And now to continue the story and fix that nasty cliff hanger I so cruelly left ya'll on. This chapter contains fluff surprises... maybe and fun biology references! Pleas enjoy my wonderful readers!=^-^=

Ch. 24 - Girls Think Too Much

Back on the ground, the very exhausted Frida was trying to understand exactly what the boys were telling her about Dragonese. "So you're saying she can talk?"

Hiccup was scrutinizing Sol a bit while Mathias was answering her question. "Yeah, Dragonese is a language which can only be spoken by dragons." Nightshade was also looking over the dragon but for a different reason. "Tell me your name young one."

Frida looked to the Moonstreak watching Sol. "So she speaks it?"

"Yeah, she taught me how to understand it and even Hiccup can pick up most of what she says….. so Nightshade?" He turned to his dragon. "Get anything?" Nightshade shook her head. "She hasn't responded to anything else I've said or asked."

Hiccup gave her a confused look. "She doesn't talk back…. Why?"

"I do not know, maybe she does not wish to…. Or maybe… she can't"

Both Mathias and Hiccup traded glances at that. "Why wouldn't she be able too? I mean she spoke it earlier right?"

Nightshade shook her head at Hiccup. "You may know a lot about dragons, but you have more to learn if you cannot derive whether one is still a hatchling."

Sol jumped at that sentence. "Dragon! Hatch!"

It shocked the three of them considering her silence up until now. "Okay dragon and what?"

Mathias crossed his arms in frustration. "She said Dragon and Hatch, but why? Besides if she were a hatchling she couldn't be as old as Frida says she is."

Hiccup rubbed his chin a moment. "Actually…. She might be. How long ago was it that you met Sol?"

Frida thought a moment. "Well, it was about 4 years ago now if I'm remembering right."

"That's it!"

Mathias raised his brow. "Mind sharing with the class?"

Hiccup took another analytical look at Sol Shimmer. "Well, different species of dragons tend to have different maturation rates. Grunkles have around a 3 year maturation period while Nadders only have a 2 year one. Based on some information on migration patterns I was even able to derive that Changewings have a 4 year maturation period. What if Dawn Strikers just have a longer one?"

"That could very well be true. For my nest it is around 6 years before one can become capable of mating."

Hiccup seemed a bit hung up on that one so Mathias filled him in. "She said hers was 6 years."

"Then hers must be at least 5 or 6 years as well, and that could explain her lack of understanding."

"First of all you should not put us on human standards. The dragons of my nest learn most words in their first 2 years. I believe this dragon simply hasn't had enough contact with others who speak it to learn it properly."

"So you're basically saying she lives outside a nest and doesn't have any family?" Mathias' blunt statement earned a gravely sigh from Nightshade. "Well, if you want to be blunt about it, yes."

Hiccup was very fascinated by the theory as he continued to look over the dragon. "So, what happened? This can explain her vocabulary but it doesn't explain why. Do you think something happened to her nest?"

"It very well could have been destroyed. There was another dragon species of my home the humans called hydra. They had a miraculous ability to regrow their heads. This resulted in fear and in most cases they were slain by warriors of the land."

"Oh, I remember those! They grow two heads for every one that gets cut off right?" "Sometimes 3."

Though Hiccup was interested in the topic of a new dragon species he felt they were getting off topic. "While that is very fascinating can we get back on track here?"

Nightshade shook her head. "Yes sorry. My point is that she could be on her own for any number of reasons and debating on them now would be pointless."

Mathias clapped his hands as if closing a book. "Well that works for me." He was about to turn before he noticed the look of extreme confusion on the young princess' face.

"I'll just explain a bit for you." Hiccup proposed, but Mathias quickly cut him off.

"Actually, why don't I do it? After all, I do know more about Dragonese." Hiccup was caught a little off guard by Mathias' sudden suggestion but decided to let him go ahead. He could probably explain it better anyway.

"Well, I might go check in on Scorch and make sure there isn't another servant being terrorized."

Frida stopped him a moment. "Could I get another lesson? Maybe tomorrow?"

Hiccup was a bit hesitant after the crazy ride she seemed to be getting earlier. "Well I guess if you still want to learn.."

Frida beamed at him and clasped his hands. "Thank you Hiccup!" Meanwhile Mathias looked on with mild agitation and Nightshade was sure to note that.

Astrid's pov

I saw him enter his room casually with Toothless just behind him. I'm pretty sure Toothless noticed me but Hiccup didn't. I crept over to the door way and heard him talking. "Just as I thought, he's still out like a light. Frida's lesson took a couple of hours and I bet he hasn't even noticed we were gone." I heard Toothless grunt a bit in response.

