A/N: Here I am yet again, back posting a new chapter! I know you guys are happy with the quick updates, but as school is ending in a few weeks and I won't have access to their Macbooks for about two months, and I'll have more online school work to do during my free period, the updates will likely be slowing down a bit. Just thought I would give you guys a warning before it happened. :) I'm glad you guys are still interested in this, I really am!

Let me know if there's anything that needs fixing or doesn't make sense. I still don't have a beta and I can only rely on my own two eyes to make sure I've got everything in order before I post.

Anyway, last but not least:

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, this is purely for fun, all OCs belong to me.

Chapter 9 - Here's the Deal

Hiccup was about ready to claw his own eyes out in frustration.

He had awoken nicely enough that morning. After the previous night, combined with almost a week's worth of poor sleep, he had nodded off almost instantly after Stoick had left and he and his friends had bedded down aside their dragon companions. He'd woken up tucked against Toothless's side, a large black wing serving as a blanket.

He must have had a nightmare sometime during the night.

Toothless had done that years ago whenever he would have a nightmare. The intuitive Night Fury had always been in tune with him, even more so now that they had become bond brothers.

Sensing his awakening, Toothless had woken up and looked at him sleepily for a moment before butting him with his nose and withdrawing his wing. Hiccup had smiled lightly and rubbed his dragon between his eyes before getting up to see about waking the others.

Things went downhill from there.

Apparently, when Stoick had said "resume in the morning," he had meant first thing. He'd come banging through the doors with his war council in tow bare minutes after everyone had managed to open their eyes. And also apparently, "first thing" even meant before breakfast. Which meant that negotiations would have to take place on an empty stomach.

Five hours later, Hiccup was still tired, his brain was muddled from lack of fuel, his anger was rising to dangerously high levels, and most of all, he was hungry.

Case in point, his stomach growled loudly at this critical point in the situation. One of the war council members, a woman by the name of Helga, had just made a point that it would be dangerous for the entire tribe to go, and leave the children. He sighed, wanting desperately to rub his forehead and temples as he answered.

"If we can't defeat the Queen, no one will be left alive. Not even your children," he growled tersely, feeling that he was justified in his harshness. The woman gasped and swallowed, but kept her mouth shut. Maybe he had gotten the point of "don't pull on the ears of an angry dragon" across.

He stared with his eyes half lidded at the Vikings, who had gone strangely quiet for a moment before they looked at one another and turned away, forming their signature huddle on the opposite side of the huge fire pit. Hiccup exhaled through his nose and bent forward, supporting himself on the counter-like wall around the pit as he shifted his weight.

He started to drop his head lower so he could cup his chin in his palm and rest his eyes for a moment while the Chief and his council argued the merits of joining forces with the strangers from the foreign empire. Before his neck could receive some blessed relief from holding his head up all day, the group turned to face him.

Instantly, he straightened back up, waiting for their response, his expression stoic. The chief mirrored his own movement from before, leaning heavily on the counter. He huffed a sigh before looking up to meet Hiccup's across the way.

"We will help you," he said, his voice gravelly and tired. Hiccup straightened even more, to his full height, out of surprise. He hadn't been expecting them to agree. "But, we have a few...conditions."

He kept himself from slouching, but Hiccup could feel a part of his soul die inside him.

"And what would those be?" he inquired, hoping it would be something doable.

"Our conditions," Stoick began, "are that a few of our number join your ranks. You teach them your ways while they help you adjust to life here. If you're going to help solve our dragon problem, you might as well teach us how to keep it solved."

By the time the older man had finished, Hiccup knew his jaw had fallen open, at least slightly. Of all the things he could have imagined them wanting, he never would have expected this. He wanted to say something, anything, but the words froze in his throat. When he tongue finally became unstuck, he still kept it from speaking. He didn't trust himself not to start spewing profanities.

