Hiccup could barely sleep at all. He had tossed and turned half the night, worrying about the following day ahead of him. Just an hour before sun-up, he was tired of fighting his body for some sleep. Pushing himself out of bed, he dressed for the day, and reached for his list of duties he had made from his desk. He sighed, knowing that even though he had a full day of to-dos to check off of the list, half of them wouldn't get done, and more would be added to it, especially after the villagers would wake up.

The Chief of Berk was certain that he would have to break up a quarrel again today between the villagers, help Gothi at least once chase down her flock of misbehaving Terrible Terrors, and of course: chase after the twins. He was tired of babysitting them. The day before they had somehow managed to overturn all of the yaks in the pasture, buried Gustav alive ("We thought we were doing you a favor!" Tuffnutt had cried), and had nearly spoiled all of their vegetable harvest with Belch's gas.

Of course, by mid-afternoon, he was exhausted. It was only when he had been talking to his mother about some upgrades he wanted to make to some of the older buildings in town did he realize he hadn't eaten anything all day. He ignored the dizzy feeling in his head, and continued to explain to her how he wanted to use Gronkle iron to update some of the homes in town.

"-we can start with our own before we start on anyone else's," he said to her. "Make sure it's working well before we do the updates-"

"Hiccup, it's a great idea," she began. "But, we've always made the tops of the homes with-" Just as she was making her point, she noticed her son's knees give away, and he had swayed forward. Catching him by his shoulder, she pushed him back up to stand. "Hiccup-"

"These updates will make the houses better," he said to her, ignoring what had just happened.

"Hiccup-"

"Can you imagine better, safer homes-?"

"Hiccup-"

"We may not have to build the roofs ever few years-"

"HICCUP!"

He met his mother's worried eyes.

"It's okay, Mom-"

"No, it isn't," she said to him. "Have you eaten today?"

Hiccup tried to remember if he had actually finished the toast he had made before he left the house-or if he had simply left it on the table carelessly before starting his day.

"That would be a no," Valka said after the pause. She pulled the list of things to do from Hiccup's hand, and rolled up his blue prints he had sprawled out on the Gobber's table in the Forge. "Go get something to eat-take a nap. Once you do, you can have these back-"

"Mom-"

"Go!" Valka said to him. Without another word, she turned away from him and left him leaning against the table.

Toothless nosed him out the door a few minutes after letting him sulk.

"Okay, okay," Hiccup said to Toothless. "I get the idea. Food-"

Toothless grumbled at him, and gave him one last hard push before Hiccup turned around completely and headed straight for the Great Hall for food.

At the Great Hall Hiccup had stared at his chicken leg and soup for half an hour before he actually decided to take a bite. He knew something was wrong with him. Knowing he needed to eat, he forced down a couple of bites of his chicken leg, and sipped the broth of his soup.

He didn't feel sick. He should have been hungry, he knew that. But, he wasn't. He felt his head sway again, and he reached for his bowl of soup and slurped another gulp. Hopefully, he was taking in enough to continue on through his day.

"There you are," he heard from behind him. He closed his eyes. Now how would he escape back to work?

Astrid sat down beside him. When he turned and looked at her, she noticed her happiness disappear instantly from her face. She struggled to speak for a moment. Before she could, he decided to. Would help the painful silence between them.

"Anything I need to know about?" he asked her. He had sent her out on patrol a few days prior with Fishlegs and Snotlout. Frankly, the twins were also ordered to go keep watch, but their minds couldn't focus too long on patrol. He didn't know if he was just being paranoid about a boat he saw in the horizon then, or if there was someone snooping on their island. He didn't want to make the wrong call.

"Nothing, again," Astrid said to him following a deep sigh. She pushed away her worry and tried to sound chipper. "Would you be up for a ride at sunset?"

He gave her a grin. "That sounds wonderful."

She smiled back. "Good." She leaned in and kissed his cheek, then jumped up off the bench, headed for the kitchen. He knew she was after a few chicken legs for Stormfly to re-energize. Once she was out the doors, he felt his shoulders slump. It was then that he realized how tense he really was.

"I really need to shake this," Hiccup said to himself, putting his palms up to his eyes. After a moment, he opened them again, blinked while his eyes adjusted, and let out a sigh. "C'mon, bud. Let's go see what else we need to get done today."

