Hiccup shut his locker and leaned against it. The exhaustion was weighing in on him from lack of sleep and the soreness caused by yesterday's surprising turn of events. He had not lead a very active lifestyle in the past so his spontaneous rescue mission had put quite a strain on his muscles. He suspected this was about to become the norm for him and he better get used to it.

"There you are!" Frankie exclaimed cheerily. "Is Astrid still.."

"Asleep, last I checked. She promised not to wander off on her own again so I'm blindly relying on that."

"Great! Then I will come over after last period," Frankie declared. "By the way, have you thought about what you will do when your mom gets back?"

Hiccup sighed. "Have not thought that far yet, no."

Some giggling cheerleaders passed them then and it almost appeared as if they were shooting Hiccup flirtatious smiles but neither Frankie nor Hiccup thought much of it.

When the bell rang, Hiccup parted ways with Frankie, heading for his history class. He seated himself by his usual window seat and started unpacking his backpack. Unbeknownst to him, someone had sank down on the neighbouring seat.

"Hi," a feminine voice greeted him.

Hiccup tensed, warily lifting his gaze up to see Ingrid of all people choosing to evade his space. "Uh.. Hi," he replied as nonchalantly as he could, trying to hide the fact that his chest felt like it was about to burst.

Ingrid opened her notebook, splaying it out in front of her. "I hope you don't mind if I sit here," she said, leaning forward on her elbows to rest her face in her hands. "I'm struggling with some of the questions and I hear you are quite the history buff."

Hiccup blushed turned five shades darker. "I wouldn't go as far to say that," he laughed nervously, clearing his throat. "But sure, I can help you out."

Ingrid smiled at him faintly just as the teacher decided to walk in. Despite this being one of his top subjects, Hiccup's focus stayed primarily on the pretty redhead the whole time. It was like he had stepped inside an alternative universe. Ingrid had never paid him attention before and he wondered what had spurred this sudden interest.

He and Ingrid were conveniently the last to leave when the class finished and she even accompanied him halfway to his locker where Frankie stood and waited.

"I better get going, Scott is waiting for me in the car."

Hiccup let out a forced chuckle, rolling his shoulders awkwardly. "Scott.. yeah." He watched her leave with a heavy heart.

"What was that?" he heard Frankie ask from behind. "First the whole thing with the dragons and Astrid, and now Ingrid is talking to you?"

Hiccup shook his head in disbelief.

"I have no idea what is going on anymore."

Frankie laughed uneasily. "Uh, be prepared to be even more amazed," he said, looking down at his smartphone. "Heather sent me this earlier."

Hiccup frowned, moving closer to take a peek at the animated screen. His eyes widened in mortification. "Is that.."

"Yep. Someone captured your heroic actions on camera and uploaded the entire thing on YouTube," Frankie interjected. "Woa.. look at the views on this thing."

Hiccup sighed, banging his head against the metallic cabinet. "Great," he muttered sarcastically. "Just what I needed."

-,-

He found Astrid out in the backyard again, axe raised high while seemingly glaring into the forest. He wondered what could have provoked her this time round.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, carefully placing a hand on her shoulderguard to draw her attention.

Astrid regarded him with knitted eyebrows. "I think I saw something," she whispered. "But it disappeared before I had the chance to strike it."

Hiccup's frown deepened. "Astrid.."

"Shh, did you hear that.." she muttered quietly.

Hiccup shook his head, thoroughly confused. "No. I didn't hear anything." He briefly wondered if he was hard of hearing when Astrid suddenly changed her stance.

"There it is again. Come on!" she seethed and jumped over the white fence, heading straight into the unknown.

Hiccup had no choice but follow after despite his weary limbs. Astrid was incredibly fast and nimble and he often struggled to keep up with her. They ran through an array of trees and bushes until they ended up by a lakeside.

Hiccup tried to catch his breath. "I don't understand, what is it you exactly saw?" he panted.

A fire lit up in her azure eyes.

"The dragons," she stated in a somber, cold tone. ".. they are here, Hiccup. I can feel it."

"What?" Hiccup gaped at her. "Are you sure?"

Astrid began searching around the small area, kicking at the leaves and twigs in her way. "It was small and green, looked almost like a Terrible Terror."

"A terrible.. what?" Hiccup echoed, now joining in on the trackdown. If it indeed was what Astrid had described then it could have easily able blended in with the environment.

Failing to locate the alleged dragon she saw, Hiccup eventually managed to convince Astrid to return to his house.

-,-

Frankie clapped his hands together excitedly. "I can't believe I missed out on the dragon hunting. When can we go again?"

"We don't even know if that was a dragon, Frankie," Hiccup scoffed, mouth curved downwards. "And we are not hunting it."

Astrid entered the room, jutting her axe down on the wooden floor. "Most dragons have a disadvantage in the darkness."

Hiccup remained unconvinced. "It's not safe for us either, Astrid."

Astrid stepped closer to where he leaned by the wall. "What is life without a little danger, Hiccup?" she tried to tempt.

"Peaceful? Ideal?" Frankie offered from behind.

Hiccup shook his head again. "Astrid, I said no. There are far worse things lurking out there and I'm not risking it."

"What could possibly be worse than a dragon?" she huffed.

