Hey everyone, it's Wolfie, and I'm back with another chapter! I wanted to say thank you for all the support, this story now has way over 100 reviews! And we just breached 10.000 views! I still can't believe this story was opened 10.000 times! Now, review replies:

HappyPup1: Thanks! It's awesome to hear you're so happy with it!

Watcher321: Yeah, it will be a big shock to Astrid!

Guardian of Azarath: He indeed has a basic idea of how to smith blindly, but it won't be easy.

roughgunner: Yeah, after seeing the yaknog in GotNF, I was sure she had never cooked before, so I included it as a nice bonding exercise for Hiccup and Astrid. I think it's important for Astrid to see Hiccup can do more than she thought, and it's important for Hiccup to see that Astrid isn't the perfect infallible goddess he might have imagined her as.

clank2662: They say that in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king. Hiccup just has to gorge out the eyes of all the Vikings, then get one of Toothless' eyes, and he'll be king of the archipelago 0_o.

dracologistmaster: It's good to hear you liked it. I'm sorry, but I won't spoil anything yet.

TomBoyBookGirl: That sounds like an exhausting day! I hope my story helped you relax!

Guest: Thank you, it's always nice to hear people like the story. I won't say anything about Astrid helping yet.

Drew Luczinski: Indeed, this chapter is the first time I span a large amount of time in one section: about four days.

Sozphenia: I never said I didn't like essays, I just meant that readers shouldn't have to feel like they HAVE to write long reviews. If you have anything to say, please say it, and I don't care if it's 3 words or 300. About Astrid's suspicion, there's more on that in this chapter. The other kids bully him, but they haven't really seen him since the accident, so it hasn't been shown... yet.

Guest: Thank you, I tried my best to make the disability and its consequences as realistic as possible.

UnbreakableWarrior: Thanks!

Penguin557: Thank you! I'm not sure if it's a crush yet, but Astrid is certainly starting to like Hiccup's company.

Chapter 10: Trial and Error

Hiccup felt empty as he held the object in his hands. He thought he had accepted it. He thought it had sunk in.

But as he ran his hands over the cloth it still hurt. It hurt more than the physical pain from the injury.

He knew Gothi and Gobber were watching him, waiting for his reaction. But he was stunned into silence. What do you say in such a situation? How do you thank someone for such a 'gift'?

Because that's what Gobber had called it as he put it in his hands. But it didn't feel like a present to Hiccup. It felt like yet another twist of the knife, another confirmation of his blindness.

Like he didn't get one every time he tried to open his eyes to make the darkness go away.

He tried to think of a joke, or a pun, anything that could make him laugh, but there was nothing. There was nothing funny about this.

"Shall I put it on?" Gobber hesitantly asked after a minute of silence.

"No. I have to do it myself," he snapped, harsher than he had intended. He knew that even if he let Gobber do it now, he would have to do it by himself soon anyway. He would have to do it every day. It would become part of his morning routine: Get out of bed, put his clothes on, put his boots on…

Put the blindfold on.

He could feel his hands shaking as he lifted the strip of cloth. He held one end in place next to his head while his other hand wrapped it over his face. He tried not to touch the burn scars, not wanting to be reminded of his other injuries. He tied the two ends together behind his head, dropping the cloth a few times as he tried to tie the knot with shaking hands.

Once the knot was tightened and he was fairly certain the blindfold wouldn't fall off, he moved his hands to his face. He shifted the blindfold to make it cover all the burns and scars. He still hadn't explored his new face, afraid of what he would discover. He knew it was only a matter of time before he would have to touch all of it, but for now he just tried to feel where the scars began, and cover them with the cloth.

He didn't know what his face looked like. Were the wounds red? Black? Some other color? What did his eyes look like? Did they still look like eyes, or was there nothing left but holes? He knew it must be really ugly, since he was supposed to wear the blindfold to cover them up.

He had noticed Gobber had gasped every time Gothi removed his bandages. If Gobber, who had lost two limbs and had seen more battle wounds than anyone, was shocked by the scars, he knew it had to be horrifying. He had never seen a Viking cover up a scar. Scars were something to be celebrated, to be shown. But Hiccup had to hide them, to cover them with a piece of cloth.

