When Alvin "Sings" really just think of it as talk singing like villains who can't really sing sometimes do in some musicals. If you can imagine him singing feel free to, but for me personally, I can't.

Chapter 3—Wants and Dreams:

In the dark of the night it was quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of someone working down in the mines of Berk. Two of Alvin's Outcasts were digging trying to find every last bit of gold they could possibly find in the abandoned mine. Bjarte looked into the mine cart and what he found made him do an internal face plant; a plain old rock.

"Okay. What idiot put this in here?"

"Oh, that would be me", Bjorn answered dumbly.

Bjarte sighed exasperated. "Let us review, shall we? We are stealing gold."

"Right."

"Is this shiny?!" Bjarte asked harshly showing the rock.

"Uh, no."

"Valuable?!" he continued shoving the rock in his face.

"No."

"Gonna make the chief happy?!"

"Uh—" Bjorn started as if he was gonna say yes. "No."

"Focus, Bjorn!" Bjarte said throwing the rock away. "That's what you need! That. And a brain." They then heard someone coming down the mines, and knew they had to hide. "Shh."

Bjorn blew out the lantern, and then the two both jumped into the mine cart despite the tight fit. Heavy footsteps were heard, and a looming figure appeared over their mine cart.

"Why, hello", he said.

"Chief!" Bjorn exclaimed. "You're back. Here. Early."

Alvin couldn't help but role his eyes at the nitwit. Why were his men so incompetent?

"I hope you had a nice journey", Bjorn said once more as Alvin strolled away.

" "AHH!" " the two screamed as a Whispering Death then suddenly came into the mine roaring, it's face landing right in front of the two still in the cart. The cart itself tipped backwards in the midst of the Outcasts' panic.

Gathering his wits, though, Bjarte reached into the cart and stood. "Eh, here you are, sir", he said holding a single piece of gold shaky. "The last of the gold from Berk's mine. There's nothing left."

"Yeah. Cause it's all yours", Bjorn added as he rose.

Alvin smiled wickedly turning to them. "Yes. It is", he said snatching the last gold piece. "Finally. I've been bowing, I've been scraping, I've been lying like a rug, and for four long years I've had to play his rules. But today I am escaping for the last gold has been dug. It was waiting there, so how could I refuse? I'll return to Berk a hero who's discovered mighty wealth and what better husband could a princess choose? I'm the suitor who with suit her, bring the village back to health, and I'll wear the crown for how could I refuse? Raise every glass and rouse every cheer! Praise that the reign of Treacherous is here! Master in charge of all that I see! All hail me! And by marrying that heiress I'll get all that I desire. Like more power, a little wife, and Stoick's doom. Even though she'll treat me coldly it's a sign of inner fire, for inside she's thinking 'how can I refuse?'"

"Right. Except there's one little problem, Chief", Bjarte said interrupting Alvin's celebrating.

"And what's that?!" Alvin barked.

"Stoick's decided to marry off Hiccup to the Chief of Berserk. Dagur?"

"What?! Making a decision without me? Who does he think he is?!"

"Uh, the chief of Berk, sir?" Bjorn said fearfully.

"You idiot!"

"Well, he is. Right? I mean—"

"Enough! No. I won't let go! This peasant son won't turn and run because some reckless royal chose another beau…!"

Alvin had to think of something; a way to get rid of Dagur, and convince Stoick to have his girl marry him instead. That's when it struck him. Why not do both?

"Ah-ha! It's a temporary setback. It's a momentary loss. But conveniently my ego doesn't bruise. And the moment that I get there I will show them who's the boss. You can bet your bullion there'll be no 'I dos'. Yes, suppose the girl goes missing, so that chief says 'au-revior'. Then I find her, bring her back, and make the news. Then Stoick'll be so grateful that he'll pledge his heir to me, and I'll humbly tell him 'how could I refuse?'"

"Yeah", Bjorn cheered.

"When our ceremony's over I'll arise and take the throne, and that little dragon-girl can kiss my shoes! For finally Stoick's island will be mine and mine alone! If the crown should fit, then how could I refuse?! Oh, how could I refuse?" he finished looking at the last gold piece in his hand before laughing manically. Soon, very soon, Stoick would hand Berk right over to him. And then, Stoick will finally get what he deserved.

Hiccup was inside the Great Hall in a meeting with the council, and like usual, Toothless wasn't allowed in. So, he sat outside taking a little nap until his Halfling came out so they could hopefully go flying—for fun. It seemed like forever since they did that as of recent months. The earth then began to tremble, and he could hear the familiar whispering of an annoying Whispering Death trying to sneak up on him again. Quickly, he jumped away as the Whispering Death came up from under the ground right where he had been lying.

