Ilda woke up early to visit the Hjalfadargin markets with her mother to pick up some groceries. The markets were set up once a week for the weekend at the village square, open for everyone to visit to buy themselves some bundles of corn, fresh berries and cuts of meat. The markets were also an opportunity for home artists to head out the streets and sell their creations. A few people would be busking with their instruments and voice, seeing it as a perfect chance to earn a bit more money. Through the weekdays, stores were still in operation but the market was a great excuse for people to socialise.

Ilda had purchased a home-made bracelet weaved out of colourful threads and decorated with a shell as the charm. She was hoping to get one today for her young sister, Iva as an early birthday gift. Her sister had been always looking at the bracelet on her older sister's wrist, asking if she could wear it for a couple minutes making promises that she would take care of it. And she did take care of it when she had it on her small wrist.

The moment Ilda walked into the village square with her mother by her side, one arm linking with her mother's and the other holding an empty basket, the markets were already busy but she noticed the air was different. There weren't many Nirhongans as there normally was, but a few were shopping around or just browsing.

"Hun, I'm gonna head over to the delicatessen stall. Go get some fruits. You know what to pick out," Ilda's mother requested. Ilda nodded and they parted ways with the couple of coins her mother gave her.

Ilda walked past another large family of Nirhogans who looked dejected after buying three apples and heading out of the square. She overheard the father saying to his kids, "Hopefully we can get more soon once I get paid."

Ilda knew the family, sort of. She always saw them when she visited the markets and they would usually leave the square with more than just three apples and three bananas. They had five kids and themselves to feed and Ilda wasn't sure if they had more food at home to last a week.

Ilda just shrugged it off and made her way to the fruit stall. She gazed at the array of fruits in front of her, greeting the vendor with a quick smile, before thinking back to what her mother normally purchases.

"Can I get six apples, four oranges and a quarter of a kilo of blueberries, please?" Ilda requested and handed the empty basket to the vendor. The vendor was an old Hjalfagarg man who her mother was friendly with. He filled the basket with the fruit she asked for as Ilda dug through the small bag at her waist, picking up the exact amount of silver.

She held out her fist full of the silver to the vendor and the vendor held out the basket to her.

And that should be-

"Ten silver."

Ilda's smile dropped. "What?" Her arm slightly dropped too.

"Ten silver." The man repeated.

"No, it's not. Six apples, four oranges and a quarter of a kilo of blueberries are only six silver," Ilda refuted. "Apples would be one silver, the oranges two, and the blueberries three."

"It was. But now what you want is eleven silver."

"What do you mean 'it was'? Why have the prices gone up?"

"I don't know! It's a new law!" The vendor raised his voice, getting more and more frustrated with Ilda.

"Five apples, five bananas and seven plums, please," Another Hjalfadarg, who had approached the stall, requested.

The vendor sorted out that person's order. "Five silver," the vendor said and the Hjalfadarg paid and left. Ilda gaped at the transaction that just happened in front of her.

"And why didn't they pay the new price?" Ilda questioned, planting her hands on her hips.

"Look, girl. If you don't wanna pay, then fine!"

"Then what's this about the new law and why does it only apply to me and not to that person?!"

"Go look at a bulletin! Gods!"

Ilda didn't say another word and charged, pushing through the busy crowd and stomped her way to the closest bulletin - a simple wooden board which was dug into the ground. She found other Nirhongans and a few Hjalfadargs crowding around it and she made her way to the front and read the newest and largest notice on the bulletin board, covering older notices.

Be it enacted by the royal duchess and the royal court, citizens of Nirhongan descent shall be charged forty percent from the standard price when making any purchases at stores or vendors across Hjalfadargin.

The notice was signed by Gerda along with a stamp of the official crest of Hjalfadargin.

Ilda heard whispers behind her from Nirhongans of lower class like her and even the peasant ones who were already struggling enough finding silver.

Ilda wasn't able to get the bracelet for her sister today or anytime soon.

Ilda looked up to the castle and saw Gerda standing at the balcony looking on at the village. Ilda glared at the woman and could see a smug smile on her face as she overlooked the village square and saw it more full of Hjalfadargs.

Ilda muttered to herself, "That bitch."

