Update 11/24/2018: Minor fixes only.

Warnings: oh god what is this chapter. Warnings for...pervstrid? Pervcup? Perv-author. Look away, ye young childrens.


Chapter 14: Three Words, Five Words

"You don't have to pull so hard," Hiccup told her, adjusting her hands on the ropes wrapped around the base of Stormfly's wings. "She's a smart girl; a little nudge in the right direction is all you need. Especially once she gets better at recognizing your verbal commands."

Astrid nodded and gently toed the dragon's side and her wings angled to send them gliding to the left.

"There you go, you're getting it," Hiccup said, and Astrid glanced back at him. He was finally looking a bit better; his color was starting to return. His smile still didn't reach his eyes and there were still dark circles bruising beneath them from lack of sleep, but he looked better than he had a few days ago. They'd been airborne for nearly half an hour without him getting nauseous, which was a huge improvement. He still barely ate and barely slept, with she and Toothless taking turns staying up and keeping an eye on him in case he started vomiting again.

It had been a rough week.

Astrid hadn't realized just how heavily Hiccup's drinking had been until it came time to throw everything out. The barrels of mead and ale and wine salvaged from shipwrecks were one thing. It was when he started digging out the flasks he had scattered across the whole mountain that she realized how often he drank. There was one in every room; two in some of the rooms he spent most of his time in.
"I don't have to get refills as often," he'd said, and then when Astrid had continued to stare at him he'd turn red and looked away.

She knew he was always drinking, but she hadn't known that he was always drinking. He was rarely actually drunk, but he was always drinking. The problem it seemed, was less that Hiccup was always drunk, and more that he was never truly sober. No wonder it took so much to get him really drunk; he'd built up an impressive tolerance.

Hiccup had been so optimistic that first day. He didn't have a problem, he continued to insist; stopping would be no big deal, and really, he didn't see the point in stopping completely. She'd see he was fine and then he could go back to occasional drinking. He wasn't dependent or anything. This would be easy.

This attitude lasted nearly a day.

And then Hiccup was waking up in the middle of the night, shaking and shivering and sweating buckets.

"What's the longest you've ever been without a drink?" she'd asked him, cradling his head in her lap and running her fingers through his damp bangs in an attempt at soothing him.

Hiccup had shrugged. "I d-d-don't know," he said, teeth clattering. "A day?" He shuddered and wrapped his arms more tightly around Astrid's waist, burying his face in her stomach. "Why did I agree to this? This is terrible, I hate this."

"Oh Hiccup," she said, stroking his back. "Babe, if you feel like this after going without a drink for this short a time, then you have a bigger problem than I thought."

He'd glared at her. "This is not the time for fucking 'I told you so', Astrid. Oh gods..."

That's when the vomiting had started.

Astrid had spent four long days and nights ladling water and broth into Hiccup's mouth to keep him from getting dehydrated in between bouts of throwing up, all the while getting yelled at by an irritable and frustrated Hiccup. He slept in fitful bursts, watched over and comforted by Astrid and Toothless in turns.

It had helped her own exhausted emotional state when the Deadly Nadder she'd befriended had shown up with her four little hatchlings in tow and proceeded to fuss over Astrid as if she was one of her hatchlings as well. Stormfly and the babies were good company for those times when Hiccup's fragile temper snapped and he lashed out.

They were a helpful distraction for Hiccup as well. Keeping him busy had become a significant priority, and teaching her how to fly the dragon and designing and making a saddle had given him something to do. In the meantime Astrid was trying to ride bareback with nothing but some ropes to hang on to, and though it was difficult and terrifying there was something thrilling about it. She was learning to balance; how much of her weight she could shift during flight, how the wind hit her, how it affected her movement and her dragon's. Balancing on Stormfly's back came almost naturally to her, which was a good thing since the Nadder had a penchant for midair acrobatics.

