...

Sitting in the Cove close to sunset, Hiccup sat picking pebbled up from between his outstretched legs. He'd been picking up two or three at a time, then just flicking them into the water with his thumb, watching the ripples to pass the time while he thought. Toothless sat about ten feet from him, watching him flick the rocks. Hiccup could tell that he was growing bored, but right now he could care less.

"You can go on home if you want to," Hiccup turned to him after he heard the dragon sigh a moment later.

Toothless snorted at him, then turned and rushed away behind his rider. A moment later, out of the corner of his eye, Hiccup saw Toothless wrap himself up in a tree to hang upside down and take a nap.

It wasn't too long later he heard someone approaching him from behind. He knew it was Astrid. Hearing her feet scoot against the rocks nervously, she finally sat down close beside him. He didn't look at her, he simply continued to pick up a couple of rocks at a time, then flick them into the water.

"Things settle down in the village?" he asked her quietly. His tone was off. He knew he sounded irritated, and honestly he didn't mean for it to.

She had drawn her legs up close, wrapped her arms around her legs, and rested her chin upon her knees. Hiccup heard her sigh a little bit. He knew she was tired. It had been a long day in general, but an especially long day for her as she had been up a few hours before sun up.

"I think so," she replied. "The counsel was looking for you earlier-"

"They will probably come try to pull me out of bed tonight to talk," Hiccup said. "Not sure if they will be able to-" He shook his head gently. His anxiety was kicking in at the thought of not being able to wake up again when he needed to. He was ashamed with himself, and ashamed of his lack there of actions.

"You've been off all day," Astrid said to him. "You haven't exactly told me what is stirring up in that mind of yours-"

"Not exactly something I am ready to talk about," Hiccup replied coldly. After a moment, his conscious became the best of him. "I'm sorry, Astrid."

Astrid seemed to have picked her words a little bit before speaking again. He could tell she was hesitant by her tone. "Hiccup, did something happen last night that I don't know about?"

"No," Hiccup said to her. "I promise, last night when I went to bed-the world seemed okay. I felt-good-"

"And you haven't been feeling good at all today, have you?" she asked him.

Hiccup turned to her, finally meeting her eyes. They were still a little blood shot from the smoke and probably from being sleepy. He could see the exhaustion on her face. He shook his head, and looked out to the water.

"I have been decent the last few days," Hiccup said.

"You haven't been making your lists," Astrid said. "Not obsessing over them either." She smiled a little bit. "I know how you feel about your lists."

"Until Gobber and my mom pointed it out, I didn't realize it was that bad," Hiccup said to her.

"Hiccup, I get it. You are wanting to be prepared-"

"Yeah, but-" he began. He sat down the little rocks he had in his hand, and wrapped his arms around his legs, sitting just like she was, looking out towards the water. "I am obsessing too much over them-they are consuming me. The duties are consuming me. My duties are consuming my thoughts, my actions- I want to do such a good job-and today, I screwed up more than I ever thought I would-"

"Hiccup, I had never seen you sleep so soundly-"

"I didn't know I could sleep that soundly, honestly," Hiccup said. "Remember the other night when you were at the house, and I fell asleep in the chair?"

She nodded to him. He was having a hard time admitting what he was about to. He tried not to wear his feelings on his sleeve with her. She'd always been so strong physically and mentally, it honestly intimidated him half the time. But, he knew he could tell her just about anything, and she would support him.

"I haven't been sleeping well at all. Maybe getting two or three hours a night-four or five on a better night. Those are coming few and far between. I'd had this horrible pain in my leg a few nights ago, and Mom helped me sleep better by mixing some herbs together. I drink it-I'm out within a few minutes. And, I sleep through the night." Hiccup sighed. "I can't take it anymore. I am certain that was why I slept so hard last night."

He could feel Astrid studying him. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to look at her. She held a weak smile.

"Something you need to remember, Hiccup, is you aren't doing this alone. You are the face of our people. You are following in your father's footsteps, but you have a ton of back up."

Hiccup nodded to her. "I know that-or at least I should remember that more often than not. And, it is very much appreciated. I hope you know that. I hope you all know that."

"We do," Astrid said to him.

Hiccup sighed. He turned away, and looked ahead again towards the lake. Darkness was starting to close in on them as night was drawing closer. The shadows of the trees danced in the pond as the water shifted a little bit. "I am really worried about the villagers."

Astrid squeezed his shoulder again. "No one was severely injured. No one died. Those who are affected will be okay. You need to look at the bright side of things, Hiccup."

"It's kind of hard to when you feel like the world is crashing down on you," he said.

"Don't let it," Astrid said to him, leaning her head up against his in an attempt to comfort him.

"Astrid, I know in my heart that everyone who is close to us will help me be a good Chief-or at least try to help me. But, my head seems to always get in the way of things-"

"You are thinking too much," Astrid said to him.

