I'm glad people are enjoying dark Hiccup, and to answer Guest's question, yes there will be a flash back informing on why Hiccup left but I haven't decided on when to put it in, it might be next chapter or the one after, I'm still deciding. Anyway enjoy!

Hiccup tightened his grip on the handles of the saddle; Astrid had finally drifted off the sleep giving him some semblance of peace and quiet. The note had been from his mother detailing yet another run in with Drago's dragon trappers resulting in multiple casualties. He grit his teeth angrily, the army he was amassing was growing fast and they only had a short amount of time left before Drago would be ready to attack and destroy everything in sight. A harsh wind jolted them slightly and he resisted the urge to scream in frustration. Astrid murmured in his lap and turned burying her head under his neck. He groaned unhappily, she wouldn't be able to stay in the sanctuary and he simply didn't trust her to behave. The large ice structure came into view on the horizon, he nudged Astrid.

"Hey, wake up" he said his mouth set in a hard line. She mumbled and sat up rubbing her eyes before slapping her cold cheeks in an attempt to restore circulation. "We're here" he muttered guiding Toothless towards the entrance of the structure.

"Wow where are we?" she asked when they pulled into the centre of the structure.

"It's a dragons nest" he said simply flying up over to a small cave resting at the top. Astrid shrunk back against Hiccup when a small horde of dragons flurried passed them; he snickered quietly when she gasped. They landed in front of the cave Hiccup dismounted and lifted Astrid off the dragon.

"What happened to your leg?" she asked looking down her eyes landing for the first time on the prosthetic.

"A story for another time" he snapped "now come on." Astrid rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out behind his back before following him on wobbly legs and rubbing her behind trying to work out the numbness. "Mother" Hiccup called heading into the mouth of the cave.

"I'm in here Hiccup, come in I need help" Valka called back her voice sounding exhausted.

Hiccup and Astrid both entered, Valka was currently nursing Cloud jumper who appeared to be severely injured. Blood covered her arms up to her elbows and she had a pair of tongs in her hand.

"I need you to keep the wound open so I can get the rest of the arrow shards out" she ordered, Hiccup ran over not even bothering to remove his leather cuirass. He gripped the edges of the wound on Cloudjumper's back and carefully pulled it open apologising when the dragon whined loudly.

"How the fuck did this happen!" he growled enraged.

"The trappers developed new arrows from the same anti-dragon material they use for their cages" Valka whispered quietly. She winced when Cloudjumper howled as she pulled out the last shard of the metal. "It's okay" Valka said gently running her hand across his scales. "They've all been removed, grab some of that salve" she said while she stitched the wound, as soon as it was closed Hiccup spread a generous amount before wrapping it up with a bandage. "Who did you bring with you son" Valka said turning and glaring at Astrid.

"Well I injured her during the attack on Berk" he shrugged "I decided to keep her as an experiment."

"What were you thinking? What if she endangers the dragons?" Valka cried leaping to her feet.

"She won't and if she does I'll kill her, simple" Hiccup replied shooting Astrid a dark glare.

"I hope you know what you're doing" she said moving to wash her hands under the running stream.

"I do" he snapped "now what are we going to do about the trappers?" he asked.

"Same thing we all ways do, destroy their ships and equipment and halt them in their progress" she said calmly while filling up a jug of water and dragging over a basket of fish to the injured dragon.

"Did you ever think that maybe if we killed them they'd be less inclined to attack" he hissed.

"Hiccup! Killing them is not the answer!" she yelled out in anger.

"Then what is? Just waiting for them to kill us all? Cloudjumper was lucky and even now he's barely alive!"

"You are not to kill a single person unless absolutely necessary! And that includes the young woman you brought with you" Valka snapped, "Now get some rest we leave at first light."

Hiccup snorted and stormed out with Astrid following by closely he sat down on a soft patch of grass by the pool.

"Is that dragon going to be okay?" Astrid asked.

"Why do you care" he spat.

"I… I don't know, this is the first time I've seen dragons like this" she whispered. "I'm so used to them attacking and killing people."

He turned towards her with a surprised look in his eyes, she shifted uncomfortably under is scrutiny.

"It's because you never bothered to understand them, it was kill first ponder later" he said bitterly.

"I guess… but they killed loads of us as well!" she tried to argue.

"We moved in" he retorted "we're the ones who invaded, besides they wouldn't kill you if you didn't run screaming at them with spears."

"It's pointless arguing with you" she grumbled.

"Exactly so stop, I only have so much patience."

