Author's Notes:

• Please excuse my extended absence. To be honest, I've still been writing. I've just been neglecting my account here for one reason or another. But I'm not gonna get into that since it's menial and unimportant.

• I don't even know anymore. I just had a heyday with this. It's all one massive brain-fart, I swear!

• I do not own Kingdom Hearts or How To Train Your Dragon. They belong to Square Enix / Tetsuya Nomura and Dreamworks / Cressida Cowell respectively.

Vikings had a strange sense of humor. Between their eccentric way of showing affection towards one another, booming voices that commanded attention, over-the-top adventurous anecdotes of past crusades, and violent promises of bodily harm it was strange to think of any of them acting like a "normal" civilized human being. But the men and women of Berk were "civilized" if you went by Viking standards. And their children was quick to absorb and take in that brutal behavior.

Well, almost all of the children.

And, right now, Sora wished he was with the only non-violent person on the entire frozen isle.

His heart was racing; hammering a violent beat against his ribcage. It might have sounded like the drums of war to anyone who listened. Every single beat left a lingering sentiment to its coming predecessors to continue the rhythm; to continue fighting and living. His feet pounded against the dirt, kicking up a flurry of dust and pebbles behind him despite the recent freak rain storm to rock the island. The blood in his veins fought against the chill traveling up his spine at the sound of a shrill cackle - almost like that of a witch - that cut through the humid air. The sharp rocks and rough pathways that traversed the entirety of the village dug into his bare feet and Sora was positive they were going to be sore later. He was gasping for air, fighting to maintain his balance at every sharp turn. The metal links of his necklace bounced against his neck with the silver crown left to freely smack against his chest. He darted between buildings, dove behind barrels, deftly wove between dragons, and deviated from the stone pathways as much as he could. The only problem was that Sora was literally running in circles around the village instead of reaching his destination. For all he knew, he'd plowed past the village forge five or six times by now!

With all the dignity any fifteen year old could muster, Sora yelped when he felt two long arms ensnare him around his waist.

He squirmed and kicked, latching onto whatever he could and shouting as many protests that he could think of. The idea of people invading his personal bubble against his will was far from pleasant. Sora continued to shriek when he realized he was being forcibly moved. The grip on him refused to slacken. If Sora was the vengeful type, he would have been plotting Tuffnut's demise the second he realized he was in for a long game of tag.

Sora couldn't understand what Tuffnut was shouting over the uproar of his own objections and Ruffnut's gleeful cackle behind him. It would appear they were making a beeline for the Great Hall. Definitely not the pathway Sora desired to follow right now. In fact, it was almost the exact opposite of the direction he'd been trying to seek sanctuary in from the mischievous twins. His pupils dilated to twice their original size. As much as Sora hated to do it, he went ahead and did something completely out of his normal character.

He bit Tuffnut's forearm.

The male twin howled in pain, dropping Sora like a sack of potatoes. Putting aside the analogy involving his developing fear for the brown spuds, Sora took off running again the second his feet touched the ground. If the Great Hall was behind him, then that meant the forge should be just down the road and a few turns away. Oh yeah! Home free!

Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be that easy.

Sora glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Snotlout joining in on the chase.

Worse still, Sora tripped over his own feet and found himself sprawled out on his back with nothing but the open sky to face him. Well, that, and his feet were up in the air and he could see those too. Oh look, there's a house! And, maybe Sora was mistaken, but that one cloud looked like a bunny.

Okay, now was not the time for a hearty round of Guess-That-Fluffy-Shape-In-The-Sky!

Thinking fast, Sora rolled to the side, planting all four - yes, four - feet on the ground, and took off running again. He couldn't have had better timing. The second he shifted out position, Tuffnut landed where he had been previously deposited by gravity in a body slam, thus switching their roles effectively. Seconds later, Ruffnut tackled him, hardly paying any attention to Sora at this point. The brunette didn't stick around long enough to see how Snotlout was going to handle the situation as he charged onward, desperate to put as much space between himself and the crazy Thorston twins.