It felt like he was supposed to be ashamed of his scars. And in a way, he was ashamed.

When he was reasonably sure the blindfold covered the burns, he stood up and walked to the door. He wanted to get away from here, away from Gothi and Gobber. He couldn't see it, but he knew they were looking at him with pity, or disgust. He felt like he was about to cry, but he was determined not to cry in front of others.

He wondered if he was still able to cry, or if his tears were burned away as well.

Taking a deep breath he opened the door and stepped outside.

"Hey Hiccup," he could hear Astrid say as she stood up from the log outside the door. She took a sharp breath, and Hiccup knew Astrid was looking at his face. He waited for her reaction, wishing once again he could see her facial expressions.

"So the bandages have come off? That's good, isn't it?" she said in a cheerful voice, but it sounded forced.

Before he could answer Gobber pushed him out of the doorway and spoke. "Aye, lass. He'll still need to come back here every day to check for infections and to get some ointment, but it has basically healed as much as it will."

Hiccup didn't feel very healed, and he didn't like the idea that it would never heal more than it was today. Astrid took his arm and started to lead him down the stairs.

"So, what will you do now that you're not in dragon training anymore?" Astrid asked as they reached the bottom of the tower.

He knew he should work on the tail fin, to try to make Toothless fly again. But right now he didn't care about it. He immediately felt guilty about that, so he decided to visit Toothless instead. Maybe his company would cheer him up.

"I just want to go home," he said, instantly regretting being short to Astrid. She walked slower for a moment, but she didn't seem angry.

"Okay," she said in a flat tone. They walked in silence. Hiccup could hear Gobber walking a few steps behind them, probably waiting for Astrid to drop him off before going to dragon training.

Astrid stopped walking. "We're at your house. See you at dinner, Hiccup," she said. He wanted to make a sarcastic joke on how he wouldn't see her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He felt too drained for jokes.

A flat "Bye," was all he said before he opened the door and went inside. He listened for a moment and heard Gobber's and Astrid's footsteps fade into the distance. He went into the cellar to grab a fish for Toothless, then he went out.

He walked the familiar road to the forest, scratching at his hair every few seconds. His hair didn't feel right under the blindfold, and his face itched where the coarse cloth touched it. "That's how the gods punish me now," he thought bitterly. "By giving me an itchy blindfold."

He noticed that while the edges of the burns hurt and itched, he didn't feel anything in the center of the scars, just around his eyes. He didn't feel the sensation of the cloth on his skin. He wondered if that was because there was no skin left. The thought scared him.

He walked into the cove, and before he could call out he heard Toothless running towards him. He heard a happy warble when he presented the fish, and he couldn't help but smile as the fish was snatched from his hand.

"Hey buddy. How are you doing?" he said as he moved his arms towards the dragon. Toothless returned the gesture, putting his head against his hands. A moment later a paw was placed on Hiccup's face, softly scratching at the blindfold. He wondered if Toothless was confused by the new accessory. He supposed he must have looked different than yesterday, when he still had the white bandages on.

He suddenly realized he had no idea what color the blindfold was. He had no way to tell, and Toothless couldn't tell him either. And he had no idea how he could ask another Viking about it. "Hey Astrid, what color is my blindfold?", it just sounded… wrong.

The thought reminded him of the all the worries he had earlier, and he moved his arms to embrace the dragon's neck. He felt ashamed of being so weak, but he just wanted a hug. He wanted someone to hold him and tell him that it would all be okay, but he knew that no one in the village would do that for him.

But hugging a dragon was almost as good.

Toothless warbled in confusion for a moment, but then the sounds became softer and, in a way, more comforting. The dragon suddenly dropped sideways, and Hiccup fell with him. He was surprised to feel that he hadn't landed on grass, but on a leathery wing. A moment later he could hear the other wing shift. He removed one arm from Toothless' neck to feel around, and discovered he was surrounded by the wings.

He couldn't suppress a sob as he held onto Toothless with all his might, and finally let all his walls fall down. He knew Toothless wouldn't judge him, or insult him, or laugh at him.

"Thanks, Toothless," he mumbled into the dragon's chest before another sob came out. The dragon's only reaction was to warble again, and fold his wings tighter around Hiccup.

