Hey everyone! I'm sorry this chapter took so long. It was actually nearly done on Thursday, but then my computer decided that it would be a great idea to crash while I was saving it, and it was gone. So I had to rewrite it from scratch. Anyway, that's not your problem, so let's move on.

I decided to move the review replies back to the top again, I didn't like the look of them being at the bottom, and I kind of want reviewers to read the reply before the new chapter. So, on to the reviews:

Watcher321: Thank you!

MODdenial: They are gone gone. There won't be any fix, whether it's Night Fury saliva, Bewilderbeast magic, telepathic bonds or the Power of Friendship. Hiccup is blind, and he will stay blind. Period.

TomBoyBookGirl: Thanks, that's great to hear, since I was fairly insecure about these latest chapters.

dracologistmaster: You're spot on with the 'punch or two', but the real question is: What about the 'everything else'?

Dragon Lord Draco: I'm planning on writing a few one-shots in this universe after this, and some may be about certain episodes of the TV series (So I might make a one-shot about blind!Hiccup in Thawfest or with the Flightmare), but I don't have plans to extend it to the second movie. Simply put, I don't think there's anything I could really add to it with a blind Hiccup.

roughgunner: Well, Toothless and Astrid didn't kill each other, so you could certainly say that!

OFeel: Thanks, they are growing closer, but it's still slow going.

clank2662: I am ashamed to admit that that was the first big joke I planned for this story. I knew this was going to happen from the very start: Astrid seeing the feared Offspring of Lightning and Death Itself (TM) with a cute pink ribbon. I saw this picture on DeviantART of Toothless with a red ribbon on his tail and it just got stuck in my mind.

Guardian of Azarath: I won't say anything yet about the Kill Ring scene, or Stoick's reaction. Don't worry, I have something great planned, and Snotlout and the twins will definitely get some bruises.

Transformers 0: Yeah, Hiccup is still stung, and it will come into play later.

Sir Baron: I can understand why she ran in the movie: She was disarmed, Toothless was openly aggressive, and Hiccup seems to have lost his mind. I tried to change those circumstances so she would stay in my story.

Drew Luczinski: Ah, I see. Thanks for elaborating. And yes, there will definitely be progress now.

Colinou: Astrid was also slightly prepared beforehand, and she got to witness a friendly Toothless as well. Plus, she's closer to Hiccup in this story than in the movie, so she's more willing to trust him. So those are some reasons why she didn't run.

Guest: Thanks!

YoungWriter20: Thank you, I think it's very important to use supernatural elements carefully. I hate the "A wizard did it" explanations for some things in bad scifi or fantasy, and I hate it when magic just solves the character's problems without them having to work for it.

UnbreakableWarrior: Thank you so much!

Taechunsa: Thanks for the nice words, and for pointing out that typo. I try to catch as many as I can, but a few always slip through.

Chapter 14: New Ways

"So then Toothless brought me back to this cove. That was yesterday evening, and that's when I decided to ask for your help in forging the tail fin and… Well, you know the rest," Hiccup finished his story, fearing Astrid's reaction. He was immensely glad she hadn't run back to the village, and that she had even touched Toothless, but he wasn't sure what she thought of him now.

While she had occasionally gasped or asked questions when he started telling her about Toothless, she had grown quieter, and now he waited nervously for what she would say. He cursed his blindness, he hated being unable to see her. Was she nervous? Was she angry? He knew she was sitting next to him, he could hear her breathe, but if she didn't say anything she might as well be a thousand miles away.

"Astrid? What do you think?" he asked when he couldn't take the silence anymore. He'd rather she screamed at him than this… nothingness. At least if she screamed she would be in his black room, in a way.

"It… It's a lot to take in," she said. "I honestly wouldn't believe you if there wasn't a dragon lying right next to me."

Hiccup smiled, he was fairly aware of Toothless' movements, and he had noticed he had slowly been crawling closer to Astrid, clearly curious. The dragon wasn't touching her yet, but at least he wasn't growling anymore. There seemed to be an… understanding between the dragon and the Valkyrie. They seemed to both have agreed the other wasn't going to attack them, and had stopped actively threatening each other.

Hiccup figured that was the best he could hope for, for now.