—

Eulianna didn't bother sketching the Deadly Nadder today. After yesterday, she realised she was much more interested in observing the dragons rather than sketching them. She had brought her panpipe today, practicing song 'No. 5.' A jaunty tune she had practiced a couple of times and was close to completely mastering it. She watched the Deadly Nadder jump on the top of the maze, shooting spines at the recruits who did their best to shield themselves. She stood next to Gobber who observed the recruits from up above and giving them tips. The village elder, Gothi was also observing dragon training today. Eulianna tried greeting her and it took her two minutes to realise Gothi wasn't much of a talker.

"You know, I just happened to notice the book had nothing on Night Furies." Eulianna heard Hiccup ask Gobber, as if he had totally forgotten where the Hel he currently was. "Is there another book? Or a sequel? Maybe a little Night Fury pamphlet?" A blast flew the axe head off its hilt and left a hole in a wall of the makeshift maze, taking Hiccup by surprise and he let out a yelp and scurried off. Eulianna remembered how last night she woke up to him on the Night Fury page and was particularly interested in the mostly blank page.

"Focus Hiccup! You're not even trying!" Gobber yelled. "Today... is all about attack. Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter," he instructed.

Fishlegs yelled as he blocked the spines from the Nadder with his shield. "I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods."

Eulianna held back a snort and played a wrong note as she wondered the same thing.

"Look for its blind spot. Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it, and strike," Gobber further directed. Gobber sighed and turned towards his goddaughter, lowering his voice. "I don't understand why he's not even trying. It's like he wants his head to be blown off." He turned back to the arena to see that twins narrowly missed a hit from the Nadder. "Blind spot? Yes. Deaf spot? Not so much."

Hiccup ran past, but then stopped in front of Gobber. "He-hey, so how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?"

Gobber massaged his forehead and snapped back, "No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale. Now get in there!"

"I know, I know, but hypothetically…"

"Hiccup!" Astrid whispered at him, motioning him to hide along with her and Snotlout.

"Hypothetically, he should think about not getting killed right now instead of asking about Night Furies," Eulianna commented, earning a noise of approval from Gobber.

"He must be obsessed with them. Keeps asking 'bout them!"

"Maybe because he shot down a Night Fury at the raid," Eulianna casually added, earning a sigh from Gobber.

"Agh, you don't believe that, do ya?" Gobber didn't receive an answer from her when the Nadder started knocking down the maze, ruining all the paths.

Hiccup found his way back to Gobber and Eulianna. "They probably take the daytime off. You know, like a cat. Has anyone ever seen one napping?"

"Freckles!" Eulianna yelled out seeing the walls fall down on one another towards him.

"-Hiccup!" Astrid bellowed, causing Hiccup to turn to see the girl leap off the top of the maze and land on him, her axe wedging into his shield as she fell.

"Ooh! Love on the battlefield!" Tuffnut teased.

"She could do better," his sister mentioned.

Eulianna's lips tightened at the twin's words and the scene before her. Astrid was struggling to remove her axe from the shield which was attached to Hiccup's arm. Her other hand was on Hiccup's face, pushing it towards the ground in an attempt to tug her axe out. As the Nadder raced towards the two, Astrid set her foot on Hiccup's shield, then his face and yanked the axe out, the shield still attached to it as she swung her weapon at the Nadder's face, breaking the shield. Eulianna winced at the direct hit. The Nadder squawked and scampered away from Astrid.

"Well done, Astrid," Gobber said and entered the arena to bring the Nadder back to its cave.

"Is this some kind of a joke to you?" Astrid turned to Hiccup who was still on the ground. "Our parents' war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on." Astrid pointed at Hiccup with her axe and he flinched. She turned away from him and walked out with the other recruits.

Eulianna didn't approve of her injuring the dragon, but the girl's determination in saving herself and Hiccup was commendable.

"Good job, Astrid," Eulianna complimented the girl as she passed by who just nodded in return. Astrid was obviously too frustrated at Hiccup and it was understandable. Eulianna could see where Astrid was coming from and when Eulianna turned back to look at Hiccup, still on the ground, so could he.

He had momentarily forgotten about his dad who was out at sea trying to find the dragon lair. He eventually got up to his feet and walked into Eulianna who had entered the ring.

"What's going on, Freckles?" Eulianna looked at him with worried eyes. "What's all these questions about Night Furies?" He didn't answer and looked below Eulianna's eyes as if he was staring at her chin but really wasn't really looking anywhere. "Is there something you wanna tell me?" Eulianna bent her knees to meet Hiccup's eyes.

"...No," Hiccup finally spoke.