"Nice try, Killer", Toothless said mocking and laughing at the stupid name Alvin had given him.

The Whispering Death growled. "Enjoy your place now, Toothless", Killer mocked his name as well, "You won't be having it for much longer", he seemed to almost snicker at the end.

"Right", Toothless drawled laying back down. "You having delusions again?"

"Let's just say that pretty soon Berk's gonna have a new Alpha."

Toothless didn't need time to understand what he meant by that before the dragon suddenly attacked trying to chomp down on him. Toothless dodged, and not wanting to cause too much damage to the village—again—Toothless ran for the forest. "Hah! Good try! But not good enough!" he roared back.

The Whispering Death took the bait. He chased him down furiously, the two of them racing through the forest until Toothless saw a familiar boulder, one of the many he and Hiccup had placed years ago after a different Whispering Death had come to Berk leaving holes everywhere in the land. At the last moment he jumped onto it. Killer didn't react in time, and crashed face first into the large rock.

"Ooh… And you almost had me too", Toothless jumped down. "Oh, yeah, that looks pretty bad", he continued as the Whispering Death shook his head. "Hope you didn't lose a tooth?"

"A tooth?!" Killer screeched, frantically flying in search for water to see his reflection. There was a river nearby and the dragon went there seeing he had no missing tooth. His fury returned with a long furious growl. "You better hope you have more than one life, Toothless! Cause you're gonna need every last one!" he screeched going in pursuit of the Night Fury again.

Toothless ran as fast as he could, firing plasma blasts when he could, but as discovered with his last rival, he couldn't really fight a Whispering Death without Hiccup to help him fly.

"Toothless!" he then heard Hiccup call, and making a slight detour, Toothless ran to it.

000

Hiccup had come out from the meeting to find Toothless wasn't anywhere around. It wasn't like him to disappear unless there was a good reason for it, so she began to worry.

"Toothless!"

She heard a roar, and out of the forest running towards her was Toothless, Killer chasing close behind.

"Whoa! Stop!" Hiccup roared with her hand out, and as Toothless ran to a stop behind her, Killer stopped in front. Hiccup sighed. "Can't you two go one day without trying to kill each other? Killer, shouldn't you be with Alvin, or at least on Outcast Island?"

"I just wanted to see Toothless. Catch up?" Killer replied innocently.

Hiccup looked at him deadpanned. He and Toothless were always fighting each other; always at each other's throats. "Right. Well, it was good seeing you. Come on, Toothless, let's go for a little flight."

"You mean…?" Toothless said with anticipation as the Whispering Death retreated.

"That's right! Clear schedule today. Dad and I came to an agreement; this week I have total freedom. Within reason", she added with a shrug and cocked head.

"Ready whenever you are." Happily, he positioned himself for Hiccup to get on, and together they launched into the sky.

They flew for the rest of the morning until lunch, and then Hiccup and Toothless went up to her room so Hiccup could take care of a personal project. She was studying rocks and precious gems, trying to see if there were maybe any hidden in the mines or anywhere on Berk. If she could find something, anything, then maybe she wouldn't have to marry Dagur, and could instead be with the man she always wanted to.

Through her magnify glass she had invented back on the Edge, Hiccup was at her desk looking at a gem she could have sworn was gold when she picked it up that morning. When she heard the door open and someone coming up the steps, she knew exactly who it was.

"Aric. Perfect timing", she said, not even looking up, as he came into her room. "Look at this", she then said as she held the gem up to him. "It looks like gold, but isn't", she said with interest. "It seems to be the gem known as Pirate, or Fools Gold."

"And how does that help us?" Aric asked.

"It doesn't", Hiccup replied downcast and putting the Fools Gold down. "But, now we know; no gold in sight."

"I know you'll figure it out—uh, My Lady."

Hiccup's eyes widened with confusion. "My Lady?" Hiccup questioned. She'd heard him call her m'lady before, but it was only ever in a teasing manner really. Truthfully, only the soldiers in the guard called her that, and while Aric was now one of them, to hear him say it now was confusing, and frankly hard to swallow. He'd been doing that a lot lately, becoming more of a common solider to her ever since Dagur and her were arranged to be married. "You know you don't have to be so formal? It's just me?" she said with a quiet tone standing and gesturing to herself.

Aric only continued with what he had come to do. "Stoick—Chief Stoick sent me. The ambassador… has arrived with a gift for you."

"The ambassador? Here? Already?" she questioned with dread.

Aric, melancholic, gestured for her to follow and, rather reluctantly, she did. They went to the Great Hall where she found her father in his throne, Alvin and Gobber to the side, and the ambassador standing before her father. Head held high she walked to where her father sat, and stood awaiting for the ambassador to speak with her hands folded in front of her.

