"THE ARENA DRAGONS ARE GONE!"

It was the early morning, and the entire village had endured a sleepless night in the aftermath of one of the most vicious raids anyone could remember. The death toll had been higher than normal, and half the village had been destroyed.

Hiccup slowly helped in picking up the charred debris. The lethargic, stumbling excuse for work was the best he could do after having run himself ragged. His dash of death had left him feeling like his lungs were going to pop and his chest was going to collapse all at once. Still, with all his training and conditioning, even through his lack of sleep, he was still the most perky and responded first to the shout.

'Try to look angry, if you can. Remember, you've just heard your 'ultimate accomplishment in the making' is gone.' Toothless was trying to help, but now Hiccup had to repress a smile, which he tried to turn into a realistic grimace.

"Quoting Snotlout doesn't help me act serious."

'I was quoting Snotlout? Pardon me while I go wash my mouth in the river.'

"Seriously, I need to look mad, not happy. Save them for later." Hiccup tried to act angry.

'Sorry.'

Before anyone could say anything, Stoick spoke up. "What was that?"

A man ran up to Stoick, tremulous and doubling over to catch his breath.

Hiccup didn't recognize him on sight. He felt a slight twinge of contempt, which he ruthlessly stamped out as soon as he recognized what it was. He would never let himself become like half the Vikings on Berk, scornful of those with less physical ability. Wow. Not something Hiccup ever thought he'd have to stop himself from doing. He returned his attention to the out-of-breath Viking, who was slightly less in danger of dropping now. Vikings might be strong, but nowhere is it said that they are good distance runners.

The Viking finally elaborated while still gasping for air. "Me'n Hoark... went to check the pens... all the doors are open... dragons all gone... someone let them out!"

Stoick's face was turning an unhealthy shade of red, and the people around him braced for the vocal explosion that was sure to follow.

Hiccup covered his ears. He wanted to not be deafened entirely.

But Stoick didn't explode. He asked in a scarily calm voice one simple, hopefully for Hiccup unanswerable, question. "Who?"

The Viking had no idea. He shrugged. It really could have been anyone. Hiccup had covered his personal tracks quite well, having returned Gobber's dulled hook arm and key back to exactly how he had found them.

Stoick realized an answer was not forthcoming. Now he shouted. "GATHER EVERYONE IN THE GREAT HALL!" A distant flock of birds fluttered into the air and flew away.

'I think I heard that from here.' Toothless was exaggerating, as he had journeyed back to the cave at Hiccup's insistence that he not stay near the village while Vikings cut down trees to rebuild houses.

However, Hiccup believed that if Stoick shouted from the top of the island's mountains, he would be heard throughout the entire island. He just wasn't high enough right now for his voice to carry quite far enough for Toothless to be serious.

Stoick stormed off to the Great Hall with Gobber trailing behind. Hiccup followed the crowd there, doing his best to look angry. To do that, he just remembered the things Stoick had said about him the morning after returning from the nest hunt. That did the trick, maybe a little too well. Now he was angry at Stoick in particular, and that didn't fit the situation. He tried to focus on more general sources of anger, and that worked a little better. He made sure to keep his face fixed in that expression. Concentrate on appearance, and hope they jump to the wrong conclusions. That was what he needed to do.

Once the entire village of ash-stained, tired Vikings had gathered, Stoick stood on a table. "Vikings of Berk! Last night, while we were fighting off the raid, someone released all of the caged dragons in the arena!"

There was an angry roar from the crowd.

"QUIET! Now, we all know none of us would do such a thing. But, did anyone see anything suspicious around the arena lately?"

Silence. No one had. Hiccup looked around, and noticed two Vikings guarding the doors. If there were accusations, no one was leaving or sneaking out. Which was likely why Stoick had called them all here in the first place.

"Okay. No one saw anything last night either?"

Again there was silence. Hiccup tried not to show his relief. If any Viking suspected him, they would accuse him then and there if they had proof. He was safe for now.

"Alright then. This wouldn't be the first time someone like Alvin the Treacherous has decided to strike under the cover of night. We would have caught him if he hadn't got lucky with a raid as a distraction. Next time, he won't be so lucky!"