Hugging a dragon was good, but being hugged by one was even better.

After experiencing the affection from Toothless, Hiccup was more determined than ever to make him fly again. Hiccup felt like he owed Toothless. He had downed him, ripped his tail fin off with the bola cannon, but Toothless didn't seem to be angry with him. On the contrary, he had been more affectionate towards Hiccup than any Viking he had ever known.

Toothless didn't care that he was small or weak. Toothless wasn't concerned with Viking customs or traditions. He was fairly certain Toothless understood that he was blind, and it didn't seem to bother him.

He supposed they were alike, in a way. They had both been crippled, but the difference was that he knew his blindness could not be cured. After reluctantly leaving Toothless' embrace, he had finally found the courage to explore his wounds. The examination only confirmed what Gothi and Gobber had already told him: There was no way he would ever see again. His eyes were gone, replaced with holes covered in a strange tissue. The burn scars felt like a mountainous landscape, filled with ridges, hills, valleys and fissures. It was a strange, almost incomprehensible idea that his face would be like that forever.

But Toothless' injury could be fixed. The fin would never grow back, but it could be replaced. Hiccup was sure of that. He had felt how the artificial fin had created lift for a crucial second before it had snapped.

So over the next few days he created a new routine. In the morning Astrid would bring him to Gothi for a short examination, then he would go to the forge while Astrid and Gobber went to dragon training. He would make as many tail fin parts as he could before Gobber returned. Then he would sharpen weapons or perform other simple tasks for Gobber. If his work was finished or Gobber was called away for some errand, he retreated to his little back room to assemble a fin as quietly as he could.

Gobber would tell him when it was nearly dinnertime, and he would walk back to his house. He had finally gotten around to carving thin arrows into the stones along his way. He had overheard a few Vikings whispering when he carved them into the stone. Most were angry that Hiccup had to 'destroy public property', but Mulch had said it was a sign of ingenuity.

Hiccup was happy Mulch still supported him. Mulch had always seen the best in everyone, never complaining about weakness. He had even taken care of Bucket, who had been written off as useless by the rest of the village after being hit in the head by a dragon. Mulch had shown Bucket could still do simple jobs like harvest crops or take care of livestock, and now Bucket was somewhat accepted by the village.

After he'd return home he'd hide the tail fin he had assembled that day and have an awkward dinner with Astrid. He taught her more on how to cook, and now she could bake eggs and make stew as well. They didn't talk much. She'd ask him about what he made in the forge, and he'd avoid the question or lie. He'd ask her how training had been, and she'd tell him that the twins had blown something up or how Snotlout had been an idiot again.

In the evening, after Astrid left, came the most exciting part of the day. He'd grab the fin and some food, and go to the cove. After feeding Toothless and playing with him a bit, he'd strap on the fin. He would still sit on the tail to open and close the fin. He had ideas for a saddle, and a pulley system with ropes and pedals to control it, but first he needed to have a working fin.

He'd open the fin and tell Toothless to fly, and then try not to fall off as his world shook and twisted. Toothless seemed to understand what he was trying to do, and kept using the same route: He'd fly over the lake, then turn left before reaching the stone cliff.

And, inevitably, during that short trip the tail fin would break apart. One or more of the ribs would snap under the pressure, bringing Toothless down. By using this route Toothless made sure they'd always crash into the water, and neither would be injured.

After the crash they would comfort each other. Hiccup would apologize for another failure, and Toothless would lick his face in response. Then Hiccup would remove the fin, storing the various parts in two different bags. The broken parts would go into the scrap metal bag, to be molten down again, and the functioning parts would be used in next day's fin. He'd go back to his house, hide the bags under his bed, and fall asleep.

And the next morning it would go the same way.

On the first day he had realized he needed some way to keep notes. He needed to write down lengths and angles of Toothless' tail, manage different parts, and sketch. However, that was hard when he couldn't see charcoal or ink writing anymore.

However, as he walked back home from Toothless one day and ran his head over an arrow carved into a tree, he got an idea. After dropping off the bags of parts at his house, he ran to the forge as fast as he could. He knew it was the middle of the night, so he wasn't too worried about being spotted. Digging through the pile of scrap metal, he retrieved a thin plate of low quality iron. He grabbed a sharp knife, normally used to carve decorations into ceremonial weapons or jewelery.

