So, like I said, this is my very first fanfic, so please review!

I started it this summer-I just randomly started writing from Astrid's point of view one day because I was bored, and I then just kept going all the way until the end of the movie because it was so fun to write. ^_^

But anyways. Enjoy! And PLEASE review! :)

* Part 1 *

This was it. My final chance to become the champion and win the honor that was rightfully mine. And it was going to happen. I wasn't going to let it be taken away from me this time.

The battle was almost over, and it was just down to Hiccup and me. The Gronkle was buzzing around somewhere nearby, daring us to take it down.

I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand. Panting, I ran over to the nearest barrier and ducked behind it, gripping my axe with both hands. Then I looked to my right, noticing Hiccup already hiding there. I narrowed my eyes at him and knocked his shield to the ground. "Stay out of my way." I demanded, leaning over to him. "I'm winning this thing."

"Please! By all means." He called to me as I left.

I rolled my eyes, then hid behind different barrier. I peeked out from the side, and when the coast was clear, I slid across to another. I leaned back against the slab of wood that was separating me from my victory. "This time," I said to myself, my heart pounding in my chest. "This time, for sure!"

I took a deep breath, then let out a war cry as I hopped over two more barriers and charged toward the Gronkle, my axe raised in the air. But I cut off as I noticed the dragon on its side, its tongue hanging out. Hiccup stood next to it.

My mouth dropped open as I stared at this scene in utter shock. When I finally came to my senses, I stamped my foot on the ground. "No!" I screamed, swinging my axe around in frustration. "You... son of a half-troll, rat-eating, munge-bucket!"

"Wait! Wait." I heard Stoik say from the stands.

"So... later." Hiccup mumbled, turning around and starting to walk away.

"Oh, oh, not so fast." Gobber said, grabbing him by the back of his fur vest and then setting him back down where he was before he'd started to leave. Hiccup muttered, "Uh, I'm kind of late for-"

"What?" I spat, raising my axe to his neck. "Late, for what, exactly?"

"Okay, quiet down! The elder has decided." Stoik announced, raising his arms.

This was my last chance. Whoever the elder chose would win and get to continue on to killing the Monstrous Nightmare in front of the entire village. It had to be me. I'd worked so much harder for this than Hiccup did.

Gobber raised his hook hand over my head. I held my breath.

The elder shook her head, and my heart dropped to my knees. Gobber pointed to Hiccup, and she nodded and grinned.

The crowd burst out into cheers. Cheers that turned my hurt into anger. I slowly turned toward Hiccup, glaring at him. His expression seemed disappointed but apologetic, and it didn't make any sense.

"Oh, you've done it!" Gobber proclaimed excitedly. "You've done it, Hiccup! You get to kill the dragon!"

The other kids came over, whooping. Fishlegs lifted Hiccup onto his shoulder and they marched away, laughing and shouting.

I let out a sigh, and then lowered my axe and hung my head. What had I done wrong? All those weeks of training and those years of practicing had led me nowhere. And of all people, it had to be Hiccup that beat me. The kid who was always screwing everything up had to be the one to take away my victory. I just didn't understand it.

I made my way through the crowd of celebrating people now filling the inside of the arena. I went to the outside of the ring, where the cheering was less deafening. I sunk down to the ground and sat there until everyone had left. I didn't feel like talking to anyone. Not after that totally humiliating experience. I needed to calm down and pull myself together.

Later, when I was sure that everyone was gone, I headed back to the village. All I wanted to do was go home, climb into bed and hide under the covers. Forever.

As I sulked down the main dirt road leading through the marketplace, I spotted Hiccup carrying a large round basket over his shoulder. He was heading down the path that led out of the village, to the forest.

So he was sneaking off again. He always disappeared in the afternoons after Dragon Training and then showed up again before supper. I knew that he probably had some kind of a hideout in the woods; I had seen him on his way there once. But I wanted to know where it was and what he did there.

I also wanted to know how in the world he became the dragon champion all of a sudden. At the first few practices, he was horrible. But then out of the blue he was taking down dragons left and right. And no one understood why. But now a chance to possibly discover his little secret presented itself.

My suspicion got the best of me and I decided to follow him. I stayed a good distance behind, far enough away that he would never see me. But I always kept him in sight.

