Chapter 9

Hi everybody! It's a quicker update than usual, but I was stuck home sick, and I had pretty much nothing to do, so I decided to put that time in good use. Enjoy!

Important: keep in mind that every mistakes Hiccup makes when he speaks here are intentional, however if you spot mistakes in other places, tell me, English is not my mother tongue, so go ahead grammar nazis, just point out the mistakes I make precisely if possible.

Even more important! : Dialogues is dragonese are in italics, but in flashbacks where the whole text is in italics, dragonese revert into normal writing to mark the difference.

When she saw him standing there, she didn't know what to do, she didn't know if she should really believe her eyes, why would he be here, like this? He started to advance toward her slowly, his feet entering the water carefully. She glanced quickly behind her, toward the path leading to her village, thinking that she should warn them to come, but then she heard him say:

"No."

This simple word stunned her enough to stay; she looked at him with wide eyes.

"What?"

"No, not go."

"You…You can speak?"

"Yes, come."

She was baffled at this, hearing him talk seemed almost unnatural, especially after all the time she had seen him act like a beast. Did he really ask her to come? What did he want? He extended his hand toward her, as if he wanted to calm her down, tame her as if she was the wild beast here. She felt torn apart, she knew what she should do, but she didn't want to. She thought suddenly of what Ruff told her the other day, about her having no imagination, about being too serious and having to let her mind open. She had been happy to follow her guts, and now her guts were telling her to follow that boy. Her curiosity was stronger and though she didn't take his hand, she walked toward him, she had her axe anyway, if he tried anything, she could kill him. They crossed the river together and he sat on a rock while she stood before him.

"How is it you speak?"

"I had a friend. Human, she teach me."

"Really? Who is it?"

"You not know. She dead."

He still had some work to do obviously, but considering that she thought he couldn't speak at all at first, she wasn't about to complain. She felt quite indignant when she remembered how she tried to teach the boy to speak, while he probably understood her perfectly.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I not want be tortured."

Astrid eyes widened a little: he faked to be mute because he feared them to torture him? It seemed like nonsense at first to her but when she thought about the stone someone threw at him, and the brutal way he was captured, she couldn't blame him. He approached and just like the time in prison, he brought his face closer to hers. She backed away again, and he seemed disappointed.

"What are doing?" Asked she.

"I…meet you."

"Meet me?"

"When encounter other, you rub your head."

She took a deep as she understood; now it was clear. Animals tended to sniff each other whenever they would meet, dogs and cat did that, sheep too. Apparently it was the same with dragons and this boy. The time in the prison was clearer now.

"That's not how human behave. We mostly say 'Hi' and we tell each other our name. So, hi, my name is Astrid, but you already know that."

"Hi…My name Hiccup."

Hiccup…It rang a bell in her mind, but she didn't know why. Where did she hear that name before? She might have known a Hiccup in the past, the name was often used for fragile babies. The boy went on, interrupting her thought.

"I…You healed me. Why?"

Funny, he was wondering pretty much the same thing as every villager did back then.

"Because I'm not a torturer, you're probably my age, I didn't want you to suffer."

"Then, why tie my hands?"

She understood he was speaking of the time he was captured in the forest. She felt a little ashamed.

"It was the orders. And it was either me or the man hitting you. I didn't want him to hit you more than he already did, so I tied you to be sure you wouldn't be hurt anymore."

He nodded and smiled to her, a grateful smile she wasn't expecting. She went on:

"We captured you because we want to know where the dragons' nest is. You and your dragons are causing us way too many damages, you steal our stocks and…If you could stop that, we wouldn't lose our time hunting you."

He lowered his head slightly, he knew this was a problem for humans, he knew they had a good reason to curse them.

"We not have the choice. We must."

"Can't you find other ways to feed yourself?"

He frowned at that. He was about to say something but then, they heard moves on the bushes, and they saw Toothless appear before them, Astrid, yelped and started to take hold of her axe, but Hiccup seized her hands, stopping her moves.

"No. No fear."

He then raised his hands toward his brother who was about to rush at the human. Toothless stopped before him and watched Astrid and Hiccup with a puzzled expression. The girl wanted to run away, but the dragon boy was standing in the only clear path, blocking her exit. She heard him growl softly to the dragon, who seemed to relax. Then he turned toward her.

"No fear, he my brother."

