front door open in an obvious panic, and he snapped his fingers at Toothless as they both dashed outside. Beyond the door, the Night Fury laid down so that Hiccup could climb onto his back.

Stoick tore through the doorway, wincing as he saw that Hiccup had already locked himself into the saddle. Toothless' tailfin slid open with a resounding click. "Hiccup, wait—" he tried, lifting his hands in a futile effort to defuse the situation.

Hiccup cut him off, paying Stoick no mind as he sought to escape the walls crumbling in on him. "Go, bud," he barked, and Toothless braced himself and launched into the air, great black wings beating powerfully to send the pair screaming into the sky.

"HICCUP!" Stoick roared, but again, he didn't listen. Instead, he leaned forward as Toothless' kept hurtling through the sky, blazing away from Berk until it was barely even a dot on the horizon.

The crowd chattered nonstop as the dragons and their riders waited at the start line. The wide wooden walkway traversed the gap between the stands and the island, dangling precariously above the sea. Carved through the wood were five, wide gaps, decoratively painted to depict the dragon it corresponded to. A basket, empty for the time being, dropped down from the opening, bolted to the frame. The strokes of paint coloring each goal were all different; green for Ruff and Tuff and Barf and Belch, orange for Fishlegs and Meatlug, red for Snotlout and Hookfang, bright blue for Astrid and Stormfly, and black for Hiccup and Toothless.

The dragons and their riders had also decorated themselves with face paint, as was traditional. Astrid bore blue-and-orange marks under her eyes and across her nose, and she had colored some of Stormfly's horns as well as her wings with the same color pattern. Across the walkway in front of the starting line, Vikings hefted painted sheep over their shoulders, intending to hide them accordingly throughout the village. Only the sheep with targets painted on their sides would count towards the game.

Judging by the crowd, they were almost ready to start. There was just one problem, though. Hiccup and Toothless still hadn't shown. It was highly unusual; the two of them loved dragon racing and were never anything close to late when there was a scheduled race.

Astrid had been looking forward to seeing her husband before the race. They had to get in their usual trash talk before the starting horn; the usual stuff, like Astrid warning Hiccup that he would sleep in the common room if he beat her (usually, she didn't enforce that even when he did beat her. The first time she had, she'd barely been able to sleep herself, his absence feeling foreign and wrong and keeping her awake most of the night).

Little by little, the deck cleared as Vikings returned from hiding the sheep, and still Hiccup was nowhere to be found. At the back of the pack were Stoick and Gobber, the former wearing a frown the likes of which Astrid had not seen across the Chief's face in years. He padded across the deck with an unusual viciousness to his gait.

"Uh, Chief? Have you seen Hiccup anywhere?" Astrid asked, wringing her hands as the two men passed her by.

"No," Stoick grouched in answer. Astrid flinched at his tone. What had happened at breakfast between those two? Stoick kept walking and Gobber shot her an apologetic look before following.

"What was that about?" Fishlegs squeaked.

"I have no idea," Astrid said, confused. Stoick ascended the steps to his special place presiding over the starting line, closely followed by Gobber. Spitelout was already there, speaking inaudibly to the Chief. Stoick answered, voice equally inaudible over the roar of the crowd.

Putting on a brave face and stepping forward, Stoick addressed the audience with a proud voice, his jubilant shouts not at all befitting the dreadful mood he'd just been in upon speaking briefly to Astrid. "People of Berk! Are you ready… for a dragon race?"

The crowd howled in response, full of joy and anticipation. Vikings of all ages jumped and waved and hollered.

"I thought so!" Stoick boomed, laughing. "We've waited long enough, so without further ado: Riders, mount your dragons!"

Astrid needn't be told twice, leaping up onto Stormfly's back with only a single step on one of the stirrups. Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins followed suit, and Stormfly braced herself in anticipation.

Stoick gestured his approval to Gobber, who promptly waved his prosthetic hand in the air. An instant later, a booming horn was blown from across town, its deep bellow splitting the afternoon air. The starting horn.

"Go!"

"Rawk!" Stormfly raced forward, diving off of the deck and spreading her wings to take flight. The Nadder flapped and flapped, taking an early lead as the others settled behind her. The course made them fly out beyond the edge of the island before hooking around the harbor to return to the village. As soon as Stormfly began to fly over the green grass of the village, she spotted a sheep with a big, colorful target painted on its wool, wandering absently down the empty street without a care in the world and unable to put two and two together.