We traveled through the forest for three minutes before we reached an opening in a wall of rocks. It looked like a large cove of some sort. After he went inside, I waited at least a minute before I snuck in behind him. Hiding behind a large mossy rock, I waited until his back was turned, then climbed up onto it. I decided to use that time to sharpen my axe while I waited for him to notice that I was up there. He could be so naive sometimes.

He appeared to be talking to someone else, but I didn't see anyone there except for the two of us. "We're leaving. Let's pack up. Looks like you and me are taking a little vacation," He was saying. "Forever."

He bent down and opened the basket, letting out a long sigh. He was not wearing his fur; instead he had on this leather harness-type thing that crossed in front and went over his shoulders. What was with that?

I ran a stone along the blade of my axe. Startled by the sound, Hiccup looked up and jumped backwards, nearly tripping over a rock on the ground. "Whoa! What the-" He glanced around nervously from side to side. "Um, uh... what... are you doing here?"

"I wanna know what's going on." I said, dropping the stone behind me. I held my axe up and then slammed the end of the shaft onto the rock and used it to push myself up. I jumped off and started toward him. "No one just getsas good as you do. Especiallyyou." I was right in front of him, walking forward, and he was walking backwards. I spun my axe and switched it to my right hand. "So start talking. Are you training with someone?"

"Uh... What? Training...?" Hiccup mumbled.

"It better not involve this." I said, grabbing his harness and yanking it upward.

He wriggled and I let him go. "Yes, I know." He said. "This... looks really bad. But you see this is, uh..."

In the distance, I heard the sound of cracking branches. I gasped, grabbing Hiccup and throwing him down in front of me. I stepped over him and squinted in the direction the noise.

"Alright, alright, alright." Hiccup said, standing up and running in front of me, walking backwards again. "I'm-I'm through with the lies. I've been making... outfits. So, you got me." He grabbed my hand and put it on his shirt, mimicking the way I always yanked him around. I pushed him from side to side, trying to get him out of my view. There was something over there, and I needed to know what it was.

Hiccup continued jumping back in front of me. "It's time everyone knew. Go ahead, drag me back, here we go-"

With my hand that he was holding to his chest, I twisted his arm around, it made a cracking sound, and he fell to the ground. "Ow! Why would you do that?" He groaned.

He started to get back to his feet, but I kicked him to the ground again. "That's for the lies." I explained. I held my axe above him, then dropped it so the shaft jabbed him in the stomach. "And that's... for everything else."

"Aw, man..." He murmured. A growling sound coming from the other side of the cove caught my attention again. I held on to my axe with both hands as I noticed a dark figure moving around a ways away. My eyes widened as I realized what it was. I sucked in a horrified breath. "Get down!" I screamed, diving onto Hiccup and knocking us both to the ground.

The dragon bared its teeth and charged toward us, its giant wings flapping.

Struggling back to my feet, I grabbed my axe and held it up, ready to strike the dragon before it attacked us. "Run! Run!" I screamed at Hiccup.

"No!" Hiccup jumped in front of me, and once again we both fell to the ground. He yanked the axe out of my hand and tossed it across the grass. Then he stood up and ran over to the dragon, which was only a now a few feet from us. "It's okay! It's okay." He first told the dragon, and then me. He put his hands in the air as if trying to calm down a rearing horse. "She's a friend." He told it.

My heart was banging in my chest and my eyes were wide with shock as I watched this. I tried to stand up, but was too shaken to keep my balance. I squatted, and then managed to push myself to my feet, backing away as I did so.

I studied this dragon as I tried to slow my breathing. It was black from head to toe; a species that I didn't recognize. Then it all came at me at once: Hiccup's constant inquiries of Night Furies, how he would often talk about the half empty page of the dragon manual. So this was what they really looked like.

The dragon settled down a little, but still glowered at me with bared teeth. Hiccup turned to me, holding the dragon back with his hands. "You just scared him."

"Iscared him?" I barked, appalled. The dragon snarled at me, and I flinched. "Who... is him?"

Hiccup backed away and let out a nervous laugh. "Uh, Astrid, Toothless. Toothless... Astrid." The dragon growled again.