Eulianna sighed and looked over to the scattered weapons by the wall of the arena, dropping her satchel with her panpipe inside and picked out two lightweight swords. She walked back over to Hiccup and handed him one. He reluctantly took the weapon and stared at it. Eulianna stepped a couple of feet away and pointed her sword at Hiccup.

"What are you doing?" Hiccup asked nervously, flinching away from the end of the sword. His eyes flickered from the sword to Eulianna's emotionless face.

"We are gonna spar," Eulianna replied. She stepped forward, bringing her sword up and aimed to strike against Hiccup's empty arm. Eulianna didn't use much force when she moved the sword, she knew he wasn't experienced with swords and the boy wasn't exactly strong. He brought up the arm with the sword in reflex and managed to block the hit.

"Why?!"

"No reason," Eulianna shrugged, and swished her arm around and landed the flat side of the blade against his thigh. "Just spar with me." He jumped and stared at her in shock.

"One." She swiftly swung the sword back around just below his raised arms and placed the flat side against his waist.

"Two."

Hiccup's arm lowered, trying to block a strike but failed when Eulianna had yet again landed another one, this time on his shoulder back on the other side.

"Three."

Hiccup groaned and shook his arms, trying to get into focus and maybe land a strike. He put both hands on the hilt of the sword and lowered his stance. Eulianna stepped back, inviting him to try to strike her. He took a step forward and swung his sword back and then forward, thinking he would land a strike, but Eulianna easily blocked it and pushed his blade away with hers, rolling Hiccup's wrists to the right. Hiccup felt the sword slipping out his grip, but refused to let it so he tightened his grip, backing away.

She landed another blow with the flat of her blade on his arm.

"Four."

Hiccup exhaled and charged ahead, growing tired yet persistent. He tried striking horizontally, but she quickly flinched away, a bit surprised at Hiccup's attempt. Hiccup took her surprise as an opportunity to strike. He moved his sword quicker and tried slashing her, but she spun around, narrowly missing the edge of the blade. Eulianna let out a small gasp. Hiccup could've injured her at that moment, but she held back her tongue. She realised he was trying to fight back, he was releasing some steam.

Eulianna advanced towards, Hiccup retreated. Eulianna countered back with her sword, and Hiccup had finally blocked it, on purpose this time.

The two of them went on at it, Eulianna continuing to strike her tally increasing. Hiccup blocked more and more strikes but has yet to land a strike himself.

Gobber had been watching the two teenagers silently, shocked that Eulianna knew how to wield a sword and looked on at Hiccup anxiously.

Eulianna moved her elbows to the side, holding the sword horizontally and went to swing forward and Hiccup blocked it even quicker this time. Eulianna raised her brows at him and Hiccup took the chance.

Hiccup moved his elbows and landed the flat of his blade on her waist and said, "One."

Eulianna dropped her sword and smiled at him. "That was fun!" She perked up, going to pick up her satchel.

"Maybe, for you," Hiccup muttered.

"Maybe. But now you're learning a new skill. Let's do this again sometime," Eulianna patted Hiccup's shoulder and left the arena as he watched her leave, before making his way to the forest.

Eulianna was back at the village and noticed Astrid sitting on a rock, getting the last bits of Hiccup's shield off the blade of her axe. Eulianna debated on whether to talk to her or not.

Why not?

"Are you okay, Astrid?" Eulianna approached her, taking a seat two rocks away from her.

"I'm fine! I'm great!" Astrid exclaimed back.

She's definitely not okay.

"It's just funny how the chief's son doesn't give a shit about dragon training." Eulianna let her rant. "Out of all kids. I'd expect this from someone like Fishlegs maybe. But maybe I did expect this from Hiccup. He's always been the outcast, but I thought he'd be eager to learn how to kill dragons or even learn how to defend himself from one. But so far, he has no interest at all! What's gonna happen when another raid or war happens. He's just gonna let himself get killed out there. Why can't he just try?" she huffed, throwing her axe to the ground in front of her.

"...You done?" Eulianna sheepishly asked.

"Yeah."

"I think…" Astrid eyes switched from the sky to Eulianna. "Fre-Hiccup. I think Hiccup is trying," Astrid narrowed her eyes at Eulianna as if she was saying, 'You know he isn't'. "Hear me out. He's already got so much pressure being the son of the chief, from both the village and his dad. And also he's been trying to prove himself and yeah, he hasn't been successful. And his method of trying is obviously very different from yours. Also, he seems too occupied with other things that he needs to figure out before he can focus completely on training and we should just… respect that, I guess. He may lack in some areas, but he might have the potential. You're amazing at what you do, Astrid. Obviously the best recruit. Hiccup is getting there... At a very slow rate." The last bit earned a short small laugh from Astrid.

