Chapter 10

Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!

Thought / Dreams / Event from the past

[Voice from the past]

"Dialogue"

Letter

Emphasis

"I can't believe it." Astrid's voice finally snapped Hiccup out of his daze, he looked at her to see that the blond haired girl was glaring in anger, "Just how stupid that boy is until he never catch the hint that I don't have an interest with him what-so-ever? I bet his brain is filled with yak's dung".

"Astrid?" Hiccup asked hesitantly, unsure how he should approach the subject.

"Oh, finally come back to earth?" Astrid asked with a blink as turn to look at him, "Took you long enough".

"That long?" Hiccup asked with blinking eyes.

Astrid sighed, "Let me see, well . . . I've gone to your house from the arena, picked up the basket of fish and the new saddle and tail fin, and now we are halfway to the Cove. So, yeah, that long." She said sarcastically, still in bad mood from what had happened in the arena.

"Hey, I'm the sarcastic one here, not you." Hiccup said with a chuckle, but then turn serious, "Astrid, about what you said in the arena earlier . . ." He hesitated, but continued after Astrid raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you serious that you love me? Or, did you say that just to get Snotlout away from you?".

Astrid stopped walking and crossed her arm with a sigh, "Hiccup." She began seriously, "Do you seriously think that I would kiss you just to get him away from me?".

Hiccup looked down, "It's just . . ." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "I don't know, maybe because I never have someone who care about me before, aside from Gobber and, long ago, Dad".

Astrid's gaze softened and she cupped Hiccup's cheek with her palm, "I love you." She said firmly but lovingly, "I love you because you're confident, you're kind, you're courageous, you're definitely skilled in fighting, and many more until I can't say each one of them. I love you for yourself, Hiccup, never doubt it." She then kissed him on the lips again, feeling warm and happy when she felt Hiccup answered her kiss this time. She pulled away, even though she didn't want to, and looked at him seriously while blushing, "The question is, do you love me?".

Hiccup grinned at her with a blush coloring his face, "I love you, already do since I was 5, Astrid." He answered happily, "I thought that you will never love me back, I'm happy that you love me as well".

"Good." Astrid said with a smile, "Because from now on, you are my boyfriend." She winked at him before handing him the basket of fishes, "Now, let's go, I'm sure Toothless is waiting for us".

"Yeah." Hiccup agreed and took the basket from Astrid, "I can't wait to tell him the good news".

They grinned at each other before walking side by side to the Cove, they were tackled by Toothless as soon as they arrived. "Woah!" Hiccup gasped as he and Astrid fell to the ground, "Toothless!" He then chuckled when he felt Toothless licked his face a few times before going to Astrid and did the same, earning a long 'Eew' from the girl. "You miss us, bud?" He asked as he scratched Toothless's head with his hands.

Toothless stared at him and growled softly, Hiccup could just tell that his dragon was asking, 'Where were you?' with his eyes. Well, more of demanding than asking.

"Sorry, Toothless." Hiccup apologized as he tried to stand up before helping Astrid up as well, "We couldn't visit you this morning because we stayed up late working on the new saddle and tail fin." Toothless looked at him skeptically, "Okay, I did most of the work and Astrid was only helping here and there, but it's the same. Besides, we still need to sleep before going to Dragon Training" He said with his hands raised in surrender.

"Toothless was skeptical about me helping you?" Astrid asked curiously. She had seen the dragon's expression before, when Hiccup told the dragon that he hoped Stoick would stop pestering him into killing dragons.

"Yeah." Hiccup answered with a sigh, "My dragon here had been around me for the past 8 years, even if he was watching me in secret, which was not a secret for me to begin with, so of course he knows everything about me and the people around me".

"Even me?" Astrid asked in surprise.

Toothless nodded his head in answer. He took her axe, brought it to Hiccup then made the boy walked to Astrid with the axe in hands, then he took the axe again and walked a foot away from them before dropping the axe onto the ground.

"Oh, you knew that Hiccup was the one who gave me that axe!" Astrid exclaimed in shock, Toothless nodded and looked at her smugly before giving Astrid a mischievous look, "Why do I get a bad feeling about that look?" She asked herself with dread.

Indeed, her bad feeling was proved when Toothless pretended to run one of his claws at the blade of the axe, he then crooned in high pitch while covering his eyes with his claws before shaking his head.

A memory of the past resurfaced in her mind, the one when she had just receiving her axe from Hiccup at her 10th Birthday. As soon as the boy was far away enough from her room, she had run her finger on the blade and was mesmerized by the beauty of the axe and the sharpness of the blade of the axe. She had squealed in delight while covering her face with her hands to hide her blush, she was just so happy that she received a wonderful axe from the boy she admired and secretly attracted to that she did something so girlish.

Astrid's face was deep red as she gaped at the smug dragon in front of her, "Noooo!" She cried out in embarrassment and immediately covered her face with her hands, "I can't believe he saw that!" She heard Toothless let out what sounded like a laugh and she glared at the dragon, "Stop laughing, you stupid reptile who like to embarrass people!" She yelled with a bright blush, which only served to make Toothless laughed even more.

