Right! So I've gotten some reviews that are really appreciated, and someone pointed out a glaring flaw in Arvid and Himinn's marriage, so I nixed Arvid and replaced him with Jardar, who is not related to Astrid at all- BECAUSE HICCSTRID FOREVER!

Last chapter we left off with the "Sorry, dad" scene, so now we're doing the Hiccup-meets-Toothless bit… with a twist.

Himinn wasn't accompanying Hiccup into the forest because she was in the war council with Stoick and the others. Her and Jardar are the only ones in what I am dubbing the "older teens group" that aren't accompanying Stoick on his mad quest to end the dragon raids (we all know how well THAT worked…) because they like Hiccup and don't want to leave him with Gobber as his only bit of happiness on Berk.

Himinn will however- OKAY ENOUGH SPOILERS ON WITH THE FANFIC.

RTR (Responses to reviews)

toothlessgolfer: The muses have sung!

CajunBear73: Are you talking about the Skrill or the Whispering Death? Because both those individual dragons will be getting riders…

GuardianDragon98: Don't worry, she's assured me she was deliberately missing her throws.

Mariah: No, if you hadn't pointed it out, I'd probably have Hiccup and Astrid as cousins and in love and probably wouldn't have noticed until… never, actually. As for Jardar, his backstory will be explained in a future story called Clouds Roll In.

Calvin: Older sister.

…..

"Okay, but I hit a Night Fury.".

This remark can from the mark of young Hiccup Haddock, after singlehandedly (LOL we all know it was the Nightmare) causing the dragons raiding their village to escape with a lot of livestock, leaving the vikings with only a captive Whispering Death to show for their efforts (Thanks, Jardar!).

His father, the chief, was not impressed, and grabbed Hiccup by the back of his tunic, dragging him towards their house.

"It's no like the last few times, dad! I mean, I really actually hit it! You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot! It went down just off Raven Point! Let's get a search party out there before it-".

Stoick released him and bellowed, "STOP!".

Himinn pulled out a notebook and a charcoal pen, making a single line. Jordan leaned over. "What's that for?".

"I'm recording the number of axes I need to throw at him later for being mean to Hiccup.".

"You are insane.".

"But you still love me.".

"Touche.".

Meanwhile, Hiccup was staring in shock at his father, who lowered his voice. "Just… stop. Every time you step outside, disaster falls. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter is almost here, and I have an entire village to feed!".

Hiccup looked around and noted how plump many of the vikings were. "Between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think?".

Jardar, cackling like Dagur the Deranged, was forced to catch Himinn before she fell down from how hard she was laughing. "I-It's funny b-b-because it's so t-true!".

Several vikings rubbed their bellies self-consciously.

Stoick only got madder from this statement. "This isn't a joke, Hiccup!". He sighed. "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?".

Himinn made another tally mark.

Stoick turned towards her. "I'm talkin' to you, too! When someone says, 'watch your brother', they mean, 'watch your brother'!".

She smirked. "I cannot help that I temporarily lost all hearing and vision and allowed my brother to slip past me- oh wait, the was totally on purpose.".

The chief pinched the bridge of his nose. She's gonna be a thorn in my side until my dying day, and then she'll continue to do so when we get to Valhalla.

He snapped out of his thoughts in time to hear Hiccup's next protest. "I can't stop myself! I see a dragon, and I just have to kill it! It's who I am, Dad.".

Stoick sighed. "Hiccup, you are many things, but a dragon-killer is not one of them.". He motioned towards Gobber and Himinn. "Take him back to the house. I've got his mess to clean up.".

Two more tally marks.

Himinn rested a sympathetic hand on Hiccup's shoulder, then lead him away with Gobber.

Unfortunately, they walked past the other teenagers.

Tuff smirked. "Quite the performance.".

His wonderful cousin Snotlout joined in. "I've never seen someone mess up that badly. That helped!

Both let out unmanly screams of terror when Jardar's throwing knives knocked their helmets off. He glared at them. "Next time, I'll go for your brains.".

Himinn rolled her eyes. "Don't waste your knives stabbing things that don't exist.".

They walked up the hill to the Haddock residence. Gobber raised an eyebrow. "So, how many axes is Stoick gonna have to dodge this time?".