"Hmm I've heard that one before" she said rolling her eyes. In a flash she found herself pinned to the floor with his hand at her throat.

"You know what I've just about had it with you" he snarled his grip tightening on her throat and cutting off her air supply. She gasped out trying to draw in any oxygen the crushing grip would allow. His fingers dug painfully against the bruised bite mark, this time was different he was not letting up on the pressure. It was then panic set in, he was going to kill her, this was not a threat, and he was genuinely going through with it. She wrapped her legs around his waist and tried to buck him off. Just as dark spots began to float in her vision something purple smacked into the side of his head. He loosened his grip in surprise; she took a deep breath of air coughing slightly. A baby Gronkle had interrupted his concentration and had inadvertently saved her life. Hiccups elbows rested by the side of her head and he looked at the baby dragon rolling around on the floor. Astrid shifted uncomfortably Hiccup looked down at her the coldness in his eyes gone; he lifted himself off her and went over to the Gronkle and accepting her request of playing. Toothless bounded in happily joining his rider, a few baby Nadder's had decided to join the small group on the grass. Astrid watched with amusement as they played her fear and near death experience forgotten. She laughed when a Baby Monstrous Nightmare tugged on her skirt trying to get her to join in. Smiling Astrid scratched the dragon under the chin, a soft warm feeling blossomed in her chest when he cuddled up to her and fell asleep.

"Hiccup?" Astrid called cautiously, he hummed letting her know that she had his attention "let me help you and your mother." He stopped abruptly at her words and turned to her in shock.

"Why?" was the only thing he managed to stutter out.

"From what I've seen today, I don't think I want to see anymore hurt, especially if they're just being captured to be killed" she looked away from his hard gaze.

"If you betray us, I'll make sorry you were ever born" he said quietly, she nodded quickly. "Alright get some rest we leave at dawn" he said leaning back against Toothless and closing his eyes, the Nightfury curled around Hiccup with his tail resting protectively in front. Astrid leant against the small Monstrous Nightmare who cuddled in closer.


Astrid sat behind Hiccup as they flew along with Valka and a small horde of Adult Dragons. She had finally been armed with an axe after being threatened about a hundred times. Toothless snarled as they approached the trappers.

"You're going to drop onto the ship with my mother and fight them off as well as salvaging supplies, once I'm given the all clear I'll pull you out and destroy the ships, you got all that?" Hiccup yelled fighting to be heard over the rushing wind. Astrid nodded her body wrung tight with excitement. Toothless swooped in close to the ship and Astrid dropped down with Valka following close behind. Hiccup flew up and fired a few blasts at the ships that were equipped with catapults, the other Dragons also joined in, redirecting the rocks that were thrown towards them. Astrid and Valka were like a destructive tornado, they worked quickly tossing the dragon trappers over board. One of the trappers shot an arrow at Astrid, she ducked and threw her axe at him pinning him to the mast. She ran over and yanked her axe out while kicking the shocked man into the ocean. Valka was happily clobbering the Vikings over the head with her staff while the dragons swooped in and lifted the unconscious ones into the sea.

"Come Astrid! Let's go below deck and see what we can salvage, be mindful of traps" Valka called moving quickly. They entered the main body of the ship and found barrels full of food, a large case of mead, a chest of cloth, leather and chainmail. Astrid grabbed the mead and the chest of clothing and began to haul them up the steps. Astrid huffed in annoyance at having to carry the heavy load while at the same time trying to avoid pressure plates that would result in her death. They both heaved the supplies outside where several dragons had landed waiting to carry the items. Using the ropes they tied them on securing them tightly. Valka shook her staff signalling them to take to the skies. The familiar whistle of the Nightfury reached Astrid's ears turning she saw Hiccup flying fast towards her, she sheathed the axe and held her hands up; Toothless wrapped his front paws around her arms and lifted her up into the air. A blue Deadly Nadder had followed the Nightfury and retrieved Valka from the ship. A blue Gronkle spewed lava onto the ship effectively sending it to the bottom of the ocean. Astrid let out an exhilarated laugh as they flew back to the sanctuary with their loot. They landed and Astrid jumped off of Toothless laughing when several baby dragons came to greet her.

"Well we may as well celebrate, Cloudjumper seems to be doing better" Valka laughed when the Stormcutter limped out. He purred happily when Valka stroked him under the chin.

"I'm not against celebrating but I'm cooking" Hiccup said folding his arms and looking at her with a raised brow. Valka grinned sheepishly a small blush decorating her cheeks.