It'd been so long since he last felt like he was sprinting in a marathon that Sora wasn't used to it anymore. He recalled the first incident. It wasn't one of the brunette's fondest memories while traversing the known universe. Being chased by hyenas was fairly high on his list of things he'd rather not do again. If it weren't for Scar's impeccable timing, Sora wasn't so certain if he would've been around to take down Xemnas.

He didn't know why this was happening or even how it had come to pass. Sora just woke up this morning to suddenly find everything to be way out of his reach. Confused, the brunette wondered around the house after discovering he couldn't get the door open on his own. Sora needed to find help and fast. Spitfire had been following him most of the day until the pair finally managed to climb out of the kitchen window. Ruffnut had been walking by just in time to see the mass of dark brown fur with paws that seemed too large for it to fall onto his side leaving the chief's house. Things had gone downhill from there and now Sora was just desperate to find a safe haven.

Sora's vision and hearing were heightened in his current feline form. And even with these amplified senses the brunette still kept getting lost! He skid to a stop, panting heavily, and looked around quickly to try and establish just where he was. It would be some time before the twins and Snotlout reorganized, so now was the time to catch his barrings.

If his hastily composed memory served him correctly, he was just a hop, skip, and a jump away from his goal. But any sense of relief Sora might have felt was lost when he noticed people had stopped in middle of whatever it is they had been doing to stare at him. One woman had ceased walking in mid-step while a little girl with long brunette pigtails was peeking out of a window to look down at the fuzzy dark brown ball of fur in front of her house. While the woman looked caught somewhere between surprise and resisting whatever murderous urges she might have had toward anything of the feline variety, the little girl squealed happily before jumping down from the windowsill.

Sora's ears flattened against his head at the high pitched noise, but they quickly popped up again when the girl flung her front door open. And while Sora was more than a little thick headed at times, he recognized that look the little girl was giving him. He'd never had the look directed at him (as far as he knew), but after years of growing up around Kairi and Selphie, Sora had longed learned to recognize the signs of a girl fascinated with something they deemed "so-cute-they-wanted-to-hug-it-until-its-head-popped-off".

And that scared Sora far more than Astrid throwing potatoes at him ever could.

The little girl's eyes widened before she made another squealing noise that Sora could only assume meant she was very happy and very eager to cuddle him. His own pupils dilated and his ears flattened as much as possible as he sank down onto his stomach with his tail tucked up underneath him. The little girl held both of her arms out wide as if she was expecting him to jump into her arms. But when he didn't the girl dropped her arms and looked perplexed before she began to approach him.

Sora wanted to run away, but he also didn't want to make the girl upset. And he really didn't want to growl for fear of scaring her. The woman from earlier was also approaching him out of the corner of his eye. And while under normal circumstances Sora would have been perplexed by her approach, his newly garnered animal instincts were taking control. If you corner any animal, it will fight until it's set free, exhaustion overcame it, or death. And seeing as how death wasn't on the menu and Sora still had plenty of energy in reserve, he was left with only one option.

Mustering up a quiet growl, Sora's muscles tensed as the little girl got closer. His eyes were drawn to her since she was the closest to him and to his level. Sora fought his instincts to run just long enough for the girl to reach out and tousle what used to be his hair between his flattened ears. But the second he felt the contact, Sora couldn't hold back anymore. He jumped backwards, turned, and took off running.

Sora could hear the little girl running after him, giggling in pure delight. He couldn't tell if the woman was following and right now he didn't want to risk looking back to find out.

And thus, Sora was back to running blindly through Berk.

They ran past several buildings before Sora took a dive between two of them. As soon as he wormed his way out of the narrow alley, his world suddenly went black. And it was rank with the smell of something dead. His nose wrinkled up at the horrific stench, but he couldn't seem to put any distance between himself and the source. Whatever he was laying on felt slimy and made a squishing sound when he moved. For the second time that day, Sora found himself lying on his back with his feet up in the air. Only there were no clouds for him to stare at. All of his leg muscles were stiff and his paw pads ached from overuse. The world began to move against his will and Sora felt his head bump against something.