"I guess that's okay, it took a while for me to believe it myself, honestly," Hiccup said with a chuckle, trying to disguise how nervous he was. "But… You won't tell anyone, will you? I mean, they'll kill Toothless, and I'll probably be exiled, and that would put such a damper on this… thing we have going and I don't think the Outcasts would accept me, and…"

She laughed, and Hiccup could feel his face turn red as he realized how much he'd been rambling.

"I won't tell anyone. I promised, didn't I?" she asked him in a threatening tone, like she was angry at him for even doubting her.

"Yeah, but I figured that was before you knew it was an actual dragon I was hiding, you know? I thought that might not have been included in 'anything'," he countered, and she chuckled.

"I… I have to admit I'm not sure how I feel about this, it's so…" she started.

"Weird? Not very Viking-like? Crazy?" he offered.

"Yeah, crazy! It's like… it's a dragon! And he's just sitting here, without attacking us!" she exclaimed, and a moment later Toothless made a curious noise, like he knew she was talking about him. Silence grew once again as Hiccup tried to give Astrid time and space to think.

Suddenly he heard her stand up, and a moment later she pulled him up by his arm. "It's getting late, maybe we should go back for dinner," she said. His stomach growled, and he figured she had a point. He wondered if she was nervous of Toothless. Maybe this was enough interaction for today. He walked towards Toothless and put his arms around the dragon's neck.

"Thanks for being so good, and not killing Astrid. I'll see you later, buddy," he mumbled into the dragon's scales as he hugged the dragon goodbye. If Astrid thought his actions were odd she didn't comment on it.

"Shall we go?" Astrid hesitantly asked as he released Toothless. He nodded and started walking out of the cove, Astrid just behind him.

He felt light as he squeezed through the narrow gap and all the worries he had had just seemed to flow off him. She wouldn't tell anyone! He was safe! He just hoped she'd help him get Toothless escape from his own prison as well.

Astrid was just washing the dishes after dinner when Hiccup addressed the thing they hadn't talked about during dinner.

In fact, they hadn't talked at all. She had been lost in thought, trying to look at Hiccup's dragon secret from every angle, and she still wasn't sure how she felt about it.

"Y-You know, Toothless hasn't had dinner yet. He only had one fish all day. M-Maybe… We can bring him some more? Together, I mean! So you can feed him, and… get to know him a little better. It would also make him t-trust you a little more, you know?" he said, and she tore her eyes away from the plate she was scrubbing to look at him. He was obviously nervous, rubbing his neck and fidgeting.

She wasn't sure if she liked that idea. She guessed she was okay with keeping the secret and leaving Hiccup and his pet dragon be. She didn't want Hiccup to be exiled, and though she'd never thought she'd ever think so, she didn't think the dragon deserved to die. He didn't seem to be a threat, and he seemed to care about Hiccup, and Hiccup cared about the Night Fury.

She had never seen Hiccup as affectionate with anyone as he was with the dragon (She refused to call him Toothless out loud, that name was just stupid). He had hugged Toothless, played with him, talked to him, and even flown with him. And she couldn't take that away from him.

But did that mean she had to help him build that fin? Make a potentially dangerous dragon fly again? She didn't trust Toothless' intentions. Maybe he had just been nice to Hiccup for food and a new fin, and he would eat Hiccup as soon as he could fly again.

But that didn't mean she couldn't bring him food, right? Maybe she could observe the dragon, figure out his weak spots. Just in case.

"Okay, I'll come. Do we just bring a bag of fish?" she asked, trying to sound casual. She didn't want Hiccup to know how much she distrusted the dragon.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Just grab one from the cellar," Hiccup said, relief audible in his voice.

Astrid grabbed one of the bags of fish and climbed back up. She tried to grab her axe from where she left it on the table, but it was gone.

"Uhm, Maybe it's best if you don't take your axe with you," Hiccup said, clearly nervous. She looked around, trying to figure out where Hiccup could have hidden her axe, before giving up. Honestly, she was done trying to fight the insanity.

"Fine, but just this one time, and if your dragon eats me I'll kill you," she told him before walking out the door and waited for Hiccup to catch up. A few seconds later he followed, his face pale.

She followed him to the cove, marveling at how well he found his way through the forest. Even though he occasionally tripped over tree roots, he always seemed to know in which direction they had to go. Just before they reached the gap in the rock wall, he stopped her.