She couldn't believe it. Hiccup gave her the axe in the middle of the night, so she was sure that no one was watching her because all of them were asleep, safe for the few Vikings who were on watching duty for the night. She would never expect for a Night Fury to saw her acting so girlish. Night time, perfect cover for a black colored dragon to explore the village without the Vikings noticed, not to mention the dragon was as silent as a ghost. Damn it! She thought in realization, I bet he was watching the village at night all this years, watching Hiccup and the people around him. No wonder he knows everything about us and what had happened in Berk.

Meanwhile, Hiccup was gaping in disbelief, he could only look back and forth between his dragon and his girlfriend. He had an image of what Toothless was pretending to be doing, but he couldn't believe that Astrid reacted like that behind his back.

His friendship with Astrid had drifted apart when they were 6, almost as soon as after he declared his refusal to kill dragons. All of his friends had abandoned him right away, he didn't blame them because killing dragons were everything in Berk, so he understood why his friends left him after his declaration. Astrid and Fishlegs were the only ones who didn't treat him with hostility, they acknowledged his presence and nodded at him silently in greetings and still talking with him once in a while, but nothing more.

When he gave Astrid the axe that night on her 10th Birthday, Astrid only gave him a smile and thanked him for the present and said that she like it, before telling him politely that it was late and they both need to sleep, so he said his understanding to the girl and jumped down from her window then head out towards his own home. He thought that Astrid would go back to sleep right away after that, because it would be impossible for Astrid to react more than what she showed him, and yet here the girl screamed with blushing face at what Toothless pretended to do, saying that she couldn't believe that Toothless saw that.

Could it be . . . that Astrid already like me since then? Hiccup thought as he stared at his girlfriend.

Astrid caught him staring and glared, "What are you looking at?!" She snapped with blushing face.

Hiccup blinked and shook his head right away, "Nothing." He said with a sheepish grin, "Why don't we test the new saddle and tail fin now?" He asked to change the subject.

"Yeah, let's do it." Astrid said as she inhaled deeply to get rid of her blush.

"Come on, bud." Hiccup called out to his dragon, "Let's try out your new saddle and tail fin." He said then he and Astrid began to put the saddle and new tail fin on Toothless.

He had build a new tail fin for Toothless because the previous one had ripped when they crashed on a tree, he also added a stir-up on the saddle that would allow him to change the tail fin's position better than just by a mere rope. Hopefully, with this addition, they could finally flying for real without falling or crashing.

After they finished putting the saddle and tail fin, they flew out of the Cove and walked to a nearby cliff that had a broken tree stump on it. Astrid tied one end of the rope to the stump while Hiccup tied the other end on the lower part of the saddle, "Alright, Toothless." Hiccup said as he climbed on his dragon brother, "The wind here is strong so you can lift off the ground easily without having to flap your wings, I need you to unfold your wings and let the wind lifted you so I can try out the positions of the tail fin, the rope will help us stay in place".

Toothless crooned in understanding before unfolding his wings as soon as he felt a strong wind blowing against them, the wind lifted them off the ground and the rope kept them in place, making Toothless looked like a big kite. Hiccup then changed the position of the stir-up with a click and the tail fin's position changed as well, Toothless landed and Hiccup wrote it down on the paper he called as cheat sheet. They did this a few more times before Astrid, who was watching them on the sideway, noticed that the rope would snap soon. Before she could warn Hiccup about it however, the wind lifted Toothless off the ground and the rope snapped as it couldn't stand the strain anymore.

Astrid called out Hiccup's name in worry while Hiccup and Toothless yelled in surprise as the wind threw them backwards into the row of trees, Astrid ran as fast as she could towards the crashing site before stopping dead on her track at the sight in front of her.

When they crashed against one of the tree, Hiccup got stuck on one of the lower branches by the back of his collar while one of his safety harnesses, since the other one had unclasped during the crash, stuck on Toothless's saddle. The grimace on Hiccup's face as he hang on a branch with his arms hanging limply on his side, like a kitten being carried by his mother, and the matching grimace on Toothless's face as he was forced to sit awkwardly like a human would, else Hiccup was pulled down along with him and got strangled, were enough to send Astrid into a fit of laughter.

Both Rider and dragon stared unhappily at the girl with their own version of a scowl as she leaned on the tree while laughing at them, Toothless let out a low growl to show his annoyance while Hiccup crossed his arms. "Yeah, buddy, you are right, she is a very good friend." Hiccup drawled sarcastically in agreement with his dragon, even though he didn't really know what Toothless was saying, he clearly caught the annoyance in Toothless's tone, "She just stand there and laughing her ass off, instead of helping us out of this situation".

"Okay, sorry. I'm sorry!" Astrid apologized but was still laughing as she walked over to them, "It's just your expression was so funny." She said with a grin before pulling her axe out and cut off the branch which holding Hiccup's collar. She watched as Hiccup landed and noticed that Toothless dropped back on all four at the same time as Hiccup's feet touched the ground, her eyebrows raised in surprise when Hiccup and Toothless moved in sync towards each other. Hiccup took a step and Toothless would do the same at the exact same time, Hiccup would move towards the saddle and Toothless would move so Hiccup would reach the saddle easier. Huh, it's like they know exactly what the other is thinking, she thought as she observed them.

