AN: Hello, this is what you could call as the Part II of last chapter. I promised y'all that i would update either yesterday or before yesterday, but homework kept me from doing so. Please don't butcher me

Without further ado:

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Why did you do that Hiccup?" he noticed there was a bit of anger behind her curious tone. Dragon Master or not, she still spoke as if he was an idiot, he bitterly thought. This angered him a little inside; here he was just telling her she would be the next chief of Berk and she spoke like it was something bad. Well… it was only for him bad because the moment his father finally deemed him worthy of it he was living a secret life with a Night Fury, and would be forced to kill a dragon even though he sworn he would never do it.

"We both know you're better fit for leading than I." he retorted, a little too harshly. Hearing how harsh his voice came out he tried to speak again, this time softer, "Also, if anything happen to Gobber, I would be the only one able to manage the forge. It's the only thing I've been able to do properly" he said, trying to use the same serious tone he used with his father.

She knew it, and didn't buy. She wanted him to spill the guts about leaving. But not yet, she would wait the opportunity to confront him. "I see… but did you considered what would I think about that when you talked to your father about this? Did you consider if I would agree even?" she asked, trying to sound a bit offended. She was not offended though, after all it would be a huge honor to become chief, big enough to clean the tainted honor the Hoffersons had. Still, she had a point, and Astrid didn't think he wouldn't take into consideration that she could deny for being too pressuring the position as heir.

She wasn't good at acting; that much he noticed. He knew she was up to something, given how oddly she was talking, but decided to play along. She was sounding offended and he knew this would be the last thing she would feel if presented with the chance to be heir. "In fact I did. You would hold a prestigious position, restore your family honor that was lost since…" he didn't finish, instead vaguely gesturing. His gaze lowered from hers, and because of that, he missed the sad expression she had for a moment.

Before the silence could get awkward, he continued: "You also wouldn't need to be forcedly married, since your new position gives you certain…privileges. And we both know dad wouldn't force you into marriage either. Like it or not, your mom would eventually marry you, just like Ruffnut's mom will. Being the heir would allow you to choose rather than be chosen." His gaze was back on her to observe her expressions.

She gritted her teeth at the idea of marrying, but even more that the boy indeed thought of everything. She couldn't even find a flaw in his logic so it wasn't this way that she would corner the boy. It made sense to her that he would be clever. He befriended and saddled a Night Fury (it could only be, there was no other known dragon that is black as night) and managed to win over Stoick's stubbornness.

He smiled mentally. Whatever game Astrid was playing wasn't probably going on as she planned. He knew she gritted her teeth because his logics was practically flawless (or so he thought, and luckily, she too). He just wanted her to get off from him and let him leave; there was no point in being around anymore. Everything was settled already and the only thing he had to do was take his things, pack up and leave.

She decided to apologize to him instead. She had figured after what she heard at that cove that he did deserve it and there was no better time than this to do so. And seeing how he thought of absolutely everything made her wonder that if should circumstances had been different he would still have named her heir. Besides, he seemed to consider the fact that her family's honor was tainted because of the Flightmare incident and took into consideration it. Whether he was leaving or not, an apology was in order. A Viking knows when he makes a mistake and she was no different.

"Hiccup… I'm…I'm sorry…" the words were not in her vocabulary, at least not in that order, so it felt weird to speak them. She didn't miss, though, Hiccup's mouth agape expression. She giggled a little at the funny scene, although that was enough to get Hiccup back to reality and close his mouth, narrowing his previously widened eyes in both suspicious and confusion.

Feeling awkward that she did something very un-Astrid, she glared at him. Satisfied that he flinched, she continued: "I… misunderstood you. You clearly think about the tribe, and clearly still think about me. I was so wrapped in training that I got jealous when you started besting me, you know why" and he knew very well. He had just spoken why she trained so intensely.

"Sorry about that… It's you who should be fighting tomorrow, not me" he said, a bit sheepishly, still taken aback that Astrid of all people was apologizing to him. That only added more guilt to him, since everything that came with Dragon Training that he would throw away by leaving. However a voice reminded him that masquerade wouldn't hold for long either if he was to stay. He had hurt Toothless, downing the dragon in the process. If anything happened to the Night Fury because he was grounded on Berk, Hiccup would blame himself, since it was because of him that the dragon wouldn't be able to fly away.