He had named the thing? How could he do this? That was definitely the first step to befriending the enemy.

I narrowed my eyes and shook my head. He was so busted. I turned around and ran out of the cove and back into the woods. When Stoik found out about this-oh, man-Hiccup was going to be in trouble.

I ran as fast as I could in the direction of the village, looking back every few seconds to make sure Hiccup wasn't trying to stop me. A fallen tree trunk blocked my path, but I climbed on top of it and was about to jump off when something grabbed ahold of my shoulders. Before I could comprehend what was happening, I was up in the air, flying higher and higher above the forest floor.

"Oh, great Odin's ghost! Oh, this is it!" I cried as I looked at my feet dangling above the ground. I didn't stop screaming until I was dropped onto the branch of a very tall tree. I grabbed on to it with both of my hands, hanging from it. I looked up as the dragon-and I noticed as my jaw dropped that Hiccup was riding it-landed on the top of the tree and it bent under its weight. My emotions went from surprise to bewilderment to anger. "Hiccup!" I screamed. "Get me DOWN from here!"

"You have to give me a chance to explain."

"I am NOT listening to anything you have to say!" I cried as I tried to pull myself up onto the branch.

He raised his hands a little, gazing down at me. "Then I won't speak. Just let me show you." He said slowly, his eyes pleading. "Please, Astrid."

I glanced down below me. It was a long way down. I heaved a sigh and tried once more to hoist myself up onto the branch. I managed to finally get both of my feet onto it, and I stood up slowly, holding onto a smaller tree branch next to me to keep my balance. I reached for the dragon so I could climb on, but it snarled at me. I jerked my hand back as a reaction, but then grabbed onto a part of the dragon's harness. Hiccup extended his hand to me, but I slapped it away. In his dreams.

I took ahold of part of the saddle and pulled myself on behind Hiccup. Yeah, he had a saddle and everything for it. So this is what he was doing all the time he was never around. Flying around on a freaking dragon, of all things. When I got down from here, he was still in for it. I hope he didn't think that I would let him off the hook just because he gave me a free ride.

Once I was ready, I looked down below me and lifted my arms away from my sides. "Now get me down," I ordered him.

He patted the dragon's head. "Toothless, down." He said to it. "Gently." It wiggled about a little, then slowly spread out its wings. "See?" Hiccup said, turning to me. "Nothing to be afraid of."

Toothless lifted his wings up high and then flapped down as fast as he could, sending us all shooting up into to the air. We were heading straight upwards, and the dragon was flying so fast that I began to fall off the back. I screamed as I struggled for something to grab on to, anything.

"Toothless!" Hiccup yelled. "What is wrong with you? Bad dragon!" As we slowed down a bit, I was able to scoot enough forward on the saddle to grab on to him. We stopped flying and Hiccup turned his head toward me with a bewildered but sheepish smile. "He's, uh-he's not usually like this... oh no." This time we dropped and plunged straight for the ocean. I squeezed Hiccup tighter and held on for dear life as we smacked the surface of the water a few times and then shot back up again. "Toothless, what are you doing-we need her to like us!" He shouted.

We dropped again, twirling every direction. "And now he's spinning. Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."

"Okay!" I pleaded, leaning my face against Hiccup's back as I held on as tightly as I could. "I am sorry! I'm sorry. Just get me off of this thing!"

Then, as if I had just said the magic words, we jerked to a halt and the dragon opened its wings, gliding inches above the water. My pulse began to slow down as we gently hovered along. After a few moments, I tentatively lifted my head and opened my eyes. I slowly released my grasp around Hiccup's waist as I looked up. We were floating among orange and pink clouds, a gentle breeze blowing against my face. I glanced around myself in awe, trying wrap my mind around what had just happened.

I took one hand off of Hiccup's side and raised it up, feeling the moist air run through my fingers. I slowly lifted my other hand in the air and then leaned back, the clouds rushing past me. I smiled and closed my eyes.

I couldn't believe that one minute we were spinning around in pure madness, and the next, it was bliss.

For what seemed like several minutes, we flew through the sky, silently enjoying the sunset through the painted clouds. I used to watch the sunsets when I was little, but never in my life had I experienced one like this. This was too wonderful for words.

