"Normal speech"

'Normal thoughts'

"Dragon speech"

'Dragon thoughts'

(author comment)

~locations and Transitions~

Disclaimer: I don't own How to Train your Dragon

Reviews Corner

Asgeir Skjaldberg: your welcome

Vangian13: thanks for the understanding. The wait is over

Codathewizard: maybe _

ErelagonPlays: sorry for the wait hope the wait will be worth it and same to you

Helloworld: the wait is over

ArashiNokitsune: plot is going to get even thicker

Espartan4001: I don't plan to abandon any of my stories

Umbra Lycan: here you go

What's this? A chapter on Christmas? Well this is my gift to you along with four other new chapters, one for other stories, and one being a new story. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not I hope you are staying safe out there and be healthy

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Please check out my Deviantart page for cover art for current and potential future stories so you can see it better, as well as original and requested drawings I do. DeviantArt name: Artistfan62

Chapter 9: Burning

Six eyes roamed its owner's surroundings. 'What happened? Why have so many not returned?' commanding one of the dragons to approach the ledge that led to the fire pit she forced the Gronkle to retell what had happened during the raid. The second the Gronkle had finished, she burst from the fire pit and chomped on the Gronkle. Taking the ledge it was stood at. She was furious. "I will not allow another to take my CLAIM" the queen ended this with a roar that sent the remaining dragons to fly upward through the volcano spout.

This was a mistake as massive flames burst up through the spout, incinerating many of her dragon servants

"I will consume you! I will not allow an alpha to take what's mine!"

~berk~

The following day after the raid started out like any other day when a raid happened. Repairing buildings, fences, and anything that was burnt. Hiccup was working in the forge as he made some bolts, nails, and braces for structural support. And like usual he had help but unlike usual it wasn't Gobber.

Since her house had remained relatively unharmed apart from a few knocked-over items,

Astrid felt that she could be of help in the forge. She was still learning so she spent the first hour listening to Hiccup explain how to make these small items before she began to form them before handing them to Hiccup so he could do the final touches, such as hammering out some imperfections and straightening them.

Hiccup didn't mind her helping out in the forge since it was lighting his load to a good degree but for some reason, after the raid was over, he had some sort of pressure bugging him in the back of his mind. He chose to ignore it when it just started but ever since morning came, it grew to a mild headache and it was starting to get on his nerves but he did his best to make sure that it didn't show.

Astrid was learning that there was more to a blacksmith than just making weapons. Sure she knew that they made a lot of things that are used around the village but she was now part of the process. As she finished another few nails, she felt that this was a good time to ask "Hey, Hiccup?"

Hiccup paused his hammering to look at her "what's up?"

Astrid moved away from the coals and leaned against the wall "I wanted to ask you before but I didn't get the chance. How exactly are you beating the dragons during training?"

Hiccup froze up at this as he didn't think that she would ask him when they were alone in the forge. 'Oh, thor! oh, thor! What do I say?! What can I tell her so she won't become suspicious of me!?' Hiccup began to shift on his feet as he looked anywhere but at her and rubbed his left arm with his hand.

Astrid could tell immediately how nervous he was based on his body language. 'What could be so hard about telling me?' she narrowed her eyes now giving him an accusatory look. She was about to question him more and forcefully get the answer but someone else chose to interrupt.

"Well if it isn't the disgrace of the village."

Hiccup felt his mood worsen even more as he heard the voice of someone he really didn't want to deal with now…..or ever "what do you want Mildew?"

Mildew walked up to the window and smiled at the boy "just here to make sure that you aren't trying to sabotage our weapons."

Hiccup huffed in annoyance as he turned around and began to work on whatever he was working on "why don't you go bug someone else Mildew. You're not wanted here"

Mildew sneered at the boy but was undeterred "can't leave you on your own otherwise you would burn down the forge, allowing the dragons to kill us all in the next raid."

Astrid although was suspicious of Hiccup from his earlier behavior, she grew confused about the relationship between the two "Mildew, why do you keep saying these things about Hiccup?"

Mildew, having just realized that Astrud was there smiled as if he was proud of her "ah Astrid. Keeping him in line I see. Wise decision. Can't leave the misuse of space alone, otherwise, he might open the gates of Hel for its spawns to kill us all."

