Hello yet again! Here's a shoutout to some of my supporters: CajunBear73, TheNaturalLlama3, Solarwave, Anonymous Noob the 2nd, fist, Shade The Skrill, DeathBerryHime, Mark Andrew, DriftingGem, Madra uzemaki(Believe it!), Lightgiver, Patsi24, Corrupted Winter Command, and ChaMeleonNinja812. Thank you all for your support and reviews! I wouldn't have gotten far with this story without you guys! If you want a shoutout, all you have to do is put in a review and say that you want a shoutout. Other than that, let's get right into this!

Chapter 9

As Hiccup and Astrid made their way to the makeshift ring that had been set up, Hiccup was mentally preparing himself for the beating that may come. They got into position, facing each other from the opposite ends. Hiccup was staring into Astrid's eyes, and her fury and intensity stared right back. He crouched down slightly, ready to embrace what Astrid would throw at him, or so he thought.

She started the match, sprinting at Hiccup so fast, he barely had time to react. He put his hands up to block the incoming fist at the last second. Unfortunately, the young maiden saw this, and went lower with the punch, nailing him in the stomach. Hiccup buckled from the punch, but quickly got up once he saw the foot headed for his face. He jumped back to the edge of the ring, the kick lightly grazing his cheek.

"Slow down! I can't even defend against your attacks!" He said upon deaf ears.

"This is just to show me how much you know, and to show you what you should look like at the end of this training." She said as she continued her attacks relentlessly. "I'll admit, you have a bit of muscle under that baggy tunic, but you don't use it. Once you get as good as me, Snotlout won't even be able to touch you."

"How long will that take?"

"That depends on how fast you can learn. Now get up, we're not done with round one yet."

Hiccup got back up and got back into position. Astrid was about to charge, but Hiccup beat her to the punch. He lunged at her, but she easily dodged him. She grabbed him from behind as he passed her and tossed him down. He glared at her for a second, but got back up anyways. He didn't have time to react as he was yet again put on his ass.

"Hey! What gives? How am I supposed to fight when you won't give me the chance to get up?" He questioned, now angered.

"You think Snotlout would give you time to get up? Would an Outcast or Berserker would let you get up?"

Hiccup thought for a second, then nodded. He saw Astrid advance to him, ready to put him down again. He sprung backwards to the very edge of the ring, catching Astrid by surprise. He waited for her to come to him, which she did. He sidestepped her punch, but she caught herself before he could push her out of the ring. She grabbed his arm and threw him out of the ring, ending the match.

"Next time, I won't go easy on you." She said over her shoulder as she picked up the sticks that made up their ring.

After she was done puting the sticks back in the firewood pile, she went up to Hiccup. She motioned him to follow her. They headed towards the makeshift bench press, Hiccup wondering how much he could actually lift. Once they got to the bench, Astrid motioned Hiccup to lay down on it, to which he complied. She set the wooden barbell over him on the stands.

"Okay, as a warm up, you're gonna lift the bar. Scooch up until your forehead is directly below the bar." He did as he was told. "Good. Now, you're gonna grab the bat at shoulder length and lift up. Move it forward so that it's above your chest, and bring it down to touch your chest. Then, lift it back up."

Hiccup took a deep breath, and grabbed the bar at shoulder length. He pushed up on it, and it was surprisingly easy to lift. He brought it above his chest, and slowly lowered it. Once it was slightly resting on his chest, he started to push the bar back up. He noted that it was harder to lift it back up than to bring it down, which was probably how muscle was built.

"Okay, be sure to space your hands out just a little bit more. I could tell that that felt a bit awkward, which is the last thing you want when it comes to weight lifting." She explained. "Also, bring it pretty much straight up. You kinda had the bar on your collarbone, and that'll hurt."

"How much weight is the bar?" Hiccup questioned.

"About 13 kilograms." (About 30 pounds)

Hiccup took mental notes of what she was saying. He made the adjustments to his form and realized how much better it felt to lift it. After he practiced a few reps, he nodded to Astrid. She grabbed the logs labeled '4.5 kilos' (10 pounds) on the sides. She put them on the sides, and let Hiccup get started. He lied back down and grabbed the bar. He lifted it up, and slowly brought it down, inhaling as he did so. He exhaled as he put the bar back up, slightly struggling to put it back up. He did several reps of this until he couldn't anymore. After this, Astrid added another 4.5 kilos, and Hiccup did fewer reps. This process continued until he couldn't lift the bar anymore.

"Good. You can lift a total of about 40 kilos (90 pounds). More than I thought. Welp, let's move onto the next exercise." Astrid said.

They continued this pattern for squats and deadlifts. Hiccup could do 2 pullups in a row, 20 reverse rows with the barbell, and could even do 4 kilos on the wrist roll bar, which was a bar with rope attached to a weight. After they were done, Astrid taught him some basic techniques for the sword, and they called it a day. Little did they know about a certain blonde watching from beyond the tree line.

"Okay, thanks for the help but I need to go to the forge. Gobber will be waiting for me now. Same time tomorrow?" Hiccup asked.

"Sure."

Hiccup held his hand out for Astrid to help him off of the bench, but Astrid hesitated for a second. Reluctantly, she grabbed his hand and hoisted him up too hard. They both fell down, Hiccup landing on top of Astrid.

