Author's note and disclaimer: As ever, we still (sadly) don't own these characters as we are not Dreamworks nor Cressida Cowell! Thank you all so much for reading! Sorry we haven't published for a few days, this chapter is slightly longer than previous ones to make up for that! We do have a plot in mind and it will start to come out next chapter, so please do continue reading! :) Hope you enjoy!

Astrid's POV (the tree house in the pathway)

The next day dawns clear and fair. Just the sort of day when I'd like to be able to go to the beach. Hmm. Not going to happen. I get up and head down to get breakfast. Maybe Dad and Mum will still be in - . Nope. They're up. I hear a few more choice remarks as to my behaviour, what they expect from me and what a stupid brat I am. Thanks. Just what I need to start a good day. Seeing as they're there, I can't exactly sneak out so I gulp down some cornflakes, grab Stormfly some fruit and bolt for the staircase. I'm lucky enough to have an en suite (so they can lock me in my room) and I do my teeth. In the mirror, I can see that my face has swollen up and my eye is bruised. In some ways, I wish I could go to school today - that would put the Snots off for good but it also might put off Hi - NO!

How many times! Why does my brain keep on falling into these tracks?

Moving on.

I sit at the desk and turn on the computer. Stormfly can see that I'm in pain and she sits around my neck, purring away. What would I do without this monkey? Every time Mum and Dad get mad at me, she is always a comfort. A lock clicks at my door and I'm sealed in for the day. I have food cupboards for this purpose and I immediately get out some chocolate from the hidden pile of treaty food. As they say in Harry Potter - chocolate heals you. After several hours, I can't bear it any more so set up the recording and scramble out. This time I take a side path - the same one which Hiccup came down last night. As I pass a large sycamore, I see a tree house? It's really good, with windows, a door; the works! There is a series of pegs hidden up the side of the tree so I grasp one and start to ascend. Inside, it is even better than I thought. On one side is a large hammock with several random tiny ones above. A table and chair are positioned in front of a large window from which you can see the sea and on the other side of the room is a sofa with storage underneath. Finally, every spare space is full of BOOKS! Stacks on the sofa, on the floor, shelves up the walls and ceiling, so many! Over the floor is a thick rag rug. I'm in heaven. But it's clearly someone's special place. It is so nice though. How can I choose?!

No. I have to leave. Someone made this place for them not me. As I cast one last glance over the tree house, I spot some names carved into the wood. I head over. Maybe this will reveal the mysterious builder. Etched under the window is WODENSFANG WAS HERE, TOOTHLESS IS THE BEST and HICCUP RULES.

So this tree house is - Hiccup's? As in kicked out of school with me Hiccup?!

Wow. This place is epic and he made it? Woah. Anyway. Moving out. I head to the door, swing my legs over the platform for a moment. I'm about to go down the ladder when coming up I see-

Book Hiccup's POV (My Tree house)

I wake up, the sun shines glaringly through my window, taunting me, trying to get me to go outside. I'm not supposed to go out, I know that, especially not after last night. I clutch the side of my face, it's still hurting and must have swollen up a lot during the night. Luckily, I'm not going to school, which makes life easier, as it is generally found that if a kid walks into class with a swollen face, teachers will tend to make a big fuss about it. Aching, I sit up, and find that the window's locked. Dad must have come in here in the night and locked it.

Luckily, I know how to pick locks, because I was thinking of going to my tree house today. I manage to get out of bed and try the door, as I suspected, locked as well. I sigh. Dad's probably already gone to work, to do his important Co-Mayorly duties. I limp back to bed and flop down on the covers, Toothless crawls onto my shoulder and starts playing with my hair. So he didn't get rid of my pets...or more likely Toothless hid somewhere so my father couldn't get rid of him. I roll over and Wodensfang crawls up my shirt, I suppose I should change..I've had it on since the night before last. Groaning, I heave myself out of bed, again, and stumble over to my wardrobe, where I pick out the first T-shirt on the pile and pull it on. Wodensfang leaps off my discarded shirt and glides down to the floor (I've already mentioned he's part flying squirrel haven't I?) to join Toothless, who's already scampering looking for ways to make trouble. I decide to go to my tree house now - to get away from all this. I groan again and make my way over to my desk, where I slide open a draw, taking out a selection of toothpicks, safety pins and paper clips.

Stumbling over to my locked window, I set to work fiddling with the key hole; Toothless bounds over to see what I'm doing, immediately starting to play with a range of toothpicks. From another view point, it might look like he's trying to pick his teeth. Within a few minutes, the lock springs open and I gently ease the window upwards. Toothless stops playing with the toothpicks to jump out the window and play with the drainpipe instead, Wodensfang just rolls his eyes (yes, he can do that), scampering into my pocket, where he can get a good view from. I'm still aching from last night so climbing out of the window is going to be harder than usual, but I'll manage. I sigh and go to lock the door, Toothless pokes his head through the window and tells me to hurry up (that's how I understood it anyway) "I'm coming, I'm coming!" I say. I stumble back through my room and make it to my window, where I painfully climb out and manage to keep my balance on the ledge. Toothless is already in the garden, eating grass and startling birds. Slowly, I make my way down the wall, letting out a hiss of pain every so often. Eventually I drop down onto the grass; letting out a sigh of relief, I lean against the wall, catching my breath.

Well, that could have gone a lot worse. Climbing over the fence isn't as hard because the footholds are bigger and the fence is lower than the wall. I get onto the pavement, which is deserted like yesterday, and slip into the overgrown public footpath where I built my tree house (it's really, really, really awesome, if I do say so myself). Wodensfang leaps out of my pocket and lands on the hedge to the right of me, where he scurries ahead, out of sight. Toothless crawls under the same hedge and starts making a series of excited sounding noises, from these I can tell that he's probably chasing the rabbits that live down there. I limp along the path that I know leads to my tree house, it's the only place I feel truly safe in, and I know Wodensfang and Toothless feel the same way. I continue to trudge along, I hear some noises coming from the hedge and Toothless bursts out, chattering about dastardly rabbits. Wodensfang is quick to follow, bounding back into my pocket from a branch of hawthorn.

Approaching the magnificent tree that houses my tree house, I look up to see the door ajar and someone at the top of my ladder- Astrid? What's she doing here?

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