Closing his mouth and clenching his jaw for a second, he steadied his voice and replied. "If those are your terms. I will need to speak with my companions before I give you an answer," he said, doing his best not to choke as he spoke the words. The chieftain nodded and pushed off the table, signaling his council to follow him. They took their sweet time getting to the doors, edging around him carefully and keeping their eyes on him at all times. He in turn did the same.

Once they were all gone and the doors had banged shut behind them, he moved from his position over to the table littered with food of all sorts. He sighed at the sight, noting that yet another thing hadn't changed. Stepping up to the buffet, he picked up a plate and piled three slices of salmon onto the plate. At the end of the table, he filled a flagon with water and moved to one of the benches to take a seat.

A moment later he heard the door open and the clicking of multiple sets of claws on the stone floor. Shuffling boots could be distinguished a moment later.

"Well, took ya long enough," said a friendly and familiar voice as a hand used his head to support the person next to him as they set themselves down. He glanced over to see Jaeger settling down beside him. His gaze turned irritated when the older man reached over to pick up one slice of salmon. Hiccup knocked it away.

"Go get your own. There's plenty left over there, and I haven't eaten anything today," he growled, as good-naturedly as possible.

Jaeger laughed, withdrawing his hand and leaving the rest of Hiccup's meal alone. Silence began to drift over the pair as Hiccup began to pick at his meal and Jaeger glanced around the hall.

"So, I would assume it went well since you're on a break. Or not," the older stated, looking at the younger cautiously. His mouth full of salmon, Hiccup sighed and rolled his eyes to look at the blond pointedly. He swallowed his food before starting his rant.

"We get started, consider options for three hours, and deliberate for two! They're worried about what will happen here if they decide to go on this raid, and not thinking enough on what will happen here if they don't. At this point, they won't believe me even if I threaten them," he finished, his voice rising before dropping to an angry growl. Jaeger looked at him empathetically.

"Sorry to harass, but did you manage to get them to agree to anything?" he inquired, sounding a bit gun shy of Hiccup's reaction. Hiccup sighed again, dropping his head until his chin rested on his chest.

"Yes. But I don't like it. Not at all. It's the worst thing they could have possibly come up with, but it's the only way I might be able to get them to agree to help us," he replied.

One of Jaeger's eyebrows shot up. "...Spill."

"Short and sweet, they don't trust us. They think we're in league with the Queen and they're loathe to follow us blindly. I understand that, it's oddly logical for them," he said, admitting the last part begrudgingly. "Because of this, their idea of a solution is integrating a few of their own into our group."

Jaeger's mouth popped open and he sucked in a breath, like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out. At least not fast enough.

"What?!"

Hiccup twisted around in his seat to see Felicia, Valentino, and Isra standing just inside the hall. The former's mouths were open while the latter had simply crossed her arms over her chest.

"You three could not have better or worse timing," Hiccup said, a grim smile forming on his face as the trio moved over and took their seats on the opposite bench. Jaeger's mouth finally came unstuck again.

"What exactly does 'integrating' entail?" he asked, resting his chin in his hand and propping his elbow on the edge of the table. Hiccup shrugged.

"I would assume teach them how to train dragons, how we live. Train them, teach them about Draconia. At this point, I'm not entirely certain," he replied.

Valentino dropped his head onto the table, the impact making a noise that reverberated throughout the room. "I really don't want to be a part of this," he said, voice muffled by the wooden boards. His words were closely followed by a string of something indiscernible.

"What'd he say?" Hiccup asked, looking to Felicia.

"He repeated himself slightly more emphatically in Italian," she said, looking at the top of her brother's head. He mumbled something else in his native language. His sister's eyes widened and she smacked him, hard. He yelped.

"What'd he say now?" Jaeger inquired.

"Something I won't repeat," Felicia replied, glaring scathingly at her brother, who had lifted his hands to protect his skull. "Stop being such a child, it's not like you don't deserve it!"

Jaeger turned his attention back to Hiccup. "So, that's the deal we have to go with? There's no other way?" he asked. Hiccup shook his head.