The crowd cheered. Hiccup tuned out Stoick's obligatory string of promises involving revenge, death, and gory ends for any Outcast that dares step on the shores of Berk. He only snapped back to attention when someone asked about Hiccup and the Nightmare. Stoick's reply was exactly what Hiccup had figured it would be.

"Well, we'll just have to catch another one then. A bigger and fiercer one, to make up for the extra time my son'll have to train!" His next announcement, however, was a complete surprise. And not a good one. "And that reminds me. We have focused so heavily on fighting dragons, we need to remember we have human enemies too! Gobber, I want you to continue dragon training. But make it weapons and Viking vs. Viking training, instead."

Gobber laughed. "Sure thing Stoick, bu' we might wanna come up with a better name than tha'. Doesn't roll of tha tongue like dragon trainin'. I'll think abou' that." He addressed the crowd. "All ye dragon trainin' recruits listen up! I know yer in there somewhere. Be at the arena tomorrow wit' yer weapon o' choice and a shield!"

'I don't like the sound of that.'

Hiccup agreed wholeheartedly. One of the things he had been looking forward to most, the end of the sporadic training sessions with the other teens, was apparently being extended. And Viking vs. Viking probably meant they would be expected to hurt each other. Snotlout did that for fun, and he didn't even want to consider Astrid now...

Hiccup left the Great Hall in a daze, his lack of sleep and earlier exertion slowly catching up to him. He just wanted to get out of the village for a while, but Gobber would probably want him to help in the forge.

He hadn't even made it down the stairs of the Great Hall when Toothless spoke up. 'Someone's coming up behind you. Not moving very fast though.'

Hiccup was grateful for the warning. He turned around wearily.

It turned out to be Fishlegs. "Hiccup! Astrid said to tell you that she wants you to meet us behind my house after lunch today."

Hiccup really didn't want to do anything of the sort, but if he refused, it would look really strange, and he couldn't afford to draw attention to himself in any way, now more than ever. "Is this another lie? Will I get there, only to find out that it's just Snotlout ready to beat me up, or some other trick? Because if it is, I think I'll pass." He spoke with just a hint of bitterness.

Fishlegs had the decency to look ashamed. "No, I swear that's exactly what she said to tell you. On my honor."

Hiccup believed this, mostly because Fishlegs didn't seem nervous like he had the last time something like this happened. "Alright, I got the message. I guess I'll be there."

Fishlegs walked away, and Hiccup resumed his journey to the forge. He had guessed correctly, and Gobber shoved a pile of blunted axes into his arms as soon as he walked through the door. Which, he had pointed out, was not the safest thing to do. Gobber was too overworked to care. Hiccup spent the rest of the time between then and lunch doing various things in the smithy, and discussing the upcoming meeting with Toothless. And of course, because he was dead tired, sneaking in an hour or so of sleep between repairs. Gobber was suspiciously absent for about the same amount of time, so Hiccup knew he wasn't alone in that particular decision.

After talking it over, they decided that Toothless would walk over to a hiding spot he knew that was a few minutes away from the meeting point Astrid had specified. That way, he would be close enough to interfere if something went horribly wrong, but not close enough to be detected. Toothless was taking no chances. And Hiccup didn't mind. Anything involving Astrid was dangerous, now. Just because he thought he had her figured out didn't mean he should bet on it.

Eventually, Hiccup and Gobber prepared to take a lunch break, and Gobber agreed to let Hiccup come back late. Well, once Hiccup told him he was going to be meeting the others for something. "Ach, can't have ye makin' Astrid any more mad, now can we?"

The way Gobber said that made Hiccup feel slightly guilty. The old man had basically been a surrogate father to him, and he probably felt worse about lying to Gobber than to Stoick. He decided to tell Gobber one small part of the truth. "I don't really care anymore."

Gobber was a bit surprised. Hiccup had pined after Astrid for as long as he could remember. He figured that Hiccup was trying to get her attention, the way he had been acting towards her recently. But this... "Lad, ya sound like ya don't like her anymore. Is it Ragnarok? Last night mighta been the start..."

Hiccup sighed. "I really don't care about her anymore." He could tell that much of the truth to his mentor. Even though he couldn't say why. Who knew how Gobber would take the news that he had discovered Astrid was slightly insane, a cold-hearted killer, and planning on finishing him off if the Nightmare didn't? That would be far too much, and it would make Gobber way too suspicious if he believed even half of those claims. But he could tell Gobber the result.