Using the knife, he carved numbers into the flat piece of metal. When he had 'written' down the dimensions of Toothless' tail, he ran his fingers over the gashes in the iron. He gasped when he realized he could feel the shapes of the symbols he had carved. He couldn't help but smile as he realized he could still read and write, in a way. Sure, it was still awfully slow, and less accurate than a charcoal pen, but now he could finally make notes.

At last he didn't feel so useless anymore.

Astrid felt tired as she walked up the hill to Hiccup's house. After another grueling dragon training session, followed by her own strict training schedule, she just wanted to eat and go to sleep. It was the fourth day she would have dinner with Hiccup now, and she was glad her cooking skills had improved notably. While it wasn't as fun as working in the forge, having Hiccup instruct her on cooking was a nice way to spend time with him.

As usual, she opened the door without knocking, calling out Hiccup's name. A moment later a loud crash came from upstairs, and a muffled cry of pain.

Curious, she walked up the stairs. "What are you doing up there?" she asked. Just when she was able to look into Hiccup's room he appeared in front of her, trying to push her back down.

"Hey Astrid! Hi Astrid, hi Astrid, hi Astrid! H-How are you doing today?" he said nervously, and she glared at him. He had been acting strange the last few days, but this was a new high. With the way he was pushing her down the stairs she was sure he was hiding something up there. Something he didn't want her to see.

"You're acting weird," she accused as she walked over to the fire pit and lit it. Hiccup tried to turn around and walk backwards while responding.

"Me, weird?! No, I'm just… doing…" He didn't get to say more as he tripped over a chair and fell to the floor. Sighing, she grabbed his arm and pulled him back to his feet.

"Well, weirder," She said.

"No! I'm just doing… non-Viking stuff! You know, make my 'crazy machines'!" He said as he sat down, arms gesturing wildly.

"Hmm, and what kind of machine are you working on, then?" she asked as she climbed down the ladder to the cellar.

"Oh. Uh…" was Hiccup's only response as she grabbed a box of carrots and some yak meat. She suddenly noticed there seemed to be something missing. There were only four baskets of fish now. Weren't there five yesterday?

"Well?" she said in a mildly threatening tone as she climbed back up. She didn't like that Hiccup was keeping things from her. Hadn't she helped him enough? She had trusted him in the forge, so why couldn't he trust her?

"Maybe because you threw dragon fire in his face," a voice in her mind said, but she quickly squashed that thought.

"Uhm… It's a new type of catapult using... twin counterweights to... lift stones into the basket... while throwing… so it reloads by itself," Hiccup slowly said, and she felt like he was lying. She started to notice how much harder it was to tell if someone was lying if you couldn't see their eyes.

She hated the blindfold he now wore. When he still had the bandages on it hadn't seemed so… permanent. But now she knew that the scars were right under that piece of cloth, and they were there to stay. She felt like there was a little knife stabbing her every time she looked at it. It was a constant reminder of Hiccup's wounds, of the scars that she had created.

She didn't want to look at him anymore, so she didn't continue her interrogation. She briefly considered going upstairs to look at what he was hiding, but she didn't know how to do it without Hiccup knowing. Questions about his work were one thing, but sneaking into his room would cross a line she knew she shouldn't cross.

"Okay..." she said as she prepared the meal. Hiccup gave a few tips on how to roast the yak meat, but other than that the silence was only broken by the bubbling of the boiling water and the crackling of the fire.

They didn't say much as they ate. Hiccup only asked how today's training session went, and Astrid replied a simple "Okay."

She noticed Hiccup had become quieter the last few days, making less jokes and not talking as much to her. She supposed she wasn't much better, but she still didn't like Hiccup being so guarded around her. She had hoped he would become more confident and reduce his stuttering, but she didn't want him to stop talking at all.

After they had finished eating Astrid collected the dirty dishes and quickly washed them.

"Bye Hiccup. I'll see you tomorrow," she said as she walked to the door.

"Good night, Astrid," was all he said, and a small part of her felt disappointed he hadn't responded with a silly 'seeing' joke. She sighed as she closed the door behind her.

