Getting Reacquainted

The next day Astrid woke up early and got herself ready. She took extra time brushing and plaiting her hair and actually spared a second glance to check her appearance. Astrid normally didn't do this as she didn't care much for male attention. But now there was a certain man she hoped would look her way.

Exiting her home she first went to the docks to get a basket of fish before going back to her house and feeding Stormfly. With a sated dragon and a promise of a flight later she made her way to the chief's house. She walked up the steps to the door and knocked lightly a few times.

From the other side she heard heavy footsteps and assumed that the chief was coming to the door. Her guess was confirmed when Stoick answered the door. "Ah morning Astrid," he said with a groggy smile.

"Morning chief," Astrid said with a smile of her own. "I came over so I could start my mission."

"Ah yes good lass. Unfortunately Hiccup isn't in right now, he said he was going to the cove to exercise," the chief revealed. Astrid nodded in understanding and went on her way.

Making her way through the forest she thought about how much Hiccup had changed. He was so different from how he used to be. He was no longer the shy awkward kid she once knew. Now he was a strong, outgoing, and fierce man. And he'd become such a great warrior. She'd would have liked Hiccup regardless of his fighting abilities. But she couldn't deny that they were definitely appealing. Any Viking girl loved a strong warrior.

Plus he was so handsome. With those beautiful green eyes and his defined jawline. But he still had his boyish smile that made her heart skip a beat.

After a few minutes she came to the cove. But out of curiosity she decided not to directly enter. Going around the entrance she scrabbled up some rocks and crawled until she could look directly down into it.

Inside the cove she saw Hiccup. And he appeared to be practicing with his weapons. Shirtless.

Inside the cove Hiccup practiced with his katana. He swung, blocked, parried, and stabbed at an imaginary opponent, making sure to watch his form and technique. The cool air was refreshing as he worked up a decent sweat. Hiccup liked to exercise now. And he liked keeping his skills sharp. He'd worked hard to become as skilled as he had and he'd be damned if he let himself get rusty. So he concentrated and continued.

Meanwhile Astrid was flushing as she watched Hiccup practice. She was staring intently at his bare chest and upper body. While he wasn't as bulky and muscular as normal Vikings were she could see he was very fit. His body was lithe and his muscle definition was very…appealing. She could see the muscles in his arms and chest tensing and relaxing. She bit her lip and continued to admire him.

Eventually he picked up his other sword. She watched as his stance and formed changed with the addition of his new weapon. She wondered what it would be liked to face him in a sword duel.

"That body," came a voice.

Astrid nodded and continued staring.

"Look at those abs."

Astrid nodded again. Then her eyes widened and she blinked in surprise. Glancing to her left she saw Ruffnut, and a handful of preteen girls peering down at Hiccup. Their expression mirroring her own in womanly adoration.

"What are you guys doing here?" she whisper shouted.

Ruffnut look at her and rolled her eyes. "Same thing as you. Checking out new hot Hiccup. Duh," she said like it was obvious. The other girls smiled and nodded.

Astrid flushed and glared at Ruffnut. "I am not 'checking out' Hiccup. I'm supposed to be shadowing him," she replied hotly.

Ruffnut just snorted unconvinced. "Well you do that. Meanwhile I'm going to stare at hot Hiccup's ass," she said with a perverted smile as she turned her attention back to Hiccup who was now working on his hand to hand techniques.

Defeated Astrid turned to watch Hiccup as he threw punches and kicks at an invisible enemy. She remembered when he struck her with his palm. She knew how strong his blows were. Suddenly a growl came from behind them. All the girls froze and looked back to see Toothless stalking forward with his teeth bared.

The girls all paled in fear at the snarling Night Fury. But Astrid quickly took action. "No Toothless its ok. It's me Astrid, you remember me right?" she frantically whispered out. The Fury cocked his head to the side and sniffed at her. Then his eyes widened to friendly round orbs and he warbled at the girl in greeting. He did remember her as the girl who'd helped his human all those years ago. With a gummy smiled he came forward and nuzzled her cheek while purring happily.

Astrid released a breath in relief and smiled at the dragon. She scratched him under the jaw and earned a delighted croon.

