How to Train Your Dragon 1. Prologue: Stoick the Vast

**Hi this is my first attempt at writing in a while. I'm really looking forward to hearing your thoughts and reviews. Thanks in advance.**

Stoick had not expected to wind up getting stabbed today. The very notion was laughable at best. For one thing he was Stoick the Vast! He was the Viking chief and supreme warrior of Berk, the most thriving of all the Viking Isles. Secondly they weren't at war with anyone; they hadn't been for near on two years, including both dragons and other Vikings.

The last week had been a part of that, it was a chief's duty to visit and renew peace treaties almost annually with their allies. Most of these allies weren't keen on Berk's _other _inhabitants hence he was travelling by ship.

And through the fog as well; this gods forsaken mist had began to appear shortly after they'd passed Dragon Island, returning from the last of the tribes. Vikings were not new to mist or storms, it was a part of life out on the sea and they'd long ago gotten used to it. But he was unsettled.

It echoed out across the surface of the water. Spitelout at the helm moved to say something but the chief growled a warning, "I heard it too." he pointed over towards the right side of the ship, where a dark silhouette was looming into view, "To port." He said in a low whisper. The crew knew that tone and each one readied their weapons.

They heard it again; a splash. Once again it echoed across the water, but unlike the last one, it was accompanied by voices.

"Watch this one, he's a fighter." A booming voice called. A hearty laugh followed as the Berkians heard sounds of struggling.

"You call yourself a Viking! I didn't realise you pirates were such cowards!" This voice sounded desperate. And, to Stoick's fury, young; almost like his sons except for an odd accent. "Why don't you face me one on one! Are you too scared?!" As much as Stoick admired the owner of the voice's courage it was also a sure way to get you killed.

The ships came into view: a longship alongside a trading vessel. Stoick felt a nudge on his shoulder as one of his crew pointed out the sails. One was a plainly striped blue on green which he instantly recognised as trader Johann's merchant ship. The other bore a red horned helmet across a black background. This could only mean one thing, they were Outcast pirates. As they glided around the trading vessel they realised what was happening.

The pirates were dropping the merchant's crew into the sea one by one, who were bound and weighted. This was all taking place on the far side of the marauder's ship and as such no one had yet noticed the new ship arriving. Their eyes were focused on a youth struggling with his captor whilst yelling taunts at the surrounding Vikings.

With a gesture from Stoick the Vikings docked alongside Johann's ship with practiced precision and silently sneaked aboard with their chief in the lead. A lone sentry stood guard over the taken ship but even he was distracted by the commotion of the young boy. Spitelout dispatched him with ease as the crew braced against the far gunwale waiting to strike.

"Just throw him over the edge Grognarr, he isn't worth the effort." The highly decorated outcast with the booming voice ordered. "Then we'll deal with Johann!" Stoick immediately singled him out; Johann was well known on Berk and an honorary member of the clan. No one would harm him and live.

Knowing that it was now or never Stoick hefted his war axe and gave a bellowing war cry as he vaulted over to the pirate's ship, his men following fearlessly. Most of the pirates were cut down before they could react, those that were smart swiftly jumped into the water and began swimming. Some were foolish enough to fight back but were quickly overrun. No outcasts were left alive on board except for the booming voiced pirate who had swiftly pulled Johann out from his place of imprisonment and placed a knife against the bearded man's throat. Stoick held up a hand to stay his men.

"Don't take another step or I'll kill him!" Came the obvious threat.

"That boy was right," Stoick goaded, "You are a coward!" Speaking of the boy, he wondered what had happened to him. In all the fighting he'd lost track of him but he couldn't get distracted now. He needed an opening to rush in and end this.

"You aren't one to talk Stoick." The outcast cracked a toothy grin, "we've all heard about how Berk relies on dragons to fight their battles." The outcast retorted as he started to back away towards the edge of the boat. "Now I think it's time I made my ex-."

Stoick felt something fly past his ear. The outcast halted mid sentence as an grey feathered arrow shaft sprouted from between his armour plating on the right shoulder. Stoick was stunned for a heartbeat before seeing his chance as the pirate stumbled back. The chief swiftly rushed forward as he raised his war axe. He swung his axe downward at the same moment as his opponent raised his sword. The honed iron easily bit through armour and flesh so that a second later the Outcast's corpse fell limply to the ground.

"Who fired that arrow?" He bellowed to the surrounding Vikings.

He turned towards the youth who had been captive only moments before. He had a second of realisation before everyone let out a resounding gasp. Confusion furrowed his brow before he looked down at the sword buried in his stomach. Only then did the pain kick in, followed by the numbing sensation as he slowly lost blood. And for the first time in his life he fainted.

**So that was the prologue and also my first attempt at a cliff hanger. I hope you enjoyed it but let me know anyways. **


	2. Chapter One: What the Tide Dragged In

**Hiccup**

Hiccup awoke to find himself still at his desk, a line of drool indicating where his head had been. He'd spent the night up late working on his project again. He was almost beginning to forget what a comfy bed feels like. A growl signalled to him that he wasn't the only person awake now.

"Hey bud," he said to the pitch black Night Fury who had walked up to nuzzle him, "you are in a good mood." The dragon returned a toothless grin as it began bouncing around the room, its signal that he wanted to go flying. Hiccup took an uneasy first step on his prosthetic leg (even after two years the first step in the morning still affected him) and went to change into a clean shirt. He pulled on a muted green shirt as well as his favourite fur vest before making a descent down his staircase. He was in a hurry today because for the first time in weeks the academy had the day off and that meant today was his chance.

He'd asked fellow dragon rider and by all accounts the most beautiful girl on Berk, Astrid Hofferson, if she would explore a new island with him and it was there he planned to make his move. He just had to say three little words and he'd been working up his nerves for the last week. But the thought still spooked him, even though they weren't officially dating, they had been close for the last two years since they'd faced off against the Red Death. He was still worried that this small act might destroy the friendship they'd worked so hard for.

His heart gave a lurch as he opened the front door to find Astrid already waiting for him. The blonde warrior was dressed in her usual studded skirt and skull emblazoned shoulder pads. She did however have a new vibrant blue shirt on today that couldn't help but draw his eyes to her...

"Eyes up here Hiccup," She said sternly as she noticed his wondering gaze.

"Oh hey... hey Astrid," he said as he fumbled for composure. He found himself rubbing the back of his neck as he gained his wits enough to ask, "So are you ready to go flying?"

Astrid broke into a rarely seen smile and after a short wolf-like whistle her Deadly Nadder Stormfly landed out of nowhere. "I thought you might ask. Where are we going?"

Hiccup had been planning this for weeks, months even. Whilst he and Toothless had been out on their evening flights they had stumbled upon a new island, one unlike any other he'd encountered before. To summarize in one word it was picturesque, with sandy beaches covering three sides of the island and a flat cliff top on the fourth. He could barely contain his excitement as he told her "Well I thought we'd take a nice flight past the eastern isles to show you someth-."

_Ding! Ding! Ding!_

He let out a groan as he was cut off from the sound of the warning bell, used to announce the approach of incoming or returning ships. Within second the two seventeen year olds and their dragons had climbed the hill top that the Haddock residence sat upon. A quick glance through the his spyglass showed three ships, Trader Johanns, a longship with a fresh plain white sail and his father's ship. He let out a silent curse, as the chief's son he was expected to greet his father at the docks, which would seriously delay his date... _is it a date? I guess it is._ He thought to himself.

"I'm sorry Astrid but I'm going to have to welcome my dad. But I promise we'll go out straight after. I promise." He stammered, hoping she wouldn't be too upset with him. It was generally not a safe idea to be on Astrid's bad side. She'd probably toss him through a wall or push him off a cliff face.

To his surprise she just nodded with a knowing smile, evidently she was in a good mood. "It's okay Hiccup I get it. But don't think that'll get rid of me, I'm coming along too." He wasn't going to complain; any extra minute with her was worth it, so without further comment he lead Toothless into take off and they both glided down towards the shipyard.

Hiccups breath caught as the ship docked. He and Astrid had been standing in the late morning sun for the last half an hour as they waited for the ships to come in to shore. Beside them stood Gobber, the town's one armed one legged blacksmith, Stoick's right hand man and Hiccup's mentor. The old blacksmith was large, pot bellied and broad shouldered with arms like tree trunks from decades of working iron in the forge. But although the man's appearance could be intimidating, with his peg leg and assortment of prosthetics for his arm, he was friendly with a sarcastic humour. Both Gobber and Hiccup had come to the conclusion early on that his father had taken a prize on his journey and thus explained the presence of the transformed Outcast ship.

As Stoick's flagship finally came to rest along the creaking timber jetty Hiccup straightened his back and squared his runty shoulders. His father would be the first one to set foot on land by custom and his heir would be the first one to greet him, followed by the acting chief if they were not one and the same.

But it wasn't his father who appeared first but his first mate Spitelout Jorgenson. A brief look to Spitelout and the lack of his father's presence was enough to convince him that something was wrong. Spitelout dropped down to the wooden platform of the dock and immediately conferred with Gobber the crippled blacksmith. They exchanged a worried glance towards Hiccup before Gobber hobbled over to explain the situation.

"I'm sorry lad. But somethin's 'appened." it was only then that the boy noticed tears forming in the old blacksmiths eye. Vikings didn't cry, it was a matter of principle. It must be something bad by the way the blacksmith was tearing up.

