Author's note: Just a warning to some of my younger readers, there are some adult themes in this chapter.

Narrator's perspective

The black-clad lady rode down the road to the edge of the town, the sun just beginning to set. She looked around, seeing that no-one was following her. The dirt road leading away from the town wasn't exactly ideal for a motorbike, especially one with a low seat, but she'd made the journey many times.

The tapping of the flying rocks on the bottom of the bike became annoying after a while, but she knew not to let it bother her, she was trying to listen out for other things.

The distant but approaching roar of a 4x4 was exactly the sound she was hoping to hear, and also dreading.

"Crap, I've got to find a better route." The lady muttered under her helmet. The headlights were just specks in the distance, but sound can carry far when you're in the outback, and they were getting closer by the minute.

The sun had set, decreasing visibility, meaning the motorbikes headlights had to be switched on, giving away her position further. The 4x4 was closing in rapidly. To try and shake them off, a sharp left turn was made, putting her on a collision course with the truck. She zipped passed and spared a glance back to see them turning around to follow her. Her plan had worked and she was now headed to where her escape would be made. Only hoping that they wouldn't catch up before she made it.

The drop-off was spotted up ahead, it was time. The truck had closed the space it had lost from the U-turn and was almost at her. She raced along, all fingers and toes crossed that she would make it in time.

"Made it." Was spoken as she plunged over the edge of the cliff and into the canyon below. The 4x4 pulled up a few metres back from the cliff. They'd just seen their target fall off a cliff. Boss wouldn't be happy.

Astrid's perspective

I woke up the next morning feeling groggy and unfocused. My date with Hiccup had gone well except for the police. Wait, wasn't I forgetting something. Then it hit me like a speeding train, I sat bolt upright in my bed and rubbed my eyes, trying to conclude if what I thought had happened had actually happened. Oh god, Hiccup can turn into a dragon. Now what? Do I go confront him about it and have a really awkward conversation or completely cut ties with him to avoid talking about it, but I didn't want to do that and it would look strange if we weren't talking right after our first date. So I guess it's the first option.

I dressed and headed downstairs, the smell of pancakes and bacon wafting through the house.

"Morning honey," my mother said as she dished out bacon and pancakes with syrup onto a plate, before handing it to me. I took a seat and started eating. After eating a few bites my Mum cleared her throut and started talking.

"Honey, now that your mouth is full, I want to have a serious talk with you. First off, how did last night go?" she inquired, leaning back on the countertop with her arms crossed

"Um, it went fine." I said, deliberately leaving out the part of the leather-clad woman and Hiccup being a dragon hybrid thing. She'd find out about the police eventually.

"Right, now to the point. I don't know whether you and Hiccup have entered into any sort of relationship but I want to say something. Um, how do I put this gently? There are many people who believe certain things shouldn't happen until marriage, if you get what I mean." She was met by my blank face, me still trying to figure out what it meant. She must have picked up on this because she came out bluntly "Don't do anything you'll regret, like have drunk sex."

My eyes widened and a blush spread across my face. I looked down out of awkwardness and embarrassment, feeling the eyes of my mother looking upon me. She'd told me all about this when I turned 12. I wish I hadn't woken up that morning. I wouldn't look at any guys the same way for weeks.

"Right, now that I've put this out there, go about whatever you were planning for today." She stated.

I hurriedly finished my breakfast, not even adding maple syrup to my bacon, and headed into the garage, where my car was waiting for me. Even after that conversation, I knew I would have to go see Hiccup at some point, so I set a course for his house.

Arriving a few minutes later, I pulled into the drive and got out. I locked my car, and as I was facing away from the house, I noticed a black 4x4 parked by the edge of the forest, only about 300 metres away. Now, black 4x4s aren't uncommon in the Outback, but what caught my attention were the large bouncer looking guys standing next to it. They looked angry. One turned their head in my direction and I quickly averted my eyes.

I walked up to the door of the Haddock house and knocked on the door. Stoick opened it almost immediately, a look of worry on his face.

"Oh, sorry Astrid. I thought you were Hiccup. Now that you're here, have you seen him by any chance?" the towering man inquired.

"No. I was here to ask you if he was in, but I might know where to find him." I replied, thinking back to when I'd first seen him as a dragon, by the cove in the woods.

"Good. Lead the way." He said, pointing down the drive

"Um. I think I can go look for him myself."