"Oh, great." Hiccup groaned as he tried to unclasp the harness and failed, "We're stuck".

"Why don't I just cut it with my axe?" Astrid suggested as she walked over to them.

"No, don't." Hiccup immediately stopped her, "It took some time making a strong and good harness like this, I don't want to waste anymore time. I could just make a new one, but Gobber keep a close eye on me lately, I think he got suspicious that I stayed up working at the forge at night, I don't want to take the risk. Also, my Dad would come back anytime now, I have to hurry and help Toothless fly again before he did, or it would be troublesome".

Astrid let out a long breath through her nose and crossed her arms, "What should we do then?" She asked thoughtfully, wondering how they could get out of this situation with as less time needed as possible.

"Wait a minute." Hiccup pulled his notebook and drew something on them before ripping the paper then handed it to her, "Go to the forge and get these for me, I will work on it at the Cove once you return".

"Alright, I will meet you at the Cove!" Astrid said as she took the paper with a grin on her face before running towards the village.

Hiccup watched Astrid go before looking at Toothless with a resigned smile, "Let's go back to the Cove and wait for her there, buddy." He suggested before they walked back towards the Cove together, they arrived not long after and Hiccup climbed on Toothless's back so his dragon could jump into the Cove and landed safely. "Well, we don't have much to do while waiting since we are stuck . . ." Hiccup said thoughtfully as he climbed off of his dragon, "So, do you want to hear what had happened in the Ring today?" He asked as he leaned on Toothless's side.

Toothless grunted and nodded so he told his dragon what had happened.

Astrid hasn't come back yet when Hiccup finished telling Toothless what had happened, so he decided to hum lightly while drawing on his notebook, sometime later, he heard Toothless make a humming sound as well. He looked at Toothless and grinned, "You're humming there, bud?" He asked and received a nod as well as a toothless smile in answer from Toothless, his grin widened before petting his dragon's head, "You never cease to amaze me, bud".

Toothless crooned happily at him before nuzzling his head, a gesture he had learn that was mean to show affection among dragons, so he nuzzled his head back to his dragon to show that he love him as well. Hiccup then returned to his drawing while humming again and Toothless would hummed along with him, Toothless's humming was different from Hiccup since they have different vocals, but the sound they created together was melodious all the same.

Time passed as they hummed together, and without knowing it, the sun had long set by the time Astrid returned to the Cove with the tools Hiccup requested. "I'm sorry that I took so long, Hiccup." She pant as she arrived, she looked like she was running all the way from the village to the Cove, "Snotlout was still stubbornly trying to hit on me and then my Mom told me to do some errands for her." She explained apologetically as she handed the tools to Hiccup.

"It's alright." Hiccup assured her, "Better than if we cut the harness or waiting until night to sneak into the village".

Astrid smiled and sat beside him while leaning on Toothless's side as well, "Good to know." She answered in relief.

It took some time for Hiccup to unclasp the harness and then took another to fix it, by the time he finished, it was very late in the night so he and Toothless couldn't try to fly again. "Well, let's call it a day then." Hiccup said before they heard Toothless growled, "What's wrong, bud?" He asked in confusion.

Toothless's ears was folded back as he looked at the night sky some distance away, he then looked at Hiccup and flapped his wings as if he wanted to fly before landing and motioned towards the village with his head.

"Flying? Towards the village? But it's dangerous." Astrid said in confusion as she stared at the black dragon.

"No, I don't think he meant that." Hiccup said thoughtfully as he thought what his dragon was trying to say. Flying . . . to the village . . . His eyes widened in shock as realization dawned on him, "Dragons are heading for Berk? A raid?" He asked his dragon urgently, who nodded grimly in answer, he exchanged worried look with Astrid before they ran to the exit, "We need to go, I'm afraid we can't come back soon, but we will come back once we get the chance!" He yelled as he glanced back to his dragon.

"We promised!" Astrid yelled as well.

Toothless roared softly at them as if wishing them luck before they ran out of the Cove.

They ran as fast as they could towards their village and arrived in time to hear the look outs yelling warning, "Dad really chose a bad time to search for the Nest!" Hiccup growled as they entered the village, they could see many Vikings rushing out of their houses carrying weapons all around them, "Astrid, go and tell the teens to get fire brigade ready! Oh, send Gustav to the forge as well, he could help sharpening the weapons! You will help fighting the dragons, but don't kill any of them, just enough until they retreat!" He ordered his Viking girlfriend.

Astrid nodded in understanding, "What about you?" She asked as she pulled out her axe.

"I will get my twin rods from the forge and help fighting off the dragons as well." Hiccup answered before he ran to the forge.

"Hiccup!" Gobber greeted him as soon as he entered the forge, "Good thing you are here. Man the fort, they need me out there!".

"I can't, Gobber!" Hiccup answered as he went to his workspace and slipped his twin rods beside his Wing Blades, "I told Astrid to send Gustav here, I had taught him to sharpen the weapons so he can help." He explained before running to the door, "We are low on people, I need to help out there as well! Wait for Gustav before you go!".