"Gobber, I need to know. Did... Did something happen to my dad?" he realised his voice was trembling but he received a nod in reply.

"They came upon an outcast ship on the return 'ome. T'was in the fog near Dragon Island and the bastards had boarded Trader Johann's ship. They were in the middle of executin' the survivors. Your father came to their aide but whilst fighting them he was stabbed in the belly.

"e's still alive but unconscious, they're taking him directly to Gothi." Gobber added quickly before the teenager could think the unthinkable. As he spoke Spitelout and three other Vikings carried their chief out of the longship's hold on a large makeshift stretcher. The sword had been removed and a rudimentary bandage had been wrapped but it was still obvious he wasn't doing well. His scale-mail armour was dyed red with blood on his abdomen and his face was a ghostly white.

As Hiccup ran over to check on his father he noticed two more Vikings haul out more human cargo. Between the two burly men was a boy with dark shaggy brown hair and a strange garb. The boy's hands were bound securely behind his back.

"Gobber why did they bring an Outcast to Berk?" the boy seemed paralysed with fear, his face ashen, but seemed to jerk around at the sound of Hiccup's voice.

"I don't think he is one son. But Spitelout says we're taking him to the dungeon. Apparently he's the cause of all this." Gobber gestured towards Stoick before following the procession up through the town. Hiccup felt something push into his palm, probably Toothless trying to console his master. To his surprise it was a human hand and it took him a second to realise it was Astrid. This would have been the highlight of his week any other day but not today. He snatched his hand away, ignoring Astrid's hurt expression as he stormed off after his father. He knew she meant well but at the moment his blood was boiling. He was overcome with a strange emotion, one he'd never felt before. Anger: Anger towards the brown haired boy.


	3. Chapter Two: Stranger

**As you'll quickly notice the point of views jump around a bit from now on but I'll try to keep it clear who is talking.**

**Astrid**

She found herself sitting alone at sunset, her face in her hands and salty tears running down her cheeks. The day had started out so well but that had been quickly smashed against the rocks like a fishing boat caught in a storm. She'd waken up that morning at dawn like every other day but with a new excitement buzzing through her. After all Hiccup had finally grown some balls and asked her on a date.

She'd dressed herself in her usual attire; leggings, boots, skirt, studded skirt to go over the previous one, arm warmers, headband and iron shoulder pads. Then she'd added a little extra flair, a blue top she'd bought months ago that she hoped would impress Hiccup. And it had evidently. She couldn't lie to herself by pretending she hadn't been a little pleased when she caught hiccup staring at her breasts, but she'd never let him know that. When Hiccup had then described where they were going, her heart had soared; he'd obviously been planning this for weeks and it meant much needed alone time with him.

But that was all ruined when the warning bell sounded. Not that she could blame Hiccup for his priorities, choosing his wounded father over his and her leisure time. But that didn't mean he'd had to be a dick about it. His rejection of her hand had been harsh and still stung her like she'd been physically slapped in the face. Afterwards he had stormed off to his house where Gothi had began tending to his injured father, there'd been no point in her waiting there as well and after how he'd treated her, she didn't particularly want to.

Afterwards she'd located Stormfly and her axe before flying out into the woods for some much needed venting. The poor pine tree she'd chosen as a target had been all but destroyed but it hadn't made her feel any better. So she'd just sat on the grass and allowed herself a rare breakdown as she looked out to sea. No one had ever seen Astrid Hofferson cry, no one except Stormfly that was. As the tears had rolled down her riders face the big dragon had settled down behind the human, allowing Astrid to lean into the dragon's warm skin as it made an effort to cheer her by stroking her blonde hair with its beak. They stayed like that until after the sun had gone down as Astrid mourned her wasted day off, it was as if fate had aligned it in order to spite her.

Suddenly her mood changed to one of anger rather than self-pity. _It wasn't fates fault_, she thought with determination, _it was Hiccups_. She made up her mind to confront Hiccup about it and to call him some very choice words. With that in mind she and Stormfly set out towards the village.

She was back within ten minutes, a trip that would once have taken her three times as long on foot, and landed on the hilltop outside Hiccups house. There was a light visible through the windows and she assumed Hiccup would still be awake, likely fussing over his father. To her surprise it was Gobber who greeted her when she knocked on the door.

"Uh... Sorry Gobber I didn't mean to interrupt but is Hiccup home?" she asked politely, trying not to let any of her anger towards the blacksmith's apprentice show.

"Nay lass, you just missed him." Gobber said apologetically, it was obvious he was still worried about his friend by the redness of his eyes.

"Do you know where he is?" She said as she tried not to let her annoyance show. Where could he be going this late at night?

"He said 'e was goin' to check on the prisoner." He explained as he pointed his hook hand towards the mead hall, from which the dungeons could be accessed via a side passage. She thanked Gobber as she followed the short path from the Chief's home to the hall. As she passed through towards the dungeons she noticed a few Vikings still inside drinking, which wasn't uncommon.

The dungeons sat at the end of a passageway and consisted of a large circular room with eight separate prison cells branching out from it. Three of these eight cells were along the south wall, which were the only ones to have windows as the others were positioned with rock and earth on the other side. From the entrance of the passageway Astrid could hear raised voices, well one raised voice to be exact.

"... you better pray that he gets better! Otherwise your fate is sealed!" That was Hiccups voice definitely but it sounded more disgusting then she'd ever heard before, heavily mixed with a hate she'd never imagined from the young Viking. She turned the corner just in time to see Hiccup scream at the poor prisoner "WHY DON'T YOU ANSWER ME?! Are you to worthless to even explain yourself you asshole?"

Astrid was shocked. She'd never heard Hiccup insult anyone before, let alone curse. Yet there he stood, his face a bright red as he glared at the prisoner. The prisoner for his part simply sat on the cot in his cell, his arms resting on his knees and his face turned downwards to stare at the ground. His long hair was hanging in a way that blocked his face from view but Astrid could see the way his fists were tensed out in front of him. Otherwise he remained silent and unmoving, determined to try and block out the Hiccups verbal abuse.

This only seemed to anger Hiccup more and Astrid watched as he walked towards the table and chair set against the opposite wall of the dungeons. These were left for the guards that commonly kept watch over the more sinister prisoners and also featured a chest beneath the table top that housed any items the prisoners had on them when they were taken captive. But Hiccup wasn't interested in the chest but instead picked up one of the tankards that had been left by which ever Viking had been on duty before he showed up. She watched in horror as Hiccup, not realising Astrid's presence yet, walked over to the bars and hurled the cup with all his might. Hiccup had never been the most athletic Viking but for once his throw was accurate as the iron cup hit the prisoner square in the right temple.

The brown haired boy was knocked off the bed as he fell ungracefully to the floor. He glared up at the two of them and Astrid saw for the first time the familiar determination on the boys face. She could tell he was holding back tears but his jaw was set in grim purpose to not allow his attacker any accomplishment. It was like a child facing off to a bully, knowing he couldn't fight back but not willing to let the bully have any sense of victory either.

"Finally you look at me!" Hiccup continued his rant, "For Thor's sake it's about bloody time! That not even a fraction of what you deserve you piece of-."

"THAT'S ENOUGH HICCUP!" Astrid yelled as she walked out of her hiding place. Both Hiccup and the prisoner started with confusion as they looked up at the angry blonde haired female. "What do you think you are doing?" she hoped that would be enough to shock Hiccup to his senses and calm him down.

She quickly realised how wrong she was as he turned his rage towards her as well, "What am I doing?! This piece of shit killed my dad! And now you want to ask me what I'm doing? You think I'm just going to stand here while this asshole sits quietly in his cell, eating Berkian food and sleeping in one of Berks beds." He picked something else from the table and before Astrid could react threw it at the cell once more. This time however the prisoner was ready for it and jumped out of the way with ease.

"You know Hiccup," she said a little more quietly but with just as much feeling, "I'd expect this from Snotlout, but never you. The reason I always liked you was that you were an underdog; you never let the world bring you down to its level. You weren't just another Viking who thought with his fists."

Hiccup stormed off towards the door, his metal prosthetic clanking against the stone floor with every other step. "Well maybe it's time I started acting like a Viking then, if I ever want to be Chief." He retorted as he disappeared.

Astrid stood there in silence, despairing at what had just happened. That morning they'd been preparing for a romantic date out on an undiscovered island and now they were at each other's throats. She never found herself gladder to not be in Hiccups presence.

"Are... Are you okay?" the voice made her jump as she tried to figure out where it had come from. At first she thought maybe Hiccup had come back to apologise but then she realised it had come from the boy in the cell. His voice was strange with a strong accent to it that she'd never heard before.

She was confused, how did he know she was so upset when she realised she had tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm fine; I don't know what you are talking about." She said as she furiously wiped away her tears with her arm warmers.

She watched as he crawled over to where the metal tankard and the other item hiccup had thrown, a wooden plate, had fallen to the floor. With slow pensive movements he picked them up and slid them through the bars to stack neatly on the other side. As he moved back he looked at her with a sort of uneasy expression, "Well for what it's worth... I wanted to say thank you."

