A/N: What in the name of dragons happened to the copy-paste submit page?! Aghh this is weird. Okay, back to business. I've been getting a lot of messages lately from lovely, lovely readers who want to know when I'd continue this fic. Long story short, I wrote myself into a dead end but I've seen the light and now I have a plan. So yes, I'm revising this bad boy of a chapter so I can wrap it up nicely. I've been very busy with college and life, but if I have time I'll post chapter 6 in a couple weeks. Stay fresh, my darlings.

Disclaimer: I don´t own HTTYD.

Chapter 5 – How to Make an Ally

How to Speak with a Dragon without Actually Speaking Dragonese

Hiccup paced back and forth, circling around Toothless and putting his mind to the limit in order to form some sort of plan to fix what the did. At the same time, five pairs of Viking legs sprinted away from their forest like it depended on their life.

Astrid, Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and Fishlegs ran panting, too scared to look back or stop.

"Wait…wait! I think we've lost them," Astrid said, trying to catch her breath. "Look, there's the village."

"We have to tell Gobber about this!" Snotlout said. "Imagine the trouble Hiccup's going to get in!"

"He's demented! He's got a pet dragon!" said Ruffnut. "That's crazy. The craziest thing I've ever seen!"

"I don't get how he could've done it. He's supposed to be a wimp," said Tuffnut.

"Supposed, here is the keyword," Astrid said "You guys go home. I'll take care of this."

"No way," Snotlout said. "I want to see this."

"Yeah" Everybody else agreed.

With a roll of her clear blue eyes, Astrid let the others come with her to tell Gobber. For a change, he was not in the mess hall, or the Ring. Fishlegs ran to the armory shop to see if he was there, but he was not. After a lot of hasty running and searching here and there, they found Gobber in the port, installing a new anchor in a small ship.

"Gobber! Gobber" they shouted and startling him, causing him to let loose of the anchor's rope and letting it fall to the sea. He turned annoyed at his class.

"What?" He growled.

"You have to see this, Gobber! It's Hiccup." Astrid said.

"Hiccup?" Gobber said "What's wrong? Did he get hurt?"

Snotlout chuckled, "You wish…"

Gobber looked skeptically at him, "What are you talking about?"

The kids looked at each other knowing it would be hard for Gobber to believe them.

"Hiccup has a dragon… for a pet." Astrid said wishing she could slap her forehead; it sounded stupid now that she said it out loud. All that she accomplished was for Gobber to let a booming laugh loose.

"This is just too much!" Gobber said unable to stop laughing. "Aw… that was a good joke."

"But, we're not lying." Tuffnut and Ruffnut said.

"It's true, we saw it. It was a Night Fury called Toothless" said Fishlegs.

"Ya're only making stories up, just like Hiccup." Gobber said. "He's at the armory shop, he's always at the shop by this time."

"We've just passed through there, come if you don't believe us." Astrid kept insisting.

Finally after a lot of arguing with Gobber, bad disposition and all, they managed to take him to the armory shop. Gobber sighed, feeling annoyed. Odin knew Stoic was not grateful enough with him for bearing with the village teens.

He tried to open the shop's door but it was closed. He tried again, and again thinking it got stuck like it sometimes does, but it was locked.

"Ugh, Hiccup." Gobber sighed, "That toothpick locked the door."

Hiccup usually locked the door to the armory shop when he didn't want someone –including Gobber, to see what he was working on.

"Hiccup!" Gobber said banging the door, "HIC-CUP!"

There was a crashing sound of metal and wood, grunts and some complaints.

"Coming, coming!" Hiccup answered from inside the shop. He opened the door abruptly and revealed the mess inside the armory shop. He seemed breathless, like he had been running. Astrid and the others looked at each other with shocked expressions on their faces, unable to believe what their eyes saw.

"See? What did I tell ya, now STOP BOTHERING! I'll see you tomorrow." Gobber said turning back to head to the port again, but not before saying "Hiccup, clean that mess up!"

Hiccup immediately began to work at the task Gobber gave him, trying to ignore the stares of his classmates and hoping his plan worked.

"But… how?" Snotlout stuttered. "You were there, and the dragon…"

Hiccup turned to look at them and tried to seem as confused as it would be credible.