They flew past the outcropping where a reluctant Toothless was playing babysitter to Stormfly's clutch, and even from a distance they could see his glare as the hyper young dragons crawled all over him and pulled at his ears. Every so often he'd lose his patience and roar at them, which they found endlessly amusing. Toothless liked Stormfly. The babies he…tolerated.

Stormfly's wings folded and they turned into a corkscrew dive that had Astrid clinging to the dragon's neck and when they straightened Hiccup's white knuckled grip on the reigns didn't loosen.

"You okay, babe?" Astrid looked over her shoulder at him, and seeing how pale his cheeks had gone she yanked gently on the ropes and directed Stormfly back to the ground.

Hiccup was on his hands and knees dry heaving into the bushes almost as soon as he dismounted. Astrid rushed to him, pulling the flask of water off her belt and holding it ready if he needed it. After a few minutes of panting he shook his head and sat back, taking the flask from her and draining it. Hiccup flopped on his back and groaned.

"How are you feeling?" Astrid asked, and Hiccup stuck his tongue out at her.

"Sobriety sucks."

Astrid hummed and ran her fingers through his hair. "Give it time; you'll start to feel like yourself again soon."

"If you say so," Hiccup sighed. "Gods, if I could just get some sleep I'd feel a whole lot better."

"I'll mix you up an herbal broth tonight, maybe that'll help."

He groaned. "I'm so sick of broths and soups. What I would give for some smoked salmon fillets, or, or, pork loin."

Astrid shook her head, giggling. "You sure you could keep it down?"

Hiccup shifted to rest his head in her lap. "Well, it's your cooking, so probably not." Astrid smacked the top of his head and he grinned at her. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Mostly." That earned him another swat. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "I couldn't do this without you, Astrid."

Astrid looked away, cheeks flushing pink, and ran her fingers absently through Hiccup's hair while she watched Stormfly squawking at one of her babies for shooting tail spikes at his sister. He was a stunning bright green and had earned himself the name Loki for his troublesome nature. His amethyst sister Prim screeched in his direction and flapped several yards away and began preening again, her favorite activity. The other two, an inseparable blue-green duo they'd named Rumble and Tumble, were chasing each other in circles around Toothless, who was trying to nap and failing at it. Rumble took a corner too fast and tripped over Toothless's tail, waking him. Toothless glared at the hatchling, who stared up at him for a moment before looking at her brother and squeaking. Toothless looked at Tumble and growled while Rumble made her getaway.

"Those two could give Ruff and Tuff a run for their money," Astrid said, laughing.

"I'm serious, you know." Astrid turned her attention back to Hiccup, who was looking up at her intently. "To be honest I kind of wonder why you stayed, after everything I've put you through. I begged you to stay but it's not like I wouldn't have deserved it if you left, especially once Stormfly showed up. But you stayed anyway." He frowned at her, green eyes searching hers for something she wasn't sure she was ready for him to find. "Why do you keep putting up with me, Astrid?"

Astrid's fingers paused. "Because…Because I guess... I guess I couldn't give you up if I wanted to. I'm not sure that's a good thing, but it is what it is. And because," she ruffled his hair again, "Despite everything I can't help believing that dumb sweet boy who used to stare at me in the forge is still in there somewhere." He smiled, catching her hand and kissing it.

She took a deep breath. "Because…" There were three words she could say; three words tapping at the back of her mind but that she wasn't sure she wanted to say. Three words if she said now she'd have to proceed with two more: 'I think'. She didn't want to give him five words, she wanted to give him three, and she couldn't now. Not when they were both still so fragile, not when he so badly didn't need the ego boost. Those were three words she was still so afraid to give him, and she didn't want to give them to him like that. She wanted to give them to him as she had been, as the fearless girl she'd been before her world had been torn out from under her. She felt robbed of her courage; by her village's betrayal, by the actions he'd committed which she could forgive but not forget. She would not give him those words yet. He had not yet earned them.

So instead the three words she gave him were, "I don't know."