Toothless gave him a low growl, and pushed the half-eaten chicken leg back towards him.

"No, I'm fine," Hiccup said to him in a low voice.

Again, Toothless gave him an eye.

"If I take it with me, will you be satisfied?" Hiccup asked.

Toothless shrugged his wings at him, and after a moment, seemed satisfied with that. Hiccup gathered his bowl and plate up, shoved the chicken leg into his mouth and held it there with his teeth. He then went to the disposable barrel and dumped his remaining soup into it, left the dishes on a table with the rest, and headed out the door following Toothless.

When he thought Toothless wasn't looking, he chucked the chicken leg towards the bushes and followed Toothless back into the center of the village.

...

"You stole me sheep!" Silent Sven yelled at Mulch.

"I did nothing of the sort!" Mulch yelled back at him, crossing his arms.

"I have twelve sheep," Silent Sven said. "Now, I have-" Silent Sven took a moment to count on his fingers. "I have eleven!"

Hiccup sighed annoyingly. Really? Again, they were arguing over the sheep. He had just broken this up a few days ago. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small leather notebook. He flipped through a few pages, and found his notes. He walked up to intervene.

"Uh-Sven!" Hiccup said to him.

"Not now, Hiccup!" Silent Sven said. "You, Mulch, stole my buck-" He shoved his large finger into Mulch's chest.

Mulch shoved back with a hand. "That boar is mine! You simply borrowed him-"

"Guys-" Hiccup tried to say, but the two continued to argue. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. The argument was escalating much quickly than it had before. He turned to Toothless. "Any suggestions?"

Toothless cooed at him.

"Lots of help you are," Hiccup said to him, crossing his arms. He turned back to the men. His father would of had this stopped by now, and the argument wouldn't have begun for the second time. He needed to figure this out. Looking around himself, he could see the other villagers were starting to stare.

"I-want-my-buck-" At this point Silent Sven had a hold of Mulch's tunic.

Panic went through Hiccup's body. Closing his eyes, he pretending he needed to stop a fight with Snotlout and the twins. Yelling always seemed to work with them.

"Would you two knock it off?" he yelled at them, coming closer between them.

Just as he was trying to push them apart in the middle, Silent Sven had a fist balled, and instead of hitting Mulch, it connected with Hiccup's gut, pushing Hiccup backwards away from the fight.

Suddenly, the two men had a fire blast shot at their feet, and they immediately fell apart from each other and to the ground.

Astrid was at Hiccup's side immediately. And, Valka came rushing up through the crowd that had gathered with Fishlegs.

"You two idiots!" Valka yelled at them both. "Arguing over that bloody sheep again?"

Hiccup was sitting up on the ground, gasping for air. Astrid had a hand on his shoulder, waiting for him to speak, when he could. He glanced up at the two men. They looked at Valka in confusion.

"What is wrong Valka?" Mulch asked her.

"You two!" Valka yelled at them. "From what I have heard, you two have argued over sheep for years! You ignored your Chief who was trying to intervene-"

Both men looked equally confused at her.

"When did he step in?" Silent Sven asked. They both peaked around her and saw Hiccup trying to push himself up off the ground. He had a hand out to Astrid, telling her she didn't want his help. "Why did Toothless blast at us?"

"When you punched your chief!" Valka yelled. Her arms crossed in front of her.

"Sorry, Valka," Mulch said. "But-we didn't see Hiccup-I-I mean the chief-"

Hiccup felt his shoulders collapse. They didn't see him. What was he, fifteen again? He held a wince back. Breathing hurt at this point. Did Silent Sven bust one of his ribs?

"I'll make this simple for you both-you will surrender the sheep to the village herd. If either of you want him-you will have to pay a fee," Valka said.

"But-" they both started.

"I wasn't here when this feud between you two began, nor do I care. Fishlegs will take possession of the buck. You both have three days to come forward with a gold coin for the sheep. If the fee is not paid, then he will remain in the pasture."

Hiccup felt his fists clenching. He turned and headed down the hill to get away from everyone. Toothless followed and caught up beside him in a single leap. Within seconds, Astrid was beside him.

"Hiccup, what's wrong?" she asked him.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said to her. His anger was growing. He could hear his mother arguing with both Sven and Mulch. Without turning back, he continued down the hill. He just wanted to be left alone.

"How's your ribs?" Astrid asked him.

