AN: Here's the 14th chapter for you guys. It took me forever to finally read this chapter over and edit it for posting. But finally it is done and I am posting it.

Reading Ledger:

"Normal Speak"

-Dragon Speak-

'Toothless&Hiccup Telepathy' [This telepathy has no limit distance-wise, but only Hiccup and Toothless can hear it.]

*All Dragon Telepathy* [This version of telepathy is not long distance, but can still be used if individuals are close enough even when they are not within each other's vision. Has around a 100-meter distance.]

Original Character Names:

Terrible Terror - Remi

Chapter 14 – L'arrivo Dell'inverno

Astrid was a mixture of scared, confused, and angry. Scared because she could have easily been eaten by that black dragon. Confused because she hadn't been killed by any of the dragons and Hiccup had basically become one of them. Lastly, she was angry because everything that Hiccup had said was absolutely right.

So, when she'd finally returned to the village, she was completely messed up inside and she didn't know what to say. She ended up telling the Chief that she'd checked the whole area and that there was nothing there. Thankfully the stress she was feeling internally wasn't showing on her face, and that she wasn't asked too many questions.

Free of her duties for the day she went home to take a moment so she could think because she couldn't get he mind off what happened today and inside she was full of turmoil about the whole situation. All she wanted to do was forget that today had even happened at this point and move on with her life. Hiccup would leave, this would no longer be a problem, and life would go on as if none of this was even an issue in the first place.

(-Hiccup3Toothless-)

When Hiccup awoke to find the cave colder than ever before and the world outside covered in white, he almost swore. No wonder he felt like he was going to freeze to death, and of course, the fire had died out during the night. Hiccup shook Toothless to wake the dragon up, a large green eye opened to look at him clearly wondering why his sleep was being interrupted. Hiccup looked to where the fire pit was, -I need you to start the fire again, I'm freezing.-

Toothless spit a weak blast at the woodpile that hadn't fully burned down the night before. Then he looked outside at the world now bathed in white. He looked back at Hiccup, -We can't go anywhere for a while now. We'll need to block up the entrance to keep heat in and collect a ton of wood to keep the fire burning for you at all times. We need to gather more furs for you to keep you off the cold stone floor as much as possible too.-

Hiccup was pushed closer to the fire by Toothless to make sure that he stayed warm while the dragons worked on the cave. Before though Hiccup got the pleasure of watching Toothless swat Remi awake with his tail. He giggled as he watched them head out of the cave before he tried to curl up tighter to warm up more.

(-Hiccup3Toothless-)

The dragons were out of the cave for most of the day only checking in on him a few times. Remi had been bringing in loads of wood and fish, as well as, a few more furs he'd snagged from the village. Toothless collected a number of trees to cover the entrance by using rocks to hold them in place leaving only enough room to climb in and out of. He'd found a piece of bark that fit the opening that they could use as a door. The inside of the cave had foliage up against the trees to block holes, and by nightfall the cave was way warmer than it had been in the morning.

As winter continued to rush into the area with a vengeance. Hiccup had to spend more time in the cave due to the weather so Toothless usually stayed with him, but Remi went out to explore and fish in areas of the sea around the island that hadn't frozen over yet. Remi would bring back an assortment of things for Hiccup like ripped old sails from shipwrecks, leather cording, books, string, and other random things he could steal.

When Remi returned with a large piece of sail Hiccup instantly knew he could rework it to make a cover for the cave to keep the wind out better. Toothless had done the best he could with trees, but there was still a number of holes that air was making its way through and putting up the sail would help with that problem a lot. Hiccup planned to make this temporary den as warm as he possibly could. If they were going to be here until spring decided it was time to come. He sure as hell didn't plan on being cold the whole time. At least they don't have to worry that much about Vikings finding them now. The Vikings won't wander this far from the village because of the dangers of traveling through the snow. Getting lost in this weather if a storm happens could end your life, and even the Vikings weren't dumb enough to ignore the rules set out by mother nature.