Xx

Hiccup and Toothless were out on their first solo flight in almost a week, and Astrid was apprehensive but hopeful. Hiccup seemed sturdy enough for it; the worst of his withdrawal seemed to be behind him and he was starting to settle into a new normal. She still had to keep an eye on him, of course. Every now and then she'd catch his jaw clenching and his hand squeezing into a fist and she'd know he was fighting the itch for a drink, at which point she would step in to find something to distract him. Sometimes she would be what distracted him. There had been an honest effort on both their parts to slow their relationship down, but at the same time Astrid's body yearned for him, and keeping her hands off of him wasn't easy. There had been more nights like the one before Snoggletog (and days, and afternoons, and stolen mid-morning moments) where Hiccup slotted his hips between hers and ground against her until they were both panting and clinging to each other. She was never certain if he got off during those sessions as well; he usually left her for a few minutes after the stars had cleared from her vision, but whether that was to clean himself up or finish himself off she didn't know and was half-afraid to ask. He was always eager to make sure she knew he expected nothing of her, but she wished he knew she'd be alright with giving him something in return.

Astrid closed her eyes and tried to focus; she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. She must be approaching her fertile days if she was feeling like this. It took next to nothing to set the space between her legs to aching. She'd felt a twinge that morning just from Hiccup running a finger over the back of her hand as he passed. Astrid sighed and glanced down through the gloom of the tunnel at the pile of dirty clothes and towels in the wicker basket in her arms. If only she could scrub her mind down with soap with the laundry.

She hadn't bothered with her torch; this tunnel ran close to the outside of the mountain, and every so often there was an opening in the rock beside her that let in light, which was perfect given that it would have been difficult to carry her loads to the cold, strong washing stream with her torch in hand.

So lost in her own thoughts was she that when she stepped into the cavern where the stream ran she didn't hear the other voice muttering to itself, and indeed did not recognize another person was in the cavern until she looked up.

Astrid had time for her mouth to drop open and was about to apologize and turn her back, when Hiccup, who had not noticed her presence, turned around and gave her an eyeful.

Astrid screamed, Hiccup yelped; Astrid dropped her basket, Hiccup dropped his soap and they both spun around so that their backs were to each other.

There was a moment where there was no sound except the small waterfall crashing from one ledge to another.

"Sorry!"

"Sorry!"

"I didn't know you were back!"

"I didn't know you were gonna be coming up here!"

Astrid stared into the tunnel with wide eyes. She had seen naked men before. But she had never seen a man naked and...alert.

And she'd never seen Hiccup naked before. And. Well.

She'd felt that hard length covered by layers of fabric but she hadn't realized just how …constricted it must be when confined to his pants.

"What are you even doing in here?" Astrid squeaked, trying to cleanse her mind of that image. "You always bathe in the hot springs!"

Hiccup cleared his throat. "I'm sorry! I didn't know you'd be coming up here!"

"The water's freezing; why would you even want to bathe here?!"

"Um..." She heard a splashing noise as Hiccup shifted from one foot to another in the knee-deep water. "Well. I uh, I sorta needed a cold bath."

"Why?" Astrid realized the answer to her question the moment she asked it.

"Um. Well. It uh. Cold baths help with uh, blood flow."

Astrid wished she could sink into the ground.

"I'm sorry, Astrid, I should have warned you I'd be here, but I couldn't because if I went to find you then you'd have to see...well. You'd…see."

Astrid didn't have the slightest idea how to respond to that. "You went flying," was what she finally managed.

Hiccup cleared his throat again. "Yeah. Well. We flew by this one island, and there were these girls swimming by the coast...naked."

She wondered if Hiccup could hear her frown because he quickly started to backtrack. "No, no no, no, hang on. It's not like I was looking or anything, it's it's just that I saw, you know? It's not like I was turned on by a bunch of random naked girls or something. I mean, this, this uh...problem is because, uh, well I saw those girls but I like you and I thought about how I'd never seen you naked so then I was picturing you naked and then, uh-"

"That happened because you were picturing me naked?"