He took a few quick seconds to quickly survey his new surroundings. Little dots and thin slivers of light peeked into his unexpectedly dark world. Whatever his back was against was squishier than the ground and the source of the grotesque aroma. Sora could hear movement, but at this point there was no way for him to detect the origin. He felt the world begin to move again as if he was being lifted up in the air. Both of his ears jerked upright and his nostrils flared, but he couldn't smell anything past the malodorous odor.

Slowly, his paws began to lower so that his front feet rested against his furry chest and his back ones against his soft belly. Sora chose to lay there for a few moments; too scared to move for fear of the little girl finding him.

A small voice called out, drawing Sora's attention away from his peculiar and rather sudden predicament.

"Where'd the big kitty go?"

It was the little girl.

Sora felt his muscles seize up once again. He had to restrain himself from extending his claws for fear of accidentally puncturing himself.

Thankfully, a distraction came in another voice.

"I think it ran that way."

Was that Astrid? And why was she here?

"Thank you!"

The hastily spoken words of gratitude were quickly followed by rapid footfalls that gradually became softer, indicating whoever was running was moving away from his location. Breathing a quiet sigh of relief, Sora's muscles nearly went limb. But his moment of solace didn't last long before he felt the world moving against his will again. After a few minutes of movement and what sounded like a door closing, the activity changed to something akin to him slowly falling judging by the feeling of his stomach rising into his ribcage.

Curious, Sora tried to squirm upright into a sitting position. But the space he currently occupied wasn't very large and he was taking up the majority of the free room. A large circle of light opened up above him, causing temporary blindness. Sora tried to battle against it by covering his eyes with his massive paws. Again, his plans were foiled when he felt a pair of hands reach down and lift him up from what used to be his armpits. Instantly Sora was back on alert and he protested sharply, but he quickly shut-up when he realized who it was.

"What . . . in Thor's name . . . did you do?"

Blinking against the newly added light, Sora found himself staring up at Astrid. She had removed her hands and was giving him a look of confusion. Sora was currently sitting with half of his body in what he could now tell was a wicker basket that had fish at the bottom of it. The brunette-turned-lion offered up an innocent, toothy grin followed by a quick, "I didn't do anything!" However, all he was met with was an even more perplexed look on Astrid's face before her eyes narrowed into her usual glare. "Oh great." She didn't sound too happy. This confused Sora, causing him to tilt his head and blinked several times. The blond scowled in return and moved to pick up the fish off of the floor. "I can't understand a word you're saying."

If Astrid was unable to comprehend what he was saying, then it was fairly safe to assume that nobody on Berk could. This presented a problem in the communication's department. Which in turn was a major setback in figuring out just what had caused this mess. Judging by the amount of fish she was carrying, Astrid had dumped some from the basket in order to catch Sora inside of it. At least she was able to tell it was him.

Sora could only sit quietly and be grateful that Astrid didn't find anything "adorable" (again, as far as he knew) as she left the room with the fish. The brunette took the time to look around to try and decipher just where she had taken him. The interior of the house didn't appear to be familiar. Then again, Sora had only resided in a select few buildings during his stay in Berk and most of those places were open to the general public anyway. And there wasn't anybody else present in the building that he was aware of.

There was what Sora assumed was supposed to resemble a wooden couch with faded blue cushions up against the wall behind him and the basket he currently sat in was on said couch. A fire had not been lit and a few shields hung on the walls.

Curious to explore further, Sora tried to climb his way out of the basket. What he ended up doing was tipping over and falling onto his side. He scrambled up to his feet just in time for Astrid to return. The noise must have alerted her that something was up. She eyed him warily before approaching and lifting up the basket of remaining fish. Sora stared back up at her once he managed to seat himself comfortably. He was grateful to Astrid for rescuing him from the little girl, but he couldn't find the words to express it without sounding pathetic.