"I don't want to talk about it!" he said, feeling his voice raising.

"I wasn't asking about what is wrong, I was asking about your ribs-"

"That's still linked to what is wrong-"

"No it isn't-"

"Don't argue with me, Astrid," he said to her, turning and mounting Toothless. He eyed her. For a moment, he felt bad yelling at her, telling her to drop the matter. Usually, he welcomed a conversation with her to help solve matters. But, right now, he didn't want to be bothered.

"I am not arguing with you," Astrid said to him. "I am only asking if you are okay."

"I'm fine," he said sternly, and with that, he popped his leg into his gears, and Toothless was in the air leaving her below.

...

It was hours later and sunset had come. Hiccup could hear the noises of the night surrounding him. As they grew louder, inside he ached with guilt. He knew he had promised an evening ride with Astrid. But, he didn't want to be near anyone. He wanted to be alone.

Toothless came over to where he sat on the edge of the rock. He'd been holding a long stick down into the water, swirling the water around below, watching the fish dance in the ripples and waves he'd created. Toothless cooed from behind him, and he laid his large head down.

"I know, bud," Hiccup said to him. "It's getting late. And, I know Astrid is going to be disappointed." He rubbed his right side. His ribs still ached from earlier that day. It was a constant reminder to him that he had lost order of the village.

What was he going to do? It had been six months since his father had passed away, leaving Hiccup with a responsibility he wasn't quite ready for. His father had told him he was. Now, Hiccup believed he'd made a very bad mistake thinking that he was. And, Hiccup felt as though up until recently the village had been treading lightly. For a long time there were few issues in the village. They had all worked on clearing out the ice from the Great Bewilderbeast attack with Drago. Had they all just been distracted during clean up? Or were they taking it easy on him considering his father had passed away.

He knew the counsel had met without him more than once. They had been concerned for the well-being of the village with Hiccup running it. Had it not been for Gobber, he wouldn't have known they had been meeting up. Gobber had gone to the first meeting defending Hiccup's name. The second meeting that had taken place, however, Hiccup had shown up calling everyone out.

"From now on, you all need to bring concerns to my attention. My father fought to keep this village running smoothly-and he trusted me to do the same following his permanent absence."

He was positive he was letting his father down. That, he was sure about.

Toothless nudged his back with his head. He cooed again at him.

"I'm not going, bud-" Hiccup said to him. He didn't want to see Astrid. It suddenly occurred to him that Toothless had been looking forward to this evening flight. They hadn't had one in weeks. He needed to put his stubbornness and shame aside and think of his dragon, who was probably going stir crazy.

Hiccup dropped his long stick, and climbed right over Toothless. He didn't put his peg into the gears just yet. Instead, he touched the top of Toothless's head, and let out a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry, Toothless," he said to him gently. "I'm being selfish and irrational."

Toothless snorted in agreement.

"You don't have to agree with me!" Hiccup said to him, crossing his arms. "Great-now I have no one on my side-"

Suddenly, Toothless turned his head and slapped Hiccup with his long "ear."

"Okay, fine!" Hiccup rolled his eyes. "I'm being a mutten-head."

He clicked his leg into the gears and with that Toothless was in the air.

...

It was well after nightfall when Hiccup climbed the steps towards the house. He didn't want to go inside. But, he knew he needed to. Standing outside the door, he sighed. He looked at Toothless, who nuzzled his side gently. Hiccup smiled, rubbed his dragon's head, feeling a little bit better again at the moment. He reached for the door ring, turned it, and headed inside.

On the table he saw a plate of bread had sat with a bowl of soup, which had gotten cold. He felt guilty knowing she had gone through the trouble to place dinner for him so they could eat together, and he had abandoned it. He sat down on the bench at the table, and pushed the bowl away. He settled for the piece of bread with strawberry jam. After two bites, he pushed it aside.

Just as he had moved his hand away from the plate, his mother's bedroom door opened. She leaned against the doorway in her night gown. Her arms crossed in front of her. Her face soft. She gave him a weak smile, which he did not return. Instead, he turned away from her.

"Rough day, today," Valka said to him quietly.

He nodded his reply.

"How're your ribs feeling?" she asked him.

"Fine," he replied.

