It really was amazing, Sam thought to herself. Danny, the goofball, her best friend, had managed to figure out how communicate with yet another non-humanoid specie. Not only that, he'd managed to pretty much become one of them in more than just appearance. If she had been in the same position, she wasn't sure she would last a day without finding one of them trying to kill her. He'd taken on the challenge with a much better attitude than she would have been able to. Not only was he figuring that out, he was still watching out for her.

She frowned inwardly. He was doing a lot to take care of her, going as far as to do something he knew she would find offensive so she could stick to the lifestyle that clearly didn't work among Vikings. It was almost as if she was some sort of Damsel in Distress, and Sam couldn't stand that thought. It was high time she took care of herself. Her brows knit together in determination. With a deep breath, the girl pulled on her newly completed sandals and stalked away. With Danny's flight lessons having just become a pack affair, she knew he wouldn't even notice her leaving.

Once her feet started moving, Sam refused to let them stop, no matter how conflicted she might be about her decision. If she quit walking, she might give up on her plan and turn back. That wouldn't help her or Danny at all, and there was only so much she could do for him. She needed to pay back the massive favor she never asked for, and what she was doing was the first step.

But…It was just so wrong.

The girl shuddered at the thought, but forced herself to keep moving. All too soon, she was standing outside a heavy wooden door. Her fist raised slowly, hesitantly. With a deep breath, she braced herself and knocked. For her purpose, the sound was weak and pathetic. Did the door not understand the weight of what she had come to do? She scowled at the wood, almost offended by the inanimate object. Sam raised her fist once more, and pounded fiercely against the heavy, stubborn panel.

"Sam?"

The girl whirled around in surprise at the voice behind her, her heart racing about a mile a minute. She put her hand to her chest to calm her breathing as Hiccup stood there staring at her in confusion.

"Sam, what are you doing here?" he asked, looking around, "I thought you would have been with Danny… I mean, he is learning how to fly, right?"

"No. I mean, he is. But…" Sam sputtered, then growled in frustration. She was sounding just like the boys. With a huff, she straightened her shoulders and tried again.

"I was looking for Astrid," she explained quickly. Hiccup raised an eyebrow. Sam tilted her chin up, an effort to help her look more confident than she was feeling. She had no idea if it was working, but, after a brief pause, Hiccup raised his other eyebrow and looked around again. It might have been her imagination, but the man looked a little nervous.

"She's sharpening her weapons…told me she needed her other whetstone," he said, his face pulling into a slight grimace, "she does not like distractions when she's in the middle of that."

"Oh…" Sam's eyebrows drew together and her shoulders slumped in disappointment. Hiccup's lips turned downward in concern and his brows drew together. With a quick glance toward the sky, he heaved a sigh and turned back to the girl.

"Hang on. Let me get that whetstone and we'll see if I can help." The man opened the door and disappeared within the hut. Sam only had a short time to wait before he returned and motioned for her to follow. With a nod of agreement, she turned, and the two set off together.

"So…" began Hiccup awkwardly after several seconds of awkward silence stretched between them, "what is it you were going to ask Astrid? I mean if it's a girl thing, you don't have to t—"

"It's not a girl thing," Sam growled out, her face feeling warm with embarrassment. After the argument they'd had over the saddle, she was hesitant to ask him. Her pride was still a little tender about it, even days later. The girl bit her lip and screwed her face into a scowl. The awkward silence returned and her expression soured further. Why were the silences around him always so uncomfortable?!

"Danny knows where you are, right?" Hiccup asked suddenly. Sam turned her head to look at him in confusion.

"No…With all the dragons teaching him to fly, he was a little distracted when I decided to come down here."

The man frowned and glanced at the sky again. After a breath or two, he looked at her again.

"Well, now that I know he actually is a human in there, I need to ask…" he paused as if trying to find the words. Sam raised an eyebrow at him, more confused than before. The man heaved a heavy sigh.

"Is there something going on between the two of you?"

Sam tripped over her own feet and froze at the question. Her brain ground to a halt to process what she had been asked. Then, wide-eyed, she rounded on the Viking in full denial mode.

"What? No! No! Definitely not! I mean, he's my best friend!" Her arms flailed wide and her cheeks blazed a brilliant shade of pink she had no hope to hide. Hiccup gaped at her in alarm and Sam stopped her wild gesturing just as suddenly as she had begun. Her posture drooped a little as a sad smile crossed her face.