A lesson? On what? That Frida girl…. She was the one who came to see him yesterday. Is this the secret he was keeping from me? I peeked around the door frame to see him putting away The Book of Dragons. He did say she wanted to learn about dragons if I remember correctly. "Well I guess this is still to be kept under wraps for the time being. I just hope the king doesn't find out what we've been doing. Who knows how he'll react, though I don't think it will be good for me, like cutting off my head." He seemed to laugh a bit at that.

What did he mean by that? What could he possibly be doing with her that her father would execute him for…. Unless. I felt my face burn up in anger as the thought traipsed across my mind. He wouldn't do that! Not Hiccup! He's….. not like that! It took everything I had to calm myself down. Easy solution for my suspicions would be to confront him, if I'm right then …. By the gods I hope I'm wrong. "Now that I think about it, depending on how she sees it. I might have more to worry about from Astrid's reaction." That unsettled the nerves I had so earnestly worked to calm.

I found myself entering his room before I knew it. "My reaction to what?" I demanded as I closed the door. I tried my best not to sound angry though I might not have been all that successful.

Hiccup was instantly flustered by my sudden arrival and he had a rather guilty look to him as he struggled to explain himself. "W-what? I was just…. Uh…" He slowly backed away until I had him to the wall by the bed.

"Well?!" I was getting worse at hiding my anger and he was getting worse at being coherent. "You were with that girl this morning right? Something happen you can't tell me about?!"

He seemed a bit surprised and he broke eye contact with me with a guilty expression. "Yeah, I can't tell you…" I don't know why but I felt a heavy feeling in my chest as what I thought he was doing sounded more and more plausible.

"So you really were….." I felt my anger fuse with sadness and tears threaten to form. "So what am I to you now that you have your princess?!"

His face seemed to contort in confusion before it finally dawned on him what I was talking about. "W-wait…. No no no, I'm not…. With Frida…" He grabbed my shoulders and sat me down on the bed. "You were listening just now right?" I nodded as I tried to take in what he was trying to convey.

He looked me straight in the eye and I only hoped he would deny what I thought. "That's not it… I love you Astrid. What me and Frida were doing was nothing like whatever you thought just now. You should know I would never do that to you…. Though I guess thinking back on what I said, it wouldn't be hard to jump to that conclusion." He placed his hand on my cheek as he sat down beside me. "I love you Astrid."

He then leaned in and kissed me. The sensation that ran through me was like lightning hitting everywhere at once. I felt him pull me close and break away. "I sorry for making you worry like that." All the heaviness that was settled in me melted away. I was wrong! Thank Thor I was horribly wrong!

I leaned onto his chest. "I…. I shouldn't have jumped to a conclusion like that… it was stupid…. I just…"

He stroked my back as he reassured me. "No it wasn't. It's my fault for keeping this secret from you…. I'll just ask Frida to let you in on it. It doesn't feel right keeping you out like this." I felt him hold me tighter as he pulled me down on the bed with him. I scrambled a bit to regain a comfortable position and found myself lying beside him on the bed in his arms.

Somehow, I remember that first night I spent with him back on the day he left Berk again. I remember just how comfortable it was sleeping by him, and now it feels even better when I'm lying in his arms like this. I had my head pressed against his firm chest as I clung to him. "Hiccup….." He looked to me with a loving smile. "I love you too." He pulled up my lips to his and we kissed again for what felt like hours. It's easy to lose time when it feels this good.

We laid there for a long while until Scorch finally woke up and joined us on the bed. He grabbed Toothless' attention, who was lying by the door, and he got up to greet the little dragon. "Hey Scorch, I thought you were gonna go comatose for a while there." I giggled a bit at his remark. I knew all too well just how heavy a sleeper that dragon was. I felt Hiccup's hand go down my braid that lined my back.

Scorch then proceeded to curl up behind my legs. "Seems like Scorch enjoys laying with you as much as I do if he'll wake up for it." He then stroked my cheek with his right hand. "There's just something about you that I can't keep out of my mind. How in the world could I have gotten such a beautiful girlfriend?"

I felt my cheeks burn at that. "It wasn't luck if that's what you were going to say next." I then cuddled up closer to him, secretly hoping this could last forever. I was an idiot for even letting the thought cross my mind that he would cheat in the first place.