She restrained herself from saying: "It should, you cheated using tricks you learned from that beast!" it was harsh, she knew, what she just thought, but her frustrated side couldn't keep itself from thinking anything different. But, instead, she said:"It… shouldn't. You earned it Hiccup." She said trying to sound humble.

He saw this wasn't what she wanted to say as she looked like she hesitated for a second. His suspicious grew that she knew something, so he decided to change the subject. "You said you wanted to talk to me, what it was?" he asked, remembering what she said after entering the forge and thankful that he did so. He saw her shoulders slump slightly, meaning that she was caught off at the sudden change of the subject.

She mentally slapped herself. She saw he purposely shifted the subject and could do nothing without looking suspicious. From his gaze she noticed he was suspicious of something. She knew the boy was smart, that much credit she gave him, so she decided she had to play along. "Yes I did. Were you planning on leaving?" she asked, dropping the façade and going straight to the point; and was happy that his expression changed.

He froze for a second 'So she knew?' before he recalled what Johann said. He figured out her game, a mistake she shouldn't have done and was thankful the Trader shared that piece of information with him. He guessed it wouldn't be long before she told him what she discovered about him, hopefully not being about Toothless. But he didn't throw out the option that she knew about the dragon, since he couldn't recall any other time she could have overheard him speaking about leaving.

"I could ask you the same." This time he was the one happy when her face was one of shock. It wouldn't be long before she noticed he already knew of her game. Or if she already noticed this, it wouldn't take long for her to lose her patience and use an aggressive approach. He was just thankful that her axe was not with her, otherwise he could as well bid goodbye to his life, or at best a limb or two.

"Why do you say that?" her tone slightly losing that softness she tried to hold before, as it came out accusatorial. He noticed that, but didn't show it. She was losing ground and fast. If things kept going like that she would never get him to stay or admit that the whole Dragon Training was a fluke.

"Johann told me" he briefly answered, trying to sound nonchalantly but failing. He was nervous, and he was pretty sure that his voice just showed this. But he was also determined, and slightly angry at her. He got his father to listen to him, so he felt like he could, for once, stand up to anyone, including her. He was leaving, period.

"And why would he tell you that?" she was losing her patience. Every time she thought she had cornered the boy, he could corner her back. Her approach was failing miserably and so was her patience. She now understood why Vikings were never the bunch to find out things by talking instead of being violent. She thought the honey and the hatched approach would work on him… she thought wrong.

"I was trading with him and he commented that" he almost said "I asked when I was looking for the maps" but managed to not do it. He needed to keep his cool and confidence up, since it was very probable that she knew about Toothless. Had it been before, he would surely have crumbled at her pressure, but talking to his father and actually being heard gave him confidence. He felt pride for himself that moment. Besides, his best friend's life was at stake, he couldn't afford losing an argument with her.

"And what was you trading with him?" she asked with a cocked eyebrow. Yet again she failed at cornering him.

"Ink and paper; he always trades those with me when he comes. You can ask Gobber. Where would I sketch my inventions? We don't have much paper around here in case you didn't notice." A bit of sarcasm dripped off with his voice, and to weight his argument, he waved his hand showing the forge, where there were piles of paper on the corner.

She clenched her hand into a tight fist. She was about to lose her cool with him. In fact she did. "I saw he also trade maps with you" and her hand flied to her mouth. She cursed herself mentally, 'I spoke too much. Gods be damned!' Now it was another advantage he had on her and unless she came out clean, this argument would continue pointless.

"Why were you watching me?" he wanted to say stalking, but knew this situation didn't exactly mean that. And she would probably lash him out rightfully. He had managed to turn her game against her, now he only needed to keep it like that. He couldn't allow the panic rising inside him take control, otherwise the very reason he came back would be jeopardized.

"I wasn't!" she didn't scream, but her voice was louder. She was cracking as she was the only one being cornered. Her big mouth gave in too much.

"So why were you at the docks? He was about to leave and also said you were there before, so it wasn't to trade anything" he tried holding a smug expression to crack her shell, but deep down he was terrified that he would leave Berk to Valhalla this moment. Axe or not she could easily crack his skull.

"FINE! I WANTED TO KNOW WHY YOU WERE LEAVING?" she screamed. He lost all his postured and stepped back twice from her. It wasn't always someone made Astrid lose her cool, because that someone never lived to tell the tale, so to speak. But he was known to be able to do this, much like his clumsiness did on the first day with the Nadder; or when she cornered him in front of the forge when fixing the harness hooked with Toothless.