She was taken aback by the comment and looked at him with a new awareness. It wasn't every prisoner who treated their jailers with not only a lack of hostility but also courtesy. She quickly re-evaluated the person in front of her: he wasn't much older than her, she decided, but he was tall, as tall as Fishlegs but without the build. In fact he was quite thin and gangly. What little weight he had on him seeming to be lean muscle. He was in no way muscular by a Vikings definition but rather resembled how Astrid imagined Hiccup would mature with another growth spurt or two. He'd been stripped of his own clothing and had been forced into a pair of trousers that didn't quite cover his ankles and a woollen shirt that yet again seemed too small and tight for his torso. His face had a wild condition brought about by his unkempt brown hair and the start of a dark scruffy beard. But underneath she spied a quite angular jaw and piercing eyes the colour of an approaching storm. He seemed quite reserved and she thought, awkward. As if he wasn't used to any social interaction and didn't quite believe himself to be capable of holding a conversation.

She snapped out of her observation and addressed his comment, "No need, I don't know what you are thanking me for." She huffed trying to gain her composure.

He sat back atop his cot and seemed to think about it for a second, hesitantly he looked up, "You had no... Obligation to stand up for me." He seemed to watch her reaction with every word as if afraid he'd say something wrong, "Is the large warrior really dead?" he asked pensively.

Astrid let out a sigh as she slumped down in the chair. "Not yet, and his name is Stoick, he's our chief." She watched as he absorbed the information, "I haven't seen him yet but if he died it is customary for the town watchman to play one long note on the village's war horn." The explanation seemed acceptable and she watched as the young man sighed with evident relief. It was only then she noticed the line of red dripping down the side of his face. "You're bleeding." She said as she rushed to the bars, her protective instincts kicking in as she motioned him closer.

He seemed confused before slowly putting his hand to his head and pulling it away to find it covered in blood. He instinctively placed his hand back on the wound, applying pressure to try and stop the flow of blood. He seemed to forget Astrid's presence as he focused on short shallow breaths to stop himself from going into shock.

"Hey! Get over here so I can take a look at it." He started as he registered the command and after a moment of hesitation ambled over to the iron bars, keeping his hand on his head. She pried his fingers off the wound slowly and sighed as the bleeding seemed to have slowed somewhat already. It obviously wasn't too deep but it would have to be cleaned up to prevent infection. "Wait here and keep pressure on it," she instructed as she made to leave, "I'll be right back."

She returned within minutes carrying a hand towel and a bowl of clean water, ignoring the looks from other Vikings as she passed through the mead hall. She was somewhat pleased to see he'd listened to her instructions and didn't seem to have moved since she'd left him. She once again removed his hand and started dabbing at the wound with a wet towel, cleaning away the blood a little at a time.

"My name is Astrid by the way." She said when the silence grew awkward. Still he hesitated like he was filing away the information before he answered her.

"Nice to meet you Astrid," he said quietly, "My name is Lucas... but people just call me Luke." He talked as if he was embarrassed by having such a plain name. She had to admit it was odd hearing a name that wasn't designed to scare away monsters, like Snotlout or Tuffnut, but it wasn't a bad name, definitely not Norse in origin, but not necessarily bad.

"It's nice to meet you too Luke," she allowed herself a smile at the way his name rolled off her tongue before her curiosity got the better of her. "Can you tell me something? What actually happened to Stoick?" It was evident he hadn't been asked for his side of the story by his expression. She was grateful when however he began in halting speech to give his account. All the while she continued to clean away the blood.

**Lucas**

Luke felt like his brain would explode after all the events of today. First he'd woken up below deck on Johanns ship, a ship he'd called home for the last four months, to the sound of steel clashing as pirates boarded the ship. He didn't even have enough time to grab his weapons before a blade was at his throat. Then the pirates had begun killing their captives; weighting them down and tossing them into the cold Norse sea. Then just he was about to become shark food, another boat of Vikings descended upon them and began slaughtering the first group. In the confusion he'd managed to slip away and grab his things before appearing back on deck. To his anger the Vikings were frozen in place as the pirates captain had a blade to master Johann's throat, Johann the man who had gone out of his way to welcome Luke onto his ship. In Luke's haste he had knocked and loosed an arrow before he could understand the consequences. Sure he had saved Master Johann but he'd thrown a wild card to the big Viking facing off against the pirate captain, and as a result the warrior had been stabbed.

With their chief wounded the other Vikings had found Luke at fault, quite rightly he thought. He was overcome with guilt regarding the warrior's welfare, the warrior who after all had come to his rescue not moments beforehand. As the Vikings had taken control over the situation he'd been bound and tossed into the cargo deck despite Master Johann's protests.

When they finally docked, he'd been hurled out by two Vikings and marched through the streets like some prized slave to be put on show. Being ridiculed and called names like 'outcast'. As if he didn't need further reminder that he didn't belong.

Oh and let's not forget that this village was crawling with dragons. As he'd been dragged through the town he'd been terrified that the large beasts might attack. But the villagers barely seemed aware of them; some were even treating them like pets. It was a lot to take in.

Then he'd been placed into this cell and left alone with a silent guard to watch him all day.  
>Next to top it off, when someone finally came to talk to him it had been a stupid brat who'd come to reassure Luke that his life was worthless. Sure Luke had made a mistake, he was well aware of that, but he didn't think he deserved to end up with a cup thrown at his head.<p>

Then to his surprise, something good happened. Judging by the peg leg boy's treatment of him he hadn't exactly expect anyone to care about his wellbeing. But someone did, and that someone turned out to be possibly the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. Astrid. That was her name. She seemed to genuinely care and even wanted to hear Luke's side of the story.

Now here he was trying to explain the day's events (minus the part about how beautiful she was) without saying the wrong words. It was difficult, he'd never really had a friend he could talk to so he was constantly second guessing every word he said. After all he didn't want to accidentally say something offensive and get rid of the only person willing to listen. She however kept listening silently, occasionally nodding or motioning for him to continue his story but otherwise she was focused on the wound on his temple. It still stung but he could tell it had stopped bleeding and by the time he had finished talking she seemed satisfied that it was clean.

"You know it would be a lot easier to clean if you had a haircut once in a while." she commented as she set the cloth and bowl aside.

He couldn't help but let out a crooked grin as he tried an attempt at humour, "well if I ever get out of here, I'll be sure to see to that." he said sarcastically. It took a second for her to react and for a brief instant he was worried that he'd failed at the subtle art of humour. Then she seemed to realise he was joking and a sly smile spread across her previously worried expression. It felt good to see her a little happier then when she'd arrived even if he didn't know what had upset her in the first place.

"You know I'll hold your word to that." she said jokingly before a thought occured to her, "Have you tried explaining the situation to any of the other Vikings? I'm sure if they only understood the circumstances they'd let you go."

"I tried but they..." he paused trying to find a nice way to describe her fellow Vikings but she seemed to understand perfectly.

"...Didn't want to listen. Yeah that's a Viking trait I'm afraid." She finished the thought for him, picking up the cloth and bowl before looking out the window at the pitch darkness. It was close to midnight they both realised and the next thing Luke knew Astrid was saying goodbye, "Well there's nothing we can do until tomorrow. I'll try and convince a few others to listen but I can't promise anything." she seemed to hesitate before adding "I'll be back when I can. Goodnight Luke."

She was gone before he formed the words 'goodnight Astrid' and they hung in his mouth for the rest of the night. He settled down in the cot with a strange feeling passing through him. It was a fluttering in his breast that he hadn't felt since he was a young boy. It occurred to him just as he drifted off to sleep that the feeling was called hope.

**Sorry for making Hiccup seem like an asshole. Trust me, I didn't want to. But I had to for the storyline. Believe me he's like my second favourite fictional character out of everything so it killed me to do it.**

**Also what do you think of my OC, I'd love to hear your thoughts.**


	4. Chapter Three: Fables

**Authors note: **bear with me with this chapter and I promise I'll make up for it later with action and fluff/smut.

**Disclaimer:** I forgot to put one in my story yet but let's settle for the obvious fact that I do not own the How To Train Your Dragon franchise. That goes throughout this story so you won't see another one.

**Astrid**

It had been a week since Astrid and Hiccup had had their fight and they had yet to talk again. Since Hiccup had thrown his tantrum at Luke in the cells, he and Astrid had gone out of their way to avoid each other, although she fancied she'd caught him staring at her when he thought she wasn't watching. Still she refused to balk from her resentment towards him. The way he'd treated her hurt more than anything she'd ever felt and she wasn't ready to make amends. She was Astrid Hofferson and no one was allowed to make her feel this way. This was why she found herself lifting her chin as she passed him on the way out of the Dragon Academy.

She'd just spent the last three hours of the morning teaching the Academy's younger students about the cleaning and behavioural habits of Deadly Nadders, with help from her ever willing assistant Stormfly. She'd been embracing her lessons with a ferocity that made her usual drive seem pale in comparison. Then if she wasn't teaching, she was working; either by doing household chores or by working for herself, collecting herbs and plants in the wild before selling them in the town centre. She threw herself at physical labour with reckless abandon, keeping herself busy so that she wouldn't focus on the issue at hand.

Even with her fervour to keeping busy she still found herself with plenty of free time, much to her annoyance. At those times she found herself visiting the dungeon and its newest tenant and she yet again found her feet carrying her there today. Every day this week she'd found herself in front of his cells as they talked, just talked. It sounded tedious but she really enjoyed herself; there was just something comforting about hearing about someone's life which was nothing like her own, and in return he seemed genuinely interested in her own. She found herself narrating her childhood and the events leading up to her fifteenth year, detailing her ambitions to be a fierce shield maiden and restore her family's name. In return she found out that he'd come from the lands of the Anglo-Saxons to the south-west and had been born to the lower class. She asked him about the country there and he willingly obliged, going into such detail that she could picture it in her mind.