"It's hard for me to not think," Hiccup replied. "When I didn't have the fighting skills or the brawn to rely on, I have had to use my brain. Now, I can't seem to turn it off anymore. Instead of a simple task, I seem to make it more complicated than what it is."

Astrid sighed. "I know what's on your mind. Do this for yourself, Hiccup, forget about today. Look towards tomorrow. You can't change what happened today, but moving forward, you can help that."

He nodded to her.

"Sometimes I think you are too hard on yourself, you know that, right?" Astrid asked him.

He nodded with a small smile. "I know one thing, I'm not taking that draft again-"

"But, it's helping you-"

"No!" Hiccup said sternly. He went to his feet, and Astrid followed. He could see the concern welling up in her eyes again. He didn't like worrying her. Unable to keep eye contact, he turned away. "I jeopardized enough of my dignity today. My dad-"

"Your father would be proud of you for what you have done for the village in the last six months," Astrid said. "You act like he never made a mistake-"

"He rarely did-"

Suddenly, Hiccup felt himself being pushed hard into the chest. Caught off guard, he stumbled backwards. His peg leg slid in the pebbles that lined the pond. He glared up at Astrid, he knew he was angry at her, and the look on her face showed stubbornness. Her face was set.

"Listen here, Haddock!" she said loudly. "You think your father rarely made a mistake! Think about how it was years ago-when dragons and humans were constantly fighting! He led our people to the Red Death and we lost a lot of good people that day. It was an event that could have been avoidable had you not stepped in and proved him wrong! You forget that day, don't you?"

"I'd honestly like to!" Hiccup said to her. "That day was a disaster-"

"It could have been worse had it not been for you and Toothless saving us all-"

"I had help-that was the only reason it worked out the way it did-"

Astrid pushed him again, her anger overcoming her. Hiccup glared at her.

"Listen to yourself!" Astrid said. "Look around you-look past your feelings and what you choose to see, Hiccup!" she yelled. "You had help then-and you have help now. Can you not see it?"

Hiccup swallowed. She was right. He was refusing to see it. Turning away from her, his eyes gazed up to Toothless, who was poking his head out from under his wing. The dragon knew not to interfere with an argument between he and Astrid-unless a mace or an ax came out. Then, he would have come stood between them.

Suddenly, Hiccup felt his body begin to shake as he felt weak from his emotions engulfing him. He closed his eyes, and sniffed away a few tears. He heard Astrid come up to him, and wrap her arms around him, embracing him again with no intentions of letting him go.

"I love you," she said into his ear.

"I love you," he replied quietly, the words almost lost in his throat from his emotions.

She pulled away, and kissed his cheek as she did.

"C'mon," she said quietly. "It's late. I think we all need some rest."

...

Hiccup sluggishly walked into the house after dark. His mother wasn't in the kitchen area to greet him. Instead, he found a cold chicken leg with a slice of bread on the table for him to eat. Beside the plate was his sleeping draft, which was cold. His mother apparently had gone to sleep easily an hour ago. Hunger was not with him. Instead of picking through the chicken leg or eating the slice of bread, Hiccup headed upstairs to his room.

He stood in the doorway staring around his room. Toothless had used a blast to light the hearth. The dragon crawled onto his stone slab after warming it up, obvious to Hiccup that he was tired and ready for bed. Hiccup figured Toothless thought he would do the same, but he did not.

Instead, Hiccup felt restless. He would have loved to welcome sleep, but instead, he headed over to the stack of paper on his desk, and took a seat. Toothless gave him a disapproving growl.

"Oh, shut it," Hiccup said to him. Picking up the papers and beginning to sort through them, Hiccup began his evening.

...

Hiccup was sitting at his desk with his foot propped up before dawn. His peg leg was bent over his good leg, papers sitting in his lap. Rubbing his head to try to calm the raging headache, he continued to look through letters from neighboring islands and villages. Some we asking for help with supplies, others were asking for assistance for war against other nations. All in all, it was making Hiccup's stomach turn equally as much as his headache, or it was because he hadn't eaten anything since yesterday.

Just when he was reaching for another pile, his door creaked, and in came his mother. She hadn't even knocked. He watched her face grow worried when she saw him sitting at his desk. He turned away from her, and reached for is stack.

"You are awake?" she said to him, more of a question than a statement. He nodded, and saw in her hands a mug of warmth overflowing from the top. He narrowed his eyes at it, then turned back to his paperwork.

Toothless was snoring on the stone slab behind him. Hiccup saw his mother look over at his bed from the corner of her eyes, and immediately her face became more creased with worry.

"Have you not been asleep?" she asked him.

"No," he replied back coldly.