After a few moments of silence, Astrid's eye twitched. "You are Sora . . . right?" A sheepish smile spread across Sora's furry muzzle as he eagerly nodded his head. "Yes!" Astrid gaze became more scrutinizing. After a few moments, realization finally dawned on Sora that she might not speak lion. Thinking of the next best thing to prove his identity, Sora summoned the Keyblade in his mouth. Astrid's expression morphed to one of a grimace before she groaned and shook her head. "You're Spiky all right." Taking this with satisfaction, Sora dismissed the Kingdom Key and wiggled with anticipation. As to just what he was expecting, even he didn't know.

Giving a loud sigh, Astrid motioned for him to follow her as she moved back into the kitchen area. Sora jumped down from the couch with ease and padded along behind her. The smell of fish was oddly enticing to him all of the sudden. He licked his lips when he saw Astrid removing them from the basket before being drawn toward the open woven container when it was placed on the ground in front of him. Before Sora could inquire as to just what was going on, he felt the skin on the back of his neck being grabbed. Instinctively, his feet curled beneath him as she deftly lifted him up into the air and dropped him inside of the basket. But before she could close the lid, Sora stood up on his hind feet, placed his front legs over the lip of the basket, and looked up at the blond with the most guilt-free expression he could muster.

Astrid stared down at him, suddenly grateful for trying to learn a dragon's mood from their facial expressions and noises they make. It really helped that Sora made it pretty obvious what he was trying to convey. "If we're going to get the bottom of this, it's best you lay low for a while." After the fiasco she discovered him in (and Snotlout yelling something about a deformed cat roaming around Berk), there were bound to be people on the look-out for a feline of varying descriptions. Loki only knew what they would do to a non-native, cat-like creature that tripped over its own paws when spooked.

Sora sort of understood the need to keep himself hidden, but he didn't like the idea of being carted around in a wicker basket that was barely big enough for him to move around in without any say about where he was being taken. But he trusted Astrid enough not to throw him into the ocean. So the brunette settled back into the basket as comfortably as possible before Astrid closed and latched the lip down.

There wasn't a lot of space for a feline of his size in a basket only meant to cart around a small load. He couldn't sit upright, so Sora was resigned to resting the majority of his weight on top of his lower back a few inches above the base of his tail. He leaned back against the basket, feeling Astrid's own back on the opposite side. The lion cub lazily placed his front paws against his stomach. Both of his back legs and bottom were up against the opposite curved wall of the basket with his feet up in the air at an odd angle. This left his tail partially curled upward from between his back legs, the small tuft of fur dangling just above his front paws. His spine was forced to arch forward with the curvature of the basket. The spikes of his hair were only a few inches from his suspended back feet, leaving Sora with a very limited comfort zone.

"I can't believe I'm talking to a cat . . ."

It was a hushed confession, but Sora picked up on it regardless of how softly the statement was whispered. He wanted to reassure Astrid that there was nothing wrong with talking to animals but they'd already determined she couldn't understand him. Against his better judgment, Sora attempted to mimic a gentle purring sound he'd heard Toothless make on a number of occasions. Astrid didn't remark on the noise, but Sora hoped she knew he was sorry for putting her in such a position.

The world began to move again as Astrid lifted the basket onto her back and worked her arms through the leather straps. She slowly adjusted its position until she was comfortable before taking a few steps back into the main part of the house. Sora remained quiet to the best of his abilities and tried to remain as still as possible. His back paws extended their claws, sinking them into the side of the basket as a means of anchoring himself down. When Astrid stopped moving and Sora didn't hear the door opening, he couldn't resist making a questioning sound along the lines of, "What's wrong?" When Astrid didn't reprimand him for the noise, Sora remained silent in anticipation for an answer. His ears strained to pick up on any source of noise from the blond Viking.

Eventually, he picked up on a shuffling noise before they resumed moving. "I hope Hiccup has a better idea on what do about this than I do." He was the one who was brains-over-brawn after all. And if he could understand Toothless so well, maybe he could make heads-or-tails of what Sora was trying to tell her. Everyone in Berk who spent more than ten seconds around Toothless knew just how expressive the Night Fury was in comparison to the other dragons when it came to conveying his emotion using only his face.