Their conversations had swiftly moved through the various subjects of customs, laws, people, wildlife and eventually dragons. The latter came about after he expressed a deep interest into their coexistence with the draconic beasts. She was shocked to see his face swiftly take on the same curious expression that Hiccups always did when they talked about dragons. She would have been pissed off at Luke for reminding her so much of the man she was refusing to talk to except for one thing. His inquisitive expression had an almost invisible twinge of bitterness to it. She'd noticed it previously whenever talk of dragons, friends, home or family was brought up. The message that his face conveyed was clear to her though; he wanted to listen to her talk about the subject but he didn't want to share his own experience with it.

Peculiarly enough for her, she respected his wishes and continued to tell him about the actions of Hiccup that lead to the battle of the Red Death and more importantly the end of the dragon war (leaving out her interaction and attraction to the chiefs heir). He drank all the information in and was still processing it when she'd left him last night.

She was surprised when she opened the door to the prison to find that Luke already had visitors. Unfortunately for Luke, the first people from Berk to visit him (besides Hiccup and herself) were the village idiots otherwise known as the Thorston twins. In a village where intelligence was a rare commodity the brother and sister pair was still in a league of their own when it came to commonsense. That didn't mean they were completely useless for the pair had often proved themselves capable of miraculous competency, but as a general rule where disaster struck they weren't too far away. Presently however the two were taking entertainment from interrogating Luke.

"I really don't get... where you are going with this?" Luke said in that same stuttering manner that he'd first spoken with Astrid. A habit which she thought they had worked through.

"Don't you play dumb with us!" The male Thorston twin named Tuffnut growled at the prisoner.

"Yeah because my brother will win." His sister Ruffnut chirped in.

Completely ignorant of the backhanded compliment Tuffnut agreed. Luke's brow was furrowed in confusion but upon noticing Astrid's presence looked at her with a look of hopeful distress. She found it slightly amusing watching the eighteen year old look to her for help from these most harmless of Vikings, a situation reminiscent of how Hiccup looked to her to deal with his cousin Snotlout.

_Damn it, _she thought as her anger flared, _forget that jerk_. She decided to pass on her aggression onto the more deserving individuals in her presence. "What do you think you're doing?" she barked.

"Don't do that." Ruffnut retorted as the two overcame their mini-heart attacks. Her brother was a little more informative however.

"We're interrogating him to uncover his plans."

"What plans?" Luke asked not for the first time.

"Yeah what plans would that be?" Astrid questioned, her hands resting on her hips in a threatening display.

"His plans for escape." Tuffnut said before turning on the other male, "What is your plan? Were you going to ambush the guard when he comes to check on you?"

"Or maybe you were tempted to seduce a pretty young Viking into helping you?" his sister prompted as she fluttered her eyelashes and gave her hips a sway to emphasise her point. Astrid was well aware that those hips had been subjected to plenty of such seductions without objection since the girl had lost her virginity just over a year ago. Luke for his part looked disgusted and it gave Astrid slightly more confidence in the boys intelligence.

Tuffnut, used to his sisters sultry attitude ignored it and continued to prompt the brown haired boy, "Or maybe you thought you'd hijack a dragon? Maybe you wanted to use it to burn Berk to the ground. Wait... That _would_ be pretty awesome."

Astrid felt their ranting on the boy had gone far enough. She'd learnt Luke was unconfident enough in conversation without having Berks most irritating duo getting in his face. She decided she'd give them her own interrogation; "Since when did it fall to you two to interrogate Luke?"

"Since I dibsed him yester-." Ruffnut stopped mid sentence to glare accusingly at Astrid, "His name is Luke? How do you know this?"

"Is this why Hiccup and you haven't been talking lately?" Tuffnut pondered with a sly wink.

Astrid felt her cheeks reddening, "I talked to him. That's how I know his name Ruffnut. If you tried using your lips for talking to guys rather than sucking their faces you might know that too. And the reason Hiccup and I haven't been talking, for your information Tuffnut, is because he's too busy being an ass." Both the twins and the captive stared at her in shock at the brutality of her outburst. The twins, who were used to Astrid's aggression, expected some sort of physical violence to compliment the eruption of words but she held back. She felt bad enough for the momentary lapse of self control. Luke who was probably the first person to only know her friendly side must be traumatised from the shock and likely think of her as some kind of monster. She found that thought actually depressed her, she'd been hoping to keep their friendship positive and stable.

"Looks like Hiccups not the only one being an ass around here either." Ruffnut pouted as she walked away, "Come on Tuff', we know when we're not welcome."

"We do?" Tuffnut asked but nevertheless followed her out.

Now Astrid was left in an uncomfortable silence as she waited for Luke to make some comment regarding how scary and mean she was. Well she was Astrid Hofferson and she was a Viking and Vikings don't apologise for how they are. And aggressive was how she was, in all aspects of life and especially when handling her peers. She looked up from the floor she'd been staring at in an attempt to look defiant only to find the boy sighing with relief.

"Thank the gods their gone," he said as he let out an easy chuckle, "although I think most of the credit goes to you."

Astrid was shocked. _How can he be so calm_, she thought, _when I just scared the shit out of the twins_. "You're not... scared that I'm a bully?" Damn it, now she was tripping over her words.

He cocked an eyebrow at her and released a lopsided grin, "I didn't exactly peg you for a delicate flower when I met you, Astrid. You're a Viking for one, and you always seemed more of a courageous Valkyrie than a helpless maiden anyway." And just like that he seemed to accept it as if it was no more alarming than noticing she had blond hair. It was like nothing she could do would make him think any less highly of her. He paused before adding "besides, I have a feeling that that is the only way to get the message across to those two."

It was funny she thought how much more relaxed he was with her now. Whereas a second ago he'd been muttering in front of the twins now he was joking clearly and confidently with her as if they'd been childhood friends. She had noticed with curiosity this past week how his social skills had evolved as well as his humour, tentatively presenting his attempts at jokes until he was throwing them around with reckless abandon. She smiled despite herself, "it certainly is."

There was a brief pause before she asked "How's your head doing?" It had become routine over the week for her to start their discussions like this; as if it was her personal way of greeting him.

He touched the scabbed wound tentatively through his thick hair, applying varying amounts of pressure before he was satisfied. "Besides some minor throbbing it doesn't hurt." He shrugged. She took it as a testament to her ability to perform first aid and smiled smugly.

"How is Stoick?" He asked as he had every time this week. It seemed to be _his_ personal greeting to her.

She couldn't help but crack a smile as she replied; after all she actually had something to tell him today. "I talked with Gothi, the healer, this morning. She's positive that he's healing well. It'll be months until he's back to what he was but she said he'll be waking up any day now." As she said it his whole being seemed to relax in a way that she hadn't seen before. She finally decided to ask the question she'd been pondering for several days now; "Why does it matter so much to you anyways? He's not even your chief."

He seemed to think about it before exhaled loudly, "If he dies then any chance of freedom I had is gone with the wind."

"Is that all?" His explanation was plausible but Astrid sensed there was something else. She'd analysed him accurately enough to know he wasn't a criminal; he was morally grounded enough to feel guilt. She felt sure he was holding back some inadequacy that he wouldn't share. It was irritating, she'd come here to get away from Hiccup and yet Luke couldn't help but display some very Hiccup-like tendencies.

"Yes."

"Well now you can stop worrying about your own neck," she said gruffly, annoyed he wouldn't open up, "it should help you sleep easier."

If he noticed the annoyance in her voice he didn't let on except for the fact that he spoke more irritably now. "I don't want to sleep; I've done so much sleeping it's driving me insane." As Astrid looked at his face she realised for that part at least he was being honest. He had a raw urgency in those grey eyes, like a storm that couldn't be contained. He had to be moving, free to go where ever he wanted, or it'd eat away at him. She understood a little of that herself; she always had to be doing something. Whether it is working, training or exploring, she had to be doing something to keep herself happy.

And Luke had been kept inside a four metre by four metre chamber for the last three days. But she couldn't let him out, no matter how much she wanted too. Before she knew what she was saying she asked; "Is there anything I can do?" He looked at her quizzically, unsure where this was going, "to make it a little more bearable in here." Immediately she regretted saying it, _it sounds like I'm propositioning him?_ She despaired; _I meant can I get him something like some food or a book or something. Not do 'do' something for him._

His eyes seemed to sparkle with realisation, excitement painted brightly on his face. _Shit! He's going for it. Of course he's going for it, he's a man. All they want is sex._ She steeled herself though. After all, she was Astrid Hofferson; the Astrid Hofferson. The fierce maiden who sent boys like him running for the hills, _if he thinks I'm just another cock-hungry slut he's got another thing coming to him-. _She had worked herself up so much that when he answered with enthusiasm she was already yelling.

"No I won't have se-." She stopped mid-yell as recognition hit her. "What did you just say?"

Luke for his part looked just as confused with her sudden outburst. "My... my bag. It's in the chest." He pointed at the chest under the table on the far side of the dungeon, "Could you please grab it for me."