His mother took a moment to look at her son as she cautiously approached. She sat the mug on the edge of his desk. He stared at it angrily, then he turned to her. He didn't want to say it out loud, but a piece of him blamed his mother. He felt that the villagers viewed him as lazy and careless after what happened yesterday. He'd come late to the party, and he didn't like it. He was embarrassed and ashamed of himself for it.

"I brought you some tea," she said gently.

"No thanks," Hiccup said to her, turning back to his letter from a distance chief he'd never heard of before.

Valka seemed to be choosing her words carefully with him. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"No thank you," he said to her.

"Hiccup-you need to eat-"

"I'm not hungry!" he raised his voice at her. Seeing the startle on her face, he didn't go soft and feel sorry for his actions. He wanted her to get shaken up a little bit. She deserved it for giving him such a horrible mix of herbs to make him look like a fool. "I don't want anything-"

"Hiccup-you are worrying me-"

"Mom, I have a village to run, and people to protect. I can't sleep-I can't-"

"Hiccup, you can't pour from an empty cup, and that's the path you are heading in-"

"At least I will be awake," he said coldly to her. Turning to the window, he realized the sun was rising. Neatly putting his paperwork into a stack, he stood up from his seat, and pushed it into his desk. He turned back to her, and sighed. He was feeling guilty now. He hated hurting his mother, and it was the last thing he wanted to do to her. "I'm sorry." The words escaped his lips quietly.

"I'm worried about you," Valka said to him, more gentle than before. She reached her hand up to his shoulder, and hesitantly placed it there. He didn't flinch, he didn't walk away. For a moment she was worried he'd shrug her hand off of his shoulder, but instead he reached up to it, and gave it a squeeze. In return, she squeezed it back.

"I know you are," he said to her. "Again, I am sorry for being so angry and short with you. I'm really hurt-"

"Because of yesterday?" Valka asked. "When I woke up and noticed you hadn't had the sleeping draft, I knew-"

"As refreshed as I am when I drink it, I can't sleep that soundly through another attack on the village again," Hiccup said. "In fact, last night-had I been thinking more clearly I should of had someone patrolling the village. Who knows who's watching our boarders."

"Hiccup-do you think someone really wants to attack Berk?" Valka asked him.

He shrugged. Feeling her hand leave his shoulder, he turned back to her, and leaned heavily onto his desk chair. "I don't really know. I worry for our village-for the people. I worry about what could of been-And Eret-"

"Eret will be fine," Valka said to him.

"I know he will," Hiccup said. "But, deep down, I am wondering if someone is coming to take revenge. I feel as though Drago is out there, Mom-"

"Not Drago again-" she said.

"Yes!" Hiccup said to her, almost in a loud roar. This started Toothless, and he rose from his slab of rock to come stand between Valka and Hiccup. He cooed worriedly. "Mom, Drago didn't die. He and the Bewilderbeast could be out there, plotting their next move. All his followers didn't die. They might be in hiding, or they might be at his side. I don't know."

"Hiccup-"

"I can't take any chances," he said to his mother, talking away and heading towards his bedroom doorway to leave. He stopped, leaning heavily against the doorway, and turned around. "I can't." With that, he left the home with Toothless tailing behind him, ready to start their day.

...

So, the few reviews I had, one of them stuck out to me. All I can say is, if you don't like how I write my story, you can kindly walk away. I accept critical reviews, but not to be cursed at or disrespected in that manor. All I can say is that I will pray for you for multiple reasons...There's a lot more I could say, but I'll keep that to myself.

As for other people who are reading my stories. I do like Eret. I enjoy the mystery behind him. He was the comic relief in HTTYD2. I am not sure why lots of people hate him. Not sure if it was because Astrid was the one playing him like bait or not. This is not the first time I have been told not to pair Astrid and Eret together...And I NEVER will pair them together, FYI. I think Eret would go to great lengths to help his friends in a time of need. If you disagree with me, simply hit back.

For those of you that have reviewed critically without insulting me, thank you. I enjoy critical reviews, and before I have deleted whole chapters because I have been told that they were going in the wrong direction...not just from one person but multiple. Through those reviews I have learned to think more about my work before typing it up and sending it off to the universe. Believe me, you can ask my husband, it took me easily seven years to bravely start submitting pieces onto this site. Unless he gets on her to read them, I won't tell him what I am writing about, because it is very hard for me to relay what I am writing about to the world.

It used to be a dream of mine to be a successful author, but life happened. I write about my own characters and about my own stories I've come up with in the past, but no one knows those at all as I have let those slip away due to life. Fanfiction is a way for me to distress and still create.

Also, I do not nor ever will own How To Train Your Dragon, neither movies nor books. I do want to thank the creators of both for giving me something I am excited about reading and watching, but also to help me let my imagination wonder with the love of the characters.

Anyways, please review on this chapter and let me now what you think. I have a basic idea as to where I am going to go with the next chapter, but if anyone wants me to write something specifically I am open to suggestions.

Thank you!