"Toothless! You there bud?!" Suddenly came a shout from below. Toothless' ears perked up and he came over the edge of the lip of the cove. Astrid and the girls scooted back so they wouldn't be seen. Toothless peered down at his rider and yowled inquisitively.

"I'm done with my morning exercises bud. How about we hit a hot spring and clean up?" Hiccup said. Toothless smiled down at him in delighted enthusiasm. He spared Astrid one last friendly nuzzle before flaring his wings open and gliding down to his rider. Astrid and the girls pressed themselves against the ground as they heard a rush of wings head off in the direction of the islands hot springs.

Astrid released a breath she'd been holding, glad she hadn't been caught and glanced over at Ruffnut. Ruffnut had a devious smile on her face.

"No," Astrid said narrowing her eyes. She knew what Ruffnut was thinking.

"Aww come on. Don't tell me you don't want to see what Hiccup is packing," Ruffnut whined.

"Absolutely not. We're going back to the village now," Astrid ordered firmly. "You too," she said to the other girls. Their faces all dripped in disappointment.

"But Astrid, he's sooooo hot," Ruffnut said dramatically. "Please don't deny me this opportunity to sneak a peek at his dragon," she begged clasping her hands in front of her. The girls behind her followed her example and some even puffed out their bottom lips'.

"No. Now either we go back to the village or I drag you all back and tell your parents," she threatened.

They all sighed in defeat and got up.

"Kill joy," Ruffnut muttered.

Astrid and Ruffnut sat together at her friends' usual table. All the while she ate her food and scowled. All around she could hear the whispers coming from the younger girls. And aggravatingly they were all about Hiccup.

"Oh my gods did you see his bod!" one of them said.

"I know, he's so hot I'm gonna die," said another one.

"I just wanna rub my face on his face," another one said disgustingly.

Astrid frowned to herself. She never thought all these girls would show so much interest. She always figured she'd never have competition if the opportunity to be with Hiccup ever arose. But she was starting to feel a little threatened.

"Man you're so lucky Astrid," Ruffnut said beside her.

Astrid glanced over at her and raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"You already have every guy in the village and our allies after you, but now you have Hiccup. It's so not fair," she whined.

Astrid flushed at her implication. "I do not 'have' Hiccup. In what world do I 'have' Hiccup?"

Ruffnut raised an eyebrow at her. "So can I have Hiccup?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Astrid shrieked low enough to not draw attention. Ruffnut mumbled something about her being selfish and resumed her own meal. After a few minutes the other riders all joined them at their table. They started to casually converse with themselves before the doors opened and they all saw Hiccup walk in.

"Ok guys. Remember the mission," Astrid whispered aloud. The others all nodded.

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs cried while giving him a friendly wave. Hiccup turned and noticed them before walking over. They noticed he was dressed in his strange armor again as he walked over to them. Snotlout scooted over and Fishlegs had grabbed a plate of food for him as they waited for him to join them.

But out of old habit Hiccup picked up the plate and went to go sit at an empty table. They watched as he clapped his hands together bowed his head and muttered some strange word before he dug into his meal.

The others exchanged glances before moving over to where he was seated. Hiccup let them do as they pleased and continued eating.

"Hey Hiccup, where's Toothless?" Fishlegs asked with a greeting.

"Feeding station," was his reply.

"Oh ok," Fishlegs said. "So Hiccup can you tell me about the dragons of Japan," he suddenly blurted out excitedly. Hiccup looked at him and smiled.

"Sure thing," he said. He paused to take a swig of water. "Well there are four different species in Japan. There are the strike class Mizuchis…" Hiccup said going into his explanation of the four different dragon species of Japan. Fishlegs and the other listened with interest. They all were quite interested in dragons.

When he finished his explanation he paused to finish his meal.

"We should totally add this to the book of dragons," Fishlegs said with much enthusiasm. Hiccup smiled and reached into his armor. He pulled out a journal and handed it to Fishlegs.

"Here. This has all my notes and drawing on them. Go ahead and get started and I'll check up on it later," he offered. Fishlegs giddily accepted it and thanked him.

Now finished with his meal Hiccup got up and said a polite goodbye before heading to the door. Astrid got up and followed after him. She walked a few paces behind him as he strolled through the village. He seemed to be examining all the modifications made specifically for dragons.