"Well, I understand why they don't trust us. They want to make sure they're not making a deal with the devil. And besides, they sort of have us backed up against a wall here. We can't just say no to this deal. It would seem like we're trying to be defensive or secretive and if I had a week I couldn't list all the reasons that wouldn't work," he said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Tannalus, just get to the point. You've never, ever, been one to beat around a bush. At this point, you've dug a trench. What's the deal?" Isra interjected, her face one that would not accept any nonsense.

"I'm saying that, despite it being a pain in the sundo, it would be best to simply accept the deal and do the best we can with what we've got," he answered her.

Jaeger leaned back, and closed his eyes. "Why do I get the feeling that this will be more trouble than it's worth?"

"It probably will be, but if it gets us the army we need, plus a few extra riders - if we can train them fast enough - then it might just be worth it," Hiccup replied, sighing in resignation. "Are you guys up for this?"

Valentino sat back up and looked at his sister pleadingly. She shook her head and he sighed. Isra leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. "I'll do it," she said. Felicia raised her hand and dropped it on the table.

"We are too."

Valentino muttered something in Italian, receiving a warning glance from his sister.

"I'm with her, yeah."

Hiccup smiled at them gratefully. "I appreciate you guys being as helpful as you are, I really do. Mainly because I'm not too fond of the idea of spending another five hours negotiating another treaty," he said, rubbing his forehead at the memory of the headache that had been building all morning.

At their nods of approval, he dug into the fish again, stuffing his mouth as gracefully as possible.

They all sat in silence while he cleared his plate, the amiable atmosphere only broken when a group of vikings pushed through the doors. Hiccup lifted his eyes to see the generation he had grown up with standing there, staring at them from the doorway. He narrowed his eyes marginally as he passed them over each person.

He'd only ever been able to get general cursory glances at them, aside from Astrid, whom he recognized immediately. He watched them like a hawk as they slowly got their food and retreated to a table on the opposite side of the room.

He noticed Fishlegs first. How could he miss him? If he had been large as a boy, he was huge as a man. His blond hair had small braids tied into certain places, causing them to stick out a bit. He'd grown a light beard, which was difficult to see because of its pale color. His clothing hadn't changed much. The style was largely the same, but it seemed he had traded out one fur for another. Altogether, he still reminded Hiccup of an enthusiastic and easily startled bear.

Snotlout was next, provoking Hiccup's ire and causing his hackles to rise again in distaste. If one thing hadn't changed about Snotlout, it was that Hiccup still hated him, possibly even more than when he left. The slightly older boy hadn't grown much in his time away. He was still short and stocky, probably only coming up to Hiccup's chin. He had grown a thin beard like Fishlegs, but it only came off as disgusting to Hiccup. His ego had grown, for another thing. He wore a cape now, all fur, just like the chief. It was likely he was in line to inherit the tribe. The thought made Hiccup want to cringe and gag.

The twins, the blonde ones, hadn't changed much. They still resembled one another closely, though it would be more difficult for them to imitate one another as they had both finally come into the distinguishing traits of their respective genders. Perhaps the only true difference was that Tuffnut's hair was now in long blond dreadlocks.

Hiccup's steely gaze then passed to Astrid, who was leading them. She had changed as well, more than Hiccup would deign to admit. Her looks had changed a bit, and so had her clothes, from what he remembered of his childhood crush.

All in the past. You've been over her for years, he thought to himself. Besides the princess and the two on his team, any women in his life had been few and far between. That said, all had exceeded Astrid in most ways. All the blonde viking had going for her were her looks at this point, and those only went as far as the edge of the Archipelago.

As he himself had found out, the world was larger than just the cold seas of the viking lands, and there were many fish in the ocean.

Her head turned and she met his eyes for the second time in 24 hours. A part of him decided then that he didn't approve of her gaze and a growl rumbled its way out of his throat. He couldn't entirely help it. The growl came from a side of him that he shared with Toothless.

