=Normal POV=

{Monday, May 2, 2022- 12 pm}

(Archian Preparatory)

No matter what Astrid tried or said; Hiccup would not reveal to her what Saturday night's phone call was about. Hiccup got a call, then left moments later. Hiccup returned an hour after leaving and refused to say anything about what happened or where he went. The worst part is that no one could make him either; Hiccup was eighteen-years-old, so he didn't have to tell anyone about the things he did or the people he spoke with. Astrid didn't understand why Hiccup would say to her; the less you know, the better. And that is all you need to know at this time. After Hiccup got back to Haddock Manor; he claimed he was tired and going to get some sleep. The friends went home after Hiccup said he'd see them Monday, and that was it for the night.

Sunday was uneventful, but Hiccup allowed the friends to return to give them their last catch-up dragon training lesson. Now, everyone was where they needed to be and the remainder of the time until Finals would be all review. Finals Week started on May 16th, 2022, that wasn't too far away now; about two weeks. Once Finals were over, grades would be out the following week; then preparation for graduation. Archian Preparatory Spirit Week was from May 30th to Thursday, June 2nd. Friday, June 3rd was the fabled Senior Prom; tickets went on sale Friday, May 27th. And finally, graduation would be held on Saturday, June 18th, 2022. There was no assigned time or place for the graduation yet; it would get announced after Finals.

Currently; Hiccup and the friends were sitting at lunch together, and everyone was talking. Astrid's eyes continued to fall on Hiccup during the conversations everyone had. Hiccup hadn't been talking; he was eating in silence almost. Hiccup responded if a question got directed at him, but otherwise; he was quiet and appeared to be rooted in thought. Astrid wondered if Hiccup was in any pain too; only because Hiccup wasn't using his crutches anymore. Hiccup was getting around on his homemade prosthetic that had an attached wooden foot where Hiccup could use a standard sock and shoe with it. Honestly, aside from the small limp; Hiccup walked as if nothing ha happened, which was a good thing.

Hiccup was normally engaged in all conversations with his friends, and the new additions. Hiccup still wasn't calling them full-fledged friends yet; there was more proving to be done first. A few good deeds did not erase how Eret, Ragna, Camicazi, Thuggory, and Nadia behaved before Hiccup threatened to ruin their lives. All that aside; Hiccup had his mind on bigger things, such as the meeting he had on Saturday night after getting the phone call.

/Flashback; April 30, 2022/

"The less you know, the better. And that is all you need to know right now," Hiccup stated to Astrid before having Toothless dart into the sky when Hiccup used his new and improved prosthetic leg to open the left side of the tail by pushing forward a silver lever, which cleverly fit the piece on Hiccup's artificial leg. Hiccup was gone into the darkness seconds later. After eight minutes of flying in silence; Hiccup directed Toothless down to the ground upon reaching their destination. Hiccup dismounted Toothless and switched the piece on his leg to allow him to walk. Hiccup attached the wooden foot piece, then put on a sock and black sneakers. The only place secure for a meeting was behind Archian Preparatory Stables because they faced the woods, and Hiccup had access to the cameras installed.

Half a mile into the darkened forest, Hiccup stood beside his dragon wearing all black with a hood over his head. "Hiccup?" came a voice. Hiccup opened his eyes and peered around.

"Have you both come?" Hiccup asked.

"We have," replied the voice as they came into sight and Hiccup lifted his head to reveal part of his face.

"Good to see you again, boss," spoke a more substantial male with an accent who was bald with a goatee and mustache.

"You appear to be in good health. We're glad you could sneak away," stated the small of the two males who had a full head of hair, shaved but still kept long.

"Likewise, Ryker and Viggo. Getting away isn't hard on the fastest dragon around," Hiccup shook their hands. "What have you got for me, Viggo?"

"We've discovered what the target is after, as stated in the phone call," the larger male, Ryker, informed.

"And we may have found incriminating evidence to tie Drago to the deaths of former Mayor, Colden Hofferson, and his wife. It seems everything links together," Viggo explained.

"Go on," Hiccup urged.

"He's trying to take over Archia Isle with dragons, and he needs the means of which to locate as many as he can," Viggo continued.

"And this means would be?" Hiccup asked.

"An ancient artifact from the Viking Era; the Dragon Eye," Ryker said.

"Its an object, that when used properly, can provide information about all types of dragons. Each of the classes and every species are known to man," Viggo enlightened.

"Also, it can reveal a food source and the locations of these dragons. It's an old-fashioned, first-written, dragon manual," Ryker interjected.