Astrid was about to defend Hiccup from the man's words but she didn't get the chance as she was stunned to see a hammer fly through the air and straight at Mildew's head

Mildew ducked in time to avoid the hammer but was still surprised to see that it was thrown

Hiccup in anger threw the hammer on reflex towards Mildew "why don't you leave me alone Mildew!" His head was pulsing now and his headache was getting worse

Mildew scoffed as he sneered at the boy before walking off

Hiccup was breathing heavily as he felt warm. This usually didn't bother him since the forge itself was usually warm but it almost felt like he just got a fever but it wasn't warm enough for it to warrant his attention. He took a deep breath before turning back to his task and grabbed another hammer.

Astrid looked towards Hiccup and could tell that he was breathing slightly heavier "Hiccup, are you….?"

"Please Astrid…..don't ask."

Astrid chose to let it go and get back to what she was doing before but she kept glancing at the boy and could tell something was wrong

Throughout the rest of the day, Hiccup had been feeling lousy. Not really from his outburst but his body felt strained. It was like he went on a marathon but never stopped. Not only that but the warmth he felt didn't drop even when he left the forge. Now he was sitting in the great hall. Picking at the fried fish he had on his plate. For some reason, he didn't really enjoy it as much as he used to. He remembered the taste of the raw fish he had with Luna and a part of him wanted to taste it again. It was at this thought that the small headache he had pulsed causing him to rub his temples trying to stave it off. 'What's wrong with me?'

Unbeknownst to Hiccup, Astrid was keeping an eye on Hiccup as she remembered how suspicious he acted earlier at the forge. "I'm telling you guys that he is hiding something."

Ruffnut rolled her eyes "come on, Astrid. Aren't you just imagining things? Or are you just jealous that he started getting better at Dragon training than you?"

Astrid glared at the other female blonde at that last comment. Ok, maybe she felt a little jealous that Hiccup, the Hiccup was getting better at dragon training fast and that itself was something to be suspicious for but that wasn't the reason for her suspicion. Not the whole reason. "I'm serious! He is hiding something from us and we need to find out what."

Fishlegs took a bite of his chicken leg before he responded "um, he doesn't really need to tell us anything you know." he honestly hated to say this next part as he kinda knew about their treatment of hiccup before "we aren't really his friends."

Astrid glared at Fishlegs as she was about to shout at him "I…." she stopped herself as she thought about what she was about to say: I am. But in her mind, she corrected it. 'I was…..' she thought back to when she was a kid.

Hiccup and she had been friends when they were much younger. In fact, they used to be best friends….. But as time passed she began to become part of the group that saw Hiccup as a nuisance to the village. She distanced herself from him and ignored him when the other kids began making fun of him for his weird ideas. She remembered the day when it really solidified the death of their friendship. Snotlout and Tuffnut had taken to push Hiccup around for their own amusement. Hiccup had wanted someone to help but there wasn't anyone around but he had seen Astrid walk around the corner and spotted it happening. The look on his face told her that he expected her to help him out like she used to but as she took a step back that look of small relief turned to sadness. She turned the other way and walked away from the scene, not seeing the look of hurt he had.

Astrid huffed in frustration as Snotlout spoke with his mouth full

"Come on. So he got good at dragon training. That's a good thing. Now he isn't Hiccup the useless."

Astrid couldn't drop the feeling of suspicion she had about Hiccup. It kept nagging at her until she had enough and stood up from her seat.

Ruffnut saw this and asked, "uh where are you going?"

Astrid chose to ignore the question and stormed over to Hiccups table

"Oh this should be good." spoke one of the twins

Hiccup was rubbing his head trying to calm his headache and so far it was. 'Where in thor's name did this headache come from?' he was suddenly aware of someone standing on the other side of the table. Looking up he saw Astrid standing there looking at him critically. "What is it?"