"Ach, ye'll find another one." That was the sum total of Gobber's advice.

Hiccup thought about it. Right now, that was the furthest thing from his mind. There was surviving in a hostile village, escaping Astrid, rescuing Toothless's mother, killing the Queen, maybe changing the minds of the people of Berk, and after all of that he had one more goal, though Toothless didn't know it yet. If they could do all of that, Hiccup wanted to go with Toothless and find the rest of his family. Who knew where they were now, or if they were even still alive, but if Toothless had other family, Hiccup wanted to go with him to find them. If he could do all of that, finding a girl that he liked who wasn't an enemy of dragons or a stone-cold killer shouldn't be so hard. At least, in comparison.

'I'll help you with that when all of this is over. We can search villages really fast if we fly.'

Hiccup wanted to laugh. Toothless was offering to help him find a girlfriend. He figured he owed the dragon one if they survived this, and he really did that. He mumbled his reply as he returned to sharpening the last ax of the pile. "You do that, and I'll return the favor. If we find a girl Night Fury, you can pretend to fight me off or something to look good."

'That would end in you getting killed later when I introduced you two, assuming it worked in the first place. And probably me too, depending on who we tricked with that. I'll figure out some other way for you to help that doesn't get me killed.' Toothless seemed quite amused by the idea.

Hiccup laughed softly, so as to not draw attention to himself. His lunch was gone far too quickly, and with a nervous stomach, he set out to Fishlegs' house, which was situated not far from the forge, also bordering the forest. He could see from a distance that everyone but Astrid was already there. He knew Toothless was in his spot, within a minute of them if he ran, ready if things got too bad. Hiccup joined the group, which stood in silence.

It was broken when Ruffnut glanced at Hiccup, then did a double take. "Hiccup, doesn't that hurt like crazy?" She was pointing at his arm, where a burn mark was clearly visible, and his blistered skin where the sleeve had burned away. It was the worst of the burns he had received running last night, and it didn't hurt much at all, thanks to Toothless's saliva. That stuff was really powerful on humans.

Hiccup shrugged. "Nah, I've gotten worse from working in the forge." That was a flat out lie.

The group was silent again, though Fishlegs was eyeing Hiccup's burn oddly. Hiccup didn't know that Fishlegs was inwardly debating whether to amend Hiccup's 'fire' rating. Fishlegs eventually decided against it. The rating didn't need to take into account that Hiccup could still be hurt by fire, so could most dragons if it was hot enough. He left Hiccup's score at twenty. And decided to ask Hiccup about it sometime if he could get him alone for a few minutes.

Astrid surprised the group a moment later. She accomplished this by walking out of the forest, instead of coming from the village. "Follow me." That was all she said, before going back into the forest. They all followed with varying amounts of confusion and anticipation.

Or in Hiccup's case, worry. He had a sinking feeling he knew where Astrid was leading them. That feeling was confirmed as they walked. Toothless started growling in Hiccup's head shortly after, as he realized where she was leading them. 'She's taking them there. Hasn't she polluted that place enough?'

Hiccup privately agreed. She was taking a group that included his greatest tormentor to one of the few places he had felt safe in. It didn't really change anything, but it still aggravated him. It also worried him. All she knew was that he used to spend time there. She probably thought he still did. What was she going to say when they got there?

She stopped in front of the hidden entrance and waited while Fishlegs caught up. Everyone except Astrid and Hiccup was out of breath.

Hiccup actually had to restrain himself on the way there. He wasn't used to the trip taking this long. She wordlessly showed them the entrance, and they filed through after her, Fishlegs going in first in case he got stuck. He did, and they pushed him through like a cork. He was lucky it was a short passageway. That would have been a painful experience if they had had to push him more than a couple of inches. Eventually, they all had reached the floor of the cove.

Hiccup took note of their reactions.

Fishlegs was too busy being shoved to notice at first. "Wow. This place is really well hidden." He considered his difficulty in entering. "But a bit tight in spots."

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were silent for a few moments. "Man, think of all the pranks we could have pulled if we had a secret base like this!" Tuffnut seemed put out.

Ruffnut agreed. "Astrid, why'd you have to show everyone this place? We really could have used this, but now it's worthless!"