There was a beat, then, "No! No no no, I, uh, I-I wasn't picturing you naked, that would be weird and creepy and-no. I saw a group of naked girls who mean nothing to me and who I will never see again and-it was an involuntary physical reaction and it had nothing to do with you."

Astrid glanced over her shoulder. Hiccup still had his back to her, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot in the water. His hair was wet and droplets were sliding down his smooth toned back, down over his tight butt and the lean muscles of his thighs.

"So this happened because you were thinking about some random girls instead of me?"

Hiccup stopped his fidgeting. She watched his shoulders sag as he sighed. "Okay, I give up. What's the answer that lands me in the least amount of trouble?"

Astrid smiled and let her eyes wander over his freckled shoulders, down to the sparser dots on his back. He had one freckle on the bottom of his left butt cheek. It was kind of adorable.

"The truth."

Hiccup sighed, and for a moment she thought he was going to turn around so she faced the tunnel again.

"I saw those girls swimming, and I looked away, because, well I don't guess they would have wanted me to see them, and plus I've got you. And so then I thought about you and how I've never seen you naked, and it's not like I was trying to picture you naked, it just sort of happened, you know? I wasn't...I wasn't trying to be creepy or anything. Please don't be mad, my head's a mess lately."

Astrid nodded even though she knew he couldn't see her. "It's okay," she said weakly. "It...these things happen."

"Right."

Silence fell between them.

"Um, so, Astrid?" Hiccup asked.

"Hm?"

"Can you maybe, uh, leave for a bit so I can uh...finish up here?" There was a pause. "That came out wrong. I just mean, there's still soap in my hair, so-"

"Right, yeah!" Astrid said, her cheeks hot enough to cook meat on. "Yeah, I'll give you some privacy. Sorry."

She scurried off down the tunnel, her heart racing and her face on fire.

She had seen Hiccup naked.

She had seen Hiccup naked and hard.

And…well. It wasn't like she had a point of comparison, but...well. Was that normal size? That seemed...large. Or perhaps that was simply what normal was. She knew mathematically what average size was, but she'd never seen it before, and in person that seemed...well.

And that was supposed to fit there?

It was a concept that seemed as thrilling as it was daunting.

Her body could stretch, she knew that; Ruffnut had told her that they always seemed too big until they were in. The ones who looked like they'd fit weren't big enough to be any fun. So many of those times that she'd had Hiccup pressed up against her, pressing and rubbing and driving her to the brink of madness she had felt that empty space inside her and felt the desperate need to have it filled.

She thought again of Hiccup, of what she had seen, of the predicament he was dealing with.

She dropped her basket.

She was just bringing him a towel; that was all. She hadn't seen one; maybe in his haste he'd forgotten to get one. That was all she was doing.

Or so that was her excuse. The truth was that she was curious. His cold bath didn't seem to be helping his…situation. Perhaps he'd have to try alternative measures. She took softer footsteps as she approached the cavern, tip toeing closer and keeping her breathing as quiet as possible. As she got closer she heard it: soft, panting little breaths.

Astrid flattened herself to the wall and crept to the entrance to the cave. She slipped into an alcove right next to where the rock gave way to the cave beyond, out of sight to anyone who looked directly into the tunnel.

Her hand gripped the towel that was her only alibi if she got caught, though from what she could hear that didn't seem likely to happen.

"...Astrid..."

Her breath hitched.

He was.

He was actually...

Gods, and he was thinking about her.

Astrid slid closer to the entranceway and craned her neck to peek around the rock. Hiccup had his back to her, hunched slightly with his forehead resting against the rock wall and supported by one arm pressed against the rock. One hand was hidden around his front, the motion of his upper arm telling her all she needed to know. His body rocked and shivered in time to the motion of that arm and the soft moans slipping from his lips.

