"Hold on," Hiccup warned, putting his helmet back on as Toothless spread his wings.

"To what?" Astrid retorted, nervous. She wanted nothing more than to get as far away from this situation as possible.

"Just do it before you fall off!" Hiccup ordered. Astrid hesitantly put her hands on his shoulders just as Toothless launched himself upwards.

Astrid screamed, clamping her arms and legs around Hiccup. Gods, don't let me fall.

"~Toothless!~" Hiccup yelled, very much aware of the girl clinging to him like a limpet as the Night Fury spiralled upwards, ascending with alarming speed.

"~Relax,~" Toothless called, turning upside down. "~You're strapped in, aren't you?~" He righted himself hastily in case Hiccup wasn't strapped in.

"~That's -ow- not the problem!~" Hiccup yelped as Astrid's foot slipped against his scaled clothing and pressed into his lap.

Toothless slowed as they flew up into the clouds. "~If that's not it, what is?~"

"~Nothing! Um, really just- Nothing...~" Hiccup grunted as Astrid tightened her grip, foot pressing more firmly into him as she did. "~I just don't think this is helping...~"

"~Are you sure it's nothing?~" Toothless asked, glancing back at his rider. He couldn't see through the thick cloud they were in, but Hiccup's voice had been a bit strained.

To be honest, it might have been best that the clouds were so thick. If Toothless had been able to see, he would have seen a large, four-winged dragon flying off in the distance, and Astrid would have been dropped off on a rock somewhere while Hiccup and Toothless went to investigate. As it was, Toothless couldn't see more than two feet in front of him through the water vapor.

"~I think I'm turning blue,~" Hiccup muttered as Toothless came out above the clouds and leveled off. Astrid stopped screaming to take a deep, terrified breath, and Hiccup took the opportunity to console her. "It's alright, Astrid. He won't hurt you."

"Won't hurt me," Astrid repeated shakily. "Yeah, right."

Hiccup shifted slightly. "Really, Astrid. Toothless-"

Toothless took that moment to fold in his wings. "~Were you saying something?~" He called innocently, as they fell from the sky.

Astrid buried her face in Hiccup's neck, completely unaware of the effect she was having on him. "~Yes, I was!~" Hiccup yelled breathlessly. "~She's strangl-hmm!~"

"~What?~" Toothless glanced over his shoulder again, chuckling at Hiccup's obvious discomfort. Astrid's hand had slipped over the boy's mouth as she endeavored to fasten herself more securely to him. "~Alright, fine. I'll stop, but you look like you could use a cold bath.~" Toothless looked down at the rapidly approaching ocean and grinned.


"~I am not amused,~" Hiccup stated fifteen minutes later as he slid off of Toothless's back, dripping wet. He turned to help Astrid down.

Toothless snorted, shaking himself dry. "~You needed it. And she still needs to apologize!~"

"~She did apologize,~" Hiccup mumbled, shaking water off of himself like Toothless had.

Toothless huffed. "~She didn't apologize for everything, just for ignoring you.~"

"~Oh, give it up, Toothless!~" Hiccup said, rolling his eyes.

"What are you saying?" Astrid asked, shivering.

"He's just being annoying," Hiccup grumbled. Toothless swatted him with his tail, and Hiccup crossed his arms. "Well, you are, Toothless!"

"Oh." Astrid rubbed her arms for warmth as she looked around. "Um, is this where your friends live?"

"Yeah," Hiccup pointed a few yards away. "There's a cave in the hill, it'll be warm inside."

Astrid nodded, trying not to think of the source of that warmth. "We're going in there?"

Hiccup nodded. "Come on. I'd rather not freeze to death today."

Astrid followed him around the side of the hill, and only hesitated a moment before stepping into the warm, shadowy cavern.

She couldn't see Hiccup in his black scaled outfit, nor could she see his equally dark dragon. "Hiccup?" She whispered.