Hiccup winced at that last part. Ruffnut was right, this place wasn't nearly as good when other people knew about it. He had already learned that lesson.

Snotlout was the last to see the cove. "What's so great about this?"

Astrid was sitting on top of the same boulder as when Toothless had found her in the cove. She pulled out a whetstone, just like then. But this time she knew she had an audience. When she spoke, her tone was ice. "I've gathered us all here today for a reason. We deserve answers."

Hiccup wanted to panic. This sounded really, really bad. Toothless was still close, but if he had to intervene, they could never come back to Berk. And that would make saving Toothless's mother way harder. And there was no guarantee he could rescue Hiccup if things turned bad. The walls of the cove meant Toothless was far more vulnerable here, especially when he needed Hiccup on his back to leave.

Astrid continued talking, slowly sharpening her ax as she did. "We deserve answers about how the most worthless heir in history somehow went from last to first in dragon training. About what he's been doing all this time alone in the woods these last few weeks. About what he's been doing here." Astrid gestured to the remains of Hiccup's fires.

"Woah, this is Hiccup's secret hideout?" Tuffnut was stunned. "Dude, this place is awesome! Why did you never show us?!"

Ruffnut punched him in the elbow. "Why would he? He probably comes here to get away from people."

Hiccup's opinion of Ruffnut as a clone of Tuffnut (and vice versa) was shaken by this, and a few other events recently. Ruff definitely was more perceptive than her brother. He made sure to remember that. If he survived the next few minutes.

Snotlout was entirely behind Astrid's speech so far. "Yeah, very good questions."

Fishlegs raised his hand. "Uh, if we're asking about Hiccup, how does he run like last night?" Fishlegs figured this wasn't the best time to ask, but he might get a straight answer right now, with Astrid pressuring Hiccup. He also was curious about the answers to the other questions.

Hiccup gulped.

Snotlout just had to interject. "Running like what?"

Astrid was glaring at Fishlegs. She slowly spoke. "A while ago, while training was still going, I wanted to ask Hiccup some of these questions. But he ran. So, I chased him into the woods."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Snotlout was annoyed that Astrid seemed to be backing Fishlegs up.

Astrid whipped her ax around to point at Snotlout. "Shut up and listen. This is important. You guys might not believe Fishlegs, but what I'm about to tell you is the complete truth, no exaggerations."

Snotlout nodded.

Hiccup inched towards the exit of the cove. This was getting really bad. They were going to demand answers. He should just run.

Snotlout grabbed Hiccup's arm, holding him in his strong grip. Hiccup flinched away, but he couldn't get Snotlout to break his grip.

"What are you doing Snotlout?" Tuffnut was confused.

"He was gonna run. I should know, I've seen that look often enough." He sneered at Hiccup.

Tuffnut wasn't impressed. "It's Hiccup. He'd get like three feet into the forest before he tripped."

Astrid decided to interrupt. "No, he'd outrun all of you easily. Just listen. I chased Hiccup into the forest. How long do you think it took me to catch him?"

"Probably about ten seconds." Snotlout was obviously trying to compliment Astrid.

"Thirty seconds." That was Tuffnut, who sounded entirely serious.

Fishlegs spoke up. "I'm gonna guess... you didn't. He outran you, didn't he?"

Astrid ignored Snotlout's protests on her behalf. She nodded. That shut everyone up. "He outran me. Easily. We all know Hiccup has always been clumsy. But that day, he outran me by running straight into the deepest part of the forest, and up hills instead of around them. When he ran, it was like he was a different person. Someone not clumsy, someone quick and surefooted. I didn't know what to think. That was crazy enough."

Tuffnut interrupted again. "So? Hiccup can run. Why do we care? You act like it's unnatural for a person to be able to run."

Astrid was getting mad, the icy calm she had been holding cracking. "It was unnatural. No one gets that good that fast, and there was something about how he moved. No clumsy person moves like that. I thought it might have been a fluke. Then I saw him do it again. I'm betting you saw it too." She nodded at Fishlegs.

He stepped forward, nervous at being called to do what felt like testifying in Viking court.