"Aye!" Gobber agreed easily. He know that Hiccup had a great leadership, what with him being the Chief's Son and had a good brain in his head, so he believed that Hiccup could handle the situation better than him, or any other Viking in this village at the moment.

Hiccup had only a few feet away from the village before the people began yelling at him to get inside, "What are you doing here, Useless?!" Snotlout snapped at him, "We have enough problem here without you adding to that!".

"Shut up!" Hiccup snapped back at him, "My Dad isn't here so I will take his position for now!".

"Why should we listen to you?!" Snotlout demanded, "You will only cause more destruction!".

"And what do you think we should do? Just attack without strategy?" Hiccup shot back. He was aware that they were the center of attention there, so it was a good thing that the dragons hadn't arrived yet, or they would be in big trouble now.

"Of course!" Snotlout said boastfully, "We are Vikings, we attack without fear! I will be in charge here! I'm more of a Viking than you, so-".

"ARE YOU AN IDIOT?! VIKINGS HAVE STUBBORNESS ISSUE, NOT FOOLISHNESS!" Hiccup cut him off furiously as he snapped out of his patience, which was a really great feat to do considering he was a very patient person. He couldn't believe his Cousin was so stupid, here they were about to be raided by dragons and his stupid Cousin wanted to get the glory until he would risk the life of the people, "A Chief protect his own! If you think you can be a better Chief than me in the future, then you have to think about your people first instead of your own stupid glory!" He then glared at the Vikings around them, "I repeat, I will take over the lead! If you want to die then feel free to listen to Snotlout's stupid idea of rushing without a plan!".

He waited for the people to leave him and just follow Snotlout, but the people waited for him. "At your command, Hiccup." Keila, Astrid's Mother, said firmly with a nod and she was followed by the rest, except for Snotlout who was glaring at him. They know a leader when they saw one, they could see that Hiccup was more of a leader than Snotlout. So, they decided that it's time for them to listen to the Heir of Berk instead of telling him to get inside, now that Stoick was away from Berk in search of the Nest, they need him to fill in his Father's position.

Hiccup nodded in satisfaction, "Okay, we are low on people here so we have to focus on defense." He began as he looked at Silent Sven, "Sven, get the sheep and yaks to the Great Hall, the Great Hall is made of stone so it's harder for the dragons to get in! Forget the fishes, we can get more later! Also, take a few people with you so it can be done faster!" Sven nodded and he motioned for some people to follow him, he then moved to the others, "Keila, you and a few others get to the catapult towers, you know what to do so you're in charge there! Phlegma, get the children to the Great Hall as well! Some of you, go with her! Your first priority is to protect the children, fight off the dragons if they attack you but don't bother to kill them! Fire brigade, get ready to put down any house that is on fire! The rest of you, we will fight off the dragons and make sure they don't get close to the Great Hall! Get a shield, protect yourself and others more than trying to kill a dragon! I don't want anyone to die tonight!".

With a battle cry, they left to do as they were told, except for those who were supposed to fight off the dragons and prevent them from coming to the Great Hall. Hiccup know that there would be at least a dragon died that night, but it's inevitable. He had to protect his people first at the moment, he couldn't risk his people's life because he didn't want for the dragons to die, even if his heart hurt because of it. He looked up at the sky and saw the dragons began to dive at them, "Scatter! Don't group yourselves or you will be an easy target, but don't to be too far apart either!" He yelled to the remaining Vikings, who immediately left following his order.

"What've we got?!" Gobber called out as he ran out of the forge to him.

"Gronckles, Nadders, Zipplebacks." Hiccup answered as he scanned the sky for the dragons.

"Any Night Fury?" Gobber asked nervously.

"None." Hiccup said firmly. Toothless was the only Night Fury in the whole archipelago, he was afraid that his dragon brother might be the last one left, and with him being in the Cove, he couldn't join the raid.

"Good." Gobber said in relief, "We can't afford to have one now".

"I'm more worried about the Monstrous Nightmares than a Night Fury." Hiccup answered honestly, earning a raised eyebrow from Gobber but he just ignored the man.

"A Nightmare is heading for the catapult!" One of the Vikings warned from somewhere nearby, "Someone who can fight it, get that dragon before it destroy the catapult!".

"I will take care of it!" Hiccup yelled as he began running towards the catapult tower, "Gobber, you take charge over here, make sure the dragons don't get into the Great Hall!".

"Sure, Hiccup!" Gobber answered cheerfully, at least now the people could see just how skillful Hiccup truly was.

"Is that alright, Gobber?" Another Viking asked as he pointed at Hiccup, who was already far away from them.

"Don't worry." Gobber answered the man as he looked at the approaching dragons, "He can handle himself just fine." He then immediately barked orders to the surrounding Vikings who were in his charge.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, Hiccup was running near the storage when a voice called him, he looked around and saw Fishlegs had just throwing some water to a burning house, "The Terrible Terrors are targeting the chickens!" The big teen reported.

