Hello once again my wonderful readers! Hope you all are well.

Review questions!

Lindz4567 ~ Just keep reading along.

Ticharahara ~ No, Drago and Stoick will not team up in this story. Stoick does not like dragons currently and is not about o join a man with a dragon army. Valka shall meet Astrid soonish.

Gandalfstyle ~ We will see more of the other characters shortly, but for now Hiccup is focusing on just Astrid.

Wonnera ~ Yes she will be able to see the nest itself.

Sammyluv21 ~ … Thank you?

Loki921 ~ First, love the name. Second, I am pulling from more than just the movies. Arvin Dale's Fire was brought up in one of the episodes of the cartoon based off the movie.

Hiccupandtoothless294 ~ Soonish, I need Hiccup to go back to Berk first.

Lauryng ~ A little bit more might be coming up. No idea, we shall see!

WikiSocerer ~ Astrid will learn his name soon. She does know now, last chapter Hiccup admitted to being Stoick's son. It was something he didn't want to talk about much so she had dropped it. I'm sure Valka knew the Hoffersons. She was wife to the chief after all.

Snowflake ~ Answered this already if I remember correctly. Hiccup is dragon and he is human, yet he is neither all at the same time. He can't really be controlled like the other dragons can by the Alpha Dragon. He can hear the command, but he can ignore it due to being human. I hope this explains it better.

Onward to the story!

Astrid woke the next morning and crawled out of the tent stretching. The sight that greeted her made her stare. Another dragon had come during the night. The jet-black scales having a soft glossy shine to them. Glint must have left at some point in the night, but that wasn't what made her so interested.

Hiccup was leaning against the dragon's shoulder, a black wing over him like a blanket. Hiccup was sleeping as if this was normal, thinking about it a bit more it most likely was for him. She sat down just watching the sleeping pair. This must be Toothless the Night Fury.

She was tempted to reach out and touch them, but if this dragon was as protective as Hiccup said, she would most likely loose a limb if she tried. Astrid smiled softly at the sight. It was rather peaceful.

"It's not polite to watch people when they're sleeping." Hiccup said before opening his eyes and turning to face her.

"How can I watch you sleep if you were awake the whole time?" She said a bit flustered at having been caught.

"Was dozing." He said with a shrug as he shifted. It woke Toothless who moved his wing, letting Hiccup get up. The fire was going again quickly and Astrid noticed Toothless was watching her closely.

"He doesn't like me does he?" She asked.

"He was against me bringing you here."

"So why did he?" She asked. "I mean he doesn't have to listen to you does he?"

"No he doesn't, but he trusts me." Hiccup said. He leaned back against Toothless again calming the reptile some from the contact.

"They seem to base a lot on trust." She said.

"They do." Hiccup rested a hand on top of Toothless' head. "To a dragon the greatest honor is how trustworthy another is. Breaking that trust for any reason is seen as a great insult and crime."

"Seems to be a lot more to them than the Book of Dragons says."

"Book of Dragons?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah, it holds all of Berk's knowledge of dragons." Astrid said. "Though most of it seems wrong now. Almost all the entries say extremely dangerous, kill on sight."

"You don't think that way?" He asked carefully.

"I'm still nervous about being this close to one don't get me wrong…" She said. "But I'm leaving him alone and giving him space and he isn't attacking me." She had gestured to Toothless. Hiccup smirked.

"You said 'he'."

"He is a 'he' right?"

"Yeah, but most call dragons 'it'." Hiccup said that smirk still in place.

"Well, I know I wouldn't like being called an 'it'…"

"Are you saying dragons have feelings?" He asked. His smirk had yet to drop.

"If they can feel protective and want revenge as well as feel betrayal, then yes." Astrid said with a nod of her head, his smirk was starting to annoy her now. Though it wasn't in a bad way. It seemed to fit on his face. "Dragons have feelings…"

"Then I think you might be ready." Hiccup said standing. "Let's go."

"Go where?" Astrid said standing and following him.

"To show you my world." He flashed a grin towards her and took off running.