"Hmm… carry the one… 8.".

"New record.".

Hiccup sighed despairingly. "I really did hit one. He never listens, and if he does, it's always with this disappointed scowl, like someone stepped on the meat in his sandwich.".

Jardar immediately put on a Scottish accent. "Excuse me, barmaid! I'm afraid you've brought me the wrong offspring! I asked for a stereotypical barbarian with six-pack abs and hairy armpits! This here, this is actually intelligent!".

Hiccup blinked. "Not exactly what I was gonna say, but it's better than 'this is a talking fishbone.'.".

Gobber shook his head. "Now, you're thinking about this all wrong. It's not so much what you look like. It's what's inside that he can't stand!".

Himinn wrote down another tally. "Dad's taking the punishment for that one. Two more axes.".

The blacksmith smirked and walked away. "I'll grab those for ya. Oh, and don't forget Stoick wants you and Jardar on the war council today!".

She groaned. "I hate war councils.".

Then she and Jardar exchanged devious smirks. "Hiccup, while we aren't home, under no circumstances will you go out to the woods to attempt to find the Night Fury you shot down.".

The scrawny boy nodded. "Right. Under no circumstances.". He opened the door and entered the house as Himinn and Jardar walked away… and ran out the back door the moment they were gone.

Meanwhile, inside the Meade Hall…

"It's either we finished them, or they finish us! It's the only way we'll be rid off them!".

Stoick, who was obviously the one speaking, rolled out a large map over the table he was standing at. "If we find the nest and destroy it, the dragons will leave. They'll find another home!".

He drew his sword and plunged it into a section of the map labelled 'Helheim's Gate'. "One more search. Before the ice sets in.".

Another viking spoke up. "Those ships never come back!".

"We're vikings! It's an occupational hazard!". Stoick glared at the assembly. "Now, who's with me?".

There was silence.

Stoick sighed. "Alright then. Those who stay will look after Hiccup.".

There were immediate shouts of, "To the ships!" and "I'm with you, Stoick!".

"That's better.".

The vikings began flowing out of the Meade Hall.

Gobber wiped his lips on his tankard hand, standing up from the bench he'd been sitting on. "Alright. I'll pack my undies.".

Jardar had left the hall along with the rest of the vikings. Himinn, however, was still there, sharpening an axe. She threw her hands up in disgust, causing the weapon to fall to the ground next to her. "Ugh! TMI, Gobber!".

Stoick shook his head. "No, I need you to stay with Himinn and Jardar to train some new recruits.".

The other two exchanged glances, and Gobber looked back at his friend. "Yeah, and while we're busy, Hiccup can cover the stall! Molten steel, razor sharp blades, lots of time to himself? What could possibly go wrong?".

Stoick sighed and pinched his nose. "What am I gonna do with him, Gobber?".

Himinn happily piped up. "Stop belittling him in public, teach him how to actually defend himself, stop treating him like he's inferior to every other teenager on this island…".

The chief glared at her. "I'm serious.".

"Weeell… Dragon Training is always an option.".

"Himinn, he's not you! He'd be killed before you let the first dragon out of it's cage!".

Gobber snorted. "The only question is what weapon Snotlout would use to kill him.".

Stoick sighed. "You two know what he's like. From the time he could crawl, he's been… different. He doesn't listen, he has the attention span of a sparrow, I take him fishing and he goes hunting for… for trolls!".

In perfect unison, the other two looked at him incredulously and stated, "Trolls exist! They steal your socks! But only the left ones. What's with that?".

"Jinx!" Himinn called out triumphantly. "You owe me a glass of mead!".

"When I was a boy…".

Still in perfect sync, the girl and the blacksmith sighed. "Oh, here we go.".

"… my father told me to bang my head against a rock, and I did it! I thought he was crazy, but I did it. And you know what happened?".

"You got a headache.".

"That rock split in two. It taught me what a viking could do! He could crush mountains, level forests, tame seas!".

He sat down and exhaled. "Even as a child, I knew what I was, what I had to become. You were that child too, Himinn. Hiccup? Hiccup is not that child.".