Hiccup gritted his teeth, he had to take care of the Nightmare and wouldn't have the time to take care of the Terrors. He looked at Fishlegs and an idea came to his mind, it's a risky move but he had to take the chance, "Wait here." He said before entering the storage, he took and eel and ran back out, he went to Fishlegs and slipped the eel into the boy's belt, "Go and fight off those Terrors, it's impossible to protect all the chickens so just make sure we will have enough for winter!".

"What's with this eel?!" Fishlegs asked as Hiccup began running again after grabbing the empty bucket from the big boy's hand.

"Just keep it there! You will find out later!" Hiccup answered without looking back, he arrived at the catapult tower not long after and saw Keila barking orders while fighting off the Nightmare. He immediately threw the bucket to the flaring dragon and caught it's attention. Nightmares were temperamental dragons, so he knew the dragon would target him as soon as he threw the bucket, "Focus on defending the village!" He ordered Keila before pulling out his twin rods and took a battle stance, the Nightmare landed in front of him and he smirked at the dragon, "Think you can win?" He challenged.

The Nightmare let out a roar before lunging at him, he jumped aside while connecting his rods into one long rod before swing his now long rod to the dragon. Hiccup smirked slightly when the dragon let out a surprised roar, the dragon must be thinking that a simple rod wouldn't hurt him. Poor dragon, He thought as he get back into a battle stance, You don't know what this rod is made from, do you.

Just like his Wing Blades that were made from an unusual material, the scales of Night Fury, his twin rods were made from an unusual material as well, a special iron produced by a Gronckle which he called as Gronckle Iron.

He found out about Gronckle Iron from an accident. He knew that Gronckle like eating stones more than fishes, so he brought many of reddish colored stones that he found in the forest, the stones were a bit lighter than others so he chose them to make sneaking into the arena while carrying the stones easier. Meatlug was very happy that she got to eat stones again, so happy that she ate all of the stones in one go and she got a stomach ache. He felt guilty because it was partially his fault that Meatlug got stomach ache like that, he shouldn't bring that many stones for the Gronckle in one trip, so he tried to help her by tickling her stomach.

He wasn't surprised when Meatlug barfed out the stones in the form of a lava, but he was surprised when the lava turned into iron as soon as it cooled off. Curious, he immediately went to the forge and tried to make something out of the iron. He already planned to make the twin rods before, so he decided to make the rods using the Gronckle Iron. He needed a hotter temperature to melt the special iron, but he managed, and he was satisfied when he finished the rods. The twin rods were whitish in color and was lighter than normal iron, but the strength of the Gronckle Iron surpassed those of normal irons greatly, he could even bend a sword when he hit it with one of his rods using half of his full strength.

"Don't underestimate me or this rod." Hiccup said to the Nightmare, which answered by a growl from the Nightmare, normal human couldn't hear his voice in the middle of a raid but a dragon surely could, "You will find yourself surprised." He chuckled when the growl grew louder and jumped back from the dragon's open jaw which snapped closed at his previous spot, he then set a serious face for he didn't have time to play around, he need to protect his people.

They were neck to neck, he and the Nightmare tried to land a hit on the other but the other would evade the attack. Hiccup was so focused at the Nightmare in front of him that he was surprised when he heard a growl behind him, he blocked the snapping jaw of the Nightmare with his rod and stole a glance behind, only to grimace when he saw another Nightmare glared at him.

That was why he was worried about Monstrous Nightmares more than a Night Fury, he felt like the Nightmares had a personal vendetta against him, maybe because he was Stoick's Son and Stoick had killed many Nightmares in the past. "Oh, the Gods hates me." He could only mutter as the new Nightmare prepared to burn him to crisp.

Hiccup knew that he would be dead if he didn't get himself out of the way soon, so he disconnected the rods and pulled each rod out of the Nightmare's jaw from the opposite sides of each other, then he immediately performed a somersault dive to his right to get some space from the two flaring dragons. He turned around in time to see the Nightmare he fought with before shook her, he guessed it's a her, head then glared at the new Nightmare, which he guessed was a he, before the two Nightmares focused on him.

"Two against one? You guys don't play fair." Hiccup said in joking tone as he re-connected his rods and swung it in front of him to rid it of the Nightmare's saliva, he wouldn't want his rod to catch on fire and become a torch because of it. He got into battle stance again when the two Nightmares slowly approached him, his stance showed confidence even though his heart was beating rapidly from nervousness.

He know his own ability, he could easily fight two dragons at once if his intention was to kill them, but since he didn't want to kill them, he could only fight one-on-one with them. He had said that he wouldn't kill a dragon unless it's the only thing to do to survive, and so far, he didn't have to kill them to survive. He really hoped that it wouldn't change today, because he really didn't want to kill a dragon, he felt like he was betraying Toothless if he did.

"Hiccup!" A feminine voice cried out before a bucket, which he suspected as the bucket he threw earlier, was thrown at one of the Nightmares, the female one he guessed. He, along with the dragons, looked at who had interrupted and saw Astrid with a shield on her left wrist and her axe in her right hand.