"Okay, just dump the fish on the ground, and give him some room to eat," Hiccup said, before squeezing through the gap, and Astrid followed him. She spotted the dragon almost immediately, his black skin shining in the light of the setting sun. She maintained eye contact while she walked forward. She wouldn't be intimidated by the Night Fury.

Toothless sniffed and nosed around Hiccup before turning to face her. She could see distrust in his eyes, but also a hint of… curiosity? Without losing eye contact and maintaining her most threatening face, she turned the bag of fish over on the ground and took a step back. In the corner of her eye she could see Hiccup standing a few yards away, looking tense. He seemed ready to intervene if one of them attacked the other.

The dragon was nosing through the pile of fish when he suddenly jumped almost a yard into the air and screamed loudly. She jumped back as well, her hands automatically going to her back before she remembered she didn't have her axe with her.

"Toothless? What's wrong, bud?" Hiccup asked while he moved towards him and tried to calm the dragon. His only response was another loud growl a he glared at the fish.

Astrid frowned, confused at Toothless' behavior. She was fairly certain the dragon wasn't glaring at her, and she slowly walked towards the smelly pile. She didn't see anything odd, just a bunch of plain Icelandic cod. Then, just before she turned around again, she noticed something else, almost hidden from sight. It was a large smoked eel, and she grabbed it and lifted it from under the fish.

Toothless gave another loud shriek while shrinking back, and she realized he was afraid of the eel. Astrid could barely comprehend it, the unholy offspring of lightning and death scared of something as simple as an eel. She swung the slimy fish towards Toothless' direction, and the dragon whined. Meanwhile, Hiccup looked confused before apparently deciding to hug Toothless in an ultimate attempt to calm the dragon.

She felt powerful, seeing the dragon so afraid of her, or at least the object she was holding. But as she looked, she saw the pure fear in the dragon's eyes, and she could see Hiccup becoming anxious as well. She felt bad for tormenting the dragon like that, and she threw the eel as far away from her as she could.

The effect was immediate. The dragon's eyes became bigger and the growling and whining turned into a curious and surprised warble. Hiccup released Toothless' neck, and the dragon slowly walked over to her. It made happy noises as it nosed the pile of fish again. She expected it to eat, but instead it started sniffing her hand. She nearly drew her hand back, but something told her the dragon wasn't going to bite her arm off.

She gasped when Toothless made the cutest sound she ever heard before licking her hand. She couldn't help but smile as the black dragon thanked her before turning around to eat the fish.

Maybe the dragon wasn't so terrifying. Somehow, seeing that he could be afraid too made him less scary to Astrid. It changed from being a mindless enemy to a being with feelings and fears. Someone who could be interacted with, and for the first time that day she felt like she understood Hiccup's motivations a little better.

A moment later she noticed Hiccup walking around Toothless to stand next to her.

"Wh-What just happened?" he asked her.

"Oh, your dragon is scared of eels. I threw it away for him," she told him, and he snickered.

"Typical. He's just a big softy, really. I wonder if all dragons are scared of eels, or if it's just Toothless," he said, and they fell into a comfortable silence as they observed Toothless eat.

"So… Will you help me forge that tail fin?" he finally asked her, and for once there wasn't any humor or sarcasm in his voice. Astrid couldn't help but notice the question was laced with both hope and fear. She started to realize how much this meant to Hiccup. It meant enough to risk getting hurt in the forge or flying. It meant so much he had been willing to risk telling her.

And if it meant so much to Hiccup, how could she refuse? Hiccup clearly trusted the dragon, and now he had trusted her with this dark secret.

Maybe she should trust him, for once.

That thought reminded her that she was still slightly angry about his earlier secrecy, so she punched his arm.

"That's for the lies," she told him, and he yelped. Toothless looked up from his meal with a surprised look, but before he could intervene she hit Hiccup again.

"And that's for being so reckless in repairing that fin," she said, and he looked at her with such a… shocked expression, that she couldn't help but feel guilty. Toothless softly growled, but Hiccup shushed him.

"But… I'll help you forge that fin. For… Everything else," she eventually said, and she smiled at how Hiccup's face just seemed to lit up and his mouth curled upward into a big smile.

"Great! Awesome! Shall we start tomorrow, after dragon training?" he asked in an excited tone, and she couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

"Sure, but now we should go to bed," she said as she noticed that it was rapidly getting dark. She wouldn't ever admit it to Hiccup, but she was exhausted after all the events of today.