_Oh thank Odin. How could I have been so stupid, he's not like that_? But part of her was kind of irritated that he hadn't asked her for it. "I... Uh of course I can." She said as she dragged the heavy chest out of its hiding place. It wasn't locked and when she opened it she was surprised by what she saw. On the top layer was an ordinary longbow, with no insignias or markings on it. It was bare but all so different from any longbow she'd seen. The wood was sanded completely smooth with a dark tint to it. The leather around the hand grip was coated in an odd resin, making it slightly sticky to the touch and the bow string was pristine, no frays or weaknesses in the cord at all. It looked like it was well taken care of; it looked like new but you could feel from the way it sat there that it was an old friend, it looked loved.

Astrid passed a glance to Luke before placing the bow on the table. She found a dagger and leather quiver full of a dozen or so black feathered arrows. After giving them a quick inspection she also put them aside. Underneath was a new looking sword with an oddly shaped blade. It was a shorter sword then Vikings were used to and instead of having a straight blade it had an interesting leaf shape to it. And all this cast from a jet black metal she revealed as she drew it slightly out of its leather scabbard. There were no markings on this either and she put it aside with curiosity. Underneath was an oddly shaped pack that was moulded into a strange almost triangular profile with only one solid thick strap designed to loop over the shoulder like a satchel. There were an abundance of pouches, buckles and minor leather straps besides that, which only added to her confusion. She tried to vaguely check it for any weapons or contraband before handing it over to the impatient Luke, although she wasn't completely sure she'd discovered all the pockets, let alone checked them all. Luke however started searching straight through it with practiced ease.

Astrid ignored him and turned towards the last items in the trunk, his clothing. She recalled the strange attire that Luke had been wearing when he'd been dragged onto Berk. It had been odd, streamlined and clinching to his body with a series of buckles and leathers attached to it. But looking at it dismantled, it made her shake her head as she attempted to work out how it went together. It seemed impossible, maybe Hiccup would understand it with his technical mind but she couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"It's not much, I know." She turned to see him watching her go through his things, "but it's mine." He said with defiant satisfaction.

"A lot of it seems peculiar," she replied, now conscious of the fact she had been rifling through his stuff. She gestured towards his things, "I hope it's okay if I look? It just all seems so interesting, so unusual." '_So you' _She didn't add.

He chuckled lightly to himself, "Of course you can I have nothing to hide, none of it is stolen goods." He finally found what he was looking for and picked it out of the bag. Astrid meanwhile had unsheathed his sword and was testing the balance, fascinated by the interesting weapon. She hefted it to and fro, feeling the way it went through the air, powerful like her trusty war axe but agile and swift at the same time. But it didn't look like it had seen a lot of use.

It was then she noticed the dagger, the whole time she'd been studying the weapons she'd been looking for some sort of coat of arms or clue as to who his family was but there had been nothing. The knife resembled a dirk except with a thinner but longer blade, cast in steel. Astrid had heard of weapons like this, stronger than iron but just as light and she marvelled at the workmanship. It had a plain leather wrapped hilt, with that same faint layer of resin covering it, but where the cross-guard extended she could see silver etched into it. Looking closer she had to admire a scene where a man, obviously a hunter by the bow on his back, walked with a woman though the midst of a group of animals. The herd consisted of boars, deer, wolves and even a bear but yet the couple seemed unharmed. It was engraved and inset with a vein of silver that glowed in stark contrast to the dull metal and brown leather of the rest of the weapon.

"What's this?" Astrid asked as she gestured to the engraving on the dagger. Luke had found a large leather bound notebook and had been scribbling without much attention to her before he looked up. Instantly his expression changed to one of sombre longing as he beheld the weapon that was in all honesty, the least significant of all the items she'd seen, save for the small bit of artwork in the hilt.

"This was my father's." He began and her ears instantly perked up, he'd avoided mentioning his family and home until now. She had to admit she was curious. "He passed it onto me when I turned thirteen, but before he'd give it to me he told me I needed to know the story of the blade." He reached out to take it from her and she knew she'd have to hand it to him to hear the rest of the story. For a second she was unsure, the knife was a weapon after all and Astrid had the feeling that Luke knew how to use it. The fearless Viking part of her told her to refuse but curiosity and... compassion (compassion? She was shocked at the revelation) told her to hand it over. She tensed slightly as she placed the dagger hilt first into his hand, but he didn't lash out as she feared. Instead he held it tenderly as his fingers ran over it as delicately as if he was reading brail. This went on for a while. He took a deep breath just as Astrid thought she'd never get to hear his story. Still looking down at his dagger, his voice sounded gravelly as he spoke:

"Long ago when the cities of man were young and the Gods paid more attention to us mortals, the goddess of the hunt walked the land. Some say she was the most ruthless and unmerciful of the gods but in truth she merely understood the rules of the chase. The weak were eaten by the strong so that life might continue. It was her who gave all the creatures of the earth their defence mechanisms and natural instincts to ensure none but the weakest or dumbest of any species were killed off, thus avoiding extinction. She was beautiful beyond compare but also intelligent beyond belief and soon men and gods flocked to her with the desire of courting her.

"Men would take to the forests, hunting and killing everything they saw for no other purpose than to win her favour. It made sense since she was the goddess of hunting. To their surprise the senseless slaughter did not woo her. When a prince came forward, tall and strong, he boasted greatly of the many animals he had killed, as hunters often do. But when she realised that he had killed, not for meat or need, for no other reason to prove his dominance as a human being she warned him. She told him that she forbade him from killing another wild animal and that if he did not heed her, he would suffer a most pitiful fate but he scoffed at her; how could someone as strong and manly as him be brought down so low.

"Of course he disobeyed anyway, but the next time he went hunting he saw a bush rustle from movement. He believed it was some prey stalking unseen behind it. Instinctively he threw his spear and whooped with satisfaction as it struck true. To his distress he heard the creature groan, a human groan and when he checked he realised it was none other than his best friend and hunting companion. As he clutched his dying friend's body, he howled into the night cursing the fate that been placed on both of them. As his friend died in his arms, the goddess materialised in front of him and transformed him as a permanent reminder of his folly. And with that he turned into the first wolf. They say that is why wolves howl, in reminder of the friend that they once lost."

There was a touch of bitterness in his story that made her fear he had finished. she was relieved when he continued, "She began to despair of men in general over the decades as more and more men arrived and exactly like the prince they boasted about the animals they had killed like it was a sport. When she finally gave up all hope of finding a decent man she swore against them, promising never to marry and to always remain a maiden. Men realised not long afterwards that she was more dangerous than she was worth. Which suited her fine, she hated men, they were disgusting selfish pigs who killed arrogantly without reason. Now without their advances she could finally return to her life as in immortal maiden, wandering through the wilderness that she loved so much.

"It was one of these days when she stumbled upon something she'd never seen before. It was a man stalking through the forest armed with nothing more than a bow and dagger. What she found unique about him was that he didn't seem proud when he returned home with his catch. She'd seen men walk through their village with more meat than they could possibly use in a month as they boasted proudly of their accomplishment but not this man. He allowed himself a polite greeting towards his town folk but didn't draw attention to the small game he carried.

"She then realised another thing that impressed her. As she watched him over several days he didn't go out for another hunt to catch larger prizes, instead he continued to feed off what he'd already caught until it had all been used in some way or another. Only then did he set out again, not for glory or to prove himself strong, he did it for food. This had always been the overriding principle of the hunt and delighted she followed him. Her pleasure soon turned to despair once again as the fellow, during his hunt, happened on a bear and her cub. She was filled with angst, for surely a man as noble as he, could not withstand such prizes, the adult bears pelt alone would sell for a fortune while its cub would yield twice that. He continued to please her as he backed off, attempting to leave the bears to their peace. But the mother would not have it, and infinitely protective of her child's safety, charged at him. The goddess' feared that was the end of that but the hunter with a practiced skill retreated.

"He almost made it too until the bear chased him into a natural cove at which point the man defended himself. It was not said how it happened next but soon the bear was dead, and the hunter exhausted on his knees. It wasn't until the cub arrived to check on his mother that the man's relief turned to anguish. It would not survive on its own, that was for certain but even still the man was loathing killing it. Instead he did something that the goddess was finding hard to find in its sincerity; he prayed to her. It was the final straw that completed her affection for him when he prayed to the goddess for guidance. She willed herself to appear before him and within seconds she materialised. She took the cub from the man and cradled it gently as she promised him that she would take care of it. He was so shocked by her presence that he instantly fell to his knee before her. She made him rise and spoke to him as an equal. She loved him but alas she could not act upon it for she had given her oath to forsake all men, even one so kind. Instead she gave him her blessing, informing him that he and his descendants would forever be successful in nature so long as they practiced his restraint and mercy."

Luke looked at her sheepishly, "At least that's what my father said. He told me that the hunter, intending to make a reminder of the promise he'd received from a goddess, decorated his dagger in commemoration of it. Henceforth the dagger was passed down through his bloodline until it made its way to me. I think he just told me that to enforce his morals on me though. It sounds stupid I know but it's all I have left of him."