Hiccup made the connection. Astrid was conducting this like a Viking court. The charges were laid, the witnesses spoke. Then the defendant was asked to explain. After that, a punishment was handed down. They were away from any interference, and Hiccup was stuck here. Astrid was doing all of this intentionally. Hiccup still wasn't sure what her end goal was, but the method was clear. This was a trial, with her as the judge and primary witness. Never mind that that wasn't allowed at a real trial, or that Astrid was acting in the position of Chief. By the way, Fishlegs' face had changed, he made the connection at about the same time Hiccup did.

Fishlegs spoke nervously. "Um, well, when we were on fire brigade last night, I saw Hiccup running through the village. I was so surprised, my boot caught on fire and I didn't notice for a few seconds. He was running really fast, right through the main street. You all saw how crazy it was last night. There was fire everywhere. Hiccup ran right through the street. The way he moved... he wasn't clumsy, and he seemed to know what the fire was going to do. He jumped right through a massive wall of it right as the wall flickered because of the wind. I, uh, I updated Hiccup's stats. I gave him, uh, a score in the fire category. A twenty." If Fishlegs thought that meant anything to Snotlout or the twins, he was crazy.

He was looking straight at Hiccup when he said that last part, so Hiccup was pretty sure he said it to him specifically. He wanted to laugh at the irony. Fishlegs gave him a score in a column he reserved for dragons. He had no idea how appropriate that really was.

"The fire column? What's our score in there?" Tuffnut was actually interested. Probably because it had to do with fire.

Fishlegs stuttered for a second. "Uh, people don't usually get scores in the fire column. It's for dragons, to rate how good their control or manipulation of fire is."

Tuffnut slumped, as did Ruffnut. Then he brightened. "Well, I guess me and Ruff will just have to try harder! Now we have an actual goal!"

Ruffnut frowned. "From what Fishlegs said, Hiccup's gonna be really hard to top. What can we do that's that cool with fire?"

"I could always set you on fire."

A loud crack split the air and silenced everyone. Astrid dropped the two halves of the whetstone she had just smashed on the boulder she was sitting on. "Focus. I saw the same thing Fishlegs did. Now, does anyone have anything else they want to add about Hiccup's behavior?"

The twins shrugged, and Snotlout smiled. "Yeah, I do. Why'd he insult you and me and show you up in training? And how, for that matter?" Astrid retained that icy facade she had held mostly intact. Snotlout thought he was making Astrid hate Hiccup.

Hiccup was well aware Snotlout couldn't make that any worse than it already was. He still didn't understand why Astrid was doing this. He needed to know why so he could figure out a way around it. Why hold a mock-trial for someone you fully intend to kill later anyway? She might be doing it to discredit him, but then she would be doing it in a real trial, not this. This meant nothing, officially.

"Alright, looks like that's it. Hiccup." She gestured at him. "Now you get to explain everything. You'd better explain everything."

Hiccup had to test that. "Or else?"

Astrid smiled viciously. "Or else Snotlout gets to beat you up until you can't stand. And he'll do it again, every day until you face the Nightmare, once a new one is captured. Stoick's never cared before, so he won't care now. And we all know you have to be in certain places at certain times. The forge, the Great Hall, your house. Training with Gobber and the rest of us. You'll barely be able to stand when you face the Nightmare, and it'll kill you."

That was a threat, but not for the reason Astrid thought. This wasn't going to happen, no matter what Astrid planned. If it came to that, he could leave with Toothless. She didn't know he had an out. She thought he was stuck on Berk, and clearly assumed he wouldn't just abandon his responsibilities. Which would be true, if he stayed on Berk. This was a threat she fully intended on having carried out, and from the look on Snotlout's face, he was fine with it, though this was definitely the first time he was hearing about it.

What it really boiled down to was this. Either Hiccup could give a satisfying explanation, code words in his mind for lie through his teeth, or he would have to leave. And he didn't want to leave. He didn't want to make rescuing Toothless's mom more difficult than it already was, and he definitely didn't want to be driven off of Berk by Astrid.

That was another thing. This plan didn't feel very well thought through. Astrid always thought through her plans. This one felt like it had some holes. She wasn't taking into account his newfound status in the village, for one thing. If he told people about this little mock trial, it was possible they might listen. Astrid would be discredited, and she and Snotlout would be watched. She was clearly assuming he would be ignored. Was it willful blindness on her part, or had her cracking sanity taken another blow recently? He wasn't sure which would be worse. A less sane Astrid bent on destroying him, or a more sane Astrid with the same goal. They would both be dangerous but in different ways.