Taking Astrid's statement as a signal of their destination, Sora settled down again as best as he possibly could. It sounded like they would be heading toward the forge, which was the original objective he'd had in mind. With the sound of a door opening and closing, Sora reminded himself to remain silent until the all clear was given.

The basket still reeked of fish, but it wasn't as potent now that the slimy aquatic creatures weren't underneath him. The fur on his back felt matted in places, indicating fish slime had worked its way in. Meaning a bath was in store whenever the next opportunity presented itself. Sora may have been a in cat form, but the idea of licking him for a bath was not appealing.

Sora's ears twitched at every sound they came across. He heard people talking, children laughing, various dragons, metal clinking, doors closing, and boots crunching over stone. Sora tried to concentrate on Astrid's footfalls, but with so many other sounds and his heightened hearing, it was difficult. A few people stopped Astrid and asked about different bits and ends. At one point he could have sworn Astrid's father had stopped the blond and asked something about dinner. Sora didn't pay much attention to the questions until he recognized one of the voices. He couldn't help but tilt his head back and pay attention to the exchanging of words.

"Astrid! Did you hear?" Fishlegs sure sounded excited about something.

"Hear what?"

"About the Psycho Kitty!"

Astrid stopped walking. "The what?"

"Uh - huh! It's in league with the gnomes!" Sora imagined the rotund boy was fidgeting with excitement judging by his hasty tone and higher pitch.

"Who told you a bogus story like that?" Astrid, in contrast, sounded the exact opposite of amused.

Truth be told, her patience was already wearing thin. Astrid had a sneaking suspicion she already knew just who was behind the tall - tale. Then again, she'd never been one to believe the stories about gnomes and trolls, but Astrid played along the with stories anyway when it was all in good humor. If there was no solid, tangible proof, then why should any of them believe the elaborate fantasies of their drunken elders? It was when they were taken seriously that the blond was left wondering the exact I.Q. of her fellow vikings. But they were a superstitious folk if nothing else. That was a discussion best left for another time and place.

". . . Gobber."

Silence.

After a few hesitant moments, Fishlegs pressed onward. "He said they steal innocent children who find them cute to feed the gnome overlords!"

Hearing this, Sora nearly slammed his paw against his forehead. Had word already spread that far? And where did Gobber come up with these ideas? Maybe Hiccup was right. Maybe Gobber really was insane.

And Astrid seemed to be thinking along the same lines judging by her tone. "No, I haven't seen this Psycho Kitty."

Not one to be easily deterred, Fishlegs pressed onward as if she hadn't sounded just the slightest bit annoyed. "If baby Gronkles have a +8 in being adorable, this thing is like twice that. Don't fall for its tricks!"

"Will do." If Sora wasn't mistaken, it sounded more like she was trying to get the boy to leave her alone rather than heed his warnings.

Fishlegs bid the blond a quick farewell before taking off to Astrid's left, likely to warn more people about the now famous deadly feline. Groaning quietly (at least by Astrid's standards given her lost patience), the blond continued her trip in silence. People seemed to bother her less, leading Sora to belief the "crisis" had passed or everyone was more focused on hunting him down than one Viking wondering in the opposite direction of all of the rapid footfalls Sora was picking up on. Either way, it made him fairly nervous.

Left with nothing to distract himself with, Sora tried to spy anything through the small gaps in the woven basket's material. Nothing was very distinguishable or very interesting to look at. He wanted to ask Astrid how much further, but he wasn't supposed to make any noise. Well, that, and she probably wouldn't have understood him. This effectively left him with only his thoughts to pass the time while being enclosed in a small, confined space.

Right before he was at his breaking point with the silence, he felt Astrid stop moving. Curious, but still aware that he should remain quiet, Sora perked his ears forward and turned his head to try and hear anything Astrid might say. He almost regretted it a split second later when a booming voice overcame his sensitive hearing. It took all of Sora's willpower not to yelp as he winced and covered his ears with his paws.