"I'm pretty sure he'd never see me like that, anyway," she said trying to sound nonchalant. The man raised his eyebrow again.

"He's awfully protective of you," he drawled slowly.

"He's protective of a lot of people," Sam replied, rolling her eyes at the hinting she'd heard in his voice. Hiccup coughed out a short laugh and continued walking.

"Clueless…" he muttered in amusement. Sam glared at him. She wasn't the clueless one. She knew Danny better than anyone else. The girl crossed her arms with a furious huff and followed after him. The man had no right to assume he knew anything!

"So why were you looking for Astrid?" Hiccup asked after only a short pause.

"I was going to ask to borrow something," Sam answered crossly. A part of her wondered how horrible it would be to bring her request to Ruffnut, but that idea was very quickly squashed.

"Oh. You know, if there's something you need, I'm sure any of us could get it for you from the supply hut. Did you need some tools?"

"No, I don't need any tools," the girl groused.

"Materials?"

"No."

"Blankets?"

"No."

"Books?"

"No!" she barked, having finally lost her temper, "I can't even read your language! I need to borrow clothes! Are you happy?! I need to borrow some of Astrid's clothes so Danny doesn't worry about me getting cold on the flight! I'm going to wear the skins of murdered, innocent creatures and ride on a saddle made of death so my best friend doesn't wear himself out trying to keep up with you guys and keep me from freezing!" By the time she finished her tirade, she was on her tip-toes, mere inches from the man who had raised his hands defensively. Had she been taller, she might would have been nose to nose with him, but the man towered over her easily. Even so, her fury had made her quite intimidating, judging by the stunned look on the Viking in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she stepped back to cross her arms once more and scowl at nothing in particular.

"Is that all?" Hiccup asked, a slight grin slowly replacing the shock on his face. Sam glared daggers at him daring him to mock her. Instead, he began walking again. After a beat, she jogged after him, dumbfounded that he hadn't given a biting or sarcastic comeback.

"What, no gloating?" she growled darkly.

"Nothing to gloat over," he replied simply with a careless shrug. The girl blinked at his back and dropped her arms to her side.

"Gustav left some of his stuff behind last time he was here," Hiccup started, "We've told you about him, right?" Sam nodded. The boy had been mentioned a few times in conversations she'd had with the Vikings, but they never went into a lot of detail about him.

"Most of his things are hand-me-downs anyway," the man continued, "and they might be a bit big for you, but they ought to work."

Sam nodded again, feeling a little numb. She had fully expected that he would add insult to injury, but he hadn't. She had poured out her fury at him, and he'd shrugged it off. Had he replied with anger, or sarcasm, or, well, anything less than friendly, she would have known exactly how to handle it. As they drew closer to the hut that was clearly Hiccup's target, she began to mentally brace herself. It was, after all, for Danny's sake.


It was nearly dark by the time Sam headed back to the stables, and Hiccup had a lot to think about. Once she had started picking through the clothes, he'd scurried off to deliver the whetstone. He was glad the girl hadn't needed much convincing to wash the borrowed gear and even less to take a bath before going back to her reptilian friend. She hadn't asked for reasons, which meant less for him to have to explain. He would, however, need to talk to the rest of his troupe. The man heaved a heavy sigh and ran his fingers through his mop of auburn hair. He slumped backward to lean against the wall of the community hut and look up at the stars that had just begun to make their presence known.

"What a day," murmured a rough, feminine voice from somewhere to his left. Hiccup laughed drily as he turned to look at Astrid.

"You can say that again," he said with a half-hearted smile, "people-dragons…ghosts…time travelers… And let's not forget that thing that's not a thing going on between our visitors."

"Okay, I missed something in there. A thing that's not a thing?" The woman frowned in confusion as she leaned against the wall beside him. Hiccup chuckled. Of course, Astrid wouldn't have noticed. She would never have even thought to look for it.

"They like each other," he said, giving her a smirk, "and I don't think either one of them completely realize it." Astrid narrowed her eyes as she looked back at the man, not quite comprehending. Hiccup's smirk broadened at her expression.

"As in, like like," he continued. He tried not to laugh as he watched Astrid's eyes slowly widen with understanding and her eyebrows crawl up forehead. She pushed away from the wall to look at him straight on, her jaw slack with shock. When she started pointing toward the stable in wordless questioning, he couldn't hold it back. The man guffawed heartily and nodded. Astrid limply fell against the wall once more and stared forward blankly.