He noticed Toothless had been quiet. The dragon was probably ready to leap into action in a split second. He was also probably trying not to distract Hiccup. They both knew muttering to himself right now would look really, really bad. Hiccup tried to gauge the others' reactions to what was basically a death sentence coming from Astrid if he didn't talk. The twins both looked a bit shocked, though they were hiding it pretty well. Ruffnut, in particular, was staring at Astrid. Fishlegs looked petrified. Snotlout looked strangely relieved. Why in the world would he look relieved? Eager, or happy, those emotions Hiccup would understand all too well. His cousin stood a good chance at being the next chief if Hiccup wasn't around. But relieved?

Hiccup realized that he needed a really good lie. Luckily, he had one. The same one he had used on Stoick. Time to act like he had never acted before. His life didn't actually depend on it, but his existence on Berk did. He shrugged. This had to seem like not a big deal if a little uncomfortable to discuss. "Fine. You didn't have to threaten my life to get me to explain. My dad just wanted me to keep it secret."

That statement was meant to do two things. First, drive home that what Astrid had just done was way out of line, hopefully weakening her support. Second, to get the chief involved, even if he wasn't really. It wasn't a claim they could question. He continued. "I wasn't sure what was going on in training. I would just do things in the ring, without planning them beforehand. I didn't like losing control, so I spent a lot of time in this cove, trying to figure it out. What caused it, how to stop it or control it." This was going well. He had a good explanation, and one that tied into all the stories Vikings told, the ones about warriors who lost control in battle and fought like crazy. He had cultural precedent for his lie. "When dad," Why did it feel weird calling him that? "got back from the nest hunt, I told him about what was happening. He says it's my bloodline showing up when I go into battle or feel really threatened. I can't control when it happens, and I can't really reproduce what I do when it does. He told me to keep it secret, because if people knew, they would be jealous," and at that he pointedly eyed Astrid, "or try to test it by attacking me. And I can't control it yet." He held in a smile as Astrid scowled at him, furious at his insinuation that she was jealous of his 'abilities.'

And as an excuse it was perfect. It explained everything. He checked their reactions, to see if they bought it. Fishlegs probably did, and the twins definitely did, going by their expressions. Snotlout seemed more annoyed with it than anything, which was better than disbelief. Astrid was the outlier. His explanation had been great and fit all the details. But she didn't believe him. It was hard to see, but the disbelief was there. It didn't matter. She had no more evidence to use against him. If she told Snotlout to punish him anyway, Fishlegs and maybe the twins would oppose her. He only needed one witness to guarantee he was taken seriously with the village, and his story was good enough that her objections would be pushed aside. He had beaten her.

"So, what you're saying is, we can't see this stuff in action?" That was Ruffnut.

"No, I can't trigger it intentionally, and it seems pretty random when I feel threatened enough. It didn't happen the first or second time in the ring, and I was definitely in life-threatening danger then."

Snotlout looked nonplussed. "So it only goes off sometimes? That isn't very useful." He didn't seem at all sorry to hear that.

Hiccup decided that this would be a good time to leave. He pulled himself out of Snotlout's grip and started walking towards the exit. He had a sudden idea, on how to really sell the fact that he didn't care his secret was 'out,' and hopefully discourage Astrid from coming back here. Even if he could never feel safe here, he wanted her out. "Oh, and I really need privacy when I try to figure this thing out, so thanks Astrid for ruining this place for me."

That was said with all the anger he truly felt towards her. Fishlegs and the twins looked utterly shocked. He continued. "I'll find somewhere else. Feel free to come back here whenever guys. Its biggest perk was that it was hidden. It isn't anymore." That really hurt to say, but he knew the best way to get people not to come back was to destroy any value it held in their minds. If it had been Hiccup's place, and he said it was ruined, they would believe him. Astrid would probably come back, but she would find that he was telling the truth about not coming back, and she would lose interest.

