Author's Note: The twentieth chapter in "Sticks and Stones!" =D Wow, I can't believe that this is the twentieth chapter already!

Hello, hello, fellow fanfictioners (ehhhh? XD). It's you-know-who with another edition to "Sticks and Stones!" This one is the first part of my second arc in this one-shot collection. It's not much, just Hiccup and Astrid trying to help out some baby dragons, but I made it as interesting as I could. =D I hope you guys enjoy this first part of "Safe Haven!" =D

Summary: While on a flight with their dragons, Hiccup and Astrid encounter a trio of young Scuttleclaws who are being attacked by a Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare. After driving the Nightmare away, Hiccup and Astrid realize that the Scuttleclaws' parents are gone and that they're still at risk of an attack from the Titan Wing, so they set out to find a new home for them. (Post HTTYD 2.)

Safe Haven, Part One

Hiccup laughed as he sped over the vast, blue ocean below, sending thousands of water droplets to splash in the air, sparkling like diamonds in the sun. The young chief clicked the tailfin mechanism, and Toothless did a barrel roll before taking off into the blue skies, speeding after Astrid Hofferson, who was in the lead of their little race.

"Come on, Dragon Boy!" Astrid shouted to Hiccup. She turned around and flashed him an impish smile. "You're riding a Night Fury! You should be faster than this!"

Laughing at her taunt, Hiccup replied, "You'll regret saying that you know!"

"No, I won't!" Astrid said back, and she urged Stormfly to go faster; her Nadder complied. Hiccup smiled and he told Toothless to speed up, which the Night Fury did with no hesitation.

Astrid dove next to Hiccup and Toothless, and tilted Stormfly so the tip of her wing streaked through the water, splashing Hiccup. The auburn-haired chief gasped in surprise, and Astrid laughed and sped off. Hiccup laughed. Despite being completely soaked, Hiccup was enjoying himself. He loved Astrid, and he was glad that he had finally got to escape the hard, busy work of chiefting and spend some time with her. It had been a long time since Hiccup and Astrid had spent some time with each other, and Hiccup wished that things could always be like this: just him, Astrid, and their dragons, flying around and having fun. But now that he was the chief of Berk, Hiccup rarely got to see Astrid or his other friends.

The Haddock knew that it would take some time before he fully adjusted and was settled into his new role as the chief of Berk. But until then, he was extremely busy and occupied almost every day. Hiccup wished that he didn't have so many things to do—he really did. But Hiccup knew that as chief, his people came first. They came before his own needs and wants, so he always tried to meet everyone's expectations, attend every chief meeting, and make sure the dragons stayed under control and didn't cause any upheaval. Astrid had reassured him multiple times that he was doing a great job, but Hiccup felt like he wasn't spending enough time with his friends. Every time he tried to, something came up and he was pulled away from his friends to attend whatever needed his chieftain attention. Hiccup wanted to spend more time with his friends, but he also wanted to help Berk and its people recover from Drago's attack. Hiccup knew that he was still adjusting too; everyone on Berk was, but still, he wanted to be able to spend more time with his friends and family instead of being whisked away by the busy, sometimes stressful duties of being chief.

Hiccup was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Astrid challenge him from above. "I'll race you to the top of the clouds!" she shouted.

"Challenge accepted!" said Hiccup happily, and he immediately steered Toothless toward the direction of the large, fluffy clouds above, passing Astrid after a couple minutes of flying next to her. The two burst through the layer of clouds and their dragons flew in front of each other, allowing Hiccup and Astrid to gaze at each other with smiles on their faces. They briefly admired each other's features, and then steadied into a soft, even glide over the clouds. Hiccup breathed in and closed his eyes, enjoying the wonderful, blissful feeling of being above the clouds where no one goes.

Astrid turned to Hiccup and asked, "So, how's chiefting going?"

Hiccup shrugged. "It's been going pretty okay, I guess." He turned to Astrid. "But I wish I had more time to spend with you and the others."

Astrid smiled softly. "I wish I could see you more often too, Hiccup. But it is important to help the people of Berk, and I'll always be here if you need my help."

"I know," said Hiccup, a smile stretching across his face. "I'm really glad that I have a person like you by my side."

Astrid smiled, but her cheerful expression quickly turned into a frown when she squinted up ahead.

"Hiccup, look," said Astrid. She pointed in front of her, and Hiccup turned toward where she was pointing. Pillars of smoke arose from somewhere ahead of them, and Hiccup's brow furrowed in suspicion.

"Let's go check that out," said Hiccup. He and Astrid directed their dragons toward the smoke and the young chief added, "I hope this doesn't lead to something like the battle with Drago."