Astrid wanted to demand what caused his suspicious behavior but she wasn't sure if she should. Their time in the forge kind of told her where their relationship stood: nonexistent. She could tell that he was grateful for the help in making the small bits of needed metal but throughout the whole time, they didn't speak to each other and the only time they did talk, she was the one to start the conversation. It would seem kind of rude especially since she just walked up to him out of the blue but her curiosity won out over logic "what were you so nervous about back in the forge?" she said it with a bot more force than she originally wanted but she couldn't take it back now

Hiccup was taken aback by Astrid's question but he quickly shook it off as he wasn't in the mood to talk about it. Not that he would tell her really. The reason he was getting better in dragon training was that he wasn't trying to beat the dragons like the other teens. He was….playing with them really. "It was nothing."

Astrid didn't accept that answer "it wasn't nothing. I saw how nervous you got when I asked you. It looked like you were hiding something important. So what was it?"

Hiccup felt his headache pulse as she continued to raise her voice "look what does it matter?"

"Cause no one gets as good as you, especially you!"

Hiccup felt his body heat up as he grew frustrated at this "why do you even care! You've ignored my existence all this time and now that I'm actually doing something that will get everyone to actually like me, you come here and start accusing me of something!" Hiccup got up from his seat and chose to just leave "leave me alone, Astrid. you've done it for years so just go back to it." he walked past the crowd that gathered around them and left the great hall, leaving everyone there stunned that he just did that.

Astrid was shocked silent as she watched Hiccup leave. Not once had she been yelled at by anyone. Not even her parents but here was Hiccup leaving after doing just that. She felt angry at the boy and despite her better judgment she felt even more compelled to find out what he was hiding

~ the next day~

Hiccup couldn't focus on anything throughout the day. His head had been pounding ever since he woke up. Not only that but every time he moved, his body would twitch in pain along with an intense burning that he could feel grow hotter. It was so bad that he didn't even remember what the day's dragon training was and he had only just left it. 'Did we face the Gronkle….or the Nadder? Oh gods my body is on FIRE!' he went to his house and immediately grabbed a bucket of water and dumped it on him, clothes and all. "Why am I so hot?" The cold water had helped him but it still wasn't enough. It was then that he felt compelled to head to the cove. He held himself up by the wall as he breathed hard "Luna." he left his house not noticing that the water that he dumped on himself was already evaporating

Hiccup made his way through the village and gave half-hearted waves to people that said hi to him but he couldn't even remember if he even said anything. He just continued to make his way towards the forest.

Unbeknownst to Hiccup, the other teens saw him stumble his way out of his house and began to follow him from behind.

Fishlegs was the most apprehensive of the group to do this. "We really shouldn't be doing this."

Tuffnut rolled his eyes as he looked to the larger boy "come on. Don't you wanna know what Hiccup is up to?"

"Well I am curious but this seems a little extreme."

Snotlout crossed his arms as he just gestured towards the direction Hiccup went "we just want to know what he is doing. What's the harm?"

Astrid kept her eyes on the boy that was making his way through the forest while ignoring what the other teens were talking about. It was when they all moved to hide behind a large rock that Ruffnut came up next to her.

"Still say you're not jealous of Hiccup being better than you in Dragon training?"

Astrid punched her in the arm "I am not jealous."

They continued to follow Hiccup for a while until Fishlegs noticed something about him

"Guys, don't you think that Hiccup is walking kind of funny?"

The group looked ahead and despite how Hiccup was a good distance from them they could tell that his walking was unsteady. Not only that, they just noticed that he was moving really slow, slower than normal.

Astrid quirked an eyebrow "maybe he is trying to throw us off."

Fishlegs on the other hand shuffled on his feet as he didn't agree with that statement "I don't know guys. He looks kind of ….sick."

The group then watched Hiccup stumbling through the forest and they now realized that the way he was walking seemed like he was trying his hardest to stand up straight.

After this realization, Astrid felt kind of bad for being suspicious about him. It might be that his behavior was coming from an oncoming sickness. This was a red flag for her as she knew that sickness can be just as deadly as any attack from a dragon. She paused her movements and stood there feeling low for what she was doing to what used to be a friend. She sighed as she decided that they needed to at least help him back to the village to see Gothi. But when she lifted her head she went wide-eyed at the fact that she lost sight of him. She looked to the others to see that they were looking at her since she had stopped walking. "Did you see where he went?"