"Than it is safe to say if Drago possessed such an object; he could find an endless supply of dragons for this takeover," Hiccup inquired as the two nodded. "Then I guess we keep Drago from finding the Dragon Eye by finding it ourselves," Hiccup remarked as they nodded together. "Understood," Hiccup nodded.

"And there's more too…" Viggo said.

"I'm listening," Hiccup invited.

/End Flashback/

It's been two days since then, and Hiccup had no idea where to start. Sure, there was asking his father if there was a safe in the mayor's office, or just going there himself. Hiccup wasn't sure how to handle it, and he hadn't heard anything either. However, Astrid's voice did pull him from his thoughts on the matter.

"Hiccup? Hello?" Astrid shoved him a bit.

"Hm?" Hiccup looked at her.

"I asked if you were still teaching me Martial Arts tonight?" Astrid repeated.

"Yeah, right after DT review," Hiccup replied.

"I don't suppose you're going to tell us what has you so distracted today?" Heather accused.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hiccup said.

"You've been acting weird ever since that call on Saturday night," Astrid interjected. "Does it have to do with him?" she hinted. Hiccup didn't say anything at first, then he sighed. Hiccup could reveal a little, couldn't he? Or maybe he should wait until he spoke with Spitelout and Hoark. "Hiccup? Please, tell me?"

"Yes, it does. But that's all I can tell you right now, okay? Seriously, I meant what I said Saturday night…The less you know, the better," Hiccup admitted. Astrid smiled a bit now.

"Thank you for being honest about it," Astrid responded.

Hiccup smiled a bit; he loved how cheerful she was as of late. And yet; he was still confused about a lot of things about them. Hiccup knew they were best friends, but that kiss from Astrid's birthday again ran through his mind. Also, now there was this situation with Saturday night, and they almost kissed. Yes, Hiccup wouldn't admit it to his friends and family, but after performing the song True Love with Astrid; he was going in to kiss her. The spark had turned into a small flame; Hiccup knew he liked Astrid and had since they were younger. However, Astrid got popular and met the others and Eret. And for Hiccup; he met Olivia and let his feelings for Astrid get buried thinking he'd never have a chance. It seemed that the tables had turned now, and Hiccup needed to figure out what to do because he knew his emotions regarding Astrid wouldn't be going anywhere this time. Also, Hiccup required to know whether Astrid liked him or this whole thing was pointless.

Hiccup wouldn't worry about it right now; there were bigger matters to take care of. One being that Hiccup had to teach Astrid self-defense, and deal with this Dragon Eye situation. Hiccup was contemplating on taking it to Spitelout and Hoark; he just needed to find a way to relay the information without implicating himself, Viggo, or Ryker.

"Now, stop zoning off and join us, would ya?" Snotlout laughed.

"Can't help it; I get distracted easily when I'm thinking about something a lot," Hiccup reminded, but he did push things back to focus on school and not letting anyone else question why he was thinking so much.

. . .

{Friday, May 6, 2022-4:00 pm}

(Berk; Haddock Manor)

Martial Arts training was not easy for Astrid. For Hiccup; it was still a breeze even though he only had one real leg that he was getting used to using all the time now. The sessions had been happening every day after school since there was no need to do extra Dragon Training anymore. The 2 pm to 3 pm classes were enough for reviewing material purposes and practicing anything the students weren't sure about. Friday nights were now back to just showing up at Haddock Manor after school to hang out, except from 3:30 pm to 5 pm; Astrid's Martial Arts training that lasted an hour and thirty minutes class.

"Again!" Hiccup told Astrid. The friends watched from around the weight room as Hiccup was trying to teach Astrid how to break free from held by an attacker. Astrid failed another attempt, which had been tried a lot of times in this one session alone. Hiccup was standing fine as Astrid had her hands on her knees, bent over, and panting.

"I can't do it, Hiccup…" Astrid shook her head. Hiccup was wearing basketball shorts and a training tee-shirt. Astrid had on a sports bra and jogging shorts.

"Yes, you can. You're holding back and psyching yourself out with the fear of failing, so you continue to fail," Hiccup informed.

"I can't do it, Hiccup…Face it; I'm a useless fighter when it comes to defending myself…" Astrid muttered. That made something in Hiccup's mind click.

So she can't do this when it comes to her, but what about someone else? Hiccup thought as he sighed closing his eyes. "Fine, we'll take a short break for now…Just stop being afraid, Astrid. One day; it could be the difference between you or someone you care about living or dying…" Hiccup went to leave the room, limping a bit and cringing. "Dagur, give me a hand?" he asked.

"Sure thing, little brother," Dagur replied. Once those two had left; Astrid plopped down on one of the benches and sighed heavily. Outside the room, Hiccup moved into his bedroom with Dagur; then shut the door.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do…" Hiccup said as Dagur blinked.