"Me too," agreed Astrid. And the two continued to head toward the direction of the smoke.

…

After a short while of flying, Hiccup and Astrid eventually reached their destination. Much to their relief, the smoke wasn't coming from a blown-up fort; it was coming from an island where a trio of baby Scuttleclaws were shooting toward something in the forest with all that they had. Hiccup and Astrid couldn't make out what was in the woods.

"What are they shooting at?" wondered Hiccup.

Astrid squinted down at the action below and pointed at something that just breached the woods. "Look!"

Out from the forest stepped a malicious, terrifying Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare, which was far larger than any Titan Wing Hiccup and Astrid had ever seen. The baby Scuttleclaws continued to blast at it, agitating the larger dragon. It continued to approach the babies, ready to attack them. For some odd reason, the Scuttleclaws didn't back down. They continued to blast at it, backing away as the Titan Wing dragon stepped toward them.

Why aren't they running off? thought Hiccup. Scuttleclaws knew when to run away from danger. Why weren't they running away?

Well, if they aren't going to run, we might as well help them defend themselves, thought Hiccup determinedly. He turned to Astrid.

"We have to help those Scuttleclaws!" he exclaimed.

Astrid nodded. "I'll try and distract the Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare so you and Toothless can help the Scuttleclaws!" With that, the Hofferson dove down toward the Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare and dodged its blasts.

"Stormfly, spineshot!" she shouted. Stormfly squawked and obeyed, expertly shooting her spines toward the Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare. The dragon roared in fury and backed away, but it still did not give up on trying to harm the baby Scuttleclaws.

While Astrid was trying to keep the Titan Wing away, Hiccup and Toothless had landed in front of the trio of adolescent Scuttleclaws. Hiccup could tell by their posture and by the way that they were firing at the Monstrous Nightmare that they were scared. Upon seeing him and Toothless, the Scuttleclaws' eyes narrowed, and they got ready to blast at Hiccup and Toothless, but the Night Fury was smart and quick. He used his new alpha dragon abilities to tell the Scuttleclaws not to shoot and that he and Hiccup were there to assist them. The Scuttleclaws closed their mouths and their eyes returned to their original, curious round orbs.

"Nice work, Bud," said Hiccup as he patted his dragon on the head. He knew that Toothless had lots of practice with his new alpha status, and the young viking was proud of his best friend for nearly mastering it. "Now, let's go help Astrid with that Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare, shall we?"

Toothless nodded and allowed Hiccup to climb back onto his back. The two turned to face the Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare, and they noticed that Astrid was doing a wonderful job at keeping it away. Hiccup and Toothless took the sky, working in sync with Astrid as she fired spines at the Titan Wing dragon. Hiccup and Toothless fired plasma blasts, which threw off the Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare's aim and balance. Hiccup, Astrid, and their dragons continued to blast and fire at the dragon, eventually causing it to give up out of frustration. The large Titan Wing let out an agitated shriek, and then flew off toward the dark, gray clouds, leaving Hiccup, Astrid, Stormfly, and Toothless alone with the three young Scuttleclaws.

Hiccup looked up at the direction the Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare had flown. He had an inkling that it wouldn't stay away for long and would eventually jump at the chance to attack three vulnerable, defenseless Scuttleclaws. Even though they clearly were somewhat skilled when it came to survival and using their fire, Hiccup knew that the trio wouldn't be able to survive for very long by themselves.

"I have a feeling that Monstrous Nightmare is going to be back," said Astrid.

"Me too," said Hiccup. He turned to the three adolescent Scuttleclaws. "We need to find these guys' parents."

Toothless warbled at the three Scuttleclaws, and the three babies didn't respond. Instead, they looked down, and Hiccup immediately understood.

"Their parents must've been protecting them from the Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare," said Hiccup, a hint of sadness in his voice. He watched as the baby dragons stood in silence, and Hiccup empathized with them. Just a few months ago, he had lost his father to Drago. The former chief of Berk had died protecting Hiccup. So, hearing that these Scuttleclaws' parents had passed on while protecting their babies made him feel compelled to help them.

Astrid stroked each of the baby Scuttleclaws' heads. "The poor little guys."

Hiccup nodded. "I know. We're going to need to find another place for them to stay. If they stay here, I fear that the Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmare might keep on coming back for them. "

"Yeah, but where do we take them?" Astrid asked. The Scuttleclaws turned from the Hofferson and looked up at Hiccup with their round, hopeful eyes. Hiccup crouched down, eye-level with the three orphaned babies.

"I don't know," answered Hiccup. "But wherever it is, it's got to be a safe haven for them."

Author's Note: It's baby dragon home hunting time! =D

Until the next chapter!

-BeyondTheMoon1203