"Did ye hear about the Psycho Kitty?" The outcry was quickly followed by a loud ruckus of banging metal.

Biting back a groan, Astrid gave a one-shouldered shrug. "I'm not here for your silly stories, Gobber. Where's Hiccup?"

Gobber's distinctive laugh that followed hurt Sora's ears. He couldn't suppress a whimper, but it was thankfully drowned out by Gobber's gleeful cackle. "He left not too long ago. Said somet'ing about try'n out a new rig for Toother." Happy the bellowing was over, Sora slowly removed his paws from his ears to try and hear Astrid. It sounded like she'd successfully distracted Gobber from the Psycho Kitty nonsense at least.

"Mind if I wait here for him then?" If Hiccup was trying out something new, he'd likely land as close to the forge as possible in case there were any tweaks that needed to be made or additions to any blueprints he might have made.

Sora had to credit the blond for not sounding desperate or urgent. Astrid spoke in her usual tone, albeit rather casually. Most people in Berk were learning to attribute this slight change as Hiccup's doing. And since he was already the topic on hand, there were no indications as to her true intentions. "Truth be told," Gobber replied as he moved something heavy, "I think he just wanted an excuse to get out of work early. I'm closing up around here." The news perplexed Sora a bit, but maybe they were getting off work early today from lack of work to actually do.

Astrid started moving again and the colors Sora saw through the holes in the basket started changing from dull grays to rich browns. The temperature rapidly started rising and he could have sworn he was hearing a fire blazing. All of these were clear indicators that they were now inside the forge. The only problem was that the sudden spike in heat was causing Sora to pant as a means of keeping himself cool. Being covered head-to-toe in a thick coat of fur had its drawbacks. He hadn't even realized he was doing it until he felt the basket moved and it sounded like someone was messing with the leather latch. The potable container was jerked to the side, causing Sora to yelp quietly as he tried to stop himself from being tossed around. He reached out and sank his claws into the basket, but his panting continued and steadily began to rise in frequency.

"Just what're ye hide'n in there?"

The surging alarm going off in his head was not helping Sora's panting problem. He usually wasn't one to panic so easily, but the heat and forced confinement were getting to him. The basket tumbled onto its side somehow, eliciting a very displeased yowl of surprise on Sora's part. The basket was quickly righted again. No sooner was he sitting upright once more before the basket was yanked up off of wherever he'd been placed. The sides seemed to be caving in around him. Sora tried to put some space between himself and the lid, but in hindsight it was a futile attempt. His pupils dilated, his heart rate nearly doubled, and his fur began to bristle. All the moving around wasn't helping either.

With one last jerk, Astrid seemed to have the basket to herself again. "It's just a sick Terror! I was going to ask Hiccup to have a look at him!" The bold-faced lie would have earned a look from Sora if he'd been able to contort his face into something other than one of stricken panic. However, the lie seemed to placate Gobber enough to stop trying to see the basket's contents. He gave Astrid a push before moving to put the fires out, causing the temperature to flat-line and the some of the noise to stop invading Sora's skull. "Take it to the back room and don't let it escape." Confused by the order, Sora blearily tried to regain his bearings after the juggling fit. His brain started swimming when Gobber gave the order, causing Sora not to catch anything that was said after the word "escape". All he could do was moan weakly and hold his head, doing his best to keep what little food he had down.

Maybe Astrid was only half - lying. While he wasn't a Terrible Terror, Sora's stomach felt more twisted than a pretzel.

The following minutes were one big blur. The few things Sora could vaguely recall were slow movements and Astrid swearing an oath about not knowing where she was going. Eventually, Sora felt the world come to a stop and placed onto something hard and study. He could smell a candle being lit between the last dying waves of nausea. The lid to the basket was undone and removed, but Sora didn't feel Astrid's bony hands lifting him up. He whined pitifully, having long given up trying to be quiet since the tossing had started.