"Oh, right! That's probably a good idea," he said before he hugged Toothless, who had finished the food.

She could hear him speak to the dragon. "We'll be back tomorrow, buddy. With a new tail! One that will hopefully actually work! Do you like that, bud?" Hiccup told Toothless, who replied with a happy warble. Astrid took the opportunity to grab the eel. Maybe it could be useful in dragon training.

She looked back at Toothless as she followed Hiccup out of the cove, and was surprised by the lack of hostility she saw. The dragon looked almost… sad she was leaving. And for some reason, she felt a little sad as well.

The dragons might be their enemies, but she had to admit it was pretty cool to have one as a friend.

Over the next week they fell into a new routine. In the morning Astrid would go to dragon training, where she would use the tricks Hiccup showed her to get even better. The day after she had met Toothless she had tried to use the smoked eel against the Zippleback. Seeing how effective it was, she was eager to learn more. She had to admit that while these new methods were… unorthodox, they were useful.

"I'm hurt! I'm very much hurt!" Tuffnut yelled as he ran past Astrid during dragon training. Holding her breath, she braced herself for the impact of the Deadly Nadder they were fighting. But it stopped its charge just before colliding with her, and Astrid was surprised to see the dragon look at her with a curious expression. Maybe it could smell Toothless on her?

"Don't worry, Astrid! I'll save you!" Snotlout shouted as he started to charge at the Nadder, and she decided to try something Hiccup showed her the previous day.

Holding her axe in her right hand, she quickly used her left hand to scratch the Nadder's throat. A moment later she found the right spot, and the dragon relaxed completely and fell at her feet. Snotlout wasn't able to stop his charge and tripped over the Nadder's large head, falling flat on his face. She smirked at him, secretly laughing at his pathetic attempts. She knew the only reason he was in second place in training was because the twins and Fishlegs were even worse at fighting dragons.

"Oh, that was so Astrid, Astrid! But I bet it just fell because it was afraid of all this… manliness!" Snotlout said as he pulled himself back to a standing position. Astrid couldn't help but think that he didn't look very manly when the blue Nadder rolled over and knocked him down again.

"Well done, Astrid," Gobber said over the loud whispering she could hear on the spectator's ring. Now that dragon training was starting to get harder, more and more Vikings came to watch the teens. Astrid knew they were talking about her, and she wasn't sure if she felt proud or annoyed about that. She knew they weren't just talking about her fighting skills. They were gossiping about Hiccup and her, and about the incident.

"I've never seen a Nadder do that!" Fishlegs said as he walked over to her to help Gobber carry the dragon back to its cage.

"That was so cool! Where did you learn that?" Ruffnut asked her, and Astrid chuckled. She wondered what they'd say if she told them Hiccup showed her. But she'd keep her mouth shut.

"I've got my sources," was all she said before walking out of the arena, but she briefly turned around when she heard Snotlout speak to Tuffnut.

"See? She's like… the ultimate Viking! Except for me, of course," he loudly exclaimed, and she frowned. She didn't consider learning from a friendly dragon very Viking-like, and she couldn't help but think that Snotlout would probably not be so impressed if Hiccup had done it.

She glared at Snotlout one last time before running out of the arena and into the woods. She was eager to learn what dragon secrets Hiccup discovered today.

While Astrid was at dragon training, Hiccup liked to think he had a much more exciting task: Flying with Toothless. The day after Astrid had met Toothless they had forged a new fin, much stronger than the old ones.

Hiccup just hoped this one wasn't bright pink.

Astrid had stayed on the ground while he tried it out, and it was a success. Toothless could make tight turns without the fin breaking, and they had managed to fly for a few minutes straight.

The only problem was landing. Hiccup had underestimated how precise the positioning of the tail fin was, and they had crashed into the lake.

He still wasn't sure if getting dragged out of the water by Astrid was awesome or embarrassing.

He had quickly realized that the angle of the fin was crucial for everything in flight. It made the difference between going left or right, up or down.

It made the difference between flying and crashing into the ground.

They quickly build the saddle and pedal system, and Hiccup, with Astrid's help, eventually figured out which fin positions were needed for which type of movement.

The only problem was that Hiccup couldn't actually see what was in front of them during flight, so while he might know how to turn right, he didn't when to turn right.