Hiccup stayed undeterred, making Astrid sigh in surrender. "Fine," she relented and then tugged on her blonde braid self-consciously. "Is there any food around here?"

It suddenly dawned to Hiccup that they had skipped all three meals. He opened the kitchen cabinets to look for something to eat but found them all empty.

Frankie decided to intervene. "Hiccup, I was supposed to meet up with Heather at that new burger shack before we canceled. Why don't the three of us eat out tonight? What about the diner downtown?"

Astrid scrunched her nose cutely. "What's a 'burger'?"

Hiccup took a moment to mull over the suggestion. "As long as you keep tight-lipped about Astrid," he stressed to his best friend and then turned to address Astrid again, eyeing her massive hatchet. "You can't take that with you."

Astrid narrowed her eyes. Needless to say, she wasn't very pleased about leaving her axe behind.

-,-

Astrid sat on the handlebars of Hiccup's bike while he pedaled them to their designated destination. The wind swept through her golden tresses as they went down a sharp hill and she couldn't help the exhilarated laugh that escaped her, making Hiccup smile to himself.

"Enjoying yourself?" he teased. She didn't answer, merely gripping onto the bars more firmly.

They arrived by the shack in a matter of moments. Hiccup and Frankie parked their bikes by the cyclestand outside, locking them up.

Astrid frowned at the crowded space that was visible through the windows, clearly feeling out of her element again. Hiccup noticed her apprehensiveness and entwined their hands as a silent reassurance. Astrid visibly relaxed then, subconsciously leaning into him.

The music was a bit loud, making Astrid cringe but she quickly put on an emotionless facade. They fumbled through people until they found an empty table to occupy.

The boys ended up deciding the order, choosing a variety of items for Astrid to try.

She quickly took to the fries and the chicken wings although the spice on the latter also caused a burning sensation, making her grimace. "It's really.."

".. hot?" Hiccup chuckled, looking smug. "Told you so."

She was now regretting her 'I'm a Viking, a little pain doesn't scare me' speech she had given him just moments prior.

"Here, drink this," he offered a sweet, soothing drink. Both Frankie and Hiccup watched her eat with intrigue the whole time.

"It's strange, all these new flavours," Astrid commented once finished.

-,-

As the trio exited the busy diner, Astrid suddenly stopped short. "Wait."

Hiccup and Frankie shot one another confused glances. "What is it?"

Astrid growled. "It's here and I don't have my axe, Thordammit!" she curled her fists. Hiccup and Frankie followed her eyeline to see a dark small lizard like creature sitting on top of a pole, hissing into the night.

Frankie gasped in delight while Hiccup had to hold Astrid back from leaping after the supposed dragon.

"How did it get here?" he muttered to himself.

"The same way Astrid got here?" Frankie offered. "So what are we going to do?"

Hiccup contemplated his next actions as he scrutinized it from afar. The dragon appeared to be injured.

"He is hurt," Hiccup observed. "Look at the leg. We can't just leave him here guys."

Astrid managed to fumble herself out his grip and climbed up the pole until she was face to face with the reptile. The dragon warbled, shooting her a pitiful look.

"Astrid, don't!" Hiccup shouted. "It's just a small baby," he pleaded from below. "... just bring him down, please."

Astrid hesitated for a moment before collecting the dragon into her arms and jumping down. She landed elegantly on bent knees. Hiccup and Frankie quickly rushed forward to take a closer look.

"Give him to me," Hiccup demanded. Astrid complied albeit reluctantly. "We should take him back to my house," he decided upon further inspection.

-,-

Frankie helped him wrap the dragon up while Astrid leaned against the wall with her arms folded across her chest.

"I don't think he is going to make it," Frankie whispered. "His heartbeat is really weak."

Hiccup furrowed his brows. "Who could have possibly done this?"

Frankie glanced at Astrid who rolled her eyes. "Don't look at me. It's the first time I see this dragon."

Hiccup sighed. "His breathing is growing more ragged," he noted.

"Not exactly how I was hoping for our first dragon encounter to go," Frankie muttered sadly.

Hiccup sighed. "Yeah, me neither."

-,-

Hiccup rested his face in his hands. Darkshot survived through the night and was currently under Frankie's care who had taken the school day off to look after their new friend. Astrid still wasn't too thrilled with the whole idea but kept herself in check, even surprising Hiccup by helping him change the bandages at one point.

"Are you ready for the test today?"

He looked up to see Ingrid slump her bag on the table as she lowered down on the chair next to him.

Hiccup sighed, rubbing his eyes. "As ready as I can be. You?"

Ingrid shrugged. "I'll try my best."

They both finished around the same time and found themselves walking down the hall together afterwards.

"That last question might have fucked up the entire thing for me," Ingrid chuckled.

Hiccup laughed along nervously. "Yeah, me too," he lied.

Ingrid bit her lip, holding her books closer against her chest. "Are you free this Friday?"

Hiccup snapped his head up in surprise, staring at her in bewilderment.

She pushed a lock of red hair behind her ear. "I thought.. maybe we could hang out or something."

Hiccup let out an awkward chuckle, scratching the top of his head. "Um, what about Scott?"

Ingrid's smile waned slightly. "It's.. complicated but don't worry about it. Scott will not be a problem."

That was unfortunately easier said than done.

AN: Getting weirder?