"Nice of you to join us, Astrid." Hiccup shot her a grin as the female Nightmare left him in favor of focusing on Astrid.

"Well, I was nearby and saw that you could use another person to even the number, so I decided to join the party." Astrid answered as she focused on the female Nightmare as well. How convenient their situation was, a human girl fought with a girl dragon and a human boy fought with a boy dragon.

"Thanks to you, I can keep my hands clean of dragon's blood." Hiccup said sincerely as he focused on the male Nightmare.

"Don't worry about it." Astrid answered with a smirk on her face, "It's my job as your girlfriend".

"Let's send this couple home then." Hiccup answered before he got serious and attacked the Nightmare.

The fight continued, both Hiccup and Astrid tried to attack the dragons without killing the dragon they fought against, while the dragons tried to either burn them to crisp or maim them. Hiccup was baiting the male Nightmare to shoot fire at him, so it wasn't long before the male Nightmare reached his shot limit. "You has reached your shot limit." He informed the dragon, "It's better if you retreat now, don't you think?".

"You reached your shot limit as well, dragoness." Astrid said as she twirled her axe in her hand, "We won't kill you, so just back off." The two dragons sniffed at them a few times before flying away, "What were they doing that for?" She asked Hiccup as soon as the dragons flew off.

"They were taking in our scent, so they could recognize us if we meet each other again." Hiccup explained as he looked around, "We can't relax yet though, we need to help the others".

"Right." Astrid answered before they ran off to separate direction.

The raiding dragons took their time as usual, some of them tried to get to the Great Hall while the others stole the fishes from the storage while fighting with the Vikings, they only left once the sun beginning to rise. By the time the dragons retreated, many houses needed some repairing or be rebuild entirely, live stocks could be seen being carried by the dragons, and many Vikings were injured.

Hiccup and the other Vikings met up in front of the Great Hall, "How many of you get injured?" Hiccup asked once he saw everyone arrived.

"Nearly all of the adults and teens, but nothing serious." Phlegma answered him, "The children are unharmed".

"No one died, right?" Hiccup asked in worry, Gobber shook his head, earning a relieved sigh from Hiccup, "Alright, how's the situation?".

"More or less 20 houses needs to be repaired, 4 houses needs to be build a new." Gobber informed him.

"We lost about half of our live stocks." Mulch reported, "We weren't fast enough, so we lost the ones left outside the Great Hall".

"I'm sorry, Hiccup." Fishlegs apologized as he looked down in shame, "I only managed to save 10 chickens out of 28".

"Don't worry, Fishlegs, as long as you are still alive." Hiccup answered with a smile, lifting the bigger boy's spirit, "Human's life is more important than chickens. Besides, we still have chickens to get eggs, so you did a good job considering you were alone against a whole flock of Terrors." He then looked back at Mulch, "Do you think our current live stocks will be enough to last us until after Devastating Winter?".

"I don't think so." Mulch answered sadly with a shake of his head, "We can save more live stocks than usual, but the Chief and the rest of them would return soon, we won't have enough to cover for them as well".

"I see." Hiccup muttered thoughtfully, "Then you and Bucket need to go fishing." He decided as he looked carefully at them, "Treat your wounds and get an hour rest, then you set out immediately. We are racing against time here, you will take turn with the other fishermen to go fishing, we need to restock the fishes before the ice set in".

Mulch and Bucket nodded at him before leaving towards the healer's hut, Hiccup then moved his attention to Astrid, "Astrid, you and I will go to the forest later." He told his girlfriend, "We can't rely on fishes and other live stocks only, now that we lost half of them, we will pick some fruits from the forest and consumable vegetation".

"You can't go alone!" Keila protested, "Who knows what kind of animals are there in the forest, I and a few others will go with you both".

"Thank you for your offer." Hiccup answered with a nod. He figured that he had to sneak at night since he couldn't visit Toothless if the others went along with him and Astrid, oh well. "Alright, we will go once you treat your wounds and get some rest to restore your stamina." He then looked at the others, "You all, treat your wounds and get some rest as well, you need to fix the houses as soon as you get your stamina back".

Hiccup waited until the people walked back to their home, the Great Hall, or the healer's hut until only he, Astrid, Gobber, Fishlegs, and Gustav left before looking at the younger boy, "Gustav, thank you for your help back there." He said with a big smile at the boy.

Gustav smiled at him as well, "You're welcome." He said proudly, "But there are many weapons that need to be fixed, I can only sharpen weapons not fix them, so I leave them to you and Gobber".

"Don't worry." Gobber said as he pat the boy's back, nearly making the boy fell face planted from the force, "I will fix them as soon as I get some rest, Hiccup need to take over the chiefing duties until Stoick come back".

"Ah, I don't think so, Gobber." Hiccup shook his head with a cheeky grin, "You are the one Dad chose to take over the chiefing duties, so you do the job, not me".

"Then who will fix the weapons?" Gobber demanded as he pointed to the forge's direction.

"I will do it after I return from the forest." Hiccup promised with a smile before shooing the man off, "Go and get some rest".

"Okay, okay, I understand." Gobber said with a sigh and left, "Come on, Gustav." He was taking Gustav with him since the boy's parents were off with Stoick, and because the poor boy's house got burned down earlier.