When he was done Astrid looked at the blade with a new fervour. This dagger had a history, assuming everything he'd told her was true. It was a lot more plausible that someone had made a knockoff inspired by the story but she didn't want to voice her thoughts.  
>When he was done Astrid looked at the blade with a new fervour. This dagger had a history, assuming everything he'd told her was true. It was a lot more plausible that someone had made a knockoff inspired by the story but she didn't want to voice her thoughts.<br>"What goddess was he speaking of?" she said instead. "I can't think of which deity that is. "  
>He gave an amused shake of the head, "I don't believe it is one of your Norse ones Astrid, so I'm not surprised. My father said she's much more ancient then our current ones but I believe the Romans named her Diana. My father always honoured the old gods before the new."<p>

"So what happened?" she asked tentatively.

"What do you mean what happened?"

She steadied her breathing as she tried to frame the question in her head, hoping she didn't sound too intrusive. She was a stranger to tact but when she thought she had the best wording she asked politely. "I mean what happened to your dad? Luke why aren't you still with him? "

She fancied she already knew what had happened but she needed to be sure. She didn't want to see him break down but if he needed to mourn at least he'd have a shoulder to lean on.

She was surprised when he finally answered, his voice was hollow and he wouldn't meet her gaze, but she'd not expected his explanation; "I was chased out of the village, I'd always been different and I guess it was only a matter of time before i was kicked out. My father tried to stop it but there was nothing he could do. I was exiled, I left home with this knife and the clothes on my back and picked up everything else on the way." he pointed to the rest of his gear but she wasn't listening.

It was like someone had held up a torch and she could finally see for all of the dense fog that had clouded her mind. She knew how to solve both their problems now.

"Astrid?" he asked cautiously.

She jumped upright and was already sprinting out of the room when she replied, "Sorry, I've got to go."

He just stared after her in exasperation.

She found Hiccup at the forge mercilessly beating away at the piece of metal in front of him. It was late, with the glow of the embers the only source of light besides the moon. Gone were the days when he was too small and skinny to wield a hammer. He'd grown taller, nowhere near as tall as Fishlegs, and his arms and shoulders had strengthened in definition. She quickly shook away the thoughts that had sprung up at the mere mention of Hiccup's muscles.

"Hey Hiccup," she said politely but he didn't respond. "Hey Hiccup!" she repeated in a louder tone. It had its intended effect and the boy stopped what he was doing to spin around, his eye going wide as he registered her presence. Now that she had his attention she resumed her cordial volume, "Do you have a minute?"

He glanced at her warily, likely expecting another argument, but nevertheless nodded, "have you come to apologise?"

Astrid blanched. _Apologise, _she thought angrily, _for what?_ "I came to tell you are wrong about Luke." She said defiantly.

"Luke?" Hiccup asked harshly, the thought that he was wrong clearly did not sit well with him, "who is Luke?"

"The prisoner you so rudely humiliated last week! Do you mean to tell me you don't remember how much of an ass you were?" She spat. This was not going the way she intended.

"You mean the guy who put my dad in the sick bed?! Of course I remember. I also remember you siding with him over Me." Hiccup said furiously as he turned away from her.

"It was an accident. He didn't mean to. I thought if anyone could understand that it would be you." Why couldn't Hiccup see how similar he and Luke were? They'd both been alienated as children, and they had both been labelled accident prone. Neither of them was considered strong by your typical Viking standard as well, causing them both to rely on their wits. Surely if Hiccup realised all the similarities they shared he'd be ready to forgiv-.

Before she could finish her thought she heard a distant sound coming from the shore. It was the sound of metal on metal and it made her heart fill with dread. Sure enough the clanging was followed by a distant scream and her blood froze. They weren't the only one to hear it and before they'd even called their dragon, the alarm bells were ringing.

Berk was under attack.

**Author's note: **I'm sorry for this chapter, it was long and hard to write and I suffered serious writers block on it. It may seem like filler and some of you may think that the story that was told was meaningless (believe me I second guessed adding it myself and I'm not 100% satisfied with how it was presented) but it is important for one of the sub stories. Either way I hope you can forgive me for how boring it is but I assure you that the story will kick in soon. Expect some action and plenty of Hiccstrid. I'd love to see some more reviews, even if they are just to say how much this chapter sucked.


	5. Chapter Four: Defenders Of Berk

**Author's note: **After how slow paced the last chapter was I thought I'd reward you guys with a bit faster paced one. Thank you for following the story so far and I hope this'll set the bar for the rest of the story.

**Hiccup**:

From above it looked like two ant colonies launching an all out game of king of the hill. Except there was fire everywhere, and dragons. The enemy force had landed on the southern harbour with four longships carrying their forces. As they poured out and up the hillside they were met by a determined force of defenders lead by Spitelout. These Berkians had formed a wall between the invaders and the town square where Gobber the Belch was organising the retreat of the children and women.

"We need to do something!" Snotlout yelled at his cousin with frustration. Moulded since birth into everything that a Viking stood for the boy couldn't stand to be away from the action.

Hiccup shook his head in desperation, there was too much going on and he didn't know where to start. Luckily the others were eager to provide the answers; "We need to focus on defence and making it too costly for these guys to continue attacking." Astrid said from her position within the mid-air huddle. She was right, there was no point taking the offensive when Spitelout and the others were about to be over run.

"We need to focus on where they're landing," came the high speed analysis from Fishlegs, "if we control the docks then they can't establish a foothold and lead bigger ships in. Whilst some of us take a stand there then the rest of us can swing around behind and set their ships a light."

"That sound like a plan Fishlegs," Hiccup nodded, as the resident dragon expert and heir of Berk, the others still looked to him to confirm the game plan. Once upon a time the pressure had been overwhelming and plagued with self-doubt but he'd long overcome it, "Ruff, Tuff, you guys clear the docks and make sure no one gets through there." He was acknowledged with a mocking salute before the Zippleback and its riders flew off into the sky. He then pointed at Fishlegs and Astrid, "I need you guys to provide support to the defenders over in the town square. Make sure everyone is evacuated before they break through."

"Yes Hiccup." The large boy said meekly before setting off on his Gronkle. Astrid paused like she was going to reply as well but she seemed to think better of it. She instead nodded and followed after Fishlegs without a word, leaving Hiccup with a sense of disappointment. He wasn't going to be hearing her familiar 'Stay safe'.

He was dragged from his thoughts by Snotlout's whining, "And what about us? Are we just going to sit here twiddling our thumbs?"

Hiccup almost regretted partnering himself with the broad shouldered boy, "We have to destroy those ships so they can't use their catapults against us. Your Monstrous Nightmare is the perfect choice for it."

A grin spread across the other boys face, realisation dawning on him. "Finally we get to blow shit up!" The boy yelled with a wave of his arms before he turned his dragon Hookfang around and, before Hiccup could stop him, flew off after the enemy longships.

"Okay bud... let's go make sure he doesn't hurt himself." Hiccup said quietly as he patted his dragon's head. With a click of the prosthetic tail fin they were zooming through the night sky after the Monstrous Nightmare and his cousin.

There were four longships static on the surface of Berks harbour and when Hiccup squinted in the light of the moon he could make out the red Outcast emblem emblazoned on their sails. He felt his anger rising, _more of them_, he thought as he remembered how very close they'd come to killing his father. They were as much to blame as that boy in the cells, in league with him despite Astrid's protests. The boats had a skeleton crew manning them, with most of its warriors already landed on Berks shores, but they were quite adept at using the catapults and other projectile weaponry their ships had to offer.

As Hiccup flew low on toothless towards the first ship, he expertly anticipated the catapult that would fire the weighted net at them and prepared to roll to the side. He heard a sharp '_Twang!'_ as the release was activated and he lead toothless in a barrel roll to evade the slow moving missile. To his surprise he felt the wind rip past his hair as an iron ball roughly the size of the ball they played hoops with as a kid narrowly missed his head. They weren't flinging nets or bolas or any other dragon catching items, they were flinging weighted projectiles and, he realised as he saw an outcast pirate load an odd contraption resembling a crossbow, javelins. Suddenly he knew why. They were shooting to kill.

At a touch from his rider, Toothless fired a precise plasma blast that destroyed the largest of the three catapults on the portside of the ship before he folded his wings and they zoomed past the wreckage at an ungodly speed. They heard the sound of more catapults firing but they were already out of firing range. They banked sharply as they spun around to take another shot, this time aiming at the other side of the ship. The crew launched a volley dead ahead of the dragon, at the perfect height to hit the dragon as it took aim at their catapults. _If _he'd been aiming at the catapults; at Hiccup's direction the dragon ducked low under the attack and blew a hole into the ship's hull, exactly at water level. They could already sense the ship sinking as the duo flew higher into the night.

Hiccup glanced around animatedly as he looked for their next target. Four ships; one was sinking. That left three possible targets for the two dragon riders. _Two?_ Hiccup couldn't see any sign of Snotlout, which was especially surprising since his dragon set itself on fire during battle. Worry started to build up in Hiccup's chest as he came to one conclusion; sure he'd never got along with his cousin on a personal level but the familial bond they shared caused feelings of regret to well up inside of him.

"Snotlout! Oi! Oi! Oi!" Hiccups head snapped around in confusion as he tried to pinpoint the source of the war chant. There was a sickening crack of wood as a colossal silhouette dived directly down out of the clouds to land on one of the remaining ships. A second later the Monstrous Nightmare caught aflame and instantly the second ship became an inferno. The dragon continued to crawl around the ship, knocking catapults overboard and setting more rigging and planks a light. Through the flames Hiccup could just make out a stout young Viking swinging his war hammer at anyone bold enough to attempt an attack on his draconic companion.