Though he shrieked in fear, he felt hurt inside. He felt Astrid's apology hadn't been honest, because he believed until now it was when it had been only a part of her game. She only wanted to know why he was leaving when he just took from her the chance to kill the Nightmare. She only cared about her honor. It had been the reason she threw herself at training and basically forgot him, it was the reason she eavesdropped on his talk with his father and it was the reason she came here to confront him, although he had to give her credit for the different method of confrontation. Maybe because she had followed him to the cove and heard him, but that he couldn't be sure.

Because of that, he grew cold inside, his face lost all expression. "Why do you care?" his voice was low and his tone was icy cold. He could see now why Toothless was so annoyed when he spoke of Astrid, he was trying to tell his rider that it wasn't worth caring for someone that would not do the same, and that you would only end up hurt and disappointed. Hiccup really wished that moment that he heard the Night Fury.

She was evening her breath. Though she felt good lashing out on him, she felt a bit sorry. After all, she felt into her own game, and was stupid to believe that Hiccup wouldn't have noticed it before. Besides, she was part of the reason the boy was driving himself away from the tribe, and shouting at him wouldn't change his mind. She felt stupid, seeing how messed up things were, and considered that coming out clean would have avoided all of this nonsense.

She was about to apologize for screaming at him when those words reached her ears. She actually flinched, but not because of what he said. She flinched because of how he said it. His voice was devoid of emotion, his tone as icy as the coldest day on winter. To her the boy had always been kind, clumsy, but never capable of holding such…err…stoic emotion, like his father.

She realized she was walking on thin ice; something that she said must have hit him deeply for him to be speaking like this. She never had seen Hiccup as cold as now, at least not with Gobber, or when they were friends, so she didn't know how he would react from now on. She decided being honest would be better; her little game was already spoiled anyway.

"Because I don't want you to go" she said softly while averting her eyes from him. If he was boiling in anger, he didn't show. Well, he was bullied for 10 years of his life, and she never saw him show anything but disappointment. 'Maybe he mastered the art of concealing his emotions.' She mused to herself. So she decided that it would be better if she didn't show either, even though a part of her really wanted to choke the boy.

"I wonder why. All you care is that I took the spotlight from you and didn't even care about it. I named you heir and you didn't even mutter thanks. You only care and ever cared about Dragon Training." He said, still icy cold his voice, but a bit of hurt also escaping through it.

"That's not true" she rubbed her eyes, feeling a bit tired of the discussion. 'This didn't go anywhere near what I planned' she remarked mentally.

"So, please, do shed some light and tell me the truth" he said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. She felt a little at easy hearing the sarcasm the boy was known for.

"I don't want you to leave because…" a lump caught her throat, thus making her halt her speech. She cleared her throat before speaking again. "…because you are the only one I ever called friend, a-and I don't want to lose you." she said, a bit ashamed that she didn't have the right to say that.

If he was listening her as he was before, he would have noticed the change in her posture and her tone. But he still felt cold inside, so the changed all but missed him.

"That's right. Called. You don't call me friend anymore. You don't care about me anymore. In fact you only did when I began interfering with your training. That's all you care. You threw away our friendship for a stupid training. And for what?!" his voice passed from cold to angry, but it lasted only for a second as the weight of his words crashed on him.

She felt hurt hearing those words. She guessed that's how Hiccup felt when being mocked and lashed out. She would be angry that she couldn't fight back the pain, but she wasn't in her shell anymore. She was looking at her boots, with a lone tear sliding slowly her cheek. Of all people, she never expected to hear that from Hiccup. Hel, she never expected to see him lash out, especially at her. No one did.

After he heard what he said he finally snapped out. His hand flew to his face and he closed his eyes in shame. He had had the guts to go on the only subject that could hurt Astrid. He felt dirt, filth doing so. Here she was, fearless Astrid Hofferson, broken in front of him because of his mouth. Even if she did hurt his emotions he had no right of doing the same, yet he still did.

He sighed, feeling a complete jerk. "Astrid… I'm sorry. I… didn't mean to say that" when she didn't answer him, he decided to speak again, softly, at least explain why he suddenly lashed her out. "I felt hurt that you only apologized as a part of your little game okay?" it was a bit hard, but he managed not to sound angry.