"Miss Hiccup, on behalf of Chief Dagur, I present this official betrothal gift to you", the ambassador said presenting a small box.

'Another gift. Great…' Hiccup drawled sarcastically in her head. She did know this was coming though; although, she planned to give Dagur his in person. She didn't hold it against him though. He was probably very busy being a chief and all. It was why he sent an ambassador here today instead of coming himself.

On the outside, Hiccup just gave a small and gentle smile taking the small gift handed to her. Opening the box, she found a necklace with a Night Fury pendent that had emerald eyes. She couldn't deny that it was beautiful, and a very sweet gift; Dagur was really trying his best to make her feel better about the whole ordeal. Too bad all the nice things in the world could never replace the love she had in her heart for Aric. Nevertheless, she spoke gratefully. "Thank you, ambassador. Please, tell Dagur I think the gift is lovely."

"Of course, My Lady", he said before turning to her father. "May I ask, Chief Stoick, that we at last set a date for the wedding?"

"Of course. Would a week from today do?" he answered, and Hiccup now realized why he had allowed her a whole week of freedom. She tried refraining from looking too distressed, but it seemed she wasn't the only one surprised by the date.

"Next week?!" Alvin exclaimed in shock. Everyone turned to him a little shocked by the outburst, but then he quickly pulled himself together. "A… wise decision, Stoick", he then oddly agreed.

"Excellent!" the ambassador exclaimed. "I'll send for Chief Dagur immediately, so that he and Miss Hiccup may spend some… romantic time together before the wedding."

'Well, at least their giving me time to get used to seeing him in that way', Hiccup thought dryly. She still had no idea why Dagur agreed to this. Once the ambassador left, Hiccup let her façade fade away and walked out of the Great Hall with her head down heading for her home to get Toothless.

It was a few hours later on a sea stack when Aric found Hiccup staring out and thinking. She had put on the necklace with the Night Fury pendent, liking it, but not finding a single reason to be happy about her situation. Soon, Dagur would arrive, and she'd have to spend her time with him. Normally, she wouldn't find it a problem; Dagur was fine to be around now. But, in only a week she'd be with him for the rest of her life. She had wanted this week to be about her and Toothless. She didn't want to add a third wheel.

Aric walked up to her as Toothless and Shadowstar greeted each other beginning to play, and he sat down beside her, much more casual than he had been previously. "I know this is hard for you", he started.

"What about you?" she asked suddenly. "You haven't said anything about how you feel about this. I know we were never betrothed, or engaged… But… I had hoped one day you'd ask." Aric wasn't the type to pour his heart out, and she didn't want that from him, but she had no idea how he felt. Was he angry, sad? She had no clue.

"I was actually planning on doing it the day Stoick told you about Dagur", he seemed to confess saying it with what sounded like regret. Was that what was eating away at him? That he didn't ask in time? Either way it made Hiccup feel terrible.

"Oh… she trailed. "I... I know it's the right thing to marry him, but— But sometimes I just wish…" She didn't know how to finish; how to express everything she was feeling. Hiccup knew it wasn't really any of her fault, but she still felt like by marrying Dagur she was betraying Aric in some way. None of this was fair.

000

For a few moments they sat in silence, Aric unsure of what to say to make Hiccup feel better. To tell the truth he didn't know exactly what he felt. At first, he was angry; how could Stoick just do that to them? Then, realizing there was nothing they could do to change it, he supposed he became just sad and indifferent. To make matters worse, he wasn't sure how to approach Hiccup anymore. Were they supposed to just be friends now? Would it be better if he kept a distance to null any kind of temptation? He wasn't sure what they were supposed to do. Trying to distance himself though wasn't helping; it only seemed to be making Hiccup more upset if evidence by her reaction back in her room, and then her earlier outburst.

Aric finally decided he should break the silence, his attempts at talking with Hiccup still coming off awkward. "I heard from Heather that he's apparently a lover of music? He can play three instruments; the pan pipe, lyre, and the tagelharpa." Hiccup lifted her head but didn't turn to him or speak. She merely looked on to the horizon probably wanting to just fly off. Talking about Dagur was probably a bad idea. He sighed. He wished things between them could just go back to the way they used to be.

Looking out in the direction she was looking, the direction being north, Aric then came up with an idea. "Hiccup…" She turned to him. "Grab your cloak. We're going on a little trip."

In case anyone's wondering, yes. I am posting one chapter a day. I have all these chapters up to 11 already finished so I don't see why not.

Oh, and yes, Lady Brenna and Kari know Alva is a Halfling. She doesn't really care about hiding it. You can decide why because I don't divulge into it. There's no real reason to.