Astrid looked away. She shouldn't be doing this, shouldn't be spying on him. It wasn't fair, breaching his privacy like this. But then…she wasn't the one who brought her into all this. He was the one thinking about her while he…did that.

She pressed her thighs together. Her heart was going to leap out of her chest. She dropped the towel and her hands pressed against the rock behind her. She should leave, she really should, but she didn't want to. Those little noises he was making were absolutely divine…

She twisted her neck to see him again, and the sight was too much. Her hand slid past the waistband of her skirt and into her leggings. Her breath left her in a staggered sigh and her head fell back against the rock. She bit her lip to keep from gasping as her fingers rocked in time to those beautiful soft moans Hiccup was making. She wondered what he was thinking about. Was he just imagining her naked or was he picturing her being the one to touch him? Gods, if he asked she gladly would.

He murmured her name again and Astrid had to press her hand to her mouth to keep from making a sound. She took silent shallow breaths, ever wary of being heard. She turned to watch him again, the slight bucking of his hips, the tremble of his body, all those beautiful lean lines and flat planes shining and wet. She wanted to run her hands all over him. She wanted to kiss every freckle on his shoulders, and even the one on his butt. Gods, she wanted to get her hands on that butt.

She had the absurd thought of going in there; of sneaking up behind him, running her hands over his shoulders and down his arms and wrapping her hand over his. She'd nibble at his ear and scrape her teeth over the lobe the way he liked…

Astrid bucked hard against her reaching fingers as Hiccup's moans turned to sharp grunts. She wanted his hands on her. She wanted him to press her against that rock wall. She wanted him pushing her skirt out of the way; she wanted to hear those grunts next to her ear, wanted his breath hot and moist on her neck.

"A-Astrid!" And oh gods, she wanted to see his face when he moaned her name like that, his whole body shaking the way it was now as he spilled into the rushing current.

It was too much for her to bear.

She looked away, biting down on her arm to keep from moaning as she shuddered and convulsed. When it subsided she slumped against the wall behind her, knees ready to give way at any moment. She could hear Hiccup panting in the cave behind her.

As soon as she thought she could walk without her legs falling out from under her Astrid slipped away down the tunnel, face bright red and heart still racing, towel forgotten.

Hiccup would find it later and think nothing of it.

Xx

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Astrid said, almost yelling over the wind as they cut through the skies. "It wouldn't be the end of the world if you didn't show up for one raid!"

"What if it was?" Hiccup shouted back. "What if I didn't go and something terrible happened? I'm fine, Astrid."

Astrid's arms tightened around his torso. "Hiccup, you're still recovering, you're still feeling weak-"

"I'm strong enough to hang on to a dragon, Astrid, I'll be fine!" he snapped, and Astrid sighed. She was trying not to take it personally; Hiccup was just going to be easily agitated for awhile. He'd snap at her and then calm down and apologize for it later when he started feeling more himself again. But it worried her that he was feeling that way now.

"Hiccup, raids always make you want to drink," she said, "You're doing so well, but until you've got a better handle on this I don't know that you should be out here! What if it goes badly? You'll get home and you'll be a wreck and you won't be able to-"

"Oh for fuck's sake, Astrid!" Hiccup pushed his helmet back and turned to glare at her. "What choice do I have? If I don't go, it'll be chaos. And if it really goes wrong because I'm not there, then I'll really want a drink." She could see the hard, determined look in those green eyes and knew there would be no changing his mind. "Believe me, Astrid, if leaving the Vikings to fend for themselves against dragons was in any way an option for me then I'd have left them to it years ago." His glare slackened and his voice was less harsh when he next spoke. "But it isn't. I help because I have to. Because I'm the only one who can do anything about it." He dropped his eyes. "It doesn't matter what it does to me." He pulled his helmet back down and shifted Toothless's tailfin into a dive.

Below them the battle was already underway. Buildings were on fire and a few dragons had already taken to the sky with sheep in their claws. They were too high to be seen from the ground, but Astrid flattened herself against Hiccup's back anyway.

