The Secrets of Night, Chapter 1
"Ow! Dang it!" Hiccup had just hammered his thumb and stuck it in his mouth.
"You look rather cute, just like you did when you were a baby." Astrid giggled at the sight of Hiccup sucking his thumb.
Hiccup, for his part, looked up in surprise, "I do not. And for you information I never sucked my thumb and a kid or a baby. What are you doing here?"
"I was walking by when I heard you shout so I decided to check it out to make sure you didn't do anything stupid. And, well, I found an adorable version of baby Hiccup." Astrid giggled again, "Wait till the gang hears about this."
"I told you I didn't suck my thumb as a baby and you don't even remember what I or anyone else looked like as a baby. And so help me Astrid if you tell the others I will stick you on dragon cleanup for a week, and that includes handling Mildew." Hiccup threatened.
Astrid was taken back by Hiccup's threat but didn't show it and was secretly proud of him finally sticking up for himself, even if it was against her. "What?! Did sweet, innocent Hiccup just threaten me? A strong, Viking Valkyrie?"
"Yes I did." He stated bluntly then returned to what he had been working on.
"So whatcha workin' on?" Astrid asked puzzled by all of the metal bars lying around.
"Working on a new gear system for Toothless. I found some forgotten Gronkle Iron under a pile of scrap metal, it probably hardened it when Meatlug first heaved it, and decided that it would make great parts for his tail. Granted it won't cover everything but it will cover the important stuff like the connecting rod and such…"
Astrid stopped him from saying anther word, "Hiccup, you're rambling. So how long till you're finished?"
"Right now." Hiccup dunked the metal into a bucket of water.
"I'm going to assume that you're going to test it now."
"Yup, what to join?" Hiccup offered.
"Wish I could but I can't. Mom wants me to help her with dinner, she says that I need to learn how to cook properly. Personally I think that it's a waist but whatever." Astrid shrugged.
"Well you'll miss the fun, but I'll make sure to have twice as much fun to make up for you not coming." Hiccup teased.
Astrid shot him a stern but playful glance, "Oh gee thanks Hiccup, rub it in. I'll make sure that you don't get any of the cake I'm going to make."
Hiccup quivered at the thought of Astrid baking, more like torturing, a cake, "Yeah, remind me to never try your baking. It could kill more Outcasts than Milnor when Thor is really, really, mad and the twins helping him."
"Hey!" Astrid slugged him in the shoulder, "My baking isn't that bad, it's worse. You gotta through in Snoghtlout and a Whispering Death before it was even close!"
They laughed for a minute before Hiccup spoke with a grin, "Well have fun torturing that cake, don't save me any, and I bee off flying."
"See ya." She planted a kiss on his cheek and ran off.
Toothless came bounding over to see if Hiccup was done and saw his arms full of metal and leather. He immediately stuck his nose in Hiccup's arms and began sniffing. "Alright bud, alright. Just give me on second to put it on."
Hiccup took off Toothless' old tail and gears and replaced it with the new one. Instantly Toothless started bouncing around like a playful kitten, "Ok, ok, we can go flying. You've got to stand still long enough for me to get on though."
Once Hiccup was on they were off. The sun was at the tail end of its setting and the sky was becoming pitch black, perfect for a Night Fury. Toothless let out a happy roar as they disappeared into the fast approaching night. "Well everything seems to be working fine, lets head to Dragon Island and run a few tests there." Toothless nodded in agreement and they make a course for Dragon Island.
Had Hiccup and Toothless been paying attention they would have seen a ship coming around Berk, a ship with no markings of any kind, a ship that didn't belong there. It silently followed Hiccup and Toothless, making its way to Dragon Island.
Hey! Sorry the chapter was short, it just ended up that way. Hopefully future chapters, should, be longer. I hope you enjoyed this and review to tell me what you think. See ya! XD