Slowly, mindful of his stomach, Sora placed his front paws on the lip of the basket and pulled his upper half out. He leaned heavily to the side, his laborious breathing already beginning the gradual process of going back to normal. It wasn't as hot wherever he currently was and it wasn't very bright. Both of these things he was grateful for. Sora could tell he was within a small room, but there was more space to move around out here than in the basket. His fur was matted in places from sweat and his chin had a thin dribble of spit from having his mouth open with his tongue hanging out during his panting fit.

"Okay, so maybe this wasn't my brightest idea ever."

Sora would take that as an apology since he highly doubted the words "sorry" ever left Astrid's lips. He raised a paw and dismissively waved in the general direction her voice came from. He vaguely heard Astrid shuffling through something before feeling short blasts of cold air blow against his face. Sora blinked against his blurry vision to look over. He wasn't really expecting it, but Astrid was couched on the ground next to him, fanning a thick piece of parchment a few inches from his face to help him cool down faster. Sora stared up at her, offering a small smile as he did so, before making his first attempt to get out of the basket. It ended with him once again lying on the ground, but it was better than being cooped up in that woven basket. With what little energy he could muster, Sora pulled himself free before collapsing one last time on his side, too exhausted to go any further.

Astrid continued to fan him for several minutes before she abruptly stopped. Sora lifted his head up to see just why, only to find she wasn't even looking at him. Instead, the blond's attention was drawn toward the wall behind him. Sora cocked his head to the side, eventually resorting to rolling onto his back to try and see what was holding her attention.

There was a large piece of brown parchment that was stained in places tacked to the wall. On it were sketches of different machines with handwritten runes Sora couldn't read. A lot of the old drawings resembled weapons or some sort of compound and were drawn in fading charcoal. Toward the center of the wall were quick doodles tacked on top of the larger parchment of Toothless or more intricate outlines of the Night Fury's tailfin mechanism. It was hard to tell much else since only one little candle was lit. That, and there was a desk in Sora's line of sight that he couldn't quite see over.

Sora's attention was pulled away from the wall when Astrid sighed. His ear flicked and he sat up on his back haunches to survey her. While the noise she uttered sounded unenthusiastic, her smile expressed otherwise. Sora grinned in turn and cocked his head to the side. Astrid didn't look down at him as her smile grew a little bit more, causing her nose to wrinkle in a funny way. "Gobber did say the back room," she said as if this justified their presence in Hiccup's designated work place. Sora almost felt bad for being there. Judging by the look on Astrid's face, she didn't seem to be the least bit worried. Taking that as a sign to just relax and accept their fate, Sora leisurely flopped back onto his side. He was still pretty worn out after discovering what a giant pinball in a tiny pinball machine felt like. He curled up in a loose ball, voiced one complacent yawn, then quietly gave into the world of dreams without protest.

With Sora in a near comatose state, Astrid took the moment of respite for a much needed breather. She'd had a rather bland day up until she was on her way home to feed Birdbrain. It was then that she spotted the blur of dark brown dart across her line of sight. At first, Astrid thought a large chicken must have gotten out judging by how adamantly the twins were chasing after it.

Figuring she would be doing Berk a favor, Astrid attempted to catch it after her chores were taken care of if the problem hadn't resolved itself by then. Knowing the twins and Snotlout, they would continue to terrorize whatever the poor beast was until it was overcome by exhaustion or died of a heart attack. She just wasn't expecting the blasted thing go around her house and charge at her. Instincts had gotten the better of her, hence why half of her stock of fish was on the ground and the furry mass had been relocated to her basket. She hadn't even considered what she was doing until she was alone in her living room with the large auburn feline staring at her. The only clues Astrid had as to just what the mass of fur's true identity was had to do with the chain around its throat and the outrageous hairstyle sticking up from between and around its round ears. And here she thought it looked ridiculous enough on a human head!