'YOU hurt? What about me?' her mind almost screamed, but another thought came in: 'is this what he saw? Didn't he see I was also being sincere?' she asked herself in disbelief, already knowing the answer. "You know… I did mean it. I heard you speak to your father, and I knew I was wrong. You did think about the village, and you do seem to have thought about this idea before wanting to leave" she explained, her arm absently rubbing the limp one.

He felt a bit incredulous that she eavesdropped on their conversation. But now that he was calm something lingered in his mind. "You said you wanted to know why I was leaving… before you even saw me trade those maps. How did you know I wanted to leave?" he asked, his suspicious almost screamed about what apparently she knew.

'No turning back' she thought, the same way she did on the first day of Dragon Training. "I heard you speak it, back at the woods" she mumbled. Though his tone was soft, she was afraid to meet these forest green eyes cold, emotionless as they had been just a moment ago. Both lost their confidence after Hiccup's sudden outburst, so neither met each other's gaze.

He froze, his heart quickening the beat, his stomach dropping to the ground. He feared what would she answer, but had to ask anyway. "So you know about…" he didn't finish, hoping that she wouldn't catch it. if she did then it was obvious that she saw him and Toothless, and the only thing that kept her from exposing him to his father had been his words.

"Yes, I know about your pet dragon." She spat at the last two words, though he couldn't blame her. Living on a society where their culture was based on killing dragons and losing a parent to one wouldn't help either. In fact, he was surprised she spoke instead of snarling.

He started desperately to wonder if she told anyone. If she had told Stoick he would have noticed. Believing on her or not, he would have showed it on their conversation by either confronting him about it or stating she wasn't fit because she said he trained a Night Fury as an excuse to remove him the chance of killing the Nightmare. And since no one else spoke about that in their drunken state, he assumed no one else besides her knew.

She would have also confronted him about leaving. Deserting your own tribe was a serious crime, one that if the person was caught it would be charged with treason and killed by the Blood Eagle. The only people that left their tribes were either dead or banished, mostly heading to Outcast Island. Since neither was his case, he would actually be wanted by Berk after deserting.

Almost as if she was reading his mind, she said: "No. I didn't tell anyone. I was about to when I heard you talk about the tribe, about Gobber, about me. So when you returned, I decided to confront you, to apologize so you wouldn't leave. I thought that if I did so you would stay. I didn't even consider the pet dragon situation back then"

Almost immediately he replied: "You know I can't stay, and you know why" his tone neither soft nor icy, more like matter-of-factly.

She felt a bit of anger rise inside her again. Meeting his gaze since the whole fight, she spoke with determination: "I could just go tell your father about him" she threatened, hoping he would drop out the idea and remain on Berk. They could deal later with the Night Fury, maybe uncover how he tamed a dragon or something like that. Maybe keep it captive for future students or have it be killed instead of the Nightmare.

He paled a little, trying to think of something to reply. He knew everyone was drunk, probably including his father at the moment, so it would take a while that she would be heard for anyone, if not until tomorrow. Vikings were not considered the most level headed people after drowning themselves in mead. There was also…

"You could indeed. You could go and I'd be long gone before you came back with him, if he believes in you after all. You could drag me and say that and you would not only discredit yourself, but lose the chance to regain your honor, since he would discredit my whole idea of naming you heir." He countered, his voice slightly quavering as he again felt dirt for using a low blow, but he couldn't afford Toothless being at risk.

Before she could reply, he continued: "You could tell him I was leaving, and I would tell him the same I told Johann. That is if he's not passed out because of a drinking contest with Gobber right now." He added, and was relieved seeing her with a defeated face, meaning he was not at risk anymore.

Her anger dissipated. She was back analyzing every word he said, trying to find a flaw. Either because she was exhausted, or because the boy was really good, she found none. She gave up on trying to be threatened and did something very un-Viking and uncharacteristic of her: she opened up to him.

"I want us to be friends again… I want to care about you the same way I did. The same way you showed when you were talking in the cove, or moments ago. I want to make up for the lost time. I don't want to lose you" her voice cracked a little. She did not really want to lose the boy, now that she realized it was the only boy that would ever see her as a person rather than a prize.

Hiccup turned to the anvil, where her axe was still wrapped by the cloth. Hearing this made his heart ache remembering the pain it had been when he lost her friendship, and seeing her so open and fragile crumbled every bit of confidence he had on standing up against her. Playing a little with the material he left an exasperated sigh. "You know I can't stay Astrid, I'm sorry…" he apologized sincerely, because a part of him also wanted what she just said.