Solving that problem was how Hiccup spend most of his mornings.

"Up!" he shouted at the dragon in front of him.

The Night Fury made a roar that sounded vaguely like "Urgh."

"No, not 'Urgh'! Up!", he shouted, cursing Toothless' inability to speak Norse.

"Urp!" the dragon roared. Hiccup sighed. That would have to do.

"Close enough. So, you have to make that sound when we need to go up. So if we are about to hit a treetop, you just say 'Urp!'," he told the dragon. He repeated the instruction several times, occasionally blindly drawing a diagram in the dirt to make it clearer to the dragon.

He wasn't sure if Toothless understood his drawing of a dragon approaching a tree, and an arrow pointing upward, but he knew it was possible. He had already taught the dragon about left and right (Or as Toothless liked to call them, "Lurgh" and "Rawr"), and he knew that if he just repeated it enough times the dragon would eventually understand what he was supposed to do to go up.

"Okay, you understand that, buddy? You wanna try it out?" he asked as he climbed into the saddle. Toothless made a happy warble as Hiccup moved the fin to the first position that was needed for take off. A moment later they flew.

"Lurgh!" the dragon roared before they could hit the rock wall, and Hiccup moved his foot to make them turn left.

"Okay, buddy, now we want to go up! Just say it!" he told Toothless, but his only response was "Rawr."

Hiccup turned them to the right before trying again. "Just say it, Toothless. Say 'up'!"

"Rawr!"

Hiccup sighed. He wasn't sure if they actually had to turn, or if Toothless simply didn't understand what he was trying to say. But he wouldn't give up. It had taken even longer to make the dragon say his first word, left. It wasn't until Hiccup had refused to turn left unless Toothless said so that the dragon started to understand. Apparently flying straight into a wall is an effective learning method.

Hiccup was trying to do the same thing now, making them fly at an altitude that was too low to escape from the cove until Toothless said the 'up' command. Maybe it was harsh, but Hiccup knew that it was crucial to master it now if they ever wanted to fly in more unpredictable places.

They flew in circles for another hour before Toothless finally said "Urp!" and Hiccup set the tail to the ascending position. Toothless gave an excited warble as they started to ascend, and roared another "Urp!"

Hiccup set the fin to the last position, and he could feel them flying almost straight up. It was incredible to feel the wind in his hair and the tingling in his stomach, and even though he couldn't see it, he knew the view must be incredible. He wondered how high they were from the ground, and remarked on how weird it was to be suspended in mid-air, without knowing if the ground was right under him or a mile away.

"Okay, bud, I think that's high enough," Hiccup shouted over the wind as he moved them back to a horizontal position. They glided in circles for a while before Hiccup gently started to descend. He knew Astrid would be arriving in the cove soon, and she always punched him if she saw him doing something she called 'reckless'. He had tried to make her understand there was no other way to train Toothless, but she just snorted, like she didn't believe him.

She had also refused to join him in the air, saying Vikings should be on the ground. He knew he should be glad she was helping him this much, but he couldn't help but wish he could share this amazing experience with her.

"Okay buddy, when we're near the ground you have to say 'up' again, or we'll go too fast," Hiccup told Toothless as they started to descend faster.

Suddenly Toothless made a weird sound, almost like a snore. But before Hiccup could think about it, the dragon's paws hit the ground hard and Hiccup was thrown from the saddle. Maybe he should make a safety rope, he thought as he flew. Luckily he landed in a large pile of strange grass.

"You need to say 'up' before we land, buddy! Otherwise we crash like that," he said, before he was interrupted by weird sounds. It sounded like grass being squashed and Toothless making strange noises. Hiccup started to feel around him, trying to figure out what was going on. He found a whole field of the weird grass, and Toothless seemed to be rolling around in it. Judging by the happy noises he was making the dragon was having the time of his life.

He wondered if it had something to do with the grass, and he grabbed a handful of the stuff and held it next to Toothless' nose. The dragon made a snorting noise before falling asleep. Hiccup couldn't help but smile as he realized he had discovered some kind of dragon sedative. He grabbed some more of it to give to Astrid later.

While Astrid was still wary of Toothless, she loved learning things she could use in dragon training. Hiccup was happy to help, hoping to save the dragons from the wrath of her axe.