No one's pov

A horn went off just as Astrid was leaving Hiccup's room. "That horn again?"

Hiccup followed up to her. "It means someone important is here." The 2 watched as several servants barreled down the hall and towards the throne room.

"Yeah, someone really important I'd wager." They decided to take a look and so the 2 of them were preparing to follow when Mathias and Frida came down from the same direction.

"Hey Hiccup, did you see a bunch of really flustered looking servants come through here?"

Hiccup seemed a bit confused by the question. "Yeah, why?" Before he could answer another horn was blown.

"It seems the arrivals to the moot are picking up the pace. The horn will probably be blown till dusk." Frida broke away from Mathias and hurried down the same hall as the servants before.

Mathias scratched the back of his head and looked at the two. "You guys seem cozier than normal."

His previous confusion forgotten, Hiccup tried his best to hide his embarrassment by the statement. "W-what are you talking about?" Astrid shook her head at his pathetic attempt to lie. She knew how bad a liar he was, at least to people he knew, and so did Mathias by this point.

The grin became evident on the young trader's face as he looked between the two. He shook his head in a knowing manner before heading off to his room. Astrid and Hiccup then once again proceeded down the hall trying their best to hide their mutual blush. "So this meeting, how big do you think it will be?"

Hiccup thought carefully over his answer before replying. "To be honest, I don't know. Chances are he's going to call on any ally to help considering the history he holds with the situation."

"You're talking about what he said yesterday right?"

"Yeah, ancient prophecies can make for a good argument." Hiccup sighed and crossed his arms. "This whole thing feels….. I don't know, maybe unreal?"

Astrid laughed at the boy. "After all that's happened you finally draw the line at ancient prophecy? Nice to know you're not completely insane." Astrid's sarcasm aside, Hiccup was beginning to feel uneasy, but whether it had anything to do with the king's words or not he couldn't say. "So anyway, if he's going to be calling on all of his allies, doesn't that mean that your dad will be coming?" They had just reached the threshold for the doorway to the throne room and Astrid seemed a bit agitated at Hiccup's lack of answer. "Uh Hiccup?"

She turned to him and saw him facing directly towards the door so she followed his gaze. It seems her timing was perfect due to the face that the Chief in question had just been escorted inside the hall. Hiccup seemed a bit confused at his arrival. "What's he doing here?"

Astrid sighed at him. "I'm sure I remember telling you about the alliance treaty Stoic signed with Langaholt. You even had me go over it in detail at least two more times."

Stoic hadn't seemed to not notice his son and continued on to greet King Eirikr. "Ah! Stoic the Vast! I thought with your journey, you'd be the last to arrive."

The king stood and shook hands with the village Chief. "What can I say? Travel tends to get a bit faster with the right mount." Both men laughed at the remark in jolly fashion before Stoic finally noticed the ever approaching Hiccup."H-Hiccup? What are you doing here?" The chief strode swiftly to his boy and grabbed him in a hug. "I'm so glad to see you're alright Hiccup! I've been worried since you left."

He let him go to give Hiccup his lungs back and pat his shoulder. "It's great to see you too dad, but what are you doing here?"

Stoic seemed perplexed at the question. "Well, we received a summons from King Eirikr for the dragon riders of Berk. You weren't there so who else was there to answer?"

Hiccup still seemed more than a bit confused. "Then…. They let the dragons out?"

Stoic gave him a sly smirk. "You could say I wore them down… at least until the twins blew something up. After that the summons was what kept them free, aside from Belch and Barf."

"So I guess that means that you brought Snotlout and Fishlegs?"

Stoic looked up to the approaching Astrid. "Well actually I only brought Snotlout, otherwise who would keep the twins out of trouble? It's good to see you Astrid, me and Gobber weren't sure if you ever met up with Hiccup when you left." Hiccup winced a bit at the mention of Fishleg's fate.

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise?" They all turned to see a very amused King Eirikr. "I would have never guessed you were the son of Stoic the Vast."

Stoic pat his son's back proudly. "That he is."

The King laughed a bit to himself. "Well that makes things easier for tomorrow then. Now I can introduce the son of a chief instead of a mysterious dragon rider."

Alright and there you have it! BTW I resisted the urge to put ya'll on another cliff hanger this time around, but who knows what tomorrow brings? Anyway, I hope ya'll enjoyed the Hicstrid and the explanation about Sol. I will be doing more background on Sol soon so look forward to that! Now I'm going to go eat cause I'm starving! Please review cause ya'll should know how I update by now!=^-^=