As if on cue, the growl increased in volume as the dragon's head poked over his shoulder and his eyes narrowed on Astrid. The girl seemed to start momentarily before frowning and turning away, almost haughtily.

I'll just avoid her, he concluded. If this was going to work, he'd have to meet himself halfway somehow. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Jaeger's eyes telling him to relax. He dropped his gaze and the growl subsided.

~oOo~

Astrid hadn't intended on going into the Great Hall that morning, aware that the riders had been given lodging there for the night. She wasn't entirely too keen on facing them either.

However, as morning began to give way too Noontime, and she found herself in need of food, she began to realize she might not have much choice. Her friends too seemed to be against her. Their curiosity regarding the strangers had been thoroughly piqued, and they were planning on doing the least conspicuous thing they could think of in order to sate that curiosity.

In retrospect, it probably wasn't the least conspicuous thing; they were going to eat in the Great Hall so they could get a glimpse of the riders in a calmer setting. In other words, they were spying. And she couldn't have gone with a more conspicuous group.

Astrid wasn't leading them at first. But when they took five minutes to even get through the door, simply watching the other group chatting amongst themselves in another language through the small opening, she took charge.

Shoving one door open in front of them, the other flying open thanks to Snotlout actually following her lead for once, she strode inside, eyes darting around the room in search of the riders. Her eyes landed on the group sitting together hunched over a table and she nearly tripped over her own feet.

They were all staring at her. Even the shadow man. Though, the surprise quickly melted from his eyes and his head seemed to dip downward, almost dangerously. Seeing his change in posture, she looked away instantly and led the others to another table far away on the opposite side of the room.

She kept her movements casual, though she could feel a cold sweat forming on her spine at their gazes. She hoped that her friends would continue to do as she did. If the other riders were anything like the one she had repeatedly encountered, they would be easily startled and could disappear faster than mist in the morning sun.

She selected her food and mead, taking a seat that would allow her to face the stranger's table if she wished to look. She picked at the food on her plate while the others continued to stare at the riders, who appeared to be on guard.

"Stop staring you numbskulls," she muttered, her voice laced with venom. They did as she asked, and she started on her meal. Almost as an afterthought, she happened to glance at the table across the way.

He was still staring!

She locked eyes with him, feeling oddly like an oblivious mouse in the sights of a vengeful eagle. She swallowed carefully, not looking away. Suddenly, his head dropped a bit lower, the shadows around his eyes darkening.

It was then that a sound reached her ears and reverberated around inside them.

He was growling.

At her!

The Night Fury's head appeared just above his shoulder and it narrowed its eyes on her as well, gaze clearly meant to be threatening..

Her sense of pride demanding that she not show her intimidation, she gave a small scoff and turned her head away, ignoring them. Casually, as if she couldn't hear the angry noise, she grabbed her fork and began to pick at the fish on her plate. She was vaguely aware of her friends' discomfort. All of them had paused in their eating, and were glancing around nervously. Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who were seated with their backs to the stranger's table, tensed up.

Across from her, they gave her a questioning look. She swallowed and waved her hand to tell her that she was alright.

In that space of time, the growl had died away, giving her some relief. A part of her didn't dare look up to see if the shadow man had looked away as well. She picked at her food again, messing with the fish before scooping some of it onto her fork and bringing it to her mouth.

After a few mouthfuls, her warrior side had finally worked up enough courage to look at them again. Her eyes widened to see them now that her own group had been sufficiently intimidated.

There wasn't much difference between the two sets of friends. Without the threat of being burned through with a fiery gaze, Astrid could get her first decent look at the other four riders.

The first was a big, blond, burly man. He looked larger than the shadow man, though he struck her as somehow less dangerous. On his back he carried a metal staff, which looked very solid. She could see the tattoos on the left side of his face. It wasn't anything special, just a small tribal design near his eye.