"Any reason you're following me?" he asked out of the blue.

"It's not like I wanna be. I'm just making sure you don't run off again," Astrid shot back. Neglecting to mention the fact that she stole the job from Fishlegs.

Hiccup turned his head to look at her. "I give you my word I won't 'run off'," he said looking her in the eyes. "I'll say my goodbyes. There, now there's nothing to worry about," he said with a smile.

Astrid narrowed her eyes at him, unamused. "Why should I take your word for it?" she asked crossing her arms over her chest.

"Samurai take their word very seriously."

"Don't care. I'm making sure you just don't decide to leave."

"I'll leave when or if I'm good and ready," Hiccup said firmly.

"No you won't," Astrid said with a growl. Hiccup cocked an eyebrow and turned to fully face her.

"Is that so? And you would stop me?" he challenged.

Astrid had to fight to suppress her blush at his intense gaze. But keeping a straight face she stepped forward and looked him in the eyes. "Yes."

They remained staring at each other. Both tense and rigid. Until Hiccup smiled down at her. "Well the point is moot. I don't intend to go for some time," he said with a shrug. With that he turned around and continued on his way.

Astrid continued after him. She watched him as he walked and couldn't help but notice the way he walked. He walked proudly. His head was held high and his shoulders were back. Unlike before when he kept his head down and always averted his eyes.

"So what's with your swords?" Astrid decided to ask. She was a truly curious about them. She'd seen what they could do.

"The longer one is called a katana. The shorter one is a Wakizashi," he explained casually.

Astrid processed the information and stored it away. "What was with that weird name you called yourself? Ryu something?" she asked unsure.

"Ryuiji," he corrected. "It was the name I went by in Japan. It was given to me by the Shogun for helping his people and in commemoration of my new life there."

"Does it mean anything?"

"Yes. The Japanese language is complex. A name can be written several different ways and depending on the writing it can have different meanings. Mine was read as Dragon Child," he said with a hint of fondness.

Astrid 'hmmed' thoughtfully. She couldn't help but think the name was very fitting.

Eventually the pair walked around the entire village until Hiccup led them to Gobber's shop. Hiccup strolled straight in and called for Gobber.

The old smith hobbled out of the back of the shop and smiled at his old apprentice.

"Well, well, well, back from the dead are you?" he asked jokingly.

Hiccup couldn't help but smile and laughed lightly. He'd missed his old mentor over the years. He'd been one of the few who'd been kind to him and had tried to help him along…in his own way at least.

"Good to see you again Gobber," Hiccup said earnestly.

"Good to see you too Hiccup," Gobber replied back. "And look at you, what happened with all…this," he said gesturing to all of him.

"You just gestured to all of me," Hiccup pointed out with a chuckle.

"Well can you blame me? Last time I saw you, you were about this big," his said holding his hand at a level below his shoulder. "And this wide," he added pinching his finger together.

"Oh I wasn't that scrawny. I don't know. I just grew up I guess," he said with shrug.

"Must be something in the water over there," Gobber joked. Then his eyes drifted down to Hiccup's swords. "Mind if I get a look at them swords of yours?"

Hiccup nodded before handing them over. Gobber unsheathed the blade slightly and examined it. His smith eyes could detect the quality of the work. He hadn't seen a style and quality of blade in all his years. The smiths of Japan were truly blessed.

"Amazing," he marveled.

Hiccup smiled proudly. "So anyway Gobber. I was wondering if I could help out around the forge while I'm here," he inquired.

Gobber smiled widely before handing the sword back. "You bet lad. These old bones and pegs ain't what they used to be." Hiccup smiled gratefully. Then he sat down and started talking to Gobber about his time in Japan. Gobber listened intently. Astrid just shifted awkwardly on her feet, not knowing what she should do or say while they talked.

Gobber glanced over at her and nodded. A silent promise to watch Hiccup and make sure he didn't up and disappear. Astrid smiled back gratefully before leaving heading to grab Stormfly.

After a 30 minute flight Astrid landed back in the village from taking a few laps around the island with her dragon. She made sure to feed and stable her before she went back to Gobber's to check on Hiccup.