"Hiccup, there's something I want to ask." Fishlegs asked once Gobber left.

"What is it, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked curiously as he slowly walked to his house, Astrid and Fishlegs followed him.

"About the eel . . ." Fishlegs trailed off because he didn't know how to ask what he wanted to ask.

"About how I know that dragons are scared of eels, you mean?" Hiccup asked with a knowing smirk.

"Yes." Fishlegs answered with a nod of his head while staring at him with wide eyes filled with surprise.

"You know, sometimes spending time observing dragons like Bork the Bold is good." Hiccup answered cheekily, "I have seen more than all of you have ever seen. Why do you think I don't want to kill the dragons? I will fight them if needed, but I refuse to kill them, remember?".

"Yeah, but I thought you don't want to kill dragons because you have a kind heart." Fishlegs answered sheepishly, while his hands were playing with his shirt, it's a sign that he was nervous.

"Well, he do have kind heart." Astrid answered him with a cheeky grin, "My knowledge is nowhere as much as Hiccup's, but I have seen enough that I don't want to kill the dragons anymore".

"Really?!" Fishlegs asked in shock, he never expected that Astrid of all people would share Hiccup's opinion.

"Really." Astrid answered seriously with a nod.

"Do you want to know more about dragons, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked with a gentle smile, Fishlegs nodded enthusiastically in answer, "Then come to the arena alone tonight, I will show you the true nature of the dragons, just don't let anyone see you".

"Okay, I will come alone." Fishlegs promised, "Thank you, Hiccup, I will make sure no one see me, I promise".

They watched Fishlegs went to his home before looking at each other with a smile, "Good job earlier, Milady." Hiccup commented.

Astrid's smile widened, "You as well, you're amazing earlier." She answered in compliment.

"Thank you." Hiccup answered with a blush on his face, "Come to the arena later tonight, I will pair you up with one of the dragons".

"Which dragon?" Astrid whispered excitedly.

"It's a surprise." Hiccup said with a mischievous grin, "Get some rest, you need it".

"You need it too, and don't forget to treat that wound on your side." Astrid retorted with a huff as she crossed her arms, "Anyway, what should we do? We can't visit Toothless if the adults come with us".

"We will visit him once we are done in the arena tonight." Hiccup told her before stopping and held her hand in his, "I will see you later, Milady".

Astrid smiled, she stepped forward and kissed Hiccup's lips for a few seconds before retreating, "See you later." She said cheerfully before jogging towards her home.

Hiccup smiled as he watched Astrid go before continuing his walk to his own home, a secondary one since his first home was in the Cove, where Toothless was waiting for him. "What a long night." He commented as he looked at his half destroyed village with sad eyes. He really hoped that the war would end soon, he couldn't stand being torn between the two sides anymore.

Just like how Hiccup hoped that the war would end soon, Stoick hoped the same thing as well, but with a different approach. Hiccup wanted the people to try to understand dragons so they could end the war, but Stoick wanted to end the war by killing every single dragon out there. That's the reason why Stoick wanted to find the Nest so much, that and because he wanted to avenge his wife's death, but Stoick really chose a wrong time to go on the search for the Nest this time. If it's not for Hiccup, Berk might not survive from the raid, and for that Hiccup wanted to yell at his Dad so bad, to lecture the man that he should stay to protect Berk more than going out on a search.

Indeed, Berk might not survive from the raid this time if it's not for Hiccup, and Hiccup realized that he might get pressured to kill dragons even more now, but what he didn't realize was that the Vikings had finally seen two things that they overlooked before. During that raid, they had seen that Hiccup would be a great Chief in the future, one that could rival even Stoick the Vast himself. The way he immediately take the lead once he saw a danger approaching, the way he cared for his people more than himself, and the way he commanded his people so they could overcome any problem with the best outcome were more than enough to open their eyes to see just how wonderful the boy they had ignored all this time.

The other thing they had seen was the fact that even though Hiccup was often a clumsy boy, more often set a building ablaze without knowing than not, his clumsiness disappeared when he was with a dragon. Whether it's to fight them like how he fought during the raid, or to feed them like when he feed the dragons in the arena, the boy looked as if he was in his natural zone.

It's a bit unsettling for the people of Berk, because it's not everyday they saw a boy who acted more casual with dragons, their centuries long enemy, than his own tribe. On the other hand, the boy cared about his people more than himself, that fact settled their uneasiness for the boy would never betray his own tribe, if there's a chance that the boy would betray them then maybe the fault was at their own hands.

In the raid when Stoick was away, a newfound respect had bloomed at the heart of every Berkian who had witness the hidden leadership of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. All of them respected the boy and wanted to know more about the boy they had ignored all these years, all of them, even Snotlout.

Snotlout would never admit it out loud, but he felt like he was blind all those years he acted like a jerk to his skinny Cousin, just because Hiccup refused to kill dragons, and he overlooked the fact that his Cousin was, possibly, the coolest teens at Berk. Hiccup could fight better than them, he got a smart brain and he was a very skilled blacksmith, and now he had shown just how great his leadership was.