"I know. Makes things kind of complicated, doesn't it?" he said cheerfully.

"No kidding," the woman murmured numbly.

With another chuckle, Hiccup leaned over until his shoulder bumped into hers.

"Hey…We're only going flying with a jealous dragon who doesn't realize he's seeing human guys as competition. What's the worst that could happen?" he asked with a wide grin. As he expected, Astrid glared at him.

"Don't even say that!" she hissed as she shoved him away. When Hiccup responded by laughing again, she swiftly punched his arm. Hard. His laughter quickly silenced and he winced as he rubbed what was sure to be a new bruise. After a few seconds, the woman took a deep breath.

"So…What do we do now?" she asked with a concerned frown.

"Well… We tell the guys to try to keep their distance," he said as a sly grin crept across his face, "and hope the kids back home think she's as scary as you are."


Another day passed, filled with activity and preparations. Then, after a good night's rest, the crew began to stir. Danny had only been half aware when Astrid entered the stable with a large pack slung over her shoulder. He could hear Sam grumble sourly when the Viking woman woke her up, but he fell back asleep soon after. He woke more fully later on, when a metallic jingle rang in his ears. He could hear Sam next to him asking questions and was surprised to hear Astrid answering back. In confusion, he opened his eyes to look at the two.

"…Then this goes through here, and you tighten it up like this," said the blond woman with an explanatory tone. Sam was nodding very seriously and watching as the woman demonstrated something on the saddle in her arms. It took a moment to realize that his friend was not wearing her usual clothes. She was decked out, head to toe, in Viking attire, including bits of leather armor and fur.

A sound of disbelief escaped his throat as his jaw dropped in shock, and the girl quickly turned her head to glare at him, daring him to make another noise. Danny quickly snapped his mouth shut and turned his head away. He could feel her narrowed eyes watch him a moment longer, nearly electric in their intensity. The dragon didn't even dare look out the corner of his eye until he heard Astrid continue in her demonstration.

The whole situation was perplexing. For one, Sam was wearing animal products. She would never do such a thing, not even to save her life! Second, it was Astrid explaining his saddle. He would have expected Hiccup to help him with that. But no. He wasn't even anywhere to be seen. Sam hadn't even wanted to touch the thing, so why was she learning how it worked? Lastly, he suddenly realized it was early morning. Early. Sam had allowed herself to be woken up early.

It was so upside-down that he had to put his head back down on the floor to process it. His eyes stared blankly in confusion. Had he woken up in yet another parallel dimension? Maybe he was still dreaming. He blinked his eyes hard to attempt to banish the vision, but no. He was wide awake. Perhaps he had slept through an entire day and not realized it. He had been pretty exhausted when he went to sleep.

Another metallic jingle pulled him out of his thoughts. Very slowly, he lifted his head once more to see if he had been imagining things. No. He had not. The leather saddle had been passed over to Sam and she faced him with a look of determination. Danny's eyebrows shot up in surprise and confusion.

"If you ever tell Tucker," she growled warningly, "you will regret it."

Danny gulped nervously and nodded. He didn't even want to know what she would do. Taking the girl's threat lightly was not a mistake he wanted to make.

With a deep breath, the girl strode forward. Danny held as still as he could, his chest raised ever so slightly off the floor. He struggled to keep a straight face as the girl wrestled the contraption into place. Her tiny hands bumped into him many times as Astrid talked her through the straps and the buckles that would keep it secured. He was sure his heart had skipped several beats in nervousness, and his limbs ached to fidget. Oddly enough, he found himself rather glad that reptiles couldn't sweat, otherwise he was sure he would be soaked.

When the girl finally completed the task and stepped back, Danny released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Astrid soon took her place to check her work and correct minor mistakes, but the dragon didn't feel nearly as nervous over that. He blinked and frowned at the thought, not quite understanding why that was.

When he looked at the woman, she smirked back and patted him firmly on the neck, looking for all the world as if she knew something he didn't. Danny harrumphed in dismay. Once again, he was being left in the dark.

"We'll be taking off as soon as Da—er… as soon as you have breakfast," said Astrid, remembering half way through to talk to him directly, "as soon as you're both ready, come out to the landing platform."