Just as she was about to enter the forge she almost ran into Hiccup as he was exiting. The pair was surprised for a moment and flushed slightly at the near contact before backing up and muttering apologies.

"So how was your flight?" Hiccup asked to dispel the awkwardness.

"It was ok," she replied. Hiccup nodded before continuing out of the door.

Astrid followed behind him as he made his way to the part of the village where the stands for dragon racing was.

"What are those for Astrid?" Hiccup asked curiously.

"They're spectator stands for the dragon races," she said.

"Dragon races?" he said raising an eyebrow.

Astrid nodded before giving him a brief explanation.

"Awesome. How come we didn't think of that?" he asked himself, referring to him, Kyoshi, and the other Benten. The Benten would often race each other but they hadn't thought about using a point system like Berk did.

"'We'?" Astrid questioned.

"Oh yeah, I meant me and my friend Kyoshi from Japan. We started a squad of dragon riders and we would race for fun too. But we never thought of using a point system," he explained. "By the way, tell me about this Dragon Academy Gobber told me about."

Astrid nodded and explained the history of the academy. Founded in honor of Hiccup and lead by Astrid herself they worked to integrate the dragons into the Hooligan society.

"Hmmm. Impressive. If anyone could do it, it would definitely be you," Hiccup said with a smile.

Astrid blushed at the compliment. "Well it wasn't easy, let me tell you that," she admitted.

"I don't doubt it. The Benten set an entire village on fire once," Hiccup said with a chuckle.

Astrid smiled and chuckled back. "Try dealing with the twins. They set the village on fire on a regular basis," she joked. That earned more laughter from them both.

Then Hiccup started walking around some more and asking more about the academy. Astrid responded and asked him questions about the Benten in turn.

Overall this was nice Astrid thought. She wouldn't say they were friends just yet. But they were getting along. They even had some common ground to share right off the bat. Had to start somewhere.

The next day Astrid was following Hiccup around as he studied the dragon stables and feeding stations. As he went he began brainstorming way to improve upon existing designs that he planned to pass along to Gobber. Behind him Astrid was in a slightly sour mood. As they walked along she noticed how the women of the village were staring at Hiccup.

While she understood their reasons for staring she didn't like it. Even if Hiccup and she weren't an item she was sure there was some kind of unspoken rule about her getting priority for seeing him first.

"Um…excuse me," came a quiet voice behind them. Hiccup and Astrid both turned around to see a freckled brunette girl a few feet away. The girl was red and fidgeted shyly on her feet as she tried to find her voice.

Astrid recognized her as the second oldest of Gaer. Her name escaped her at the moment but if she remembered correctly she was 16.

"Can I help you?" Hiccup asked politely with a friendly smile.

"Do you remember me?" the girl asked looking up at him and fidgeting with her hands.

Hiccup pursed his lips as he thought about it. Then it clicked. "Oh yeah. You're from that family I saved from the marauders a few weeks ago," he said. The girl smiled and nodded. "Glad to see you're ok. But what are you doing here?" he asked curiously.

"We joined the tribe after you saved us. We figured it would be safer," she replied.

Hiccup nodded. "So did you need anything?" he asked.

The girl suddenly became a deep scarlet. She looked down at her feet before taking a deep breath. "IreallywantedtothankyouforsavingmethattimeandIwaswonderingifyouwouldtakemeasyourbride!" she blurted out in one breath.

Hiccup furrowed his brows in confusion. She had spoken too fast so he hadn't caught it all. "Sorry could you repeat that?"

The girl's blush deepened before she took another breath. "I wanted to say thank you for saving me that time. If you hadn't shown up I would have been taken away," she said sincerely.

"It was no problem. I was happy to help," Hiccup said honestly.

"And…I was wondering. Well…," the girl began nervously.

"Will you spit it out?" Astrid said losing her patience.

The girl flinched slightly at Astrid's tone before swallowing. "I turn 17 in a few weeks. I'll be of marrying age," she informed them. Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "I was wondering if you'd consider taking me as your bride sir," she finally finished.

Both Astrid and Hiccup's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Had she just proposed to Hiccup? Astrid glanced at Hiccup to see his reaction. Would he really consider accepting? Astrid took in the other girl. She supposed she was ok looking.

You know…if you liked young, petite, perky, and cute. She prayed that Hiccup didn't.