And, for the record, Astrid knew she was going to have to find a way to somehow pin this on Hiccup. She liked to think her life had been fairly normal before he decided to force her onto one temperamental Night Fury. At that point, Astrid had resigned herself into accepting that her life henceforth would never be the same, but she didn't think it was going to be this crazy! While she did enjoy a good adventure, lately Astrid found herself wondering if she'd ever be able to go a week without something new or strange coming into her life.

Blowing up into her bangs, Astrid silently eased herself up off of the floor. Not that such care was necessary. After that experience with Sora and the rafters, it was fairly safe to assume that when Sora called it a night, he was dead to the world for at least the next seven hours. A part of her wanted to reach down and ruffle his fur just to know what it felt like. But the idea in itself was just plain weird. So she left the slumbering feline alone in favor of making herself scarce.

Astrid sauntered out of the small room; in part because she wasn't a fan of small, enclosed spaces and partially because the idea of invading something as personal as Hiccup's workspace just didn't sit well with her. She'd seen enough already and felt awkward having just stared at his wall of doodles. On several occasions in the past, Astrid had debated on encroaching upon Hiccup's bedroom when the opportunity presented itself. And every single time she came to the same conclusion she was at that very moment; if it'd been her bedroom, would she have tolerated somebody barging in and going through her personal things? Most certainly not! And while the idea of messing with Hiccup usually sounded like a means of striking up a conversation and having a good ol' time at his expense, there were still some lines Astrid was not willing to cross.

She'd debated on removing Sora, but decided against it in favor of making sure she didn't touch anything. Gobber may have willingly left her alone in his forge, but the senior blacksmith had also left Hiccup alone in this very room in the middle of dragon raids and look what had happened because of his hasty judgment and ill-placed faith? On top of that, Astrid highly doubted either blacksmith would appreciate things being misplaced or tampered with.

Just how she got herself into this mess was mystery in of itself. A few months ago and it was doubtful Astrid would have tried to help Sora even if she'd known him before this whole hodgepodge of adversities she was finding herself more frequently involved in had taken place. And that right there was Hiccup's fault. He'd forced her to open up, asked her to at least tolerate Sora, and left the foreigner alone to his own devices, thus leading to whatever had caused his furry change in appearance. Not to mention the "bad luck" that seemed to hover over Hiccup like bees to honey.

Biting back a harsh remark, Astrid set to work relighting the forge's main furnace. It was getting cold out despite the recent shower and she wasn't dressed to fight the growing chill. That and if she sat here for too much longer, she might not be able to see where the weapons hanging on the walls were located. After the incident with the dragon eggs, Astrid didn't want to further mimic Hiccup's astonishing record of clumsiness by walking into a wall of sharp objects. That was asking to lose an eye and she needed both of them in order for her depth perception and aim to be spot on should the need for her deadly skills arise.

The low flames were enough to light up the forge and defend against the first nipping signs of nightfall. Satisfied with her work, Astrid ventured back to where Sora was lounging to make sure he hadn't spontaneously grown wings or was no longer a light sleeper despite the fact that cats slept for at least half of the entire day. Thankfully, the large malkin hadn't moved from where she'd left him.

Honestly, she had no idea what sort of feline Sora was supposed to represent. He was far too large to be your average domestic cat but was still slightly smaller than full-grown lynx. Judging by the size of his paws, Sora was in the fairly early stages of whatever species he was supposed to resemble. And what if he wasn't a cat at all? Toothless made purring sounds and he most certainly was not a feline. Maybe if a cat, a bat, and a salamander made one baby, then you'd have something closely resembling Toothless, but that was about as close as those differing species ever got.

Sitting around and doing nothing was hardly something anybody would ask for. Seeing as how she knew nothing about the job of a blacksmith aside from sharpening weapons, really didn't want to be responsible for missing equipment, already felt on edge for being at the scene of the crime of countless Hiccup-ideas-gone-wrong, and had to supervise a snoozing cat that most people wouldn't recognize, Astrid groaned to herself before pulling up a stool near the fire.

". . . That's it; no more rescuing distressed kittens."