"Go get him, Stormfly!" Astrid called, and Stormfly zoomed in, flying low to the ground. The sheep heard them coming and ran in a panic, but it was nowhere near a match for Stormfly's speed. The Nadder snatched up the sheep in her claws, holding tight and ascending once again to continue on the course.

"Nice work, girl—now, let's hold on!" Astrid chanced a look behind her, already spotting Snotlout attempting to catch up. Each lap only allowed a single sheep to be caught, and from that point on until the sheep was dropped into one of the buckets at the start line, all bets were off. It was a free-for-all for ownership of the captured sheep and the point that it offered.

A gel-like flame scorched the air behind them and Stormfly instinctively barrel-rolled out of the way. The fire had clearly come from a Monstrous Nightmare, which meant Hookfang. Astrid cast an offended look back at Snotlout, who gritted his teeth and spurred Hookfang again. The twins and Fishlegs flapped a safe distance behind, taking up third and fourth place in the order.

The sheep bleated in fear. "Stormfly, hand him over to me," she ordered, and Stormfly expertly tossed the sheep up and in front of her, the little animal wailing even more now. With ease, the Nadder flew just under the sheep and Astrid grabbed on, holding the ram in her arms. Stormfly weaved through the course, looping around Raven Point. As soon as the pair rounded the mountain, Hookfang came barreling straight at them from out of sight, having cut around the front of the mountain to head them off. Technically against the rules, but since participants were actively encouraged to break the rules of dragon racing (literally, that was in the rules handbook Hiccup had drawn up), Astrid could only try to adjust to the dirty play.

Snotlout bellowed a war cry as they closed in, and Stormfly expertly rolled up and out of Hookfang's path, a powerful rush of wind whipping beneath them as the Monstrous Nightmare missed. Astrid let out a haughty laugh as Hookfang spiraled, struggling to right his course and give chase.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Snotlout! Did you want this?" Astrid hollered back, taunting him and pointing at the sheep in her grasp.

"Astrid!" he yelled after her angrily. She caught sight of Snotlout's foul snarl before turning her attention up ahead. Fishlegs and the twins were nowhere to be seen ahead, and Astrid leaned into Stormfly to encourage the Nadder to go faster. Within the next half-minute, Stormfly barreled around to the starting line. Astrid expertly leaned off of the dragon's side and dropped the sheep in her basket as they whooshed by, hearing Stoick's congratulatory shout as she passed.

"Astrid takes the first point!" Stoick announced, and Stormfly ascended once more to begin the second lap. The Nadder slowed to catch her breath and Snotlout pulled in beside them on Hookfang's back, shrugging off his failure.

"Not bad, but I could've done better," Snotlout said.

"Oh, really? Is that why you failed to take the sheep from us?" Astrid shot back.

They both spotted the next sheep at the same time and made a beeline for it, speeding neck-and-neck for the potential point. Stormfly lowered her legs and stretched her claws, ready to snatch up the fleeing ram, but just before they could reach it, Snotlout jerked Hookfang's horns, prompting the Nightmare to crash into Stormfly's side. The impact rocked Astrid sideways and sent Stormfly careening off-course. Astrid tried to steady Stormfly as she fussed worriedly, and Hookfang easily snatched up the ram and continued along the course.

"Ugh! Let's chase after them, girl, he won't beat us that easily!" Astrid urged. The twins passed her by as Stormfly righted herself and took to the air, falling into pace with Fishlegs. The husky boy nodded meekly at her and urged Meatlug after them. Snotlout and the twins ended up fighting for the sheep—a fight that Snotlout curiously lost all too easily—and the twins ended up earning the point to tie them with Astrid.

Astrid soon found, with alarm, that the race proceeded to go similarly like that. She would catch the sheep a few times, but when it wasn't her that got her dragon's claws around one, the twins always won.

The twins built up an 8-3 lead over her (while Snotlout and Fishlegs shared dead last with zero points) when she finally caught on.