Hiccup mulled over how to respond to the girl's offer. With a small smile he walked over to her. She blushed deeply and looked down at the ground as he approached. Hiccup reached her and looked down to her.

"While you are a very pretty young girl and would no doubt be an excellent wife, I'm going to have to refuse," Hiccup said as gently as he could. The girl's shoulder deflated visibly, much to his chagrin. "Unfortunately young lady I'm not a Viking. I have no clan, no family, no tribe and nothing to offer a magnificent young thing like yourself."

The girl looked up at him. "But I'm sure one day a man will come along and will move mountains to be with you. And I'm sure you'll make him the happiest man in the world. Maybe that's him now," he suddenly said as he pointed to an observing Gustav Larson standing a few meters away. The girl turned to look at the young man who stiffened and suddenly shuffled away at being caught staring. She blushed before giving Hiccup a small smile and walking over to him.

Hiccup let out a breath in relief. Glad he'd handled that well. He'd never turned down a girl before. He glanced over at Astrid who was frowning and practically glaring at him.

"What?" he asked confused by her unpleasant look.

"Quite the lady killer now huh?"

Hiccup shrugged. "I guess?"

"Must be nice to have women flocking to you. Practically begging you to marry them," she said sourly.

"Beats being ignored," Hiccup said in response. Astrid scowled at him, but didn't have anything to say. She wanted to be angry at someone for him getting attention from other women. But she couldn't blame anyone.

Hiccup was about to continue walking when several villagers walked up to them. It was four men. All only a few years older than her and Hiccup.

The leader walked straight up to Hiccup and loomed over him. From his look he was sizing Hiccup up. Old Hiccup would have shrunken back from the man's presence. But even with his superior height he wasn't intimidated.

"Need something?" Hiccup asked politely while raising an eyebrow.

"Just saying hello Hiccup," the man said with a smirk. He put emphasis on Hiccup's name. Obviously meaning to call him by its meaning. Runt.

"Me and the boys saw what you did to those raiders the other night," he began. "We just wanted to see if you were up for a friendly spar?"

Astrid glanced between Hiccup and the man. He seemed to be thinking that Hiccup wasn't as strong as they'd seen him to be. They wanted to test him. She understood why. They were Vikings, warriors. They loved testing themselves against new opponents.

Astrid watched as Hiccup mulled over their challenge. Then his mouth formed into a smile. His face radiated confidence and his eyes sparkled in excitement.

"Sure," he said holding the man's gaze.

Twenty minutes later the majority of the village was gathered above the old kill ring. They'd all heard how Hiccup was going to fight against some villagers. They were eager to see what he was capable of after seeing him in action before. Plus Vikings loved to watch a good fight.

Stoick sat in his chair as he looked down upon the ring. He had tried to call off the fight but his son insisted that it was fine. So he let them proceed. Hiccup was a man now. He could fight his own battle. And Stoick wanted to see what his son could do.

Astrid sat near her friends as they all were eagerly awaiting a fight. Astrid was a tad nervous about Hiccup fighting against the bigger men. There four men facing off against him. But Hiccup didn't seem nervous. He seemed calm and cool.

Hiccup was excited to show people what he could do. And he needed to keep his skills sharp anyway. Practicing alone would only get you so far. Facing real opponents was a good way to practice.

Stoick signaled the start of the match. The men stared down there one opponent. They watched as Hiccup placed his palms together and bowed. The raised an eyebrow at his odd behavior before they saw him lower himself into a battle stance and raise his hands up.

One of the men stepped forward to fight him first. He looked Hiccup up and down and snorted. He wasn't impressed. The boy may have grown but he was still a runt. He brought his hands up and stepped forward until he was directly in front of Hiccup. He looked into Hiccup's eyes and saw no indication of fear or worry.

Narrowing his eyes he took a swing. Hiccup blocked with his left arm before bringing his palm up into the man's nose. The man took a step back and with a growl swung again. Hiccup ducked and weaved to the right before chopping the man in the neck. The man's leg nearly gave out form the force of Hiccup's attack. The boy may have been small but he was damn strong. Before he could counter attack Hiccup punched him in the stomach, gave him a left hook, and then spun counter clockwise. Building momentum he struck the man across the face with his heel. The man was dazed from the attack and wobbled on his feet. Hiccup took the opportunity to grab the man's right arm and flipped him over his shoulder and onto his back. The man slammed into the ground and blacked out from the impact.