"You've got hope in him," Astrid mentioned.

"Yeah, I guess I do. You've only done two lessons. There's a bunch more to go," Eulianna pointed out and Astrid nodded.

"Thanks for letting me rant. And also, thanks... for saying I'm amazing. Sorry I didn't say thanks back at the arena." Astrid appreciated the fact Eulianna listened to her and didn't argue back. The viking girl didn't completely agree with Eulianna's insight, but she wasn't going to say that to her face. Not when the Hjalfadarg girl came to see if she was okay.

"It's okay, I get why you didn't," Eulianna said and smiled at the girl who returned it.

"See you at tonight's bonfire?" Astrid asked as she stood up and picked up her axe.

Eulianna stood as well and thought about it before replying, "Sure."

—

Eulianna arrived at the bonfire later than everyone else and in the middle of Gobber's story. She didn't realise how much time she spent practicing the panpipe and refused to leave her house until she finished a song. Eulianna moved around the fire and waving first at Hiccup who was staring into the fire and shooting a smile at Astrid. She sat herself in an empty space in between Fishlegs and Ruffnut. Ruffnut handed her a roasted drumstick and the brunette thanked her.

"...and with one twist he took my hand and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on his face... I was delicious." All the teens were listening intently to Gobber's recount of how he lost his limbs. "He must have passed the word because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg." A few of them audibly awed at Gobber's tale.

"Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon?" Fishlegs spoke up. "Like if your mind was still in control of it you could have killed the dragon from the inside by crushing his heart or something." Astrid who sat next to Fishlegs looked at him in mild shock.

"You're much darker than I thought, Fishlegs," Eulianna commented and took a bite from her drumstick. Astrid looked at Eulianna in agreement.

"I swear I'm so angry right now," Snotlout added glaring at the whole chicken he was holding. I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight, with my face."

"It's the wings and the tails you really want," Gobber said, pulling off the wings from the roasted meat he was holding for emphasis. "If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."

Eulianna saw Hiccup's face slightly lift as if he just realised what Gobber was saying. As if something sparked Hiccup to go and do something.

Gobber yawned and announced to the circle of teenagers, "Alright. I'm off to bed. You should be too. Tomorrow we get into the big boys. Slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who'll win the honour of killing it?" The rest of the teens looked at each other in pure excitement and eagerness. Eulianna looked around the circle and when she reached Tuffnut, she saw that Hiccup was no longer there and left his roasted fish on his seat. She peered behind her to see if she could see if he was in the village, not knowing he just had left.

Tuffnut put his roast down and said. "It's gonna be me." He pointed to himself with both thumbs. "It's my destiny. See?" He took off the left side of his vest to reveal a red mark.

Fishlegs loudly gasped, "Your mum let you get a tattoo?"

"It's not a tattoo. It's a birthmark."

Ruffnut scrunched her face and countered, "Okay, I've been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there before."

Astrid saw Eulianna looking behind her and over her seat and turned back to see Hiccup gone and got up from her seat and to the top of the stairs, barely getting a glimpse of Hiccup before retreating back to her seat.

"Yes, it was. You've just never seen me from the left side until now," Tuffnut pointed out.

"As if," Snotlout scoffed.

Fishlegs looked at Eulianna's back who was still leaning over her the tower. "Hey, do you think Tuffnut's birthmark is real?" Fishlegs tapped her shoulder. Eulianna immediately turned and sat back down and raised her brows in response.

The rest of them were looking at her as she looked at Tuffnut showing off the dragon-esque mark on his shoulder. "Um, it could be? I dunno."

"C'mon! Vote in!" Snotlout urged. "All of us, besides Tuffnut, think it's just a tattoo. How 'bout you, babe?" He gestured to Astrid who rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"I've never seen a red tattoo before though," Eulianna said. "It looks like a burn, instead," she thought aloud.

"Oh, yeah I see that!" Fishlegs agreed.

"Imagine getting a sick burn from a dragon! Ooh, or a burn from a dragon in the shape of a dragon!" Snotlout wondered aloud.

"Trust me, it's not a pretty sight," Eulianna snorted as she focused on making the chicken browner with the firepit in front of her. "And hurts like Hel. For longer than you think."