"Uh… what dragon?" Hiccup asked.

"The dragon!" Fishlegs exclaimed "The Night Fury!"

Hiccup felt his stomach sink at the word "Night Fury."

"I… don't know what you're talking about. I've been stuck here all day long."

"Not true," Ruffnut said, "Fishlegs looked for you here."

"I was probably at my house, then. Looking for some notes on a… device I'm building." Hiccup said nonplussed, on the given that he was supposed to be mad at them.

"What have you guys been up to?" he asked.

"We saw you in the woods!" Tuffnut intervened, "You may trick Gobber, but not us!"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Like I said, I have been here all along. Now if you guys excuse me, I have to clean this up before going back home. We have Dragon Training tomorrow." Hiccup pretended to be busy picking up some swords he threw to the floor on his way to open the door.

"Look, I don't know what you saw up there, but it must be just your imagination." Hiccup said with a friendly smile, "I wouldn't blame you, it happens all the time to me… It must be the trolls. If you don't pay attention they steal your socks, you know? But only the left ones…"

Hiccup succeeded in returning to them that odd stare they always dedicated to him when he started talking nonsense –usually Hiccup wouldn't notice, but today he was giving a shot at deceiving.

"So, um… are you guys going to stay here for long? Because I'd definitely could use some help with these hammers, most of the time I have to wait for Gobber to put them in their shelves, but I thought you could –

"I pass" Snotlout said.

"Me too" the twins answered in unison.

Hiccup turned to see Fishlegs, "I… have to read the Dragon Book." Fishlegs left.

Hiccup turned to the shields and started lining them up near a wall content with himself. 'This was almost too easy. Toothless is right, I should do this more often.' He thought.

The truth was this unlikely plan was all he could think of in order to cover Toothless up. It seemed logical that he should act like always –crazy. And to Hiccup's credit, it worked fairly well. For a change he gave them a little of their own medicine.

"I know you're lying." Astrid said making Hiccup jump, alarmed. He turned to see Astrid. She was leaning on the door's frame, looking casual. Hiccup only stared at her.

"You don't need to lie to me. I know..." She said, preparing to leave, but then she turned and punched Hiccup in the stomach "That's for ruining everything."

"Ouch!"

Then she smacked him on the head. "And that's for everything else." After that, she left. Hiccup sighed. It wouldn't be the first time Astrid gets mad at him, but this time he did not care. So, relieved his plan actually worked, he breathed deeply and stress-free, allowing his lungs to fill up to their top. He released his breath and once again locked the door to the armory shop, where only Odin knows how, Toothless was never spotted.

"That was very close." Hiccup said. Toothless agreed with him, nodding vigorously. "Do you think they actually bought it?"

Toothless purred and nodded again, "Though I'm not so sure about Astrid." He purred signaling the door where Astrid leaned minutes before.

"Yeah, you're right. Astrid didn't. But to our credit, I don't think she's going to be brave enough to accuse me." Hiccup said feeling some inner guilty pleasure when diminishing his platonic love's potential guts.

"It's dark already; you should go back to the cove." Hiccup told Toothless as he managed to walk a clumsy step and knock the shields he had put together before. Toothless whined in disapproval. He didn't want to leave.

"Toothless…" Hiccup complained more worried than frustrated. "You have to go buddy, we can't risk our alibi. I promise I'll visit you tomorrow as soon as I finish with Dragon Training." But Toothless didn't seem too convinced about his friend's promise.

"I'll even bring Icelandic cod…" Hiccup bribed with a sing-sang tone. He knew Toothless was not able to resist bribery, not when fish was involved, anyway.

The next morning everything went back to normal. They were back in Dragon Training and Gobber did not suspect a thing, but amidst this superficial normalcy, there was something different in the way the other Vikings treated Hiccup. It wasn't disdain, as usual. Rather, some form of respect. Hiccup would even dare say it was fear, but he didn't make a big deal of it, anyways.

Today's dragon was the Nadder. Everything went as it should, except Hiccup decided it was time to get his fellow Vikings back for all those years of misery they put him through. Now, having Hiccup the Useless out for revenge was an odd sight all in itself, but if anything, the other Vikings ought to be glad that he was nowhere near as vicious as his dragon counterpart, the Night Fury.