(-Astrid-)

Astrid hadn't been expecting the rain to turn into snow so suddenly, but at least it meant she didn't have to worry as much about anyone finding Hiccup since the Chief had called off the search, and put winter rules into effect. People were only allowed to go into the forest if wood reserves were running low, and since they had a decent amount of food stored up, they wouldn't need to try fishing until spring hopefully. Most of their time in the winter was spent either in the great hall or their own homes. Food was limited as was the firewood per home, which was to make sure they didn't run out of either before winter ended.

Astrid was not a fan of winter because it meant she would have to be around Snotlout, Roughnut, and Toughnut more than she ever wanted to be. At least it was better than them wandering around the woods so she could put up with them. Worst case scenario she could beat them up if they wouldn't leave her alone, at least it would give her something to do to stave off the boredom.

She had been observing the Chief carefully for a while since Hiccup had "disappeared", because the man had been working on autopilot since he'd lost his son. She'd never seen the man this way before, but her mother had told her that the man had been broken like this when his wife had been taken by a dragon. Stoick had shut down emotionally, only fulfilling his Chiefly duties before returning home to morn. Gobber, Astrid's mother, and Snotlout's parents had all been left to care for the basically abandoned baby until the Chief finished having his break down. The young child was babbling out happily to Astrid's mother before Stoick had finally taken the baby back.

Astrid sat with her mother in her house, "His own father had abandoned him just like that?"

"Hiccup had it hard from the very start, he was always such a nice boy who was almost an exact replica of his mother Valka. She'd always been against killing the beasts, believing that there must be a better way. It was horrible that she died because sometimes what she continuously preached made a lot of sense," her mother explained quietly, "Maybe if she hadn't been taken then everything would be a lot different now, but we'll never know what could have been."

Astrid felt horrible because she knew she shouldn't tell her mother about what she had learned about Hiccup, but her mother might know what she should do, "Mom what if I know what happened to Hiccup, and where he is?"

Her mother looked at her clearly worried and trying to figure out what is wrong, "Honey, what happened?" she asked concerned as she reached out to take Astrid's hands. Which Astrid didn't even notice had been shaking.

"I'm not sure if I should tell you...," Astrid responded to her mother.

Her mother was clearly still concerned about her and she could tell something was obviously wrong, "You can tell me anything sweetie."

Astrid thought it over in her head before she caved trusting her mother to keep what she was about to say a secret, "He's in the forest living with dragons. He said that they were leaving when the rain stopped but I don't think they've left yet because of how fast the snow came."

Her mother was clearly confused and shocked by what she had just told her, "He's living with dragons?"

"It's not that simple. He can speak with them and has basically become one of them. He said he became soul bound with the black dragon, and I don't fully understand what that means but I do know that it is changing his body though. He's stronger then he should be and he can form scales on his body at will I saw his hand shift until it was similar to something we would see on a dragon with claws and everything. I know it sounds completely insane but I saw it with my own two eyes." Astrid said quickly, clearly in a mixture of wonder at the memory, and distress from having to keep it a secret.

Her mother was in awe, "That sounds crazy, but I know that you'd never lie to me." A thoughtful look appeared on her mothers face, "No one else can know about this and you should try and head out there to talk to him well the weather is still somewhat stable. Make sure that he's okay."

Astrid nodded, "Ok, I'll go tomorrow morning so that I have the whole day to make it to his cave, but what about the winter rules the Chief won't approve of me leaving the village."

Her mother hugged her, "Make sure to be careful and stay warm, I'll deal with Stoick."

"I will, I love you mom," she melted into the hug as her mother placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"I love you too honey," her mother smiled.

(-Astrid-)

It was a lot easier to say that she would go to see Hiccup then to actually trek through the snow all the way to the cave to see him. It was damn cold out and hard to move through the feet of snow that had already fallen. It didn't matter how much clothes she worse somehow the cold always found its way to the inside. She sighed giving up on those thoughts and continued to muscle through the long, annoying journey.

When she finally arrived at the cave, she was surprised to see most of the cave blocked by trees and a cover that she assumed was leather. The black dragon was nowhere in sight and neither was Hiccup, but she figured that they were inside trying to stay warm.

She walked over until she was standing under the opening of the cave, while at the same time staying aware of the area around her. She glanced up and yelled trying to get his attention, "HICCUP!"