"What do you mean by that?" Gobber asked and all the teens turned to her in confusion.

Eulianna shrugged off her vest and turned her right shoulder towards everyone. There was a mix of reactions. Astrid and Gobber just looked at it in surprise, Fishlegs and Snotlout gasped, and the twins awed at it.

"That's sick!" Ruffnut beamed with Tuffnut nodding in agreement.

"And that's from a dragon?" Fishlegs asked.

"Yep. I'm like ninety five percent sure. I'm five percent not sure because it happened so long ago," Eulianna answered.

"If you were dragon training with us, you would've won the chance at killing a Monstrous Nightmare. Of course, only if I wasn't there, 'cause it's gonna be me," Snotlout said and leant back in his seat, puffing his chest out.

"Nuh uh, I've got the birthmark!" Tuffnut emphasised the mark on his body again.

"Wait, do you know which dragon burned you?" Astrid inquired, stopping the two boys from arguing.

"No," Eulianna said and put her vest back on. "Not yet."

—

She had arrived late to the next morning's training. She got distracted by seeing a visitor at the docks so she went closer to get a better look.

At the docks, she noticed another ship at Berk with a skull flag attached to it and a man with a dark and straggly beard talking to a viking. His face seemed to be permanently stuck on one expression - annoyed and furious. On his boat, it seemed to be fifty or more people chained to the boat. The metal cuffs on each other wrists all connected to one another. Many people of different colours and ages were on the boat, sitting on the deck looking famished, tired and terrified.

"Who is that?" she asked a trader about to head off.

"What?" The trader looked over to the man. "Oh, that's Sckrone. He's a trader for fur, animals and other things I cannot disclose with you, princess."

"Why are all those people on his boat? Some of them look close to death..."

"That's one way to put it. But those are Sckrone's slaves. Poor looking bunch of people.

Eulianna stared at the people on the boat in sadness. She saw an old couple, young teenagers, a couple with a young child, orphans. A few of them looked to be Nirhogan while the rest looked to be from places of the south or west. She saw ethnicities she's never seen before and it made her think how much of the world Sckrone had covered.

"Oi!" Eulianna heard a deep voice yell and she turned to see Sckrone glaring at her. Eulianna furrowed her brows and ran off, looking one last time at the slaves before heading to the training arena.

She found the arena clouded in a murky, green gas, crowding the recruits. Eulianna had brought her own sword with her to the arena, hoping to spar with Hiccup again today and teach him a few tips. Eulianna could barely see what was happening underneath all that gas and just waited until something happened.

She noticed the village elder, Gothi on the other side of the arena's higher ground, also watching. Seeing the older woman reminded Eulianna of her great-grandfather and wondered how he was holding up. If he had gotten sicker since the day she left, if his memory is getting better and if he's being entertained by Erland or Selby.

"Oh! I'm hurt!" Eulianna heard Tuffnut yell and he came into sight as the gas started to lift. "I am very much hurt!"

Eulianna found Hiccup and Fishlegs next to each other holding wooden pails of water as a head of a dragon snaked towards the two of them and taunted Fishlegs, who was doing his best not to drop the pail. Fishlegs hastily hurled water onto its head but as the dragon growled and gas produced from its mouth, he realised his mistake.

"Oh. Wrong head," Fishlegs stated. The dragon projected its gas directly onto Fishlegs, making the larger boy throw his hands into the air and run away.

"Fishlegs!" Gobber yelled out in worry.

The head stopped chasing Fishlegs when it spotted Hiccup just standing there watching Fishlegs run off. The other head of the dragon appeared, its mouth sparking ready to produce combustion.

"Now, Hiccup!" Gobber instructed.

Hiccup went to throw water up at the dragon's head with all the strength he could muster up, but completely missed when the water arced below the dragon and just dropped to the ground. The two heads of the dragon watched him fail miserably and one head snaked down to his eye level.

"Now, that's just embarrassing," Eulianna muttered to herself.

"Oh, come on!" Hiccup groaned at himself. The head producing sparks thrusted itself towards Hiccup and let out a roar, making Hiccup fall backwards and land on his butt as he scampered backwards.

Eulianna gripped the bar in front of her as Gobber hobbled towards the boy.

"Hiccup!" Gobber was about to intervene but halted when he saw Hiccup get up and hold out his hands as if he was controlling the two-headed dragon. The dragon backed away from the boy

"Back! Back! Back!" Hiccup repeated to the dragon, whose heads flinched away from him. The rest of the teens gathered together to watch the boy in confusion and awe. Just yesterday, he was running away from dragons but today it seemed like the dragon wanted to get away from him. "Now don't you make me tell you again! Yes, that's right."