"More running?" She asked following him. "Ever think that maybe I don't know this forest nearly as well as you do?"

She looked up as a shadow passed overhead. It was Toothless and he was heading to the mountain, just like they were. "I thought you said a Monstrous Nightmare was guarding it!" She said not really wanting to face that dragon.

"She'll let you pass now." He said running into a cave. Astrid followed him. Surprised that there was no warning growl even to deter her from going further. "Come on. You'll love it."

Astrid rolled her eyes following him again. It was a maze in here, though she found Hiccup would never leave her sight as he lead her though the tunnels. "Easy to get lost in here…" She commented.

"Not so bad if you know your way." Hiccup said a little ways up ahead. "Almost there."

"From what I understand your world has been filled with dragons." She commented barely noticing the light up ahead. "What could I possibly love about…. Dragons…"

She trailed off looking up at the swirling mass of dragons above her. A clear lake to her left, but the dragons in flight above her held her attention. The twisting bodies shifting about one another and flying in a lazy circle had her finding it hard to breath. It was simply amazing. The light filtering down made the scales of the creatures sparkle.

"I told you that you would love it." Hiccup said from her left. She looked as was met with a view of white. Her eyes slowly traveled up. She took several steps back from the White King. She wasn't expecting him to be that large. Hiccup was sitting on one of his tusks, legs on either side. "This is the White King."

Astrid slowly began to step forward staring at the dragon. "He's… big." She said. Hiccup laughed.

"Bewilderbeasts tend to be big." He said slipping from his seat and walking over to her. "Though, they can be very gentle. He is at least." He began to walk towards the cliff face and what looked like stairs.

"There's more isn't there?" She asked following him.

"Dragons have to come from somewhere." He said heading up the cliff.

"You mean their babies?" She asked curious. "I doubt any dragon mother would let me near her young."

"You can still see them." He said. They finally reached the top and Astrid saw a small group of them playing. She laughed watching them roll over one another.

"They are so cute!" She said before she could stop herself. Movement to her right had her looking at a purple Nadder with a metal right leg. "What happened to her?" She asked taking a step towards the dragon.

She stopped when Hiccup's hand quickly grabbed her arm. She looked back at him confused. "She doesn't like humans." He warned her. "A dragon killer did that to her years ago. She tolerates my mother, though she seems to like me well enough. I did make that leg for her."

Astrid looked back at the dragon who was eyeing her warily. "She's beautiful…" She said. "How old is she?"

"Very." Hiccup said pulling Astrid away.

"She must have been quite the sight in her youth." She said letting herself be lead away. "I mean look at her scales. They may be faded now, but I bet they were the most brilliant of her species."

Hiccup smiled slightly taking her to another cave. "Not interested in dragons at all are you?" He asked.

"I just like Nadders, is that so bad?" She asked with a huff. She stopped as a woman appeared from a cave. "Is that?"

"My mother?" Hiccup asked. "Yeah." The woman came over with a soft smile on her face.

"You must be Astrid." She said holding out a hand. Astrid shook it in return. "I'm Valka. Seems you gained Hiccup's trust."

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked before laughing. "Your name's Hiccup?"

"I was the one who named him." Valka said watching the amusement fade from Astrid in moments.

"It's just a weird name is all…" She said looking at the ground. She felt her head being tilted up by the older woman.

"Well I can see why my son likes you." Valka said looking at Astrid. "You are as he says, very pretty."

Astrid looked over at Hiccup who was now making his way over to another cave very quickly getting a laugh from Valka. "You have to excuse him." She told Astrid. "You are the first human he has ever brought home. I've never had a chance to tease as I now do. Come, you must be hungry."

Valka set up a plate after they were done eating. "You know that cave Hiccup went into?" She asked.

"Yes…" Astrid said standing up.

"Can you take this to him?" Valka asked holding the plate out. "Be careful though. It's his forge."