"I'll be right out!" Sam said. The girl frantically scurried to gather up a cloth satchel and bolted out the open door after the Viking woman.

Danny sighed. He'd been hoping she would take a moment to explain what was going on, but apparently just the mention of his meal was enough to frighten her away. Disappointed, he laid himself back down on the floor, left to his confused thoughts as he waited for the other dragons to return.


After a heaping pile of fish and being scolded into cleaning himself properly, Danny walked out of the stable, followed closely by Toothless. The rest of the dragons were already saddled, and bundles of supplies were being divvied out for loading. When the Vikings noticed his arrival, he saw a quick, silent conversation fly between them, one that he couldn't comprehend.

Sam was about to jog over to him, but Astrid hurriedly called for her. With an apologetic half grin, the girl changed courses to see what was needed. The larger black dragon frowned. Toothless however, hummed happily as Hiccup made his way across the platform to join them.

"Hey bud!" the man greeted the smaller creature, giving him a scratch behind the ears. His attention quickly turned to the larger dragon.

"How are you feeling about flying?" asked the lanky Viking with a smile.

Danny forced a smile and tilted his head back and forth. Yes, he'd figured it out, but he was nervous.

"You did get the hang of it, right?" Hiccup's smile faded slightly and his fingers stilled. Toothless was quick to nudge the man and remind him that he was supposed to be scratching those hard-to-reach scales.

Danny frowned with a huff and nodded firmly.

"Ohhhh…" Hiccup breathed, his expression showing his understanding, "you're nervous…"

The large dragon nodded again, though with far less conviction than before.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," continued the Viking, "we've got a light pack for you, and Sam's going to ride with Astrid—" He was cut off by Danny's offended protest. The creature stomped his feet grumpily, which got him scolded by the smaller dragon next to him. Hiccup raised his eyebrows in surprise, and several glances shot in their direction.

"Danny?" called Sam's voice, "is everything okay?" The girl was jogging over, leaving Astrid to shrug in defeat for some reason. Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What's going on?" the girl demanded with concern, her violet eyes darting between the Viking man and the dragon. Danny noticed that Hiccup had taken a step back from her as she drew closer. He couldn't understand why, but he did know he got some strange satisfaction out of it.

"I was just telling Danny the plan for the flight," Hiccup breathed, his tone full of frustration. Danny could practically smell the argument that was about to happen as he saw the frown cross Sam's face.

"And that plan is…?"

"We're giving Danny a light pack to carry," the man explained with exasperation, "and we're going to have you fly with Ast—" His shoulders slumped as he was interrupted again and his palm flew to his face.

"No," Sam growled venomously, "I'm not flying with anyone but Danny." The dragon couldn't help puffing up his chest.

"He's only been flying for—"

"Almost a year! And he's good at it!"

"Not with wings!" Hiccup replied hotly.

"Wings or not, he's a natural in the air! I didn't put on the skins of innocent animals just so you could tell me I can't fly with my best friend!" Sam's arm swung wide to gesture toward Danny as she stared fiercely at the man. Her praise and insistence had him feeling as though something inside his chest was bubbling up. He was just barely holding back the satisfied purr that threatened to rumble through him.

Hiccup, on the other hand, was blank-faced. He looked as though something in his brain had snapped and he was busy putting it back together. After a drawn out second, he frowned and looked down at a worried-looking Toothless. The man's shoulders slumped again.

"You're right," he mumbled with a sigh, "of all people, I should understand that better than anyone…Right, bud?" The man patted the smaller dragon's head and received an affectionate hum.

Sam and Danny beamed at each other. They had won out. They would be flying together.

"You're still getting the lightest pack, though," Hiccup insisted, a defeated smile working its way back onto his face as he led the smaller dragon to get loaded up with his own gear.

Not long after, emotions running high, the dragons and their riders leapt into the air, several pairs of leathery wings beating at the wind as they climbed ever higher into the jewel bright sky.


A/N: Okay, Holidays are over. Holiday projects are...sort of done? Which means I'm back. Huzzah! Though, I don't have a lot to say this time.

To all of you who added this story to your follow and favorites list or left one of those lovely reviews, Thank you so much! Seeing those pop up is always encouraging and makes me very happy. :D

And to each and every one of you lovely readers, as always, thank you for reading! Knowing you're out there and eager to see my next chapter helps me want to keep going. Together, we're going to see this story through!