Hiccup stepped over the man and turned to face his friends. He backed up a few feet and waited for them to make the next move. The men were all stunned. They stood there slack jawed at how easily Hiccup had taken down their friend. But shaking off their astonishment they all charged him.

Hiccup had anticipated this. With a sprint he surged forward and stepped onto the downed man. With a leap he flew through the air and toward the men. He then kicked with both his legs, catching the two men in front on the sides of their faces before twisting and delivering a flying roundhouse kick to the final man in the back. Landing behind the group he turned around to find they'd all been knocked out. While they laid on the floor Hiccup looked up to the now silent crowd.

Hmmmm, I wonder if I went a little too far? He thought to himself as he looked into their stunned faces.

Then suddenly Stoick gave a hearty cheer and threw his hands into the air. The whole crowd followed his exampled and shouted, clapped, and cheered at his victory. Hiccup smiled before bowing to his downed opponents.

He was respectful after all.

Astrid watched as five rounds later Hiccup had yet to be defeated. After defeating his initial challengers more people from the crowd rushed down to the ring to have a go at him. But Hiccup beat them every time without receiving a scratch.

Astrid watched as he faced off against his newest opponent. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she watched Hiccup fight. His face was focused and he had a confident grin. He looked to be enjoying himself but he remained humble about it.

With a spin kick Hiccup dropped yet another opponent. Hiccup took a moment to catch his breath and wiped off his forehead. He smiled proudly to himself and bowed in respect.

"HA HA HA. THAT'S MY BOY!" Stoick bellowed from his seat above the ring. Hiccup couldn't help but smile wider. It was nice to hear his father's praise. He swept his gaze over the crowd before it settled on Astrid. He threw her his crooked grin and she flushed and brushed some stray strands of hair out of her face shyly.

Then he faced forward as a new opponent walked into the ring. He was carrying a sword this time. The crowd all looked to Hiccup to see if he would draw his own. But to their surprise he reached into his armor and pulled out a short black rod. They all furrowed their brows in confusion. Was that supposed to be a weapon?

Hiccup smiled before pressing the button on his staff. He smirked in satisfaction as he heard the crowd give a surprised gasp. Gripping his staff firmly in both hands he began to swiftly spin it around. The crowd watched in amazement as the staff became a blur in his hands. Then he stopped before leveling it at his opponent.

The man growled before charging. Hiccup thrust the staff forward at him but he parried with his sword. He swung at Hiccup, but he stepped to the side as the man barreled passed and swung his staff. He thwacked the man in the back of the head, causing him to stumble forward. He rubbed the back of his head and grumbled in irritation before turning to face Hiccup.

The man charged forward and began swinging at Hiccup wildly. Hiccup parried and blocked his attack. Though he was on the defensive his confident smile indicated he wasn't having any trouble. Parrying a blow Hiccup brought the shaft down on the man's sword arm. The man yelped and dropped his sword. Then Hiccup began to rapidly spin the staff in his hands. The man was forced to back away, unable to retrieve his sword.

Then Hiccup let the staff slid down his hands so he was clutching one end. Cocking it back he swung it as hard as he could as the man. The man was struck in the temple and fell to the gorund unconscious. Hiccup stood up and bowed.

The crowd cheered excitedly at Hiccup as some men went to retrieve the defeated.

"WHO'S NEXT?!" Stoick cried out. Eager to see some more displays of his son's combat prowess.

"Me," came a firm voice from the entrance to the arena.

Everyone looked toward the entrance in surprise as Astrid walked in carrying a long sword. She smiled in excitement at the prospect of facing Hiccup. She'd had enough watching the action. She had to get in on it. And how could she not want to fight him?

Hiccup on the other hand was less than thrilled about the prospect of fighting Astrid. While he had no qualms fighting her in their last encounter that had been for what he thought was self-defense. But now…well…his feelings made it hard for her to see her as an opponent and not for…well Astrid.

"What do you say Hiccup? Want to mix it up?" Astrid said in challenge.