"Your brother?"

"Toothless his name."

"Oh…"

She wasn't feeling very reassured, but the beast wasn't attacking her, and she wasn't sure if she should take her axe or not; maybe it was not a good idea, the beast was calm for now. But for Thor's sake, she was a dragon killer or at least she was becoming one, and she was here, talking with a dragon boy while looking at a dragon without doing anything! It was the beast who shot the prison, she should be fighting. Yet…She saw the boy caressing the dragon and the animal leaning into his touch and she felt like the first time she saw them, before they got captured. She just saw two brothers, not enemies and attacking a family, well... The dragon looked at her less intensely.

"I never saw a Night Fury before this one."

"He not bad, he just…protect me."

"He is not bad," she corrected.

"Oh…Yes."

She smiled to him, at his confusion.

"Are you sure he won't eat me?"

"Yes, here…"

He seized her hand gently, and she felt a strange slight dizziness at this feeling. He had callous hands, a little dirty, but she somehow liked the contact. He raised her hand toward the dragon's snout and she pulled away.

"No!"

"You told me, 'not be scared'. Now I tell you, not be scared."

Astrid guessed he was talking about the first time she healed him, when she had told him she wouldn't hurt him. She thought over it, the dragon didn't seem about to attack her, if he wanted to eat her, he would already have, but she was scared nonetheless. Yet…The more she was looking at the boy who was extending his hand and at the dragon, the more her curiosity grow and she felt like she didn't want to back away. Something in her was telling her to do this. So she slowly gave Hiccup her hand, his smile grew bigger and he led her hand toward Toothless who sniffed it slowly.

Astrid had difficulty to stay still and wait, she was could envision the dragon suddenly shutting his jaw on her hand and devour it, but she tried to calm down. She was aViking, she wasn't scared. Plus, his brother had his hand over hers, and this beast wouldn't hurt his brother. The dragon looked at them one last time and eventually leaned against her skin, closing his eyes while doing so. Astrid tensed as she felt electricity at this contact. It was only scales but she still felt dizzy and amazed. She was touching a dragon…A live dragon who accepted to let her touch him…She couldn't help but let out a gasp and she smiled without thinking it.

She looked at the boy who was grinning as well as her. His hand was still over hers, putting no pressure. Toothless eventually recoiled slightly, before perching himself on a rock, observing the teens from there. He chose to trust her…This big beast who could have just attacked and killed her just choose to trust her…

"It's only because you're there, otherwise he would kill me…"

"No. I just help. He not kill for nothing. Only if you attack."

A silence passed between the two, only the sound of water could be heard. Now she felt as strange as the first time she looked in his eyes. She was touching something deep, she realized it somehow even if she couldn't have defined it or put a single word on those feelings, but she realized she was reaching something humans had slowly lost with the idea of civilization.

"What are you doing with them? The dragons I mean?"

"Astrid!"

Both Hiccup and Astrid jumped in surprise when they heard the voice in the woods: it was Ruffnutt. She heard Tuffnutt's voice as well, followed by Snotlout and Fishleg's. What the hell did they want?! They couldn't see Hiccup here! The feral boy started to back away, and she took his wrist gently.

"Wait, come find me here again tomorrow at the dusk."

"At what?"

"The dusk…When the sun goes down."

"Oh. Yes. I go now."

She nodded, he couldn't be seen by the other teens. He jumped on his brother's back and the dragon flew away swiftly, and she couldn't help but admire the strange grace the beast possessed. She looked at her hand again…That dragon let her touch him…She heard footsteps and her friends talking and she turned round to see them coming toward her.

"Astrid! We were looking for you," Fishlegs said.

"What is it you want?"

"Gobber wants us all to eat together, he has things to explain us apparently," Ruffnutt explained. "It will probably be boring but I don't think we can escape it."

"Alright."

She followed them silently, and Fishlegs noticed something seemed off.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes why?"

"You have a long face," Tuff stated, "Like when you don't want to speak."

"Maybe I don't want to speak much."

"Why is that?"

"I would tell you if I wished to speak, Tuff."

"This muttonhead isn't really comprehensive, I am however and…"

"In your dreams Snotlout!" Both Ruff and Astrid exclaimed in unison.