"How the Hel?" Eulianna murmured.

"Back into your cage," he ordered the dragon. He glanced quickly behind him. "Now think about what you've done." The dragon had completely backed away to the wall of its cage and Hiccup shut the doors and turned, wiping his hands on his fur vest and shocked to see everyone staring at him silently in complete shock.

"So how had the boy who completely sucked is now the potential killer of the Monstrous Nightmare?" Eulianna wondered aloud, her eyes narrowing in on the boy.

"Okay! So are we done? Because I've got some things I need to...uh...Yep...see you tomorrow!" Hiccup awkwardly bounced around before leaving the stunned crowd. He scampered past Eulianna who was quick on her feet and sneakily followed him.

Eulianna tailed him all the way to the forest where he weaved through bushes and rocks. She quietly moved around Hiccup's path to hide behind a tree he would soon approach, clutching her satchel to not jostle her too much and to not make any noise. She unsheathed her sword and stepped into Hiccup's line of view, and pointed the sword towards his direction in level to this throat.

Hiccup yelped an, "Oh gods!" He skidded to a stop just a metre away from the tip of the sword. "Eulianna! Why?!"

"Are you my friend?" Eulianna asked, surprising Hiccup.

"What?"

"Are you my friend, Freckles?"

"...Yes?"

"Okay, then why have you been avoiding conversations with me and why do you not trust me with whatever you're hiding?" Eulianna pointed the sword to the soil and shifted her weight on it. "I've had a longer conversation with Snotlout recently."

"What?" He laughed nervously. "I haven't been avoiding you! I just need to be somewhere." He stepped to the side to head to wherever he was going, and Eulianna stepped in front of him.

"You're avoiding me right now," Eulianna deadpanned.

Hiccup paused and looked at her hand, firm on the hilt of the sword and kicked it, making her yelp and topple to the ground, landing on her side. He walked off away from the fallen girl without a word and headed off.

"Are you serious?!" Eulianna screamed as she pushed herself up to lean on her elbow and grabbed her sword and pointed it at Hiccup's back. "STOP!"

Hiccup halted and sighed before he turned to the dishevelled girl. His eyes narrowed down to the ground in front of her chest.

"Where are you looking?!" Eulianna screeched as she rose to her feet, her arm covering her chest.

"No! What?! I'm not looking there!" Hiccup blurted as his face quickly got red. "I was looking at your necklace! I swear!"

Eulianna looked down at the dragon scale necklace she normally had hiding under the bodice of her dress.

It must've come out when I fell, she realised.

"Yeah, what about it? It's the scale of the dragon who burned me," Eulianna divulged to Hiccup whose jaw slacked.

"This-this dragon… uh… did it have green eyes by any chance?" Hiccup squeaked out the question.

Please say no, Hiccup wished.

"Yeah! It did! How'd you know?!" Eulianna's eyes brightened as she asked.

"Oh no. Ohh no," Hiccup stammered. "Okay. I'll tell you why I haven't been speaking to you-"

"You mean avoiding me."

"And why I've been running off. But you can't freak out," Hiccup said.

"I won't."

Hiccup silently walked further into the forest, motioning for Eulianna to follow him. They stepped over logs and brushed through wildflowers until Hiccup led her between a small opening between two rocks.

"It's best if you leave your sword here," Hiccup advise and Eulianna did so, sheathing the sword and untying the rope around her waist that held it and dropped it on the ground. Hiccup moved in between the two rocks and Eulianna followed him and found a beautiful hidden cove with a lake in the middle and on the other side a large tree on top of the stone wall with its roots travelling down the wall and entangled with the rocks on the ground of the cove.

"This is unreal," Eulianna breathed out, taking in the whole sight.

Hiccup cleared his throat before he yelled out, "Hey bud!" Hiccup climbed down the rocks from the opening. He hesitantly held out a hand to Eulianna who accepted it as the two of them climbed down rocks to the ground of cove.

Eulianna dusted off the soil from her outfit and picked out a leaf from her hair, just noticing in her peripheral vision a black mass zooming towards her and the next thing she knew she was pinned to the ground.

A/N: Some Eulianna and Astrid bonding because it's lame to have them as enemies even though they will be rivals in something which I won't go into but you could probably guess