Hiccup collapsed his staff before putting it away. "Actually I think I've had enough for today," he said evenly. Astrid narrowed her eyes.

"Oh come on. One more fight," she urged.

"Pass," Hiccup said as he started to walk past her. But he was stopped as Astrid raised the blade up in front of him and pressed the edge into his neck.

"What's the matter Hiccup? Are you scared?" she asked to try and taunt him.

Hiccup frowned at her. One thing he hadn't missed about his people was the Viking stubbornness. He raised a hand up to push her blade aside. "Terrified," he said with sarcasm.

Astrid narrowed her eyes. She wasn't going to let him out of this. "Defend yourself Haddock," was all the warning she gave before she started swinging at him.

Hiccup sighed as he dodged her attacked. He really didn't want to hurt her. He kept backing away and spinning around her, trying to get into her blind spot. He was hoping he could tire her out if he kept her chasing him. But after a few minutes Astrid didn't seem too winded. Seemed she'd built up a lot of stamina over the years.

Hiccup sighed to himself as he knew he was going to have to do something.

He waited as Astrid stared him down. Astrid frowned at Hiccup. It's like he wasn't taking her seriously. Why wasn't he drawing his swords?

With a war cry she charged at him and brought her sword down in a vertical arc.

Hiccup used that moment to strike. He quickly raised his right hand up and pressed the back of his hand against the flat of the blade. With a little force he pushed the blade to the side. Astrid's attack was carried forward by her momentum and her sword crashed into the ground and stuck. As she was about to pull it out she felt the cold steel of a knife at her throat. Hiccup had his Tanto at her throat and he looked at her sternly.

With a frown Astrid let go of her sword raised her hands up in surrender. Everyone around them was silent. They couldn't believe how easily he'd beaten her. Astrid was the best fighter of her generation.

"Looks like it's my win Astrid," Hiccup said calmly. "Good fight though. Now I'm hungry, you hungry?" he finished as his face broke into a warm smile.

But Astrid only scowled at him. She remained silent and glared. Hiccup shrugged before putting his Tanto away. Then he turned to leave the ring.

"Get back here Haddock," Astrid suddenly snarled behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see a fuming Astrid. "Fight me again. And use your swords this time," she demanded.

Hiccup turned around to face her. "Why?" he asked.

"Take me seriously, use your swords," she spat at him.

Hiccup sighed in annoyance. "I don't see the need to use them," he said with a shrug.

Astrid seethed at his words. It's like he was saying she wasn't worth the effort. Like she was that inferior to his fighting skills. In rage she snatched the sword out of the ground and charged. With a war cry she thrusted it forward. Everyone gasped as it looked like Hiccup wouldn't have time to react. Astrid was hoping that he would have to draw his sword to defend. Instead Hiccup simply clapped his hand together on both flat sides of the blade.

With an almost inhuman grip Astrid's stab was immediately halted. She tried to pull her sword free but it wouldn't budge.

"You're still a sore loser I see," Hiccup muttered. Astrid glared at him. Then his face broke into a smile. "But you're still beautiful when you're angry," he said staring into her eyes.

Astrid flinched in surprise and blushed at his compliment. Hiccup used her surprise. He pulled the blade forward and passed him and as Astrid stumbled forward he buried his fist into her stomach. Astrid coughed and doubled over in pain as the wind was knocked out of her. She fell to her knees as she tried to catch her breath. Wheezing she looked up to see Hiccup was not in front of her.

Then suddenly everything went black as a sharp blow to the back of the head knocked her unconscious.
Hiccup had come around her and delivered a karate chop to the back of the head. As she feel forward he snaked and arm around her to keep her from falling to the floor.

"She's not going to be happy when she wakes up," he groaned out.

Knocking out the girl you liked seemed like a step in the wrong direction. But he knew Astrid wasn't going to let him leave without a fight. And she was probably going to challenge him again.

But besides that it had been nice to show people what he could do. He looked up to the surprised faces of the villagers and smiled. He could see they were impressed with him. They respected his battle skills. They acknowledged him as a warrior of equal skill.

None of them would ever think him weak anymore.

New chapter. Hope you like. Hiccup and Astrid are slowly getting to know each other. They're practically strangers after all.