His smile disappeared when he realized he was in the middle of who-knows-where and his seeing dragon was knocked out for a while. Sighing, he sat down next to the dragon and grabbed a sheet of copper and his knife from his pocket. He started designing a safety system with multiple ropes and hooks to keep him in the saddle. He was confident Astrid would help him build it with the way she kept going on about his safety.

He would need it when he was going to teach Toothless the word 'down'.

After dragon training Astrid would meet Hiccup in the cove, and they'd tell each other about their day as they shared lunch. Afterward Astrid would train while keeping an eye on Hiccup playing and training with Toothless. She wasn't sure how she felt about the blind kid controlling a large flying dragon, but she knew how important this was to him.

Hiccup had tried to explain it to her one time, talking about how he felt that Toothless was imprisoned in the cove and that was his fault. It was his duty to fix that.

Astrid couldn't help but wince as she was reminded of her role in Hiccup's blindness. That had been her fault, but there was nothing she could do to fix that. All she could do was make Hiccup as happy as possible. If that required him flying on a dragon, she'd take it.

And she got a lot in return too. The tricks to use in dragon training were nice, but she secretly felt that spending more time with Hiccup was even better. With the secret revealed the awkwardness between them had lessened immensely, and she talked to him like she had never talked to anyone before. They talked about everything and nothing, swapping embarrassing stories about their childhood and making jokes about the other Vikings.

It felt like she didn't have to impress Hiccup, since he was already so in awe of her. She had noticed he kept saying she was awesome or cool. When Snotlout would say stuff like that she'd feel disgusted, but somehow when Hiccup said it it felt real. Genuine, somehow. She liked to think that she could tell now when Hiccup was lying, and he certainly wasn't lying when he complimented her in his awkward way.

There was one thing they didn't talk about, though. Astrid secretly felt glad they never approached the subject of Hiccup's blindness. It was always referred to as the 'you-know', the 'thing' or 'it', and they certainly never talked about how it happened. She wondered if Hiccup was angry at her for it, but she didn't dare to ask.

And he never mentioned it either.

She was sitting on a rock in the cove, sharpening her axe when the thin white line in the metal caught her eye. It marked the place where they had attached the new blade to the old one. It was like a scar, reminding her of what had happened every time she swung the axe.

She looked at Hiccup and Toothless wrestling a few yards away. She wondered if Hiccup was reminded of it when he heard her sharpening the blade. He seemed happy, oblivious to the world as he threw himself at Toothless, who merely seemed to laugh before pushing the small boy over. The dragon then simply dropped himself on Hiccup, completely hiding him from view.

Astrid laughed, knowing he wouldn't be hurt. Toothless would never hurt Hiccup on purpose, that was clear. The dragon would even retract his teeth whenever Hiccup touched him.

Maybe Toothless wasn't such a stupid name after all.

She continued sharpening the axe, changing the angle with which she held it in her arms so she could work the other side.

Suddenly, Toothless jumped up and pounced a random patch of dirt. The unexpected movement made her jump, and Toothless immediately started pouncing another spot on the ground. She looked closer and saw a little light that Toothless was following. She slowly stood up to investigate further when the light moved. She looked down and saw sunlight reflecting from the blade of her axe.

A smile appeared on her face as she started to understand. She moved her axe a little bit, and the light danced away, Toothless following like he was chasing a prey. She laughed as she made him run around Hiccup, who was looking very confused. Finally she shone the light at Hiccup's stomach, and winced when Toothless jumped in top of him.

"Ow! Why would you do that?!" he exclaimed loudly, and Toothless jumped back, shocked that he had hurt Hiccup. The dragon began licking Hiccup's face and stomach, clearly trying to say sorry, and Astrid felt like she should apologize as well.

"Sorry, Hiccup. I wasn't trying to hurt you there," she said, and she wondered why she couldn't simply apologize for that other time she had hurt him.

"It's okay. How did you do that?" he asked in a curious tone as he scratched Toothless. Maybe he would be as understanding about the… incident as well if she brought it up?

But she was scared. It felt weird. She had never shied away from anything, priding herself on never running from anything.

But somehow apologizing was the scariest thing she had ever encountered, and she wasn't sure if she would ever gather the courage to do it. She wondered when she had become so… mushy, being scared of stupid things like feelings and apologies.