Himinn smiled sadly. "Dad, Hiccup is fifteen. When I was fifteen, I killed a Monstrous Nightmare in that Dragon Training ring. He's gonna fight dragons, whether you like it or not.".

Gobber nodded. "You can't stop 'im, Stoick. You can only prepare him.".

The chief sighed and nodded. "Alright. Maybe it'll do him some good.".

Then he noticed the pile of axes beside Himinn and paled. "Odin help me.".

His daughter's smile was the grin of a predator that had caught its prey. "Did I ever tell you I hate your recruitment methods?".

Five seconds later, Berk got to enjoy the sight of their chief running away from his daughter, screaming like a little girl while axes flew past his head.

….

While the village was occupied, Hiccup had been quite busy. He'd been searching the forest for his draconic victim, crossing out the areas he'd already searched on a quickly sketched map of the island

There were a lot of X marks.

Frustratedly, he scribbled all over the map before tucking his pen into his notebook, snapping it closed with a sigh. "The gods hate me. Some people loose their knife or their mug, but not me? I manage to loose an entire dragon?!".

He smacked a branch out of his way, only for it to swing back and smack him, with a lot more success. "Ow!".

Then he looked up. The wood had splintered away from the tree it was attached to, as though Thor's wrath had swept over Berk…

…or something large and heavy had fallen out of the sky and smashed into it.

He quickly deduced it was the former, as similar sights of destruction marred the ground in front of him. Hopes rising, he slid down the earth, desperate to see what had caused the destruction.

He gasped and hit the dirt.

He'd found it.

Cautiously he peeked over the dirt, taking in the sight of the ebony-scaled dragon lying next to a boulder, one wing sticking out at an angle that could not have been comfortable. He reached into his fur vest and pulled out a dagger, clutching it like a lifeline, hoping the dragon couldn't hear his terrified gulps for air.

His hopes were confirmed when he spotted bolas restraining the beast's limbs. "Oh wow, I did it. Ohh, I did it! This fixes everything! Yes!". He mounted a foot on the winged lizard. "I have brought down this mighty beast-".

He was cut off when the dragon kicked him off, knocking him against the boulder as it turned one large green eye to glare at him.

He breathed in a few times, glaring determinedly. "I'm gonna kill you, dragon. I'm go-gonna cut out your heart and take it to my father. I'm a viking. I'm a viking!".

The Night Fury grunted as Hiccup held the dagger over it. He raised the short blade into the air- the blade that would be immortalized as the first to spill the blood of a Night Fury.

And then it closed its eyes, allowing its head to loll to the side.

Hiccup grunted, desperately trying to muster the resolve to kill such a vulnerable creature… and failed, allowing his arms to fall, hands holding the dagger resting on his head. He looked down, actually feeling pity for the creature he'd trapped. "I did this.".

He moved to walk away, then turned back, looking first at the Night Fury, then the ropes, then his dagger.

The Night Fury's eye snapped open to the sound of sawing as Hiccup, unbelievably, began cutting through the ropes holding it, snaps echoing through the air.

The dragon sprang the moment the ropes were loose enough, allowing them to fall to the ground, pouncing on Hiccup and pinning him with one large, black paw. The boy gasped for air, looking into large green eyes, wincing and preparing for the fireball to blast his head into ashes.

The dragon spread its wings wide… and roared. A loud roar that blew Hiccup's hair back as the pressure on his windpipe lessened.

Apparently content to give him that warning, the dragon sprang off into the forest, far away from the viking boy.

Hiccup turned to walk away, breathing heavily… then crashed to the forest floor in a dead faint.

…..

Those of you who were expecting this later… I said BY the weekend, not THE weekend!

Also, I'm considering doing Dawn of the Dragon Racers before finishing this, despite the fact that there will be spoilers. Anyone think it's a good idea? Leave a review!

I've answered new reviews at the top for those who left them, so feel free to check it out.

In other news, in the light of Toothless's giant ice-shattering plasma blast, Drago looks creepily like Krogan. Something you aren't telling us, DreamWorks?

The next chapter should be up soon, as well as the second chapter of Seeing Their Story for those who are reading it. Until next time, stay tuned.

Next chapter: Learning on the Job.