It grew darker and darker, the sun disappeared over the horizon, and the clouds became illuminated by the moon. Pretty soon I had lost track of time-all I could think about was the night.

Then beyond a think patch of clouds the most beautiful lights came into view. Spectacular beams of purple, blue, and green danced around us, a sight that seemed only possible by magic. I gasped, amazed at the beauty that lied just above the clouds, but I had noticed before. I rested my hand back on Hiccup's side, smiling in awe at the breathtaking view.

We soared past the lights and beyond the clouds, and before I knew it, we were flying above our village. It looked beautiful from above, the glow of fire within the giant statues surrounding the coast. My eyes widened as I looked at all the little people below, going about their business, and they had no idea what they were missing tonight.

I wrapped my arms around Hiccup's waist and leaned my chin on his shoulder, resting my head against his. He tensed up for a brief moment and his gaze flickered to me, half-questioning. I sighed contently, and he relaxed and smiled, looking forward again. I closed my eyes and let the cool wind blow against my face and through my hair. I never wanted this night to end.

Somewhere it the back of my mind, it bothered me that Hiccup had proved me wrong. And what really bothered me was that I didn't understand why I didn't even care. It wasn't this afternoon that I was ready to expose Hiccup's secret. And now I didn't even want to. I wasn't the same person, and I didn't know what had changed. All I knew as I gently embraced Hiccup was that I sure didn't mind it.

After a few minutes, I breathed a sigh and sat up straight. "Alright, I admit it. This is pretty cool. It's... amazing." I glanced down at Toothless. "He's amazing." I reached down and patted the dragon on the side of his head.

We flew for a few more moments in silence. "So what now?" I asked.

Hiccup heaved a sigh and lowered his head.

"Hiccup, your final exam is tomorrow! You know you're gonna have to kill a-" I paused, realizing that I didn't want Toothless to hear this part. I leaned into Hiccup's ear and lowered my voice to a whisper. "-kill a dragon."

"Oh, don't remind me." He groaned, wincing.

Just then, Toothless dove sharply downward into a thick blanket of fog. I grabbed on to Hiccup again, startled. The dragon was making a throaty vibrating noise, jerking his head from left to right.

"Toothless, what's happening?" Hiccup asked. The dragon ignored him and we made a turn right. "Whoa, what is it?"

Through the fog, I could see other dragons now flying with us. "Get down!" Hiccup said through his teeth, laying down flat against Toothless. I bent down and leaned on him, my hands wrapped around him again. This didn't look good. "What's going on?" I asked, my voice a whisper.

"I don't know." He said. He placed his hand on the dragon's head. "Toothless, you gotta get us out of here, bud."

Toothless shook his hand away. The sound of humming and dragon screeches became louder as more and more appeared around us. There must have been hundreds of them flying through the fog, most carrying things in their claws.

"It... looks like they're hauling in their kill." Hiccup observed, his voice unsteady.

I swallowed. "Uh... what does that make us?"

A Zippleback peered at us with its two heads, seeming to be smirking. Following the other dragons, we swooped down lower once again, but this time it became clear where we were headed to. A large volcano-like mountain was straight ahead of us. Even more dragons were swarming all around, going inside different entrances. I tightened my hold around Hiccup's waist as we got closer and closer, dodging the rock columns as we flew past. So this was where Toothless was taking us. The dragons' nest. He must have had some kind of an instinct to be able to find it when he got near.

Finally we entered an opening in the mountain. There was a orange-red glow lighting up the inside, making it feel eerie. Even more dragons were inside, huddled on rock ledges and flying around. My eyes were wide with terror as I glanced around, clinging to Hiccup as tightly as I could and leaning my face onto his shoulder.

Hiccup shook his head in awe. "What my dad wouldn't give to find this," He mused.

Toothless flew around inside, searching for a place to land. When he spotted an empty ledge, he landed and hid behind a large rock connected to the ceiling. We peered over the edge, and at the bottom of the cave was just one large pit. Orange smoke was floating around inside of it, so we couldn't see how deep it was. Every dragon that had just come inside the nest dropped their kill down the hole as they flew over it.