. . .

Ten minutes had passed before Hiccup returned to the room. "Let's go; time to get back to work…" Hiccup instructed.

"What's the point?...I can't do it, Hiccup…" Astrid looked at him.

"Yes, you can; you just need something that turns your fear into the drive to fight," Hiccup stated as he offered his hand to help her. Astrid got to her feet, and they got into position again with him behind her back. Hiccup locked his arm around her front and holding her arms behind her and against his figure. "You've been grabbed by behind, and there's no one else to help you get away. What are you going to do?"

"Break free," Astrid asked.

"Show me," Hiccup stated. Astrid tried to wriggle to get her arms loose, but to no avail again. Astrid lowered her head as Hiccup glanced to the doorway as he saw Dagur there and ready. Hiccup gave the nod and looked to the others to stay quiet. Confused; the friends did so. Silently, Dagur snuck in and took Hiccup's place behind Astrid.

"Forget it, Hiccup…Holding me tighter is going to make me be able to make a move…" Astrid muttered.

"It's not Hiccup…" Dagur said in a deeper voice. "He's a little down…Right now, and if you don't give me what I want; I'll kill the boy," Astrid's eyes snapped open as she slightly glanced back seeing a masked figure. Astrid's eyes fell on Hiccup; his prosthetic was detached from the leg and too far for Hiccup to get because this male was holding a grudge on him. "I told you we'd find you…Hiding out at your bodyguard's house isn't going to save you now…So be a good little girl and give us what we want…"

Astrid seemed to be frozen in fear, shaking. "W-What do you want…J-Just don't hurt Hiccup or my friends…"

"The boss wants all witnesses dealt with; you decide who dies first with all your procrastination…Look at you, trying to bargain for their lives when you can't even save your own," Dagur stated. Shaking taking over, Astrid slammed her foot down on the man's, causing him to howl in pain. Astrid whipped her head back and was released. Astrid rammed her elbow into the guy in the chest before turning to knock his arms away. Astrid turned fast and crouched to sweep the guy's foot out from under him. Seconds later; the male hit the ground as Astrid kicked the gun away and put her foot on his chest angrily.

It was now that Astrid saw Dagur there as her eyes widened. "D-Dagur?" there was clapping from Hiccup, who was back up now and smiling.

"Not what I was hoping for, but I'm impressed regardless," Hiccup said.

"Y-You set all that up?" Astrid asked. "Making Dagur stand in as someone who worked for that psycho?!"

"Gave you no choice but to fight, yes," Hiccup nodded.

"I thought he was going to kill our friends…Or kill you!" Astrid glared.

"Oh, for the love of- Astrid; do you not see it?! You conquered your fears of being a victim, a target. You fought back to protect yourself, and with what you just did…Save the life of your friends too. And it wasn't even something I taught you; you fought out on instinct and took down someone who is older, stronger, and bigger than you by yourself…Someone who was armed with a weapon," Hiccup reminded.

"I told you that we had to find a way to turn your fear into strength, and that's what I did. I recreated the incident where you were held, and someone else's life was on the line. You were able to fight back and disarm an attacker without anyone getting hurt. I found what makes you fight, and it's the same thing any of us use. No one fights for themselves; it's always for someone else. I've fought for Olivia, Runa, my family, friends…And you. You draw power from the fear of losing the people you care about…So use that to protect yourself, and the people around you…" Hiccup informed. "I told you; being able to fight in any situation could be the difference between life and death for you or people you care for,"

Astrid realized he was right; what she did to Dagur in her fear was just anger of being helpless to protect Hiccup. Astrid didn't care about protecting herself; these people didn't want her dead. However, her friends were in danger because these enemies were using them against her, as so proven last week after dragon training ended. Astrid didn't use a move Hiccup had taught her; she just did whatever felt right from how she was locked down to get free.

"Wait, was this a real gun?" Astrid blinked holding the weapon Dagur had.

"With blanks in it, yes," Hiccup replied to her as he took it from her.

"Why on Midgard do you have a gun?" Thuggory asked quickly.

"Gobber keeps it here for safety reasons if we ever need to thwart an attack from break-ins. Mom, Dad, and I were taught by Gobber how to shoot if necessary. Gobber said I could use it for training purposes," Hiccup shrugged. "So," Hiccup looked at Astrid again. "We still got about twenty minutes of training to go; you feeling more confident now?"

"Yes…But don't you trick me again…" Astrid jabbed a finger in his chest.

"Don't make me have to. Use your fear to fight," Hiccup stated.

"Still, how do I remember all the moves?" Astrid wondered.

