Chapteeeeeer 2! Up and ready to be read! Hiccup's starting to question whether he trusts Astrid. Let's see if she can hold up her end of the bargain. Enjoy!


Astrid went back to town first. Hiccup told her that walking back together would only raise suspicion. About an hour or so later, right as the sun was just touching the edge of the horizon and disappearing behind the trees, Hiccup patted Toothless on the side as a goodbye and made his way back to town.

Oddly enough, the town was silent as he approached the first houses, lanterns winking over every door. Only a few souls were out walking around, either running errands or leaving the mess hall and heading back home to bed.

Norrand nodded to Hiccup as he passed by and Hiccup innocently said hi. If he asked, his dad asked him to run to the blacksmith to get a sword repaired. He wasn't with a dragon. Not at all.

He opened the door to his house quietly, so as not to alarm his dad, and closed it, softly setting the deadbolt. He turned to run upstairs when he heard,

"Hiccup."

Blast, he said in his head. He looked at Stoick, whose massive structure was hunched over the fire. "Dad?"

"Where have you been?" He didn't look at Hiccup, and kept stirring whatever stew was in the pot.

"I…. uh…." Hiccup hesitated. Think. Think! "I… Astrid… she wanted to show me some moves she learned. She agreed to help me train if I repaired her broken armor and weapons."

"Oh. That's a good trade. Does she teach well?"

Hiccup awkwardly reached behind his head and scratched the back of his neck. "Yes, she's very… knowledgeable. Anyway, I think… I think I'm off to bed. Long day tomorrow."

"Ah yes," his dad said, "Training."

"Yes," Hiccup said, "Well… goodnight."

Stoick muttered goodnight as Hiccup scrambled up the stairs and scurried to his room, shutting the door behind him. His back slid down the side of the door until he rested on the wooden floor, his legs splayed out in front of him.

"Oh…" Hiccup put his face into his hands, anxiety creeping up from his gut, making him feel nauseas. "This is going to be the hardest secret to keep."

§ § §

"Dragon training―" Gobbler grumbled, holding up his arm with a hook attached at the end. Some Monstrous Nightmare bit off his hand many years. Gobbler feels entitled to tell the story to the trainees almost every day while they're fighting dragons. Hiccup could probably recite the story from memory. "― is not something to take lightly. Dragons are fast and tricky. Precision is needed, and lots of agility and strength."

"Yeah, precision," Ruffnut nagged, "If only Hiccup had any of that."

Hiccup almost smacked the palm of his hand onto his face. He was getting tired of these small jabs from his peers every single day. They've said so many that it didn't even hurt Hiccup anymore, it only just caused a small churn in his stomach and then he was fine. He wasn't sure if he believed all they've said, or if his conscious was just denying that they were right. He felt that after what Astrid said to him last night, it raised his confidence, considering she wasn't making any more jabs.

Instead, she just gave him a weary glance after what Ruffnut said. Hiccup pursed his lips at her and looked away.

"All of you lack precision at some time," Gobbler said. "It takes training to achieve it." He gave Hiccup a sympathetic look. It rubbed Hiccup the wrong way.

Stop looking at me like I'm a kicked sheep. Hiccup muttered in his mind. I don't want you to pity me.

"So," Gobbler said. "This morning we're going to deal with a very special dragon. Yes, yes." He hobbled over to the door, one peg leg clanking on the ground with every other step.

The dreaded door. The door that Hiccup hates being opened every single day. Only because that means he has to hide the secrets he's learned about dragons and pretend to know how to fight them. Or, well, convince the others that he's slowly learning how to fight them.

Of course he was the joke of the dragon trainees. Hiccup the dragon-lover. Hiccup the craven. Hiccup, the boy who's more afraid of dragons than girls. The nicknames didn't bother him anymore, maybe because he had become immune to Snotlout's, Ruffnut's, and Tuffnut's snide comments. Fishlegs was the only one who didn't say anything cruel to him. Fishlegs was the only one his age that Hiccup slightly considered as a friend, an acquaintance.