Hiccup turned toward me. "Well, it's satisfying to know that all of our food has been dumped down a hole."

"They're not eating any of it." I said in agreement. So, for all those years, dragons had raided us and stolen our food, and this was where it all went?

Hiccup and I watched as a Gronkle buzzed over the pit and spit out a tiny fish. He scratched himself with his back leg and then started to make his way over to one of the ledges.

Just then, the cave filled with a deep rumbling noise, and from the bottomless pit arose an enormous dragon. It opened its giant mouth, exposing its jagged teeth, and engulfed the Gronkle before it had cleared the hole. Then it sunk back down into the foggy abyss, grumbling again.

"What... is that?" I choked out, my face drained pale with horror. Hiccup leaned back, shielding me, as the giant dragon resurfaced again. It began sniffing the air, as if it knew we were here. Hiccup then quickly bent over to Toothless. "Alright, bud, we gotta get out of here. Now."

Toothless took off just before the dragon snapped its mouth shut on us. Apparently, that was the signal for all the other dragons to flee the nest. Hundreds of them swarmed upwards, racing toward a large opening in the top of the cave that led outside. We managed to make it out among the rest of the luckier dragons and then headed straight back to the cove in the forest.

Both of us were too terrified to speak most of the way there. It took practically the whole ride just to get my heartbeat to return to normal.

Once we were near the island, Hiccup was the first to speak. "I don't get it." He said quietly. "So they only steal our food so that they can feed that... thing?" He turned to me. "They do it because it threatens them, or..." He trailed of, confused.

"No, no, it totally makes sense." I clarified just as we flew into the cove. "It's like a giant beehive. They're the workers and that's their queen. It controls them." I jumped off of Toothless as soon as we landed. "Let's find your dad."

"No, no!" Hiccup protested, quickly sliding off of the dragon and following me. He stopped me by the pond in the center of the cove. "No. Not yet-they'll kill Toothless. No, Astrid, we have to think this through, carefully." He turned and slowly walked the other direction.

"Hiccup, we just discovered the dragon's nest. The thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here! And you wanna keep it a secret?" I grunted in disbelief. "What-to protect your... pet dragon? Are you serious?"

Hiccup turned to me, his moonlit expression solemn. "Yes."

My bitter countenance softened, and I suddenly realized that he knew what he was doing. Or at least that he knew more about what was going on with this than I did. And I suddenly found myself trusting him.

I stared at his profile for a moment until he turned away from me again. "Okay." I sighed. "Then what do we do?"

"Just... give me until tomorrow." He told me, glancing in my direction for a second. "I'll figure something out."

"Okay." I looked down at the ground. Then suddenly I remembered that I was still mad at him for almost killing me on that dragon ride. I punched his shoulder.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes in confusion as he put his hand on his upper arm, rubbing it.

"That's for kidnapping me." I explained.

He shook his head and looked over at Toothless, who was drinking water from the pond a few yards away. The dragon grunted, then returned to drinking. Hiccup turned back to me, not making eye contact.

I peeked over at him through my eyelashes, and then nervously tucked my hair behind my ear. Then before I could change my mind, I reached out, grabbing him by his harness, and kissed him on the cheek. "That's for... everything else."

Hiccup stood in stunned silence as I turned and walked away. I glanced backward at him, then picked up to a run. I didn't stop until I reached the crevice in the rocks and was out of the cove.

Safely out of his view, I leaned back against the stone wall and slid down to a sitting position, my pulse rising against my will. I hugged my knees closer to my chest and closed my eyes.

Inside, there was a part of me that couldn't believe that I had just done that. But a bigger part of me could. Because that was real. I really felt that way.

A few hours ago, I'd hated his guts. But now I found myself falling in love with him. I'd never felt this way before; a mixture of emotions swarmed through me as if I couldn't decide which one to feel. Confusion. Happiness. Shock. It was strange and new, and I didn't understand it, but, in a way, it felt comforting. Like it was right.

I stood up slowly, leaning against the rocks as I did, and made my way back to the village. It took longer in the dark, but the moon lit enough of the path that I could see where I was going.

I reached my house and sighed with relief as I dreamed of sleep; I was so tired. I snuck inside the back door and crawled into my bed, instantly dozing off.