The group turned back to the direction that they saw Hiccup walking but they saw that he wasn't there anymore with Snotlout saying "oops."

Astrid shook her head "come one! If he is sick then we have to get him back to the village."

The group began to run through the forest in order to find the heir to the village.

Hiccup could barely keep on his feet. His body felt like it was burning and he could barely see where he was going. He hoped that he was at least going in the right direction as he trudged forward. After a few minutes of this, he came upon the entrance that led to the cove. His mind was foggy and it was only getting worse. He slowly walked through the entrance but as he entered the cove, he lost his footing and fell down the high ledge

~ a few minutes earlier~

Luna huffed as she was starting to get bored about being in the cove to just wait for Toothless. She may still be worried about him since during the raid she heard him roar when he was still human. Something got to him and she had a bad feeling about what it could be "where are you Toothless?" it was then that her ears perked up as she heard movement from the entrance. She got to her paws and ran over closer to the cove entrance. But when she saw him popped out of the entrance she immediately knew something was wrong. "Toothless?"

Hiccup then lost his balance and fell from the hight

"TOOTHLESS!" she ran to catch him and was fortunate to be able to get underneath him before he hit the ground. She grunted as he landed but she was more worried about what could have happened. She turned her head to look at him and could see he was breathing heavily "toothless, what's wrong?!"

Hiccup turned his head as he tried to breathe but the heat coming from his body was making it difficult. "...Luna?"

Luna didn't know what to do but as she took a breath she caught his scent and it smelt more of a dragon. 'Is he about to change? But why….?' whatever it was that was causing him to be like this she knew that it wasn't safe if he turned into a dragon here since it was so close to the nest. "Hiccup, I'm going to fly so please hang on as tightly as you can."

Hiccup could barely hear anything but he was able to hear her so he weakly nodded as he wrapped his arms as tightly as he could around her neck. "...ok."

Luna could feel the heat coming off him but she needed to get him out of here if he was about to change so, spreading her wings she jumped into the sky and away from Berk

The teens were getting frantic in their search for Hiccup cause if he was sick he could very well die from it if they didn't get him to Gothi. It was then that they heard a dragon roar nearby.

They each grabbed their weapons and walked as slowly as they could towards the sound. They needed to make sure that Hiccup wasn't being attacked by a dragon. In his state they didn't believe that he would be able to defend himself especially since they didn't know what dragon it was that just roared. They all moved closer to where they heard it and saw just ahead of them was a drop and they didn't know what might be inside. As they inched closer they heard someone whisper so softly that it was barely audible

"...ok"

They recognized the voice to be Hiccup's and they began to move faster to the edge but as they got to it, something large and white flew just inches from their faces that they all fell backward and saw what looked to be a white dragon flying away.

Every teen was stunned at what had just happened but as Astrid was looking in the sky at the dragon, she couldn't help but think that she saw something on its back. 'Wha….?'

It was then that they all remembered that they just heard Hiccup come from the direction of where the dragon came from. They all got to the edge and looked into the cove for any sign of Hiccup but no matter how much they looked they couldn't see anything.

The teens began to panic at the implication that the dragon had killed Hiccup but Astrid noticed something about the cove. There was no blood. No signs of a fight. It was then that she remembered that she had seen something on the dragon's back and she looked back in the direction of the dragon 'did...the dragon just take Hiccup? But….why on it's back?'

End of chapter

Hello. I'm sorry for the long wait but my reason was that I wanted to focus on finishing my main story but that took longer than I thought and when I finished I had so many new story ideas. Check them out if you are interested

But the wait was actually beneficial for this. The original draft for this chapter was shorter and frankly rushed as well as not having a bit of backstory on Astrid and Hiccup. I hinted at it in earlier chapters so now it's become a bit more clearer as to what happened.

Also, the feel of this chapter and future chapters might be a bit different from previous chapters but I hope you continue to enjoy the read

Also, the part I was waiting for so much had to be pushed back to next chapter or the one after that but we will have to wait and see

Look forward to the next chapter

Flames will be ignored.

Criticism is accepted

Ideas are taken into account and considered

Positive reviews are appreciated

Favs and Follows are motivation

And your enjoyment in reading this is the goal

So please Read, Favorite, follow, and review