It was the 12th lap, and the targeted sheep was hiding in a pack of other, unpainted sheep as the racers banked around a corner and zoomed through the street at the cluster. The group saw the dragons coming and, apparently knowing what was about to happen, promptly kicked the painted sheep out of the group and left it exposed. Fishlegs led the pack and zeroed in, encouraging Meatlug all the way.

"Stormfly, spines!" Astrid called out, and the Nadder whipped her tail and shot a few spines at Fishlegs and Meatlug up in front of them. The spines zipped through the air and struck Meatlug's hide, startling the Gronckle just enough to allow Astrid and Stormfly to zoom past them and grab the sheep.

"Great work, girl!" Stormfly accepted the praise with a squawk and they curved around a tight turn on their way to the midpoint of the lap.

Astrid only saw the shape in her peripheral vision before the voice rang in her ears, "Excuse me!" Snotlout hollered, and Astrid could only jerk Stormfly's horns before the Nightmare crashed into them, having once again cut through the course to head them off. Stormfly screeched and Hookfang yanked the sheep from her grasp before kicking her and Astrid out of the way.

"Dammit!" Astrid snapped, and Stormfly squawked sadly as she righted herself and returned to the path behind both the twins and Fishlegs. "It's not your fault, girl. That one's on me."

She looked ahead past Fishlegs and watched with surprise as Snotlout slowed down and allowed the twins to catch up. Without even putting up a fight, Snotlout handed over the sheep to Ruffnut, saying something to her and grinning. Barf, Ruffnut's Zippleback head, started to breathe gas, and Tuffnut leaned in at Snotlout to say something before Belch, the other head, spat sparks and ignited the gas to send Snotlout spinning in an explosion. With ease, the Thorston pair added the next sheep to their collection.

"You see that too, Stormfly? He's been handing them to Ruffnut. Let's go knock some sense into Snotlout. Literally." Astrid sneered, and she guided Stormfly after them as she heard Stoick saying something about the twins having 9 points.

As soon as they pulled up above Snotlout, Astrid reached down and smacked him with the butt of her axe. "Ow!" Snotlout complained, and he glared up at her. "What was that for?"

"What the Hel do you think you're doing, Snotlout? They're going to win now," Astrid said, and she returned to her saddle with a cross look on her face. It was a look similar to the one her mother had given her when Astrid was a child and had gotten caught red-handed sneaking around after curfew. Not the first thing she'd modeled after her mother, and certainly not the last.

"What, she's my princess! Whatever she wants, she gets!" Snotlout said.

"Ruffnut?" Astrid blurted out, appalled. This was a romantic gesture?

"Yeah! Now that you're off the market, I've gotta find a babe somehow, and Ruffnut just so happens to be right in my age range."

Astrid rolled her eyes. She'd been "off the market" for years, but that hadn't stopped Snotlout from flirting with her, all the way up until she and Hiccup had tied the knot last autumn. Well, at least she didn't have to deal with him anymore. Still, that didn't excuse his blatant behavior. This was supposed to be her race to win, and if she couldn't win when Hiccup wasn't even here, she was not performing up to code.

Astrid scanned the village, finding no painted sheep skulking around the empty streets of Berk. The others seemed to have noticed too, flying leisurely in circles. "No more sheep, so that means…" the horn erupted with two long blasts throughout the village, and Astrid beamed with realization, "Yes, the black sheep! C'mon, Stormfly, this isn't over!"

Astrid leaned forward and Stormfly increased her speed to pull ahead of Snotlout and Hookfang. At the top of a hill, a small catapult pointing straight up had been loaded with a sheep possessing black wool. A bold streak of yellow paint decorated its nose, the catapult manned by a Viking.

The Viking pulled a lever, and the black sheep went flying.

"Go, go, go!" Astrid urged, and Stormfly ascended to catch the sheep. The Nadder lifted her claws to snatch it from the air, only for a round shape to zoom in front of them from below out of nowhere and whisk the sheep away. "No!" Astrid yelled, recognizing Fishlegs and Meatlug.

"Great job, Meatlug!" Fishlegs praised. He turned to look and spotted Ruffnut and Tuffnut close behind. Without hesitation, he pulled up and turned to face Ruff. "Here you go, darling. Mine's worth ten!"