Hiccup left the cove and paused while the others filed out behind him. He decided to rub his speed in Astrid's face, now that his secret was 'out'. All it would take was one more white lie. "Oh, and by the way. My running is all me. Turns out, running like this helps clear my head. Anyone wanna race back?" He could see the pure fury in Astrid's eyes when the twins immediately volunteered, and Snotlout followed suit. He had just forced her to participate. And she knew he would crush them, including her. He was showing her that this little trial of hers had backfired. Far from destroying him, she had elevated him in the eyes of the others. And, he wasn't risking anything. The others would respect the wishes of the chief, and they knew that meant they had to keep their mouths shut.

He had Fishlegs count them down, as the only one not running. "3...2...1...GO!"

He took off, reveling in the opportunity to completely destroy them in a physical competition. And what's more, he wasn't cheating. Toothless wasn't giving his extra help, and Hiccup was relying entirely on his newly developed coordination, timing, speed, and stamina. Stuff Toothless had taught him how to practice. He was quite good at this now, and as long as he held off on the more extreme moves, he wasn't doing anything unnatural-looking. Just unnatural compared to his capabilities a month ago. He left them all in the dust, including Astrid. Once he got far enough ahead, he started talking to Toothless. While running, though it slowed him down as it messed with his breathing. He was still way faster than the others even at this pace. None of them had any practice at running through dense forest. "That looked really bad for a while. But I managed to turn it on Astrid entirely!"

'Yes, and I was one false move away from killing Snotlout. He almost died when he grabbed your arm.'

That sobered Hiccup up. He had almost forgotten how tense it had been down there. "Thank you for protecting me. If anything had gone differently, I would have needed it."

'I still don't get everything that happened down there. But your story was really good. You explained everything they noticed. But what if they tell other people?'

"They can't because they believe the Chief wants it kept a secret. And if nobody's supposed to know, they can't risk letting the Chief know they know."

Hiccup laughed. There was a saying about lies being a tangled web. If that was the case, right now he had woven a safety net. It was holding him up, and would continue to do so unless something unforeseen ripped it. And if that happened, he would drop onto Toothless's saddle and fly away. But he wouldn't have to. The net looked like it was holding fine.

Astrid fumed as she ran, angry beyond all reason at the failure of her plan. She had wanted to force Hiccup to admit that he had been cheating, or making deals with demons, or anything incriminating. Then, she could have used it to disqualify him as the winner of dragon training. She was the runner-up, so that would make her the best. Who cared if Hiccup got outcast or killed in pursuit of that goal? He didn't matter. But he had turned it on her. It had been a mistake to threaten his life in front of the other teens. When he had come up with a reasonable excuse, and she was sure without a doubt that it was an excuse, it had given him leverage with Fishlegs and the twins, who weren't going to support her against the heir when they thought he had done nothing wrong. And now he was showing her up. Again. In front of the others this time, to rub in her face the fact that he had gotten away with... something! It was making her so mad that she still didn't know what he was really doing! Whatever. She still had her original plan. Either way, he would die. And she would make herself the best. If he killed the Nightmare or was killed by it, then she would show her superiority by hunting them to extinction. Or just killing as many as possible. That would prove she was better than the dead heir. She just had to wait. And in the meantime, she would keep trying to figure out what he was really doing.

The twins were majorly impressed. This was the first time they had seen Hiccup really run, and he was pretty good. They hadn't had a chance to witness him go full out, either in the forest or in the raid, so they thought this was impressive. They totally believed Hiccup's explanation.

Fishlegs was unsettled. Hiccup's explanation made sense, but there was something there that didn't add up. And Fishlegs was a man of statistics and numbers. They always had to add up. If they didn't, something was wrong. He wasn't sure if they added up here. He would figure out what was bothering him eventually.

Snotlout was relieved. He entirely bought Hiccup's story. But it didn't matter to him. His goals and motives remained unchanged.

Hiccup didn't know it, but his safety net had weak threads. Whether or not they would hold long enough was up in the wind.

Author's note: To Eris the guest, who said; "That is an interesting and fascinating chapter. Is that girl who taught Hiccup how to pick locks Camicazi and her mother is Bertha? I would be very happy when Camicazi apperas in your story. Please update soon."

I update every week on Thursday morning. I hope that counts as soon. As for Camicazi, maybe? Think of this as more of a confirmation that she does indeed exist in this universe, not that she's going to play a part in this story. I do like world-building, and there have already been references to things that won't come into play for a very, very long time.