[I have seen more than all of you have ever seen . . .]

"Why do you think Hiccup refuses to kill dragons?"

"What?" The Thorston twins asked in confusion.

Unlike Fishlegs who went to his own home, Snotlout and the twins went to the Great Hall. They were enjoying an early breakfast together to regain their stamina, so they could repair their broken roofs later, when Snotlout asked that question out of the blue.

"Why do you think Hiccup refuses to kill dragons?" Snotlout repeated his question, "In the past, Hiccup only said that because it's not him, we didn't really care the real reason and just assuming that he's too scared to fight dragons." He looked up from his food and looked at the twins, "We had seen earlier that Hiccup could fight with a Nightmare, a dragon that only the best Vikings can fight, and he only used a mere rod. If Hiccup used those swords he carried with him, he could kill the Nightmare easily. Why won't he kill the Nightmare? Why he refuses to kill dragons?".

The twins were silent. Normally, when they were asked questions like that, they would blurted out stupid things that came to mind, just so they could be seen as stupid and could easily get away from any punishment. This time thought, it felt wrong to just blurt out whatever entered their mind, so they didn't answer the question right away and really think about it.

"Because . . . he is different than us?" Tuffnut offered his answer.

"What?" Snotlout was the one who asked in confusion now.

"He is different." Ruffnut repeated for her brother, "Unlike us, he is smart, kind, and curious. He is the opposite of a Viking like us, except for the stubbornness part." She explained when Snotlout still looked at her in confusion, "He is smart because who else could think of many type of contraptions he made in the past? Even though they often failed than not, but looked at the ones which are not, his inventions that don't fail had helped us greatly".

"He is kind because he shows mercy to his enemy, he has the kindness and strength for that." Tuffnut continued for her, "His kindness is what make him use his smart brain to help us, even when the village turn cold shoulder to him just because his few failed inventions destroyed part of the village. I and Ruff always told him that his performance was impressive every time his invention failed, it's actually our way to cheer him up, aside from because we love explosion, but I think we did it the wrong way." He looked at his twin before they sighed together then shaking their heads in unison, "He is smart because he is always curious, and when he's curious, he would always search for answers until those answers satisfy his curiosity. That shows that he is stubborn because he would never give up until he achieve his goal, but that also shows how strong he really is, he has the strength to rise back up when he failed".

"He is sarcastic too." Ruffnut added with a smirk, "His sarcastic humor is really funny, you don't know it because you always went with Hiccup every time he and Stoick went to another tribe, but the village felt too quiet without Hiccup's sarcasm".

Snotlout felt even more guilty than before, he was Hiccup's Cousin but he knew nothing about the boy, even the twins knew about Hiccup more than him. "You know, I heard what Hiccup said to Fishlegs earlier. I stayed behind because I want to know how Hiccup could fight a Nightmare when he doesn't train with us in Dragon Training, I heard Hiccup told Fishlegs that he had seen more than all of us have ever seen about dragons." He told them since he couldn't keep it in anymore, "What had he seen that we haven't? I think what he had seen is the real reason why he refuses to kill dragons, because Astrid also said she won't kill dragons after she had seen enough as well".

"We never question it, huh?" Ruffnut mussed, bringing the boy's attention to her, "We are Vikings and we are raised in Viking's way, we never ask whether it's right or not, we'll do it as long as it's the Viking's way. Hiccup is different, he always question things, so he does something we never do, he questions the truth instead of just accept what parents told us." She then looked at the two boys straight in the eyes, "Why the dragons raids us? Our ancestors never questioned it, they were attacked so they attacked back without trying to find the reason behind the attack, because they were Vikings. Our parents told us that it's because dragons are mindless beasts who serve one purpose only, destruction, and we accept it just like that because we are Vikings. We never ask ourselves if it is the truth or not, that's why this war still going on even after 300 years passed".

There was silence again after Ruffnut's words, but it didn't last long. "Do you think Hiccup can stop this war?" Snotlout asked them again, "He said that he had seen more than us, and I believe that it's the truth. This war had taken too many lives, sooner or later we would lose more of our loved ones, or even our own lives. Do you think he can stop this war?".

"In a different way than the Viking's way?" Tuffnut asked before nodding, "I think he can. I mean, Stoick and the previous Chiefs always failed because they stubbornly tried to end the war in the Viking's way, with Hiccup who thinks differently than a normal Viking, he can find a way to end this war using his own way".

Ruffnut nodded in agreement to support her brother's answer.

Snotlout couldn't help but agree with them, and he couldn't help but ask, "Since when the two of you are this smart?".

"We have our moments." The twins answered together with a grin to break the tension.

Snotlout shook his head with a chuckle before he leaned forward and motioned the twins to do the same. "Hiccup told Fishlegs to come to the arena tonight, he said he will show the true nature of the dragons." He told them with a smirk on his face, "If Hiccup had seen more than us and he might be able to end this war, why don't we help him? I think it's time we help him instead of ignoring him, don't you agree?".

The twins answered him with a matching smirk, they couldn't agree more.

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To be continued . . .

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