"There," Hiccup said, pointing to a large stone building with a roof made of interlocking chains. "That's their training arena, and those square buildings at the side are where the dragons are locked up. Get them all out if you can, but focus on the biggest dragons first. They'd rather put off the Dragon Training final exam than leave them with a smaller dragon to kill."

"But get them all out if I can," Astrid said, nodding.

"Right."

There was no one near the arena at the time so Hiccup dropped her off in the darkness of a small cluster of tree before taking off into the skies. Astrid crept around the outside of the arena until she reached the huge square pens where the Bog Burglars' captive dragons were held. She checked the plaques on each pen until she came to the big boys: the Monstrous Nightmares. She cranked the handle and the gate started to rise; the noise from inside the pen growing louder and louder. Finally the gate rose all the way and the muzzled head of a huge purple Nightmare hesitantly poked out. Astrid held her hands out in front of her.

"Hey," she breathed, moving slowly closer to the huge dragon. "Hey, it's okay, I'm here to help." Those huge yellow eyes watched her as she moved closer. "You're okay, you're okay," Astrid cooed, and held a hand out in front of the dragon's snout. It studied her a moment longer, then its pupils dilated and it pushed its nose into her hand. Astrid laughed in relief. "There you go, that's a good dragon. Now let's get you out of these chains…"

X

She had released two Nightmares, a Nadder, and couple of Zipplebacks and was working on the cage of a Gronkle when she heard an outraged voice behind her.

"That's my skirt!"

Astrid spun around to see a young woman about her age stalking closer. The girl was short, at least a full head shorter than Astrid, and had wild blonde hair that tumbled over her shoulders and down to her hips. She leveled her sword at Astrid, who backed slowly away from the doors of the pen, one hand reaching for her knife.

The girl raised an eyebrow at the small blade. "Is that what you're going to fight me with? Really?"

"I don't want to fight you," Astrid told her, and the girl laughed.

"You don't want to fight me?" She laughed again and twirled her sword. "Should have thought about that before you stole my clothes." Astrid glanced down at her skirt and back at the young woman.

"You're Camicazi, aren't you?"

She nodded. "Aye, I am. And these are my islands, and we've got enough trouble with dragons without someone settin' free the ones we've already got."

They circled each other, blades at the ready, each waiting for the other to make a move. Camicazi looked her up and down. "You're the girl Berk gave up, aren't you? What's your name? I heard what it was but I don't remember." Astrid didn't answer. Camicazi's lips pursed. "What are you doing out here, anyway?"

Astrid swallowed. "I don't want to fight you," she repeated, "But I will if I have to."

Camicazi paused and frowned at her. The tip of her sword tipped down. "Come with me," she said, and Astrid blinked at her in confusion.

"What?"

Camicazi lowered her sword and held out a hand. "Come with me. Let me help you." Astrid stopped pacing and stared, her knife still held defensively out in front of her. "Is he threatening you?" The other girl asked, her slim blonde brows knit together. "Your village, your family? What is he doing to make you help him?"

"I, I don't…" Astrid shook her head, her arm dropping just slightly.

Camicazi took a step towards her. "Please, let me help you. Come with me, we'll get you somewhere safe, somewhere he can't get to you. I'll help you get home, to Berk. Please," she implored, her eyes narrowed and radiating concern. "Let me help you."

"I don't need your help," Astrid said, and bit back a wince. "I mean, you can't help me. He's..." She struggled for words. Camicazi would tell Berk about this, she knew it. She had to twist this to maintain the illusion of her innocence. "You don't know what he's like. You don't know what he'll do. You can't help me." Astrid took another step back and Camicazi took another step forward.

"What will he do?" she asked, sheathing her sword and approaching Astrid with both hands out as if she were a wild animal. "If you're with us he won't be able to hurt you. You'll have every warrior on the Bog Isles protecting you."