"Are you sure?" he asked

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

I walked back down the drive, Stoick closing the door behind me. I noticed that the suspicious looking men had left in the five minutes I was up there. I shook the sinking feeling off and headed into the woods, knowing only the general direction of the cove.

About 15 minutes' worth of stumbling around, I found it.

"Aaaannnndddd, no Hiccup." I said as I spun around, looking for him.

I heard a crackling of branches above me and I looked up. One Night Fury landed in front of me and I was promptly met with a now human Hiccup.

"Sorry about that. I've really got to work on my stealth skills." He said, running a hand through his hair the way he does when he's embarrassed. Wait, why am I noticing this?

"You know your dad's looking for you, he sounded quite worried."

"Oh right, that might be because I wasn't at home when he woke up. You know how he loves to sleep in," I nodded "Well I really wanted to go flying and I didn't want to wait for him, so I left."

"Really Hiccup, you could've at least left a note."

"I did." He remarked bluntly. "And, Astrid, I've been thinking."

"Oh no, that's not a good sign." I joked, receiving a glare from Hiccup.

"This is serious Astrid. You know how my Mum disappeared, I was wondering, now that you know I'm a dragon, if you could help me look for her? I've thought about looking since I got my powers, but I wouldn't be able to search the whole outback, not in a lifetime. But you know now, so that doubles my chances of finding her."

He looked at me hopefully. I stood there and pondered his question. From what I could remember about Valka, she had always been kind and caring, like a second Mum. Being a three-year-old when she disappeared, I didn't really understand what all the fuss was about her not coming home from her job.

"Ok, I'll help you," a beaming smile spread across Hiccup's face "On one condition," his smile slowly dropped "That you show me what your dragon form is capable of."

The smile came back again. I knew Hiccup would love for an opportunity to show off.

We'd spent the past five hours testing the limits of Hiccup's capabilities. I'd timed him as he flew around a roughly 1 kilometre course I'd set out. He finished in a time of 36 seconds flat. I did some calculations and that meant he was travelling at an average speed of 100 km/hr. We also measured his stability while flying at altitude. I'd fallen off at one point, but Hiccup had caught me seconds later.

Now for the fun part, testing his senses. I'd tied a bandana over his eyes and led him to a nearby clearing.

"Right, now for this test, I'm going to sneak around the edge of the clearing. You've got to try and sense where I am and dodge these, uh," I looked around for something small that I could throw, "These, honky nuts." I said as I gathered the aforementioned gumnuts. Hiccup warbled in agreement.

I set about gathering some honky nuts and sneaking around the clearing to the best of my ability. Occasionally I'd give away my position by stepping on some dead leaves or snapping a twig, but I generally thought I was doing quite well. I would throw a nut at Hiccup and he could always detect it somehow and get out of the way. After about 15 minutes of throwing nuts, I ran out and couldn't find anymore nearby.

"Nice job Hiccup." I said, moving over to him and removing the blindfold/bandana.

He turned back to a human, looking rather pleased with himself.

"How do you do it?" I asked.

"Well I guess it's part hearing, like I can hear the small whoosh the nuts make when you throw them, but the other part, I've got no idea how that works, could be some form of involuntary echolocation." He replied.

"Huh, cool."

"Astrid, I told you how I got my powers," I nodded "Well I was wondering if someone else could get the same powers if they were hit by a dragon blast."

"Are you suggesting what I think you are?"

"If you're thinking I might be able to give you the same powers as me, then yes." He said.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked, feeling sceptical.

"Well, there's only one way to find out."

"Oh, I don't know."

"Please Astrid, if we're both able to fly, it will increase our ability to search for my Mum. Please, Astrid."

The pleading look on his face was too much for. I guess I would've felt the same way if I was able to look for my Mum faster.

"Ok, fine, let's give it a shot, literally." I said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Right, let's get going." He said.

Hiccup told me to stand in the centre of the clearing. I walked over and stood there, facing Hiccup.

"You're sure this will work?" I asked.

"More like 70% sure." He replied.

"That's reassuring." I muttered.

Hiccup turned into a dragon and started to charge a blast. My heart was pounding, what if this didn't work? Thump. Please hurry up Hiccup. Thump.

"Alright, let's get this over with." I said.

Thump

"3"

Thump

"2"

Thump

"1"

Author's note: CLIFFHANGER! Please review and tell me what you think of the chapter. Part 2 coming soon. Hope you enjoyed. =)