She walked down the hill, being careful of her footing in the dark. When she reached the bottom of the hill, she looked around and saw Hiccup's door opening.

She stopped walking, making sure it wasn't a trick of the light. She saw a figure, probably Hiccup, walk out, carrying something big. Curious where Hiccup would go this time of night, she quietly walked back up the hill. She blushed when she saw him walking to the hot springs. Maybe he was only taking a bath?

For some reason she wasn't sure, and decided to follow him. Her suspicions were confirmed when Hiccup didn't stop when he reached the water, and instead walked around the pond with practiced ease. She started moving again when he disappeared into the forest, determined to find out what was going on.

Astrid reached the edge of the forest and peered in. Under the trees it was almost pitch black, and she couldn't see Hiccup anymore. Carefully she walked further and climbed a nearby rock. She looked around, but she couldn't see anything. She jumped down and examined the ground, but it was too dark to follow his footprints.

She punched a nearby tree when she realized she had lost Hiccup. She couldn't believe a blind boy was better at navigating a forest than she was.

As she turned around and went home, she kept wondering what Hiccup was doing in the forest. Was he training, like she did? He didn't seem fit enough for that. Maybe he just wanted to take walks to clear his head? For some reason Astrid didn't think that was it. She was sure it had something to do with the object he had hidden in his room, but why would he go into the forest to test a catapult?

Hiccup felt tense as he navigated the forest. That had been close. Astrid had arrived earlier than he had expected, entering the house while he was still hiding the tail fin upstairs. He had only just managed to stop her from reaching the top of the stairs and seeing the fin on his bed.

Then she had interrogated him about his work in the forge. He was fairly certain she knew he was lying, but thankfully she hadn't pressed on about it.

At least he knew he was alone in the forest, and his body started to relax by the time he reached the cove.

"Hey Toothless!" he called out, and within seconds the dragon lunged at him, knocking him to the ground playfully. The fish went sprawling everywhere, and Toothless climbed off him to gobble up his dinner.

He laughed at Toothless' enthusiasm. He laid the fin down, and then quickly embraced Toothless and scratched his neck. He had discovered Toothless loved being scratched, and would even fall asleep if scratched in the right spot.

He avoided that spot for now, he needed Toothless awake to test the fin.

As Toothless continued to gobble up fish and warble happily, he moved around the dragon to attach today's fin. With his new system of making notes, he was able to make the contraption fit better against the tail, and now it was almost the exact same size as the real right fin.

"Here we go. I've got a good feeling about his one, bud," Hiccup said as he tightened the buckles and felt the result. All the ribs from this fin were parts from earlier fins that hadn't snapped. He hoped these were the strongest ribs he could make, and would withstand the pressure.

Toothless finished eating and warbled in a curious tone. "You ready, bud?" he asked the dragon as he sat on his tail and held on tight.

Toothless roared and spread his wings. A moment later Hiccup felt the weird sensation in his stomach of flying, and they were off.

The glide across the lake went well, but Hiccup held his breath as the turn came closer. He tightened his grip, sure the fin would break any moment now.

But it didn't. Toothless made the turn fully for the first time, and Hiccup gasped in surprise. Was it working? Toothless roared in celebration as he flapped his wings, gaining altitude. Hiccup wasn't sure how fast they went, but he could tell they were leaving the cove.

"It's working! It's finally working!" he thought. Just when he was about to shout an encouragement to Toothless, the dragon made another tight turn, and then there was a loud cracking noise. Hiccup instantly knew something was very wrong, but before he could feel around the fin to survey the damage, Toothless started to descend rapidly. Hiccup screamed as he fell faster than he ever had before.

He held onto Toothless' tail with all his might, but something hit him from behind and he instinctively let go.

"The gods really do hate me," was the last thing he thought before his head hit something hard, Toothless' scream ringing in his ears.

Well, that was chapter 10! I think the blindfold scene is my favorite scene I've written yet.

However, I have to admit something. I am a very cruel person. You see, I'm going on holiday tomorrow for nearly a week, and I won't have my computer with me. So I won't be able to write for that time. I will try to update before the end of August, but for now you'll have to be patient, as I leave you with a nasty cliffhanger *evil laugh*.

Remember, review or PM if you have something to ask or say, and I will return as soon as possible with another chapter.