Fishlegs ordered Meatlug to toss the black sheep right into Ruff's waiting arms. Astrid's jaw nearly hit her saddle as she gaped in shock, and Hookfang pulled up beside her again. With a scornful—and disbelieving—look, she turned to Snotlout.

"You guys are fighting over Ruffnut?"

"Tch, it's definitely not a fight," Snotlout muttered, before he caught a glance at Astrid's angry glare, "You're just jealous that she's getting all the attention now," Snotlout said.

"You—" Astrid scoffed, and she looked up ahead at the perfect time. Barf and Belch body checked Meatlug, sending the Gronckle and Fishlegs hurtling back towards them. Astrid jerked on Stormfly's crown of spikes and the Nadder barrel-rolled out of the way, causing Meatlug to instead crash into Hookfang. Emboldened, she leaned forward along Stormfly's back, focused, "C'mon, Stormfly, it's now or never!"

"Rawk!" Stormfly flapped her wings and zoomed forward, quickly catching up to the twins. Neither of them had any idea that she was approaching them as they reached the final stretch of the lap, the scoring baskets looming in front of them. Time was running short.

"No one can stop me now!" Ruffnut howled, already declaring victory.

"Except for me, genius. We're attached!" Tuffnut countered, and he reached for the sheep. "Gimme!"

"No!" Ruffnut railed, holding onto the sheep with one hand and sticking her other hand into her brother's face to hold him off.

"Gimme it now! You're stealing all of my glory with your stupid lovers' spat!"

"It's called using them, you idiot!" Ruffnut snapped, entering her foot into the fight by kicking Tuffnut in the belly to try and push him away. The male twin didn't relent, grappling for the sheep and pulling its legs, something that the poor sheep did not enjoy.

Astrid leaped into a squat, standing atop her saddle as Stormfly closed in from behind. Stormfly got the message and flew in right behind the Zippleback, allowing Astrid to leap onto its back and race across to make a run for the black sheep. She danced between the plates on the dragon's back, each step carefully calculated so that she didn't slip off of the moving dragon. Just as she reached the dragon's middle, Tuffnut got a second hand on the sheep and pulled, leaving it perfectly in between the Zippleback's necks and ripe for the taking.

"D'you feel that?" Ruffnut asked.

"I feel you stealing my glory!" Tuffnut groused. Astrid made her move, diving and ripping the sheep from the twins' contested grasp. Stormfly swooped underneath her so that she could land right in the saddle.

"Ha!" Astrid boasted. Stormfly squawked and they zoomed towards the baskets, leaving Ruffnut and Tuffnut behind them.

"She can't do that! Wait, can she?" Tuffnut rambled, flabbergasted.

"Astrid!" Ruff yowled, probably shaking her fist. The mental image made Astrid grin. Victory was hers! Stormfly aimed for the baskets, the crowd's roar filling Astrid's ears as they closed in. With no one to oppose her, Astrid leaned to the side and dropped the sheep into her basket.

"That's thirteen!" Stoick yelled, "Astrid takes the game!"

"Yes!" Astrid whooped, and she steered Stormfly towards the crowd as the great horn blew again, signaling the end of the race. She leaned off the side of her Nadder, high-fiving as many people as she could while she zoomed past them.

"That's my daughter-in-law!" Stoick hollered, and Astrid beamed. Well, at least he seemed to be in a better mood now. Astrid took a glance back at Hiccup's basket, empty and unused from his absence, and she pressed both knees forward and into Stormfly's flank to steer her up. The Nadder obeyed and Astrid guided her into an acrobatic spin, raising her hands as they turned and raced straight up.

"Woooooo-hoo!" Astrid howled above the wind. Berk shrank behind them as they ascended, and Astrid reached into her saddle bag next to her axe, the weapon safely nestled in a net tied tight to the Nadder's flank. She fished through the contents and grasped one of Toothless' shed scales. She always collected a few of his most recently shed scales—they carried a very strong scent and as such were incredibly useful for tracking down Hiccup when he went missing (an occurrence that was a little too common for Astrid's liking).

"Alright, girl…" Astrid hovered the scale near Stormfly's nose, allowing the dragon to sniff it and take in Toothless' scent. Stormfly squawked as she easily found the trail, and Astrid gripped the handlebars of the Nadder's saddle in preparation. "Let's go find our boys!"

The adventure begins...