Astrid continued to walk with them, acting as she was listening to their conversation while in reality, she was only thinking of Hiccup. He came back, and it was for her. She was feeling like a bundle of nerves, this wild boy had come to meet her, and she would meet him again. She had so many questions, so many things to know!

On his side, Hiccup was feeling pretty much the same. He and Toothless were still in the woods of Berk, they saw a nice spot with a pond, not the one in which he got captured, but another one in which they could rest and fish a little.

"I told you she wouldn't go to her village!" Hiccup exclaimed happily.

"She was scared," Toothless pointed out.

"I's normal, she isn't used to dragons."

"Okay, she seems nice. But if anything goes wrong, no second chance!"

Hiccup smiled and nuzzled his brother's head, he was grateful, he knew Toothless didn't want to go on Berk anymore. He thought again of the night when they escaped, he wasn't sure if it was a good memory or not.

: : : :

The three dragons and the boy landed on a mountain, at a spot they knew well, shielded from the winds by big rocks. Hiccup jumped from Thinpaws's back only to hug her fondly, then Toothless jumped on the two of them and Hiccup hugged him as well, cuddling together. The two dragons licked Hiccup's face, tickling him slightly, making him laugh. Calla watched them and remembered the night she took Hiccup, they did exactly the same thing back then and they had done it many times after, hearing Hiccup laugh had always made his siblings happy. She went to them and rubbed her face against Hiccup's. Her son smiled to her and nuzzled her snout.

"Mum…"

"Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine."

"It was long since we last saw each other. When Toothless warned me, we searched for Thinpaws immediately."

"Thank you all, I hated that prison!"

"I'm sorry, I'll never let that happen again," Toothless growled apologetically.

"You were hurt, it's not your fault."

The family settled themselves here, Hiccup taking woods for the fire which was put alight by Calla. He snuggled against Toothless after checking his wound and the two female came at their side, putting themselves around Hiccup to keep him warm.

"I'm glad this is over, we're never going back on this island again."

"Actually Toothless…I would like us to go back, maybe in some days."

All his family looked at Hiccup questioningly, and he sighed.

"You know…There was that human girl, she was kind to me. I would like to try and meet her."

"What?! Are you crazy?!"

"Toothless is right, Hiccup. You'll get captured again!" Thinpaws added.

Hiccup blushed, looked down and rubbed his cheek. He didn't like when he blushed, dragons weren't supposed to blush. He turned to his mother who was looking at him thoughtfully and with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"Children. You remember our human friend?"

"Yes, mother, but that doesn't mean this girl will…"

"Listen to me, Toothless. I brought us to her so Hiccup could interact with his own kind, because I knew this day would come. Your brother wouldn't always remain a cub. One day, he will have to find himself a mate."

"Mom! I don't want to become human, I'm fine as a dragon!"

"Yes, I know. But you have humanity in you. I brought you to the human friend so she could show you how to be human, not only because you had no scales and wings to survive like us, but also for the day you would need a mate. You can't forget you were born human."

Hiccup didn't say anything anymore and just curled into a tight ball. Toothless put his head on him comfortingly, yet Hiccup felt sad. Most of dragons didn't mind that he was born human, as long as he was one of them, and his family always loved him. Yet, they always had to do things differently for him, having skin instead of scales and no wings made things sometimes difficult. He always felt there was a difference between him and the dragon, and he always feared that one day this difference couldn't be ignored anymore. Hell, once a group of Night Furies who hated humans tried to kill him! He feared that the day he wouldn't be able to ignore this was about to come.

::::

Today, as he had met Astrid again, he felt this same worry, and he knew Toothless was worried as well. He did hesitate to come to her, fearing that meeting her again would stir the humanity in him he didn't really want. Yet he finally did, the temptation to see her was too strong.

"Hiccup?"

"Yes?"

"If you really take her as your mate, what will we do? Where will we live?"

"I'm not leaving you. I don't know, maybe we could live in the wild, in a hut like Millie, if she accepts. But…We're going too far! She is not my mate, I just want to be friends."

He didn't know what he wanted, honestly, but he was scared. Yet he had the feeling this had to be done, he wanted to know more about Astrid, and she seemed to want the same.