Hiccup continued to circle the nearly shattered fleet once more before he looped his dragon into dive, it's black wings folding like that of a falcon as it descends upon its prey. Hiccup zoomed forward on his Night Fury, taking aim at the base of the third ship's mast. He placed his hand along the dragon's neck in a non-verbal cue to charge the attack and he saw Toothless' mouth open in response, a blue glow originating from his throat.

_Twang!_

Hiccup and Toothless had to dodge hastily as a volley of boulders as big as Gronkles were flung from the fourth ship. The rocks missed him by a hairsbreadth and sailed over towards berk, Hiccup could only hope that they didn't hit anyone. Hiccup hadn't paid this ship any individual attention before but he quickly realised it was the flagship of this tiny armada. It was armoured with iron plating on the sides and instead of the small anti-dragon catapults and ballista that its sister ships had it housed trebuchets designed to lay waste to mortars and buildings.

He couldn't stop to think of a way to rid them of it yet though, what with the third ship still raining javelins down on them. He rose into the sky once more and dove again keeping his eye on the flagship as Toothless charged his plasma shot. Moments later they were coming out of the dive, the targeted ship sinking swiftly, when the Flagship finally fired again. But it wasn't aimed at the dragon riders; instead it sent a powerful volley aimed at Berks mead hall, where Hiccup saw they had already landed a blow. The Night Fury fired a couple of shots at the hull but they just rolled off like morning dew off leaves. Hiccup cursed under his breath. They had to incapacitate the ship and fast.

He turned at the last second as a crossbow quarrel thudded past him, how he wished he had his Gronkle-iron shield right now. It would provide some protection at least. He continued to lead Toothless through several more strafing runs, looking for some sign of weakness. He even tried lighting the extremely large sail a light but the cloth had been soaked beforehand to stop fire spreading. A wise move when fighting dragons.

Minutes passed and Hiccup began to despair at the futility of it all, if only he could leap down from Toothless whilst the dragon provided a distraction. Then he could sneak aboard and find a way to destroy the ship internally.

On the other side of the ship Hiccup heard a scream as Hookfang dived close enough to snap at one of the Outcasts. Hiccup forced his stomach to settle as he watched the Nightmare's jaws slice through mail, flesh and bone as he caught an unfortunate outcast, severing the man in two before flapping away. The large wings of the enormous reptile caused the ship to teeter back and forth in its wake.

_That's it!_ Hiccup thought triumphantly as the plan formed in his mind. He tried to relate the plan to Snotlout but the wind whipped away most of the words, leaving only muttered fragments of the conversation to reach the Vikings' ears. "...Wings... Capsize...Ship...Astrid's... –nique."

It sounded stupid in hindsight, and he made a mental note to remind Snotlout that he wasn't a complete idiot. As dull as the broader Viking was to sarcasm, tact and wit, his cousin had a keen mind to battle strategy and was quick to realise advantage and disadvantage. Hiccup climbed into the sky as the other Viking positioned himself in a hover on the starboard side of the ship. Just outside of crossbow range Snotlout cued his dragon to begin flapping large gusts of air at the ship, a technique that none other than Astrid taught him. When the gusts met the large sail, with no way to pass through, it began to rock the boat back and forth.

The Vikings on board seemed to realise what was happening and they swiftly scrambled into action. Half of them took this as the cue to swim and the half took this as problem to be solved. They began shimmying up the mast, obviously coming to the conclusion that they could prevent the destruction of the ship if they cut the rigging free. But Snotlout was persistent, refusing to be goaded from his task. He sent another large body of air filling the sails, tipping the boat even more besides knocking a few of the less surefooted men overboard.

Just as the ship reached the verge of tipping over Hiccup threw himself and Toothless into their dive. Once again Toothless' wings folded, creating a low whistle as they shot through the air like an arrow. The lone Outcast looked up in surprise as he finished hacking away the mast's rigging, sure that the ship would right itself now, to see a large black shape tumble straight into the top of the mast. The extra weight succeeded in tipping the ship into the water and, as Toothless leapt off the beam like a springboard, his rider let out a whoop of exultation.

"Fuck yeah bud," Hiccup screamed, allowing himself a rare curse, "We did it!"

He received a similar shout from Snotlout over on Hookfang, and he let out a sigh of relief. He'd been worried for a second; it'd seemed futile for a moment. But now _that_ threat was over and the Outcasts had nowhere to fall back on, they'd give up or risk fleeing into the sea. Already below them the surviving crews were swimming out to sea, likely to make for one of the outlying islands to regroup, but they were of no concern for now. He had to see to the rest of Berk.

As he turned into the night, he hadn't yet realised the trap that had been set. The one that had been designed to cost him dearly.

**Astrid**

Astrid's dragon Stormfly sent another burst of flame at the attacking Vikings, melting a few of them where they stood. Deadly Nadders had the hottest recorded flame of any dragons, with the only downside being that they were incredibly short range. As such Astrid found them leaping into the air instantly afterwards as swords sliced where they had been seconds ago.

They dove into the air above the town centre hovering for a second as Stormfly whipped her tail forwards. Sure Deadly Nadders had a short range flame but they more than made up for it with their ability to throw their poisonous tail spikes. It was an added bonus that most of them, or Stormfly at least, were as accurate with their tail spines as a night fury was with their plasma blasts. Stormfly continued to prove her reputation as all of the spikes she'd just launched found their target in an enemy body.

She couldn't recall how long they had been defending the square, each moment seemed a lifetime to her, but the square below was littered with the bodies of these pirates and a few of berks. It had surprised her how much manpower they were throwing at the town centre, drawing all the defending Berkians attention. She only hoped that the other dragon riders were holding their own against the invaders, because the village could spare no reinforcements any time soon.

"Astrid!" there was a brief shout of warning from Fishlegs before she was hit. The impact sent her flying out of her saddle and into a reckless descent. She wrapped her arms around her head protectively as she braced herself for the inevitable collision that would likely break her neck.

But instead she only felt a muffled thump that seemed to roll under her as she landed, unharmed. She opened her eyes as she scrambled to her feet, searching for Stormfly. Only her dragon was already on the ground, lying mere feet away on her side, one of her wings crushed at a weird angle, instantly it made sense. Her loyal Nadder had wrapped itself around her as she fell and taken the brunt of the impact, saving her riders life but at the cost of leaving her vulnerable indefinitely.

A part of her registered that the rock that had dislodged them from the air had come from the harbour just as a more instinctive part noticed the Outcasts that were charging up towards her and her dragon. She unsheathed her war axe and tensed briefly, she was finally facing foes face to face. She had trained and prepared herself her whole life to be the greatest warrior their tribe had to offer and the most successful dragon slayer of their generation; but then Hiccup had changed everything by ending the dragon war. With no dragon raids to face, and almost no existent threat from the other tribes in the barbaric archipelago in the last year or so, fighting skill was no longer a necessity. She was glad she had continued to train though, as such she was not completely unprepared when she charged forward to meet her foes.

She feared she'd have to face the whole band of raiders as she ducked under a sword strike, burying her axe in a thigh in reply. Her Nadder, still able to throw its spines finished the job as she moved on to the next enemy. To her delight she heard a friendly war cry from behind the band of enemies but was startled by who it came from. The raiders spun around to see the boy leap from his dragon and hurl himself into the group with a frenzy, shield and war hammer spinning ferociously. Both Astrid and the Outcasts knew of Fishlegs' reputation as a soft and gentle teen and they were equally surprised of his attack. As Fishlegs brought his hammer crashing down into another Outcast's skull Astrid caught the look in his eye and realised that the boy was in fact a berserk.

It filled her with a sense of awe and dread as he ploughed through the enemy ranks without a second thought to his own safety. It made him an almost unstoppable fighting presence but left him easily open to attack from behind as most of the raiders shifted their focus on him. But just when one of the raiders would position himself to stab into the boys' back they would be blasted from behind by the ever faithful Meatlug. Apparently he was in good hands, or claws, after all.

Astrid sidestepped a swing and attacked herself, the blow glancing off the man's shield. The man bashed forward with his shield at her head and she had to jump out of his reach quickly but at least she anticipated his next move. His sword lanced outwards in a classic follow up but she'd already thrown herself forward against his no longer moving shield as she thrust her axe downwards on his undefended forearm, severing in two. She sliced her axe across his neck impulsively as he recoiled before stepping past his body.

A small part of her recognised that he was her first kill, aside from the many lives her dragon had taken on her behalf. It was a lot more personal performing the act herself but she couldn't bring herself to feel the slightest any remorse for the life she had just snuffed out. It'd been self-defence firstly and she'd never feel regret when it came to protecting her village.

With those thoughts behind her she allowed impulse to take control of her body, dealing out blows and side stepping in accordance with the muscle memory she'd honed to perfection after decades of training. She kept one conscious thought as she hacked and slashed at anyone who faced her and that was to stay close to her downed dragon. She was willing to go down defending her dragon and that conviction provided her with a sense of purpose.

As the battle grew longer she lost count of the men she'd killed. She was vaguely aware that Fishlegs had fought himself further and further away from her, towards the other end of the square. The rest of the Berkians were otherwise engaged as they relentlessly sought out the hostile forces in battle when it happened.