Her eyes then traveled to the lighter haired girl sitting on the end across from the Shadow man. Her hair was tied back in a high and long ponytail, and she looked relaxed yet serious. Astrid wasn't sure, but she was fairly certain this woman could be dangerous if she wanted to be.

The pair of dark haired people, who appeared younger than the rest, and similar in looks, sat side by side next to the woman. The tattoos on their faces, covering their eyes, gave them a look of raccoons or bandits. They were slim and small from what she could see, likely favoring agile and speedy attacks. Their near identical appearances suggested to her that they were twins, much like Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

It was then that her eyes landed again on the shadow man. Son Tannalus, she reminded herself. Watching him, careful not to get caught, she tried to add details to her growing list. When she had seen him up close, it had been dark. Now, in the well lit Great Hall, she could get a proper look at him.

His skin, which she originally thought to be fair, pale, was actually lightly tanned. His tattoos were indeed as she had known them to be, the design surrounding his left eye. Much like the twins, he appeared to be lean and agile, but she could tell he was much stronger than he looked. She had seen him - well, sort of - throw his own dragon. She watched him for a while longer, as he ate and listened to the whisperings of his friends.

When he isn't glaring and growling like a mad dog, he looks capable of acting like a perfectly tame human being, she thought with a sniff of disdain as she sipped at her mead. Finishing her food and resting her chin in her hand as she continued to stare, near transfixed, at him. He either took no notice of her, or he too was ignoring her gaze.

After a few more moments, the door banged open once again, breaking her out of her trance. Her gaze snapped to the doorway, which was currently filled with the members of the Berkian council. She watched them as they lumbered inside, Stoick in the lead.

He strode over to the rider's table without hesitation or any sign that he was intimidated by them. The shadow man stood and inclined his head slightly, likely out of marginal respect for the chief. Stoick too inclined his head for a moment, in respect for the stranger.

She saw the chief's eyes move over the group as he took a breath and spoke. "I trust you've had time to consider our proposal?" he inquired, folding his hands behind his back. The leading rider nodded.

"Yes, and we have reached our decision," he replied, voice still very deep, though the timbre was considerably more pleasing when he wasn't growling. Astrid mentally slapped herself at the thought. "We accept your deal."

Stoick brought his hands around in front of him and clasped them together. "Good. I'm pleased we won't have to undergo another five hours of negotiation," he said, his gravelly voice taking on a nervous and oddly cheery edge to it.

The rider crossed his arms over his broad chest and hummed in agreement. "As am I," he answered, "but I'm more interested in learning the specifics of the deal."

"Ah," Stoick started, his mood faltering back into his usual gruff way, "we decided who would be working with you fairly easily. We couldn't send children with you, obviously, and there's another training class already going on, so we thought it best not to interrupt that."

"So? Who are we working with?" the younger man inquired. Astrid could tell by his posture that he was growing impatient. She scoffed again quietly, glad she wouldn't have to work with him.

"Berk's finest young warriors. That's them right over there," Stoick replied, gesturing over to Astrid's group. She froze for a moment, her shock paralyzing her. Almost involuntarily, her mouth opened and her brain attempted to rise to the occasion with a witty retort, but all words stuck in her throat.

She so did not want to work with them.

With him.

He seemed just as enthused as she did, his oddly colored eyes wide with shock again. The shock disappeared and he fixed her with a resigned-yet-scathing glare. She sat back and crossed her arms, returning the look with matching fire.

This would not end well.

Not well at all.

A/N: Well, that's that. They don't like each other. I hope I got that across well enough. It's pretty clear that Hiccup doesn't like her, and she doesn't trust him, nor does she appreciate his antics. Speaking of which, you probably noticed the little "side he shared with Toothless" thing. Essentially, I just referenced how he's been bonded to Toothless. I'll go further into detail in later chapters, but for now I hope it sounds okay.

I hope you all have a great Friday and weekend! I'll see you when I see you next!

-IMSP, out! *finger guns* *sashays*