"Right." Astrid said taking the plate and heading to where Hiccup was. He was working and she found herself staring again. He was shirtless and she could tell it was because of the heat. It was even hotter than Gobber's forge back on Berk. He seemed to notice after a while and looked over at her. "Um… lunch?" She held up the plate after she was able to find her voice again.

He gestured to a clear table and went back to his work, the hot metal still needing a bit of shaping. Astrid set the plate down and looked around the cave. Toothless watched her as she stayed near the table. "You built this by yourself?" She asked.

"Had help from the dragons."

"When did you start?" She asked questions springing to mind. "Why is it so hot in here? It's even hotter than Gobber's place on Berk."

"Started when I was ten." Hiccup said looking over the piece he was working. "I use Gronkle metal, it needs hotter temperatures to get it to melt down. Though it is a lot stronger than steel."

"Gronkle metal?" She asked curious.

"Yes, a Gronkle's favorite rocks to eat become this metal and they spit it out." Hiccup explained setting the piece in a pool of water. "I use it for my metal work."

Astrid nodded. "So this place can be pretty hot when you're working?" She asked shifting to the side slightly as he walked over to eat. Yeah, there was next to no fat on him that was just pure muscle under the surface. She found herself looking away blushing. She should not be admiring how her captor looked without a shirt.

He however didn't seem to notice his state of dress was having an effect on her. He most likely didn't, she had to admit it gave him a bit of innocence. Had he grown up on Berk the men of the tribe would have made sure he knew just what his appearance did to the female population. She could see Snoutloat fuming over it and working out even more to compensate.

"You really haven't spent much time around people have you?" She asked not looking at him. "Besides those two months you spent in that village that is…"

"Nope." Hiccup answered. "Why?"

"Most people don't walk around shirtless…" She said just glancing at him. "Then again with how hot it is in here I can't blame you. I'm tempted to take mine off as well."

Hiccup shrugged. "Fine by me." He said returning to his work. Astrid stared after him. He really didn't see a problem in removing clothes in order to be more comfortable. She felt herself laughing.

"You really are strange Dragon-boy." She said shaking her head. "It wouldn't be appropriate for me to take my shirt off."

"I don't see why not, you'd be more comfortable." Hiccup said plainly.

Astrid sighed picking the plate up. "Just put your shirt back on would you?" She asked before leaving. Hiccup watched her go before looking at Toothless.

"What was that about?" He asked. Toothless merely shrugged.

"Humans." Was the only excuse Toothless had to offer.

Hiccup left the forge a while later pulling his shirt on over his head, Toothless following along beside him. He stopped seeing Astrid watching a group of Nadders flying about. A smile came on his face as he moved over to her. "I could call one down if you want." He offered.

She looked at him and then at the dragons. "Okay." She said standing. Hiccup looked at the group smiled.

"Stormfly." He called. Astrid felt she should have been more surprised by the dragon sounds coming from him, but it only seemed to make sense. The blue dragon came over landing near him. She looked over at Astrid who seemed to be placing where she had seen the dragon before.

"That's the Nadder from Berk isn't it?" She asked.

"Stormfly, yes." Hiccup said reaching a hand out to give the dragon an affectionate scratch. "Come on, she won't bite."

Astrid slowly reached out a hand towards the blue scales. They were smooth. She let out a small huff of laughter as she began to pet the dragon's snout. "She's really pretty…" She commented.

"That's a good way to get on a Nadder's good side." Hiccup said. "They love compliments."

"Bet you're very strong." Astrid said talking to Stormfly now. Hiccup had removed his hand letting the two connect. "You were pretty graceful when I first knew you. Sorry for the whole trying to kill you thing… I didn't know just how amazing you guys could be…"

"Now you do though…" Hiccup said softly behind her. "There really is a lot to dragons. Some things are the same for all dragons, and some for different species, and still other traits for each individual. No two dragons are completely alike."

"Can you teach me?" Astrid asked.

"Everything you want to know." Hiccup answered smiling at her.

Valka watched the pair from a distance. "Well isn't that a pretty picture?" She asked Cloudjumper who was sitting next to her. He nodded in agreement. "Let's leave them be."