"I'm sorry! Are you… okay?" He said, trailing off after seeing the beautiful girl that lied under him.

They locked eye contact for a second, Hiccup drawing a little closer to her face. For some reason her lips were beckoning him to draw closer. Suddenly, He saw the same small spark he saw the other day with her when she was leaving the forge. It didn't last long enough for him to identify it, but he quickly realized he was still on top of her when she cleared her throat.

He blushed madly from the events that had just occurred. Did I just almost kiss Astrid Hofferson? He thought to himself. He muttered a goodbye, then scurried off towards the village.

Astrid POV

Today started off great. I woke up and remembered what I had talked with Hiccup about the other day and smiled. 'Today is gonna be great.' I thought, remembering the first time Uncle Finn got me to go through the course and how much pain I was in the next day. 'I bet that he won't even be able to walk once the day is over, much less tomorrow.' Also, being so close to him should give me more time to see color. I don't know what it is about it, but ever since that first time I saw colors a couple of days ago, I've been yearning to see it more.

I got up and got dressed. After that, I headed up to the Great Hall for some breakfast. There, I saw the gang hanging out at the usual table, Hiccup nowhere in sight. He must still be sleeping. I grabbed a plate of food from the table and went towards the table, and Snotlout tried to make a move on me as usual. I ignored him and sat down next to Fishlegs. I started to eat, not listening to the conversation at hand. After everyone was finished, we headed down to the arena for dragon training.

We were surprised to see that Hiccup was already in the arena. He started to walk towards me, but I shook my head no at him for obvious reasons. He seemed to understand this, and I'm glad he did. I didn't want to seem as if I hated him suddenly.

"Can you explain why the arena has suddenly turned into a labyrinth?" Hiccup asked.

"I'll get to that in a moment, Hiccup. Meanwhile, you all grab your shields and weapons." Gobber replied as he was walking out of the arena.

We all spread out to the edges of the arena where the shields were. I reached out to grab one, but Snotlout grabbed my hand.

"What were you doing with Useless in the Great Hall last night? You could have spent that time admiring me instead." He said with a grin.

"I was grabbing some more food, I was hungry. Not that it's your business anyways." I said as I twisted his arm until it popped.

I grabbed the shield and got into position. I heard Hiccup shout something to Gobber, Gobber respond to it, and a dragon pen opening. I prepared myself to face a dragon, but I would need help to take it down. I looked around for anyone, but unfortunately, Snotlout was the one that was closest to me. I spared him a glare and nodded him to come with me. He nodded and followed me.

I heard bickering in one direction, a dragon roar, and some screaming. There was a lot of crashing, but then I saw it jump on top of the walls. I identified it as the Nadder as I heard Fishlegs screaming at Gobber. The Nadder jumped down off of it's perch, and Hiccup appeared behind us. I took a quick glance around the corner to see the Nadder slowly approaching.

I waited until it looked away to roll across the gap, and Snotlout followed suit. I heard a clunk of metal against stone, and assumed the worst. I turned around just as Hiccup almost got his rear bit off. The dragon lost interest in him and went after me and Snotlout. Snotlout pushed me out of the way and threw his mace, missing by a lot. He went on to say how the sun was blocking his vision, but I didn't listen. The Nadder was now in pursuit of me.

I ran around the maze, trying to lose the Nadder, but I couldn't I tried something new, by jumping on top of the maze walls. This turned out to be a bad idea, as the walls came crashing down everywhere. This got me landed on top of Hiccup. Immediately, I started to see colors. I could barely think straight, but a rustle from the dragon brought me out of my mesmerized state. I looked up to see a beautiful creature with blue scales and wonderful glowing eyes. I realized that this was the Nadder, and I slightly started to question things.

I snapped myself out of these thoughts and went to grab my axe, which was embedded in Hiccup's shield. We made more eye contact, and I blushed. Hiccup got out from under me and grabbed the axe with the shield. The Nadder paused for a second for an unknown reason, and I took my axe with the shield back. Soulmate or not, nobody takes my axe without permission.

I whacked the Nadder with the shield, which broke, and pretended to chew Hiccup out. I gave him a wink to let him know that it was all fake, and I started to head out of the arena. I went home and changed my clothes, training had made them dirty. I went to Hiccup's house after that, and waited for him. He came through the door, but didn't see me. Suddenly, he took off his shirt, and I blushed madly. He went upstairs and came back down with a fresh set of clothes that looked kinda raggedy. That was when he noticed me.

"Oh, gods! Astrid, how long have you been there?!" He yelled, startled by my appearance in his house.

"Long enough. Get dressed, we're going to train once you're done." I said, still blushing madly.

After that, we went to the course Uncle Finn had set up a few years before. I kept it in good condition, even though he is gone. We went through the course, and every moment I was close to Hiccup, I could feel more and more drawn to him. When we were done, we almost kissed! I couldn't believe how much this lanky kid was affecting me. I watched as he headed to the forge.

Well, it looks like I'll make something out of you yet, Hiccup.

Welp, that's another chapter done! Sorry for my chapters only being 2k words long in 2 weeks. I'm currently working on a new story, a high school HTTYD AU. Thanks to you all for your support! I'll put a poll in my profile for the times I'll update which stories, so be sure to go vote! Thank you all!

-doug