"Think of it as dancing by yourself; only you use the moves I taught you. When I trained in MMA; I used music to keep in time with the moves or something that gets you fired up," Hiccup explained.

"Why not show her the song I played for you when you learned, laddie?" Gobber suggested.

"Which one?" Hiccup looked at him.

"You know the one," Gobber chuckled as Stoick and Valka stood beside Gobber now.

"Oh! That one? I suppose I could," Hiccup mentioned as he moved over to the docking stated on a shelf; then plugged his phone in, so he could search for the song. However, Hiccup tapped another song by accident, and it started playing while he was scrolling through his playlist.

"Hey, hang on…What's this song, Hiccup?" Valka asked.

"The one playing?" Hiccup glanced at her as she nodded. "Archian Soldier. I started working on it at the start of this school year, a song for soldiers about what they do for our home. I went in a changed a few things after fighting Red Death because it just seemed more fitting if I put a personal spin on it even though I'm not a soldier, and now won't be able to become one either. I just finished recording yesterday," he informed.

"Can we hear it?" Stoick inquired. Hiccup arched a brow at his parents.

"You two, who hated the idea of me joining the military, want to hear one of the songs I created regarding the matter?" Hiccup stared. The two nodded as Hiccup mumbled. "You know; I can't shake the nagging feeling that you're suddenly cool with me enjoying the military since you know I can't anymore…" he added, then sighed. "Fine…" he restarted the song, which hadn't begun yet; it was just a musical opening.

"I'm just trying to be a father; raise a daughter and a son. Be a lover to their mother, and everything to everyone. Up and at 'em bright and early, I'm all business in my suit. Yeah, I'm dressed up for success, from my head down to my boots," Hiccup started, then took a breath. "I don't do it for the money; there's bills that I can't pay. I don't do it for the glory; I just do it anyway. Providing for our future is my responsibility. Yeah, I'm real good under pressure, being all that I can be,"

Gobber was leaning against the door frame, his arms over his chest looking at Stoick and Valka. "And you said he didn't understand what it meant to be military…" the man informed.

"I can't call in sick on Mondays when the weekend has been too strong. I work straight through the holidays, and sometimes all night long. You can bet that I stand ready when the wolf growls at the door. Hey, I'm solid. I'm steady. I'm true down to the core," Hiccup sang.

Astrid could only sit and listen. Hiccup had a lot of passion for the things that he did, but singing is where she heard the most. Hiccup always put himself into songs, and Astrid felt like it's how he expressed his emotions without having to talk to anyone about how he was feeling.

"And I will always do my duty, no matter what the price. I've counted up the cost; I know the sacrifice," Astrid couldn't help but notice that Hiccup's eyes fell to his left leg now. "Oh, and I don't want to die for you, but if dying's asked of me…I'll bear that cross with honor, 'cause freedom don't come free!"

"I'm an Archian Soldier, an Archian! Beside my brothers and my sisters; I will proudly take a stand. When Liberty's in jeopardy; I will always do what's right. I'm out here on the frontlines, so sleep in peace tonight! Archian Soldier…I'm an Archian Soldier!" Hiccup paused; his eyes closed. Astrid knew it was hurting him because Hiccup couldn't join anymore. "Yeah! An Archian Soldier. I'm an Archian. Beside my brothers and my sisters; I will proudly take a stand. When Liberty's in jeopardy; I will always do what's right. I'm out here on the frontlines; sleep in peace tonight! Archian Soldier…I'm an Archian. An Archian. An Archian Soldier…"

The music tapered off slowly, and Hiccup pulled his phone off the dock quietly. "We'll pick training up tomorrow. You did well today, Astrid. Always remember that even if you aren't a known fighter; everyone will fight for a reason. You held back out of fear of failing, and when backed into a corner; you fought to protect people around you. That's your reason to fight, your inspiration, so don't lose it," after that, Hiccup exited the weight room.

"Not being able to join; it hurts him a lot, doesn't it?" Camicazi frowned.

"It's all Hiccup ever wanted to do; join the military and protect his home. That was his drive to train in fighting and learn how to shoot. And now, that dream was taken away from him on a personal choice because Hiccup understands what it means to sacrifice for the greater good. It's when you do something selfless that benefits everyone else but yourself, and you end up suffering the most. Give the lad some time; he's still recovering, and there will be days that are harder than others; just like with him mourning Olivia," Gobber explained.

"Hiccup's music has always been inspirational on many levels of emotions, and that's what levels him out in a weird way," Valka smiled a bit. "As he said; everything done has to have a reason behind it. Once you find your inspiration; you hold on and don't let go," Astrid's eyes were on the door where Hiccup exited; holding his words with both hands, and she would not let go.