Astrid shook her head. Play the threatened captive, she thought. Play into Camicazi's expectations. "That won't be enough. You don't know what he's capable of. You don't know what he'll do to get me back. You don't know him."

"And you do?" Camicazi asked, a curious lilt to her voice. "Listen, come with me and we'll protect you. If you know who he is, where he's based, you could help us. We'll contact not just Berk but all the tribes. We'll find him, we'll find the nest, and we'll take them down."

Astrid nearly tripped over her own feet trying to back away. She needed to get out of here; she needed to get away from Camicazi. "You don't understand what you're asking. You can't help me. You can't…" she trailed off, noticing that Camicazi's attention had shifted to the knife held loosely in Astrid's hand.

"You have a weapon," she said, frowning, her head tilting to the side. Her eyes flickered back to Astrid. "Why would he let you have a weapon? Does he know you have that?"

Astrid looked at her knife, at Camicazi, at the dragons still in the pens behind them.

I'm sorry, she thought, and ran.

"Hey!"

A small throwing knife embedded itself in the ground inches from Astrid's next steps and she tried to change direction, but again a knife in the grass stopped her. She skidded in another direction but there was a sharp pull on the back of her cloak and she went crashing to the ground. She tried to push herself up but suddenly Camicazi's face loomed over her, her sword raised and pointed at Astrid's heart.

"Who are you?" she asked, glaring down. "What are you really doing with him?"

Astrid swallowed hard. "You don't understand," she tried, licking her lips. "You don't know what he could do to me."

There was a roar from above them and Camicazi was stumbling back, her eyes wide. Astrid pushed herself onto her elbows in time to see Hiccup and Toothless land nearby. The dragon roared again and Camicazi backed further away. Hiccup slid off the saddle and started towards Astrid, who shrank into herself and shook her head, silently praying that Hiccup would catch on to the act and play along.

"She-she was trying to make me go with her," Astrid said, glancing back and forth between Hiccup and Camicazi, who had her longsword pointed towards Toothless. "I wasn't going to, I wasn't! Please, please!"

Hiccup stopped, and she could picture his perplexed expression behind the mask. After a moment he glanced back at Camicazi before stepping forward and grabbing Astrid's arm and pulling her roughly to him. "I take it you want me to play along?" he whispered.

"If you could, that would be great," Astrid murmured, hoping she looked appropriately scared.

"Pretend I just said something threatening. Nod and look really scared." She did as he asked. "Don't look at me, don't look at her; you're scared, look down. You wanna look cowed." She nodded again, her eyes on her feet. "Sorry if this hurts you," he said, and then he jerked her arm and pulled her back towards Toothless, walking fast enough that she could pretend to have trouble keeping up with him. He shoved her the last few feet and she tried to look as frightened as possible as she climbed into the saddle. Hiccup climbed on behind her and she threw in a whimper as he wrapped an arm around her waist. Camicazi was still watching them, her sword ready in case they attacked.

Astrid chanced one last look at her. Their eyes met, and she saw a contemplative frown overtake Camicazi's face just before Toothless took off into the air.

"Yeah, you better run off, you great scaly coward!" the girl shouted. "I'd have skinned you alive and worn your hide as a hairpiece!"

"Lot of bravado for such a little thing."

Hiccup laughed. "Yeah, that's Cami for you."

"AND I WANT MY SKIRT BACK!"

"Wow, her voice carries."

Xx

Astrid rolled over and poked Hiccup's nose. "You awake?"

One eye opened. "I am now."

Astrid winced. "Sorry."

Hiccup shook his head, both eyes opening. "Nah, I was already awake. Couldn't sleep."

Astrid sighed and snuggled closer to him, her arms sliding around his neck while his wrapped around her waist and pulled her close. "Still?" He nodded. "I thought you might be able to get a good night's sleep for once. The raid wasn't that bad. No casualties, no captured dragons, no major damage to any homes or buildings, and a few captured dragons freed." She kissed the tip of his nose. "Not a bad night."