He glanced at Astrid again, who was wiping the blade of her axe off with her shirt, trying to rid of some make-believe dirt on the edge. Could he consider Astrid as a friend? A confident? She did learn about Toothless and has said nothing to anyone, which surprised Hiccup, considering she had the biggest blabbering mouth in the entire town. Did she value Hiccup's secret? Did she understand the gravity of the situation if she told anyone about Toothless?

Gobbler grasped the lever on the side of the massive door. "Today, we are going to deal with the Terrible Terror. Now, don't be put-off about its size, for the power packed inside of it is worse than the Monstrous Nightmare."

The group of dragon trainees all seemed to gather in an anxiously ragged breath together as Gobbler wrenched the lever downward and the weight that held the door closed was released. But instead of the entire door slamming open, a small door right at the corner of the large door popped open.

"What…?" Snotlout could only get out before a green dragon the size of a large cat leapt out and growled.

Tuffnut burst out laughing, almost hysterically. "Look at that thing!" His long gangly body danced over to the dragon and he pointed his sword at the menace, "It's as big as my―"

He was interrupted as the Terrible Terror jumped and clamped down on his nose. Tuffnut started wailing, clawing at the dragon to get it off. He fell to the ground with a thump and started frantically crawling backwards, shaking his head.

Astrid sighed and walked over to Tuffnut. She took the blunt side of her axe, aimed it at the dragon, and whacked it with all her might. The Terrible Terror let go of Tuffnut's nose and tumbled across the training floor from the force of Astrid's hit.

"Nice one, Astrid!" Snotlout praised her. "I knew you could do it. Well, you always can."

Hiccup felt a twinge of jealousy in his gut. Everyone knew that Snotlout had been trying to woo Astrid for about a year, every since she showed up at dragon training and almost chopped a Deadly Nadder's head off with one hit. However, it seemed that Astrid always turned a blind-eye on him and never noticed his advances. For some reason, that always made Hiccup mentally laugh. Poor Snotlout, Hiccup would tell himself.

Astrid ignored Snotlout, like usual, and went after the Terrible Terror. Hiccup wanted to stop her. There was no need to kill the dragon. He remembered a trick he played on Toothless, where he got a bit of light to reflect on the ground and it distracted Toothless like a wolf gets distracted by its prey. The Terrible Terror started to stand up, shaking its head as Astrid approached.

Hiccup scurried up to Astrid's side and put a hand on her shoulder. She glared at him and said, "What are you going to do? Pet it?"

It felt like a hit to his stomach. He thought Astrid was done being cruel?

Hiccup grabbed his shield and held it up so the metal caught the sunlight and created a small circle of light on the stone floor of the training room. The small dragon immediately saw the glimmer of the sunlight and stared at the circle of light. It wiggled its backside and immediately tried to pounce on the light, but Hiccup moved the light right as the Terrible Terror pounced. It made a frustrated noise and continued to follow the circle of light until Hiccup flashed it under the small doorway and the dragon slid under the door. Hiccup kicked the door closed and held it with his foot as he felt something hit it from the inside to get it open. Gobbler pulled the lever and then set the deadbolt again so the door was securely locked.

There was complete silence in the group of dragon trainees, even Gobbler seemed shocked. Fishlegs accidentally dropped his axe and it clattered to the ground. Tuffnut and Ruffnut had the same bewildered expression, although Tuffnut was holding his nose, blood dripping on his fingers. Snotlout's jaw almost hit the floor, and his eyes were wide. Astrid just gave Hiccup a concerned look. There was no surprise in her eyes. Instead, it was a cautious look, like a nonverbal warning. Be careful, her gray eyes spoke, If they get even a hint of what you can do, you're in a lot of trouble.

And Astrid was right. He had to be extremely careful about what he showed. His dad would investigate and find Toothless. His dad knew everything and anything about the goings-on on the island. It only made sense since he was the leader of the town, but that didn't help Hiccup in his situation.

"Well…" Hiccup fumbled. "If we're done for today… I… should be going." And with that he scrambled out of the training room and bolted for the door, leaving his shield at the entrance.


Wow. Even I'm a little unsure about Astrid. Hmmmm. And you think Hiccup could have pulled his escape a little smoother? But, well, that's Hiccup for you! *oozing sarcasm* Our smooth, smooth guy. Stay tuned for chapter 3 coming soon.

Yours,

Gwynn