Desperation started coming back to her. She couldn't have just realized the friend she had to let him go again. "Sorry? You want to leave the tribe, to leave us, leave your father and leave me for your pet dragon? You want to leave all you gained to protect it?" she asked, incredulous and betrayed.

With a determined expression, he turned to her and looked deeply at her sky blue eyes. "Yes" was all he said, but a thousand unspoken words came with it.

She saw his face, and remarked it was the same he had when he left the Hall with the chief. She knew there was no way to change his mind. 'At least he is stubborn as a Viking' she thought amusedly.

He turned again, not being able to stand looking at those eyes… those eyes that held pain, anger, regret; too many emotions for him to handle. He already had his fair share of emotions to keep at bay. Despite what she may think it was no easy decision to leave. He would be leaving Gobber behind, her, his father, everything he ever wanted and dreamed; and, even though Toothless would be with him, he knew he would at one point miss all of those things; it was only human to do so.

"Don't ask why. You probably know already…" he said, looking at the blade he half unwrapped from the cloth.

"I do…" she tried to look around, but found nothing of interesting, so she decided to look at her boots at the moment. "Will you come back?" she asked after a moment of silence fell between them. Her voice sounded like she was afraid of being hopeful, only to have her hope crushed again. And he didn't blame her, because he himself didn't know if he would.

"Maybe, I need to leave without setting things off first. Then I'll explore the Archipelago for a while, see more of the world. I also want to learn why the dragons raid us. Toothless never hurt me, neither the White Fury at the ring, and I found this odd. Not to mention that I've noticed they take much more food than what they need. So something must make them raid us." He explained his idea.

She deduced he named the Night Fury Toothless. Leave to Hiccup to name the offspring of lighting and death itself with such a docile name…

She then recalled the White Fury. The most scaring feature of him was the one few people lived to tell the tale. He could enter inside a person's head, and use its fears to weaken it so he could finish them easily. She despised the creature. It was deceptive as an Outcast is, but even more, since he used anyone's fear against them, crushing the person's spirit before giving the killing blow. Although…

"Can't you ask that dragon? It seems to understand us and he can talk to us." She asked, this time a bit hopeful as she couldn't avoid it. Her idea was insane, but if Hiccup was telling the truth and the dragon didn't hurt him, then perhaps he could talk to the white beast without being brutally murdered or having someone roaming through his head.

"I tried to, and he wouldn't tell me. Either by fear or by stubbornness he didn't tell me why…" her hope vanished at those words, though she lingered on the thought that dragons were able to understand them. At least the Furies do. Then again, both Furies were regarded as the most cunning, intelligent dragons. This was not much per say, since every Viking considered every dragon a mindless beast.

Anger reignited inside her as she lost hope. She decided to go violent. "So what? You're leaving and then what?" she snarled. He thought everything until now, so he probably thought about what he would do after leaving. Or, did he plan to side up with them? After all he was friends with a dragon and she now realized that she overlooked this fact until this moment.

"I don't know"

"Will you side with them? Live at their nest?" her voice was rising; the hurt she felt was melting into anger. Years she had been nothing but cold-hearted and the misfit, long lost childhood friend of her suddenly is able to make her feel waves and waves of emotions. It unsettled her how Hiccup could shake her to the very core of her existence, and she was desperately in need to vent out this frustration.

"I don't know where it is" he countered, his voice was also rising. He was slowly losing his patience with her stubbornness. Just because he was friends with Toothless it didn't mean he was with every dragon, or that he would begin to aid them in the raids.

"Or live by yourself in some godsforsaken island?"

"I don't know!"

"Or go to some godsdamned tribe to settle, take a different name, wipe out your existence and marry someone?" she was almost screaming, anger dripping from her voice.

"THE ONLY ONE I WOULD EVER MARRY WOULD BE YOU"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

ANII: there we go, the cliffhanger that i had originally planned. i thought about releasing those two chapter as one, but making a 10K seemed a bit farfecthed, and i didn't want to make any of you hope that my chapters would normally be this long. I know that some might suggest that both Hiccup and Astrid might seem a bit OOC in this chapter, but i wanted to give a different view as how Hiccup would feel about leaving, and also how Astrid would feel if she knew he planned to leave. Let me know what y'all thought about it! after his departure my chapters will include a sort of flashforward style, so everyone that is waiting for the merging of these two universes can catch a glimpse of what is coming.