The next day, he waited as they agreed, at the same spot where they met. He was hiding along with Toothless, in case other humans came. He eventually sighted her coming, alone. Toothless sniffed the air but relaxed as he concluded there was no one but the girl. Hiccup smiled, she wasn't trying to trap him. He went out of the bushes, walking on his four and she turned toward him, standing at the other side of the river like yesterday, but this time she crossed it with no hesitation, she was just eying Toothless cautiously. He stood up to be at her level.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hi Astrid, happy you here."

"It's: I am happy you are here," she corrected again, "seems like I might have to really teach you how to talk."

He blushed and she smiled teasingly, the tension she was feeling eased, she usually didn't like people who were picky about phrasing and grammar but it was somehow her little revenge for him fooling her into giving him an useless lesson in which she struggled for nothing to have him pronounce her name. She felt tense again when the dragon approached her, sniffing her. Though she did touch him yesterday, she was still tense. Hiccup went to her and grabbed her hand again to put it on Toothless's snout. He took his hand away slowly, and Astrid felt daring enough to pet the dragon slightly. The animal's eyes grew softer, he obviously enjoyed that. She smiled awkwardly before retreating her hand.

"Maybe he'll like me."

"Yes. He…He is your friend," he uttered while carefully remembering to use the verb.

"Dragons and Vikings aren't supposed to be friends."

"Why?"

"Well…It's just not the way it is, dragons burn our village and steal our food. How did you end up with them? You aren't a dragon."

He bit his lip, being reminded again of that wasn't easy. He jumped on a big rock to perch on it, his agility made Astrid think of some big lizard. She climbed too, and went at his side, they were joined by Toothless who remained on the ground, tall enough to be at their level.

"I am dragon. My mother…She…" He searched for his words. "When I a cub, mother dragon save me."

"When you were a baby, you mean. We call human cubs babies. So, this dragon mother was you brother's mother I guess?"

"Yes, I…Were in a fire…" he said hesitantly.

"It's: I was in a fire. You were, I was."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's okay, I'll teach you to speak if you want. So you were in a fire as a baby and hum…" she struggled to remember the dragon's name. "Toothless's mother saved you."

"Yes!"

"But then she just kept you?"

He nodded, Astrid was still baffled that a dragon would keep a baby and not devour it, even if pretty much everyone acknowledged it was what probably happened when they saw the boy was no monster but just a boy. This situation was baffling, she would have never thought that one day she would be in the forest, with a feral boy who was thinking of himself as a dragon, sitting with him while keeping him a secret from the rest of the village and proposing to teach him to speak! She usually wasn't that generous, especially toward strangers. Yet she felt invested toward Hiccup.

"I never thought…By the way, tell me if you can't understand me."

"I understand…more than speak. What is this?"

Astrid saw he pointed toward her axe.

"You already saw some of those, didn't you?"

"I not know the name."

"You don't know the name," she corrected again, "and it's an axe."

"Millie only used sword."

"Millie?"

He started to explain her who Millie was, and Astrid continued to correct him, even if she didn't feel the need to take revenge anymore.

"The day before, you…were talking?" Asked Hiccup

"What?"

"When I came to see you, you were talking."

"Oh, yes…Did you hear what I said?"

"I hear you talk of Fishlegs. No more. But to who you were talking?"

She felt relieved at this, one thing which had her concerned was the idea that he could have heard everything she said.

"I was talking to the owl. He is somehow my friend."

"You have a friend owl?" He asked in an excited tone.

"He doesn't really approach me, but he doesn't fly away either. I would often come near the river to train with my axe alone, and I would see him. I liked to watch him after training, and with time he understood I wasn't an enemy."

"Why train alone?"

"Sometimes, I like to be alone. In the village, it's sometimes difficult to be alone. You wake in your house with your family, you eat with the rest of the village in the Great Hall, you train with other people, and you often work with other people. Not that it's completely impossible to be alone in the village, just difficult, it's easier here."

"You never really alone in forest."

"You are never really alone in the forest," she corrected. "What do you mean by that?"

"You are never really alone in the forest. When you look well, always animals around. What's a…Greet Hall?"

"Great Hall? It's a big building in which we all meet, when we eat together, or when the village reunites to take decisions."

He continued to ask questions about the village and she continued to ask questions about the way he lived. At a point, Toothless put his head next to her lap, and though at first she was a little hesitant, she ended up petting him as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Both of them ignored they felt the same way: happier than ever and in a very new way.

Secret friendship: started! I hope you liked it, don't hesitate to review!