"Yeah," Hiccup sighed, "Tonight was alright." He shrugged. "I probably could sleep, but…"

"But?"

He looked away. "I'm still having nightmares when I do sleep."

Astrid tucked her head under his neck, her hands sliding down and wrapping around his torso. "I could sing you my sister's bad dream song," she said, giggling.

Hiccup shifted so he could look at her. "Would you?" he asked. Astrid laughed.

"I was joking."

"I wasn't. Let me hear it. If it helps her sleep, maybe it'll help me."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "I don't think it'll help you. It's just this silly stupid little thing we made up that makes her laugh enough that she doesn't feel scared anymore."

Hiccup smiled and kissed her cheekbone. "I don't care. I wanna hear it. Even if Brenna says you can't sing."

Astrid huffed a sigh and sat up in bed, glaring down at Hiccup. "Fine, but only if you promise not to laugh at my singing. And remember, this was co-written by a toddler, so it's not exactly a ballad for the ages."

Hiccup made a show of getting comfortable and Astrid flicked his head for his facetiousness. She took a deep breath, her gaze anywhere but on Hiccup, and started to sing, "Trolls are strong but love is stronger, I will keep you safe and warm. Monsters are mean but sisters are meaner, I will keep you safe from harm. Yes, I will keep you safe from harm." She could feel her face growing hotter and hear Hiccup fighting back sniggers, but powered on. "So sing it loud and sing it proud, until your ears are ringing. Sing along to the bad dream song, cause monsters hate bad singing. Yes, monsters hate bad singing. And just that over and over again because toddlers are easily entertained like that."

When she finally found the courage to look back at Hiccup his lips were pursed together and his shoulders were shaking with the effort of holding back laughter. She slapped his shoulder. "Shut up!"

Hiccup burst into laughter, the sound reverberating off the stone walls and waking Toothless, who grumbled at them and covered his face with his tail. "Oh my gods, that was so much better than I could have imagined!"

Astrid glared at him and punched his shoulder again. "Shut up!"

"No, no, I'm not making fun," Hiccup said, reaching out and pulling her back down to him, the biggest grin she'd seen in over a week splitting his face. "It's adorable," he told her. Astrid stopped glaring long enough to give him a begrudging smile.

"Still shut up."

Hiccup hugged her tight and pecked her on the lips. "I'm serious, Astrid. There's no way I could have bad dreams after that."

"Go to sleep, Hiccup."

And by the time they both fell asleep, smiles pulling at the corner of their lips, Astrid had forgotten the worries that had woken her in the first place.

Xx

"Anything else?"

"Nope; like I said, after he started dragging her towards that dragon she didn't say anything else."

Stoick nodded. "Well I can see why you wanted to tell me all this in person."

Camicazi downed the rest of her ale. "Didn't seem like the sort of thing I could sum up in a letter. Besides, I miss the seas. Haven't had much time for it since I took the throne. Chieftessing is much more boring that piracy."

Across the table Arvid Hofferson was frowning at the young chieftess. "You don't seem particularly concerned about my daughter, given what you saw."

Camicazi pulled her feet off the table and sat up straight. "No, I'm not. I'm not convinced I need to be."

"Why's that?" Gobber asked, stroking his mustache. "You said yourself it looked like she was being coerced."

Camicazi nodded. "Yeah, it did. She said everything you'd expect a captive being forced to act against her will to say."

Arvid cleared his throat pointedly. "And why would that strike you as suspicious?"

The young chieftess sighed through her nose and evaluated the man across the table. "Because she said everything you'd expect a captive being forced to act against her will to say." She sat back in her chair and began playing with the gold rings up and down her fingers. "But that's not even the most interesting part."

Stoick leaned forward, looking at the young woman intently. "Then what's the most interesting part?"

"What she said first, before all the other 'oh you don't know what he'll do to me, boo hoo, woe is me' stuff."

"Which was?"

Camicazi looked up, frowning. "Five words. Five very interesting words: I don't need your help."