"Shh," Came the answer, followed by a low crooning sound. "~Nadder? Nightmare, where are you? Zippleback? Gronkle? Come out, it's me and Toothless.~"

"~Yes, but you brought someone with you,~" A voice murmured from the shadows.

"~It's a Viking,~" Another said disapprovingly. "~I can smell it.~ / ~You're right. I can smell it too,~"

"~It's okay,~" Hiccup promised. "~This is Astrid, she was in Dragon Training when I was in Berk. Do you remember her?~"

"~I remember,~" The first voice said after a moment. "~She hit me with her axe.~"

"~See, Hiccup? She's mean,~" Toothless complained, curling up on a warm stone.

"What's going on?" Astrid whispered, straining to see through the shadows. She could feel several pairs of eyes on her.

"Shh, Astrid!" Hiccup told her.

"~Why did you bring her here?~" A new voice asked.

"~I'm going to teach her not to hate dragons,~" Hiccup explained. "~She doesn't understand.~"

"~How are you going to do that?~" a fourth voice broke in.

Hiccup shrugged. "~I'll show her. Will you help?~"

"Hiccup..?" Astrid whispered, wondering what was being said.

"~I'll help,~" The Nadder volunteered after a long moment.

Hiccup grinned. "Astrid, come here. I want you to meet someone."

"Hiccup, I can't see you." Astrid murmured. "Where are you?"

"Here," Hiccup's voice came from just beside her this time. He took her hand and started to pull her along.

"What's happening?" Astrid asked, letting him guide her.

"Here, put out your arm, like.. Yeah, that's it." Hiccup instructed, not answering her question.

A moment later, there was something warm and dry touching her hand. "What- What is that?" Astrid strained to see.

Beside her, Hiccup grinned. He'd spent a lot of time in that dark cave over the past three years, and he'd learned how to use his other senses to navigate. "That's a dragon," He told her.

"What?!" Astrid drew her hand back quickly. The dragon huffed, shaking her head.

"Hey, no! No, it's okay. Put your hand out again, Astrid. She won't hurt you." Hiccup promised, guiding her arm back to the Nadder's nose.

Astrid took a deep breath. "What... What kind of dragon is this?" She asked after a long moment, feeling the scales under her fingers.

"She's a Nadder," Hiccup said. "You've met her before, you know."

"I have?" Astrid couldn't remember meeting a dragon that didn't try to attack.

"Sure. She's the Nadder you trained against, remember?" Hiccup explained. "You hit her the day I left. You hurt her."

The Nadder nuzzled Astrid's hand, warbling softly. "What's she saying?" Astrid asked, wondering how she could have hurt such an amazing creature.

"She forgives you." Hiccup said. "Do you want to go back to the others now?"

Astrid bit her lip. How could she go back to Berk now, knowing that her whole world was wrong? "Can I see her?"

"~Here, this should help,~" The Nightmare spoke up as she ignited herself a short distance away.

"~Thanks,~" Hiccup said to the Nightmare as Astrid jumped back in surprise. "It's okay, Astrid. She only wanted to give you some light."

"Oh." Astrid said, staring at the Nightmare. "She understood me, just like Toothless?" Her eyes went wide when the Nightmare nodded. "Wow."

"You wanted to see the Nadder, right?" Hiccup grinned, standing behind her.

Astrid nodded, turning toward him and seeing the Nadder not two feet away. "Wow," She repeated. "What's... What's her name?"

"She doesn't have one," Hiccup said, shrugging. "I just call her Nadder."

"~She can give me one, if she wants,~" The Nadder said, nudging Astrid's hand.

Hiccup translated, and Astrid's eyes widened again. "I can?" The Nadder nodded, and Astrid smiled at her. "I'll think about it, okay? I- I don't want to give you the wrong name."

Hiccup grinned, realizing that this was the first time Astrid had spoken directly to a dragon. "~Would you like to take her for a ride?~" He asked the Nadder.