As it had become the norm, Hiccup beat Astrid singlehandedly in taming the dragon, earning himself a few more admirers and Gobber's support.

"Ye'r doing fine, lad. Keep up the good work, your dad would be proud of you."

Hiccup's smile vanished at the thought of his father. One thing was that his classmates discovered his secret. Another thing entirely was if his father ever heard word of it.

"Alright, alright. Practice is done. Get some rest and we'll meet at dinner," said Gobber after locking up the Nadder, leaving the group of teens to confront the uncomfortable tension. To their bad luck, Hiccup was just discovering that Haddock side to him that he had thought was not included with his skimpy limbs. So, with a curtly nod, he acknowledged him and left.

"Are you going to see the dragon again, you traitor?" said Snotlout, obviously looking for a quarrel, if nothing more.

Hiccup sighed and he limited himself to glance annoyed at Snotlout. "You heard Gobber. I'll see you bunch at dinner. I have things to do."

"They're going to believe us, you know," he continued. But with Hiccup's back to him, he would never see how doubt and fear began seeping into Hiccup's expression. "I heard your dad is coming back tomorrow. He'll be so pissed when he finds out."

Hiccup sighed again and tried to push back the thought of Toothless, and how he wouldn't have thought for a second in asserting dominance over this fellow. "Just keep walking," he thought.

"Bet he's going to be so embarrassed about you, he'll hand the throne to my dad."

Okay, that's enough.

Hiccup stopped on his tracks. Feeling rather devious, he walked straight to Snotlout and held his stare. "You listen to me now, Snotlout. And you listen to me well," he muttered. "Remember how I made that Night Fury stop from eating you alive? Well, that's not the only thing I can make him do. Or the other dragons. You think about that next time you're threatening me, or fancy missing a limb. Whatever comes first."

It was too late to stop the words from flowing when he started feeling guilty. Especially when he saw color leave Snotlout cheeks. But it was done now. If he apologized, they would never leave him alone. He glanced at the others, who had the same surprised, fearful expression, and tried not to feel bad. "Tha—that goes to the same of you," he said, and ran away.

The next time he was at the cove, he told Toothless everything. Yes, the dragon couldn't speak but Hiccup was certain there was a proud, slightly smug expression in his face.

"I don't know bud. I don't think I did the right thing. It felt good, but in a bad way…"

"That's what revenge usually feels like," purred Toothless, with a devious smirk.

Hiccup sighed. "Don't act like it's a good thing!" he complained and then sat on his favorite rock to doodle on the ground. "I'm not like this."

"Hiccup, those kids were begging for a taste of their own medicine."

"It makes me feel bad about Astrid and Fishlegs."

Toothless growled and rolled his eyes. "Not that harpy again."

"I'm sorry, okay? I just… I can't help it. A part of me always thought that… she was different from the others." After pondering about this notion and remembering her past actions, a frown bloomed on his brows. "But I was wrong."

Toothless whimpered a little and nuzzled his leg. Hiccup smiled. "What do you say if we head for the clouds for a bit, bud?"

Toothless flashed him his trademark toothless grin and they headed up to the skies. But little did they know, that afternoon, they were being watched.

She waited patiently and she was good at this. That's how she managed to become the greatest hunter under the eyes of her father. Following Hiccup to the mouth of his hideout was no match for her wits. But she knew if she was to talk to Hiccup, she had to do it under three conditions. Without the dragon, without witnesses, and away from Berk.

Night was falling and the sounds of the dark were growing strong when Hiccup finally came out of the dragon's den. She followed him without his notice, until he decided to rest and she came from behind him.

"You really are something else."

"Ah!" Hiccup yelped and fell from the rock he sat on. "What is your problem?"

"You're one of them," she said and offered her hand to help him up, but he stood up by himself. He threw her an irritated glance and dusted his clothes off.

"What do you want?"

"I want to know why you're doing this."

"Doing what?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes in a mannerism was strikingly similar to Toothless'. "Don't play stupid with me, Hiccup. I'm not as thick on the head as the others."