She came over and sat down on the bench beside him. "Let me see-"

"Mom, I'm fine-"

She looked at him. "Do your mother a favor-ease her worry about you tonight so she can rest. Let me have a look-"

Hiccup grumbled and started sliding the body armor off of himself. He dropped it behind him on the floor, holding a wince in as he did so. Finally, once the armor was off, he pulled the side of his tunic up, and allowed his mother to check him. He bit his lip as she ran her fingers gently around his side. Once she reached the ribcage, she applied a little more pressure. Not prepared for the pressure, he winced. His breath caught in his throat as he tried to hold it back.

"You are a little swollen here," she said to him.

He nodded, annoyed.

"We shall see what tomorrow brings," she said to him. She reached over to the plate with the slice of bread and slid it back in front of him. "Eat."

Hiccup felt his fist clenching again. He didn't want to yell at her. She was the very last person he wanted to raise his voice to. She was, after all, the woman that brought him life. And, deep down he was thankful for her concern.

"Where did you disappear to earlier?" she asked him, grabbed the kettle, pouring some water into it, and hanging it over the fire in the hearth.

Hiccup pinched a bit of crust on the slice of bread. He didn't want to tell her. The cove was his secret place to get away from the village. The only person he knew that would follow him there would have been Astrid.

"I was on Berk," he said to her gently. "Just-needed to clear my head for a bit."

He could feel his mother's eyes on him from where she stood behind him. He reached for the slice of bread and attempted to take a small bite. He felt the pit inside his stomach turn as he did. It took all he had to keep the bite in his mouth. Quickly, he swallowed it.

He watched his mother go through some of the shelves in the kitchen, looking for something. Finally, she pulled out a small glass vile, sprinkled some of the contents into a mug, and capped it. She did the same with another vile. Then, she poured some warm water into it, added a mint leaf, and sat it down in front of Hiccup. He looked up at her.

"You aren't sleeping," she said to him.

"I am-"

She pointed her finger at the mug. "I know better."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes at her. "You 'know better'?" he said. He sighed, trying to let go of his anger. "How do you 'know better'?" he asked her. The look on her face showed a little bit of fear. Never had he talked to her this way, not in six months of her making her home on Berk.

"Hiccup-"

"No," he said to her, shaking his head. "You don't 'know' me. Not that way, Mom." He paused, still trying to control his anger at her. Why he was directing his anger at her, he didn't know. Something about her words just set him off. "You've known me for six months. You weren't there pushing me from my desk when I was fifteen to get to bed-I had fallen asleep drawing many times. That was Dad. You weren't there when I was sick with fever every winter, trying to get me through the night before Gothi came. No, that was Dad again-"

"Hiccup-"

"Dad was the one who 'knew' me. Mom, if you'd been here even three years ago-you'd know I rarely sleep. My mind is constantly spinning. It always has. You've only known me since Dad passed away."

"Hiccup, I've heard you pace above me every night," Valka said. "You are up past the time I fall asleep, and gone before I wake up at first light. You don't sleep-you haven't in months-"

He stood up from his seat, the bench falling behind him, causing a loud bang. Toothless was nudging him, begging him to stop yelling at his mother, but Hiccup ignored him.

"You didn't listen to me!" he yelled at her. "I've-never slept well. Not in years. I can't remember the last time I slept from sun down to sun up! I get a few hours and move on."

"You aren't even getting that right now," Valka said to him, throwing her hands over the table, leaning in to it to speak to him. It was the only thing separating them from each other. "Hiccup-you were getting more sleep a month ago than you are now. What is troubling you-something is weighing heavy on your shoulders-I want to help-"

"You wouldn't understand-" Hiccup said to her.

"Try me-" she said to him.

He shook his head. Instead, he headed towards the door.

"Now where are you going?" she asked him.

"Out," he said, pulling the door open. "C'mon, Toothless."

"Please stay," Valka said to him. "I didn't mean to upset you, Hiccup-"

Hiccup growled under his breath, and walked out the door. Toothless looked at Valka, his emerald eyes showed pure concern. He cooed at her, an apology for his riders behavior, perhaps. Then, he hurried out the door behind his rider, leaving Valka alone in the home.

...

To be honest, I have NO IDEA where this is going to go. I didn't even know what kind of summary to write for this story. Hopefully it wasn't misleading to you all. I was really into this, and I started it last night after I posted the last two-shot. Something-clicked.

Thanks for reading, everyone! I'll see if I can whip up another chapter this week for you!