"Oh, Toothless follows lights, so I made light reflect from my axe," she told him, and she could see the gears in his head turn as he considered this new information. She suddenly wondered if he was as scared of talking about it as she was. Maybe he was continuously thinking about how to talk about it?

But if Hiccup with his brilliant mind couldn't figure it out, how was she supposed to do it?

After dinner they would wait until Gobber had left the forge before sneaking in. They would forge new parts for the tail fin, stitch together saddles, and Hiccup would teach her more about blacksmithing.

He hoped they hadn't been noticed yet by the village. Some of the things they were making, like the saddle, would be hard to explain if someone were to walk in. Thankfully that hadn't happened yet, though Hiccup was sure that would change now that he had let Astrid use the anvil.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

"Hey Astrid! Hit it even harder! I don't think the people on Meathead Island heard you yet!" Hiccup shouted at the girl trying to forge simple rods. He wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but he thought his hearing had become sharper over the last week, and he winced every time Astrid hit the anvil like she was trying to kill it.

He was sure everyone in the village could hear it, and he hoped no one would come to investigate. Hiccup was designing a new saddle that had room for two riders, and he hoped Astrid would help him with it. She was still adamant about keeping her feet on the ground, though Hiccup had noticed she seemed to become less opposed to the idea as Hiccup's flying technique became better.

"What?!" she shouted at him while hitting the molten iron again, creating another loud bang.

"Be more gentle! You're not Thor!" he shouted back while holding his hands over his ears. Thankfully Astrid stopped pounding the metal as she shouted back.

"Why would I be gentle? And besides, Thor is a cool god!" she said with an insulted voice, but Hiccup knew she was joking. He sometimes wondered if this entire thing was just some big game to her. Something to distract her from dragon training. He wondered whether she really understood how serious this all was. Whether she understood what the consequences would be if they were caught.

"Because you're waking up the whole village, and I don't want them to come in here and learn about the you-know-what," he told her, whispering the last part.

"Oh, come on Hiccup, what would they see? A piece of copper and some iron rods. They would never discover Toothless from that!" she said, and he could hear her put the rod in the cooling barrel before she walked over to him. He stood up and ran towards her, shushing her.

"Shh, don't talk about You-know-who!" he whispered to her, hoping no one had heard that.

"Oh, lighten up. I think I managed to make a decent rod, by the way. Can you check it?" she asked in a strangely shy voice, and Hiccup felt weird that she was asking for his approval. He grabbed the dragonhide glove and put it on, and grabbed the metal object from the barrel.

"Uhm… Slightly too thick on this side, but the rest of the shape is great. Though I think it might be a little weak from you hitting it so hard," he said, and he could almost feel her glaring at him. She remained silent, though, and he walked back to the desk where he had left the saddle plans.

"What are you designing?" she asked, and he realized she was looking at the plans. She had admitted earlier that she found it very hard to read the thin lines he scratched into the copper, and he would often have to explain what he had drawn.

"Uhm…" he started to say as he wondered how to explain he was making a saddle for her while she didn't want to fly, without saying anything that an eavesdropper could understand.

"I'm… designing a… thing… for You-know-who, but this one can seat two people, so the can both do… you-know-what. Maybe we can try making it tomorrow?" he hesitantly said, hoping she understood what he was talking about.

"What are you on about?!" Astrid exclaimed, and he shushed her again.

"What I'm saying is that I'm making a you-know-what for You-know-who, so two people can you-know-what on You-know-who at the same time when we see You-know-who again in the you-know-where, you know?" he quickly said, blushing when he realized what he had just said.

They were both completely silent for a few seconds before they both started laughing hard at the exact same time. They laughed for more than a minute before Astrid punched him in the arm again.

"That was for producing such a ridiculous sentence," she told him.

"And for everything else… I'll help you make it. But I'm keeping my eyes on you! I'm only getting on… You-know-who when I want to, and you better not… kidnap me or something!" she said as she grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards her in a threatening matter. Not trusting himself to say anything, he just nodded, and she released him.

He could hear her walk back to the anvil, and he silently laughed. Maybe she would be willing to ride on Toothless soon. But for now it was enough to know she was with him every step of the way.

So that was chapter 14, folks! I tried to make a funnier and lighter chapter after all the depressing stuff of the last few chapters, and I hope I succeeded. Leave a review or send me a PM if you've got anything to say, and I'll be back again soon!