"Oh yeah? Well, I wouldn't know."

She threw a rock at him for that. "Hey!"

"You earned that."

"Ugh. You know what, I don't have time for this."

"Why do you bother coming back?" she pressed. "It's not like you enjoy yourself out there. You hate being a Viking and you're not good at it either."

"Thank you for summing that up…"

"It's an honest question."

He turned to look at her and found genuine interest sparkling in her eye. "Why do you even care? It's not like you're any different from them. You hate me."

She frowned. "It's because I can't figure you out." She paused for a moment and let her expression soften a bit. "No one can, really." She shrugged.

"And your point is…?"

She sighed. "Speak of thick on the head! Don't you realize what you've done, Hiccup?"

"Um… yeah. I became friends with a dragon. Last time I checked you get banished for something like that in Berk, so it's just a matter of time."

"You tamed a dragon, Hiccup. You trained a Night Fury from all dragons to obey you! Don't you realize how different things would be if everyone in Berk could do that?"

He looked at Astrid for a moment and considered it, then he frowned. "It wouldn't work." And he kept walking.

"Why not?"

"Because you said obey. It doesn't work that way."

"Well, how does it work, then?"

Hiccup turned to her with skepticism. "Don't tell me now you want to learn how to train a dragon out of the kindness of your heart."

"I want to understand."

Still frowning, he sighed and paced around a bit. "They're not like the Vikings, and I'm glad they're not. They don't simply follow orders without questioning. With dragons there's a thing called respect, you see. Patience. Loyalty. Trust. You have to work hard for them, earn them. And what do they have in common? None of them are words I'd exactly use to describe our tribe."

"But we can learn."

Hiccup snorted. "The only thing we've ever learned is how to throw an ax to slice a dragon's head in half."

"You know, I always thought you were kind. But it looks like I was wrong."

"Excuse me?"

"You're a snobbish, self-righteous, egocentric weirdo that's too selfish to care about anyone else but himself."

"To be honest, you don't give me many reasons to care about you."

Astrid blinked, knowing he meant the whole village, but being unable to feel like he was talking solely about her. "Whatever, go hang out with your stupid lizards. I'm clearly wasting my time here."

He rolled his eyes and went after her. "Astrid, wait. Now it's my turn to ask you a question. But I want the truth."

"What?"

"Why did you come here?"

"I already told you."

"No. I mean it. You hate me. We're as different as they come. Why would you… why are you here?"

"I don't hate you, Hiccup," she said calmly. "And I came here because I was hoping to understand why you're going through so much trouble for our enemy."

"Toothless isn't my enemy. He's my friend."

"Exactly. That's what I figured after thinking about it for awhile. And the more I thought, the more I realized how twisted the whole thing was, but in a good way. The sole idea… just considering we could stop fighting dragons… that we could ride them, don't you realize how powerful you are?"

Hiccup couldn't help but feel flattered. Even less when Astrid's awe was evidently genuine.

"You could stop the war, Hiccup."

He chuckled coldly. "Yeah, right."

"I'm serious."

"I bet my dad would just love hearing about that plan. 'Hey dad, guess what. Instead of killing dragons like we've done in the last two hundred years, why don't we just ride them?' He'd throw me into the first boat to Hel."

"That's not true."

"You don't know him like I do. I'm sure if someone came in and said they accidentally switched Snotlout and me at birth, he'd be relieved. No offense Astrid, but you can't just change how people think."

"I think you can. At least someone like you, could."

"Oh yeah? No one in Berk has ever listened to what I have to say. What makes you think they would this time?"

"I listened. That's a start, right?" she said. "I—I have to go." And then left, leaving Hiccup more perplexed than he's ever been in his entire life. Astrid said he was hard to figure out, but he was sure she wouldn't be saying those things if she stopped to look at a mirror once in a while.

a/n: Well, it might not be much but I'm happy with the way this turned out. I'll be trying to post the next chapter somewhen during what's left of March or April, probably during spring break. Thanks for reading! Spoiler alert, the next chapter's title is "How to Train Your Dragon." So yeah, make deductions about that one while I write it.

Much love,

Avatard n_n