The colourful dragon bobbed her head. "~Do you think she'd mind?~"

Hiccup smirked under his helmet. "~The only dragon Astrid's ever been on is Toothless, and he wasn't being gentle. She'll be nervous, but I don't think she'll mind.~"

"~She deserved it,~" Toothless muttered.

"Astrid, she'd like to fly with you," Hiccup explained in Norse, shooting Toothless a look.

"Fly?" Astrid repeated, taking a step back. The Nadder crooned, bobbing her head again. "I- You mean, on her back, without you?"

Hiccup nodded. "That's about it, yeah. Believe me, Astrid, it won't be like the trip here. Toothless's holding a grudge."

Astrid found herself nodding. "Okay." The Nadder stood up and padded out of the cave, stretching her wings. Hiccup and Astrid followed, Toothless stretching before slinking out after them.

"~Toothless, come here a minute, will you?~" Hiccup called. Toothless ambled over, and Hiccup pulled a length of rope out of Toothless's saddlebag.

"How do I get on?" Astrid asked, running her hand nervously over the spiked dragon's nose. The Nadder bent down, unfurling one wing so she could get on easily. "Thanks," Astrid told her as she climbed up to the dragon's back.

"Here," Hiccup said, holding the rope out. "You'll need something to hold on to." Astrid leaned down and took it from him, quickly tying the rope into a sort of makeshift reins.

"Is this safe?" Astrid asked, gripping the rope tightly as the Nadder stood up. The dragon laughed at her Viking's misgivings, and Hiccup grinned.

"Safe as anything, Astrid, so long as you trust each other."

"~Come on, Hiccup. Let's fly!~" Toothless exclaimed. They hadn't flown properly together in a week, and he was getting restless. And, he figured, this was a good time to show the girl that Hiccup was his.

Hiccup grinned, climbing onto Toothless's back. "~You got it, Bud.~" Toothless grinned, crouching in preparation to take off.

"Hiccup!" Astrid's eyes were wide. "Where are you going?"

"Don't worry, Astrid. You'll be fine," Hiccup smirked as he told the Nadder to fly.

"Hicc-aah!" Astrid cried as the colourful dragon launched herself upwards.

Toothless followed them into the sky, outpacing the Nadder very quickly.

Astrid clung to the rope, eyes shut tightly and feeling the dragon's powerful wing-beats beneath her. From somewhere behind -no, in front of her now- she could hear Hiccup shouting joyfully.

"Astrid! Open your eyes!" Hiccup yelled as he and Toothless barrel rolled past, Toothless's tongue sticking out.

"You're insane!" Astrid shouted back, opening her eyes anyway. "Oh!"

Hiccup glanced back at her. Astrid appeared awestruck, looking up at the clouds and down at the sea, far below. He grinned. That was what he'd been waiting for. "~Hey, Nadder! Toothless and I have to take care of something. You don't mind if we go, right?~"

"~Not at all!~" The spiked dragon warbled back. This would give her a chance to fly alone with the Viking girl, the way Hiccup flew with Toothless. The Nadder had wanted a person like Hiccup since he freed her from the Vikings. Maybe this girl would be that person.

"~Great. Toothless, let's go!~" Toothless shot upwards into the clouds and was soon lost from sight.


A/N: Well, there it is. I don't think I like the way this chapter turned out, but I'm writing this A/N at 12:19 AM Thursday and I figure it's a bit late to re-write it now. :D

I don't hate the way it turned out, I just think I should have done better. And I'm not fishing for excuses either, but the quality might be blamed on my dad's new girlfriend and her three kids- Dad gave my sister and I about five minutes warning before they got here, and they're certainly making themselves at home. So from three people in this house it's gone to seven, plus a Chihuahua puppy that's been scaring my dog. (That said, Frankie used to be scared of my cat.)

As always, I love talking to all of you, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter more than I did.