She had been pulling her axe out of a raider's torso when she felt her legs fly out from beneath her. Her breath left her as her back slapped onto the hard ground beneath her. She began to roll to her feet instinctively when she felt a searing pain in her right bicep, pinning her to the floor. Looking to it she saw a spear lodged into her arm keeping her still.

"tis' a shame to blood a face so pretty as yours." Her head snapped forwards to take a look at the man who spoke. A malicious crossed his bearded face as he took a step forwards, "maybe we can have some gun with yeh first tho?"

"Fuck you!" she cursed as she kicked at his shins but he just stepped back easily. She looked to Stormfly to save her but the dragon, although on her feet, was occupied by three other Outcasts.

"Perhaps not then." Her attacker said as he drew his sword, he gave her a mocking look of regret as he stepped forward. _This is it_, she thought as he raised his sword to give the killing blow. No one could save her. They'd kill Stormfly shortly afterwards. Without her Luke might never be vindicated either; he'd be left to rot in the cell if he was lucky. Worse than all the rest however was knowing that the last interaction she had with Hiccup had been a heated argument. He'd never know how she felt about him.

The raider stabbed the sword down and all she could think of was how his blade made an odd whistling sound as it sliced through the air...

**Hiccup**

Hiccup glared in frustration at the twins. The burning ruins of their assignment lying all around them. The two Thorstons on the other hand were quite pleased with themselves, a satisfied grin on each of their faces visible in the glow of the firelight.

"I told you to defend the docks, not destroy it!" He scolded the twins. With the flagship sunk Hiccup and Snotlout had rushed to the docks to help the twins fend off the hordes of invaders. Only they were too late; the twins had already executed their _ingenious_ plan. They'd lured more raiders onto the wooden planking of the docks until no more could fit. Then they'd flown down its length on Barf and Belch, with Barf leaving a trail of zippleback gas before Belch ignited it with a spark. The whole dock erupted in concussive blasts that sent over fifty Outcast souls to Valhalla but left nothing of the docks except smouldering embers.

"I don't know what you're so uptight about? No Outcasts are getting on the docks now." Ruffnut said indignantly.

"And it was fucking awesome!" Tuffnut exclaimed before sharing a head butt with his sister.

Hiccup glanced over to see Snotlout laughing at the exchange. When the boy registered the glare he was receiving he merely shrugged; "You can't argue with results."

It was true. As much as he hated to admit it, Hiccup had to concede that it had been effective against such a vast number of pirates. If he hadn't wanted something like this to happen he should have assigned another dragon rider with them. It was just another momentary lapse of judgement on his part.

He let out a sigh as he tried to reclaim his composure. "Fine. Let's go and help the rest of the village." The other dragons and their riders happily complied as they followed him and Toothless into the air. From above he could see that almost all of the fighting was situated in the town square. He could see several of the towns folk battling to the death with their Viking foes and even a few trained dragons running around to defend their masters.

He watched as Snotlout dove out of the sky to crash into a raider who'd been in the middle of throwing a hatchet at Spitelout Jorgenson, the boy's father. Over on the other side of the square he saw a mob of Outcasts balking under the relentless attack of... Fishlegs? The boy was a ruthless blur of aggression, inflicting damage equally with his shield and hammer as he swung them through the air. The twins immediately dove towards the large crowd surrounding the Ingerman boy, their appetite for destruction leaping at the opportunity.

Hiccups scanned the situation before his eyes caught sight of a familiar blue Nadder on her feet fending off multiple attackers. A few metres away he saw her blonde rider get swept off her feet by a spear swing from one of the raiders. His heart leapt in his throat as he watched the man stab his spear downward like a fisherman in the shallow streams right into her arm. He was already leading Toothless into a dive as Astrid scrambled to defend herself and the man drew his sword. As the man made a stab down he felt his dragon unleash a small controlled plasma shot that was in conflicting nature to Hiccup's hysterical emotions.

Night Furies never miss. Hiccup watched as the plasma shot exploded against the Viking's chest sending his body against flying over the nearest building. The dragon had barely landed before Hiccup had already jumped off and rushed to Astrid, praying to a myriad of gods that she was okay. He was vaguely aware of Toothless bounding off to aid Stormfly in finishing off her attackers as he knelt down to lean his head against Astrid's chest, listening for a heartbeat. Astrid was covered in blood but he couldn't be sure which was hers and what belonged to her victims', so checking her beating heart seemed like the best decision.

Apparently she didn't think so. He was pushed roughly off her breasts by her good arm. She was hissing at him but it wasn't until she repeated herself that he understood.

"Get this fucking thing out of me!" She gestured to her arm. He wasn't sure that was a good idea, but he didn't want to risk not obeying her.

"Yeah. Yeah... I, uh, mean of course." He mumbled as he positioned himself in front of the spear shaft. He laid a knee against her forearm as he wrapped his hands around the shaft and with a wince of sympathy he pulled upwards with all his might. Astrid cursed as the spear head came through and blood sprang freely from the wound. "Toothless! Here! Now!" Hiccup yelled desperately as the sight of blood caused an anxious ball of fear to spread through him.

His dragon pulled up alongside him and he set to work; searching his saddlebag before finding cloth and bandages that he used to work on the bleeding. Before long he had stemmed the flow of bleeding and wrapped a bandage tightly around her arm. Only then did he turn back to look at her face. Her expression had softened and now that she was tended to, she leapt up and rushed towards... _past _him. He couldn't help feeling disappointment as his false hope of a thankful kiss fled him but when he saw where she'd run to, he instantly forgave her.

She was covering her arms lovingly around Stormfly's neck, pushing her face into the dragons hide. Hiccup saw the odd angle Stormfly's wing was bent at and instantly knew it was broken. Luckily he'd seen his share of dragon injuries over the last years and he knew from a glance that it was a simple break, and the beast would recover full use eventually. He was just about to acknowledge the fact when he saw her turn towards him, tears in her eyes.

He took a step back as if he had been physically hit. In the eighteen or so years that he'd been alive he'd never seen Astrid display such weakness. He couldn't believe she cared so much about Stormfly that she'd shed tears, but a part of him was proud that he had been the one to initiate the bond so many years ago when he introduced them in the hours before the battle with the Red Death.

She stood in front of him, holding her wounded arm vulnerably as she struggled to find the words. "Hiccup, I realised something just then. When I... I thought I was about to... you know... die. I couldn't bear the thought of it... ending without you knowing that I..." Hiccup wasn't sure where this was going but he found himself getting lost in her all the same. Her eyes looked so beautiful and he was sure, even though they were filled with tears, that they had never been more beautiful. He felt warmth spread outwards from his chest and he suddenly knew what he needed to do. He opened his mouth to speak but found his tongue growing heavy and the words caught in his throat. Three little words. He just needed to force them out and worry about the consequences afterwards. He steeled his ego and tried again;

"Oh no! Stormfly!" both he and Astrid were interrupted by the shrill voice of Fishlegs who rushed past them to Astrid's dragon, no longer berserk. He turned behind him to find the fighting had ended and the few pirates who had surrendered being rounded up by the Berkians, following the lead of Spitelout. The large Viking was walking towards Hiccup and Astrid with the rest of the dragon riders in tow and Hiccup twisted to raise an eyebrow at Astrid. To his surprise and disappointment she had raised her guard again and stared back at him with an expression of determined indifference as Fishlegs assured her that Stormfly would be fine. Never had Hiccup felt such anger at the outspoken boy than right now, for nothing more than ruining Astrid's and his moment.

"You did well riders," was Spitelout's gruff compliment, well the man was not known for his bedside manners, especially towards the Haddocks, "without your dragons we would all be in Valhalla. But there was far too much damage done to the docks."

Hiccup wanted to protest; regardless that he'd been chastising the twins for the same reason less than twenty minutes earlier. Instead he swallowed his pride, Spitelout would be in no way as forgivable as Stoick would have, "So it's finished? We've won?"

It seemed obvious that it was the case but Hiccup couldn't fight off a sense of unease. So many Vikings had thrown themselves at the town square without any acknowledgeable tactic. He hated to admit it but Berks town square was not a location of any strategic importance, it seemed suicidal and just plain stupid of the Outcasts to throw so much manpower at the one spot.

Spitelout seemed to be thinking the same thing and hesitated before replying. He was saved the bother as a commotion occurred on the far side of the plaza. They all turned to watch a young child sprint towards them, his hands clumsily trying to keep his oversized helmet on his head.

"Gustav? What are you doing here?" Snotlout exclaimed as the familiar black haired boy came to a skidding halt, struggling to get his breath back.

"Yes boy, why aren't you in the mead hall with the other children?" Snotlout's father asked with a stern look.

The boy paled under the Vikings gaze but quickly found his voice, "An Outcast ship."

"Yes we know that; we destroyed them. They're all at the bottom of the harbour now." Snotlout retorted with an exasperated laugh.

But the child wouldn't accept it, "No not in the harbour!" This got the attention of his older peers. They stared at him in bewilderment.

"What do you mean not in the harbour?" Hiccup asked. But it was already clicking into place, and suddenly the Outcast strategy made sense.

"There was a ship. A small one that landed on the west shore behind the bluff." Gustav pointed vaguely towards the western side of the island, "Seven men jumped out and ran up the hill." He turned to Hiccup as he said the last sentence, one that he anticipated with dread:

"They are going after the chief."

**Author's Note: **I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please review, I want to know if you guys enjoyed it. I promise to release the next chapter a lot sooner than I did this one.


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