I'm alive! It's a good thing I didn't promise anything... So here's a short summary; I got a new job after around 20! job interviews. It was really exhausting. In the end I could actually choose haha. Making a choice wasn't easy because two of them were really interesting, but eventually I went with the one where my boss or the sales manager of my previous work (either of them, maybe both dunno) recommended me when they were there for something. I started the first of July and it's fun to see code and then think 'what the fuck was this person smoking when he wrote this' which translates in 'it is a fucking mess'.
Aside from that I had to help out my parents, my mom got hurt some time back and could barely do any basic housekeeping like loading a dishwasher. Next to that I was down with the stomach flu for a week... OTL (second week work, talk about unfortunate).

Yay life I guess...

ANYWAY! I wrote down what I want to do with the next few chapters, pretty detailed actually. Until chapter 31... though this could be more. Some really interesting, funny, fluffy or awkward scenes are coming up. Maybe sad too...

robby21: Yup, I got a job. I wasn't too worried actually. In the ICT business there are almost thrown at you. I have been on the phone with 5 to 7 recruiters trying to help me getting a job so there is that... it makes things easier.

Carl Solo: some time ago I figured out how to add Heather... I didn't put it in the notes... [goes writing notes]

Crysteldragon: Oh Astrid won't be jealous of Heather (which I decided to add... I just said that didn't I) she will have other reasons to be jealous [chuckle]

Vivi-ntvg: Hmm, Vid huh. After this chapter you might want to know about some others as well XP. No worries, got a chapter (or three) planned out for that

(Excuse my mistakes in this chapter, I really didn't want you guys to wait any longer for this, I'll fix them later... I think)

Chapter 22: Midnight call

It was just his luck, wasn't it? As they had descended down, the snow became more intense, making things hard to see. They landed safely yes, but getting of Toothless had turned into a disaster. For both of them really, but Astrid's reflexes proved to better than his it seemed. He had landed in the mud that was covered by a layer of the first snow of that winter. And of course he wasn't able to get up easily or even by himself. After falling back down two more times, Astrid had grabbed hold of him and pulled him up. Strangely enough she didn't laugh, simply said he had been using his leg too much. Since her words were true, it had been part of the reason he had fallen down, he said nothing. He leaned against the barn trying to keep himself steady as Astrid brought the dragons back inside the barn. When she came back she offered her help to walk to the house, a mere ten steps, maybe twelve. Hiccup refused.

Finally inside the house, he dared not walking any further than the first step inside. Two pair of eyes looked at the two young adults that had just entered the house.

"Where have you two been?" was the first question asked by Felman.

"What happened? Get out of those clothes before you two get sick," Ingrid quickly followed.

All Astrid had to do was take of her coat, Hiccup… well he was soaked to his underwear because of his fall and taking that of in front of well everyone, nope. He stood there hesitating about what to do, felling rather uncomfortable. Especially when Ingrid Hofferson looked over to him. She studied him top to bottom and quickly understood as to why he wasn't making any movement of getting undressed.

"You, to the bathroom. Felman go with him," Ingrid said as she pointed Hiccup into the direction the bathroom. She then went over to the pot that was hanging above the fire and added more water to it.

"How about an explanation first," Felman protested, refusing to follow his wife's orders, "It's way past supper time. No note, no-one knows where you are."

"I wanted to know more about dragons, so Hiccup took us flying. We lost track of time," Astrid sighed as an answer.

"Flying?" Ingrid said worried and looked at Hiccup's leg, "you shouldn't be able to fly for hours and still stand."

Hiccup gave the woman an uncomfortable grin, "Astrid was the one steering Toothless after hours of training… she did however sort of crash land the first time."

"And who's fault is that?" Astrid commented glaring at him.

It was then the young dragon rider decided it was a good time to leave for the bathroom. Felman quickly followed him and closed the door behind them. The room was small, there was just enough space for two people to move around in. It had a stool, a shelve with towels and a bathtub big enough for two people to sit in… really close to each other that is. Wondering why mister Hofferson was sent along by his wife, he stood there in awkward silence.

"Get undressed. The water will be warm soon. With this weather Ingrid always has some warm water ready just in case."

As Hiccup slowly started to get undressed, feeling more uncomfortable by the minute, Felman filled the tub with two buckets of cold water. After this the man left, probably to check if the water was hot yet. Hiccup dropped his leggings, gulped, tried to get over the weirdness of the situation and stripped the remaining pieces of clothing of his body. After this he sat down on the stool, trying to keep himself warm by nearly balling up. There was no way he was stepping in the cold water. Shaking, for the room was cold, Hiccup waited for a couple of minutes. Both wishing for the water to be done already yet at the same time not. At long last Felman came back and poured the steaming hot water into the bathtub. With a ladle he mixed it. This would have gone so much faster with dragons. One or two plasma blasts and the water would have been the perfect temperature, Hiccup thought as he stared at the water.

"There, get in… well most of you. Your left leg is not allowed to get wet so I'll help you out."

Hiccup blinked as he processed the words. He had completely forgotten about his leg not being allowed to get wet.

"Well, get up lad? What are you waiting for? An invitation?"

Self-conscious suddenly crept in as he stared at the bath and then at Felman. The last time he bathed with anyone was forever ago. Not even when he was traveling with Elek, Vid and Hanga. He preferred his privacy well mostly so not everyone would see all the scars he had gotten by the Romans. He had expected Felman to just add the water and then leave, which clearly wasn't going to happen and the man gave a confused look.

"I'm sure the temperature of the water is fine…" Felman started as if that had been what Hiccup was worried about.

"That's not…" Hiccup mumbled and sighed.

He knew very well that if he wasn't going to work along, either Ingrid or Astrid would end up helping. Though the latter he wondered how much Felman would agree on, not that Astrid would care. Carefully he placed his feet back on the wooden floor, hit by the cold of the room once more. The moment he set his left foot down he could feel there was no way he would be able to keep himself balanced on it.

"Hiccup?" he heard mister Hofferson say with a worry in his tone.

"I can't stand without falling," Hiccup mumbled as he looked at his leg.

"Oh, so that's what's going on."

Ya, sure, Hiccup thought and decided to let the man think that instead of making a bigger fool of himself. Though he wasn't exactly comfortable with how Felman helped him to his feet and then guided him to the bath. Getting in wasn't an easy task either, since his left leg wasn't allowed to get in. What he hadn't expected was the man even helping him with getting washed. Before he could even protest Felman had dumped a bucket of water over his head and started on soaping in his hair.

"I can do this myself," Hiccup coughed since the water had been unexpected and some had come in his mouth.

"It's fine. If either of those two find out I'm not helping, I'm sleeping in the barn tonight," Fellman mumbled with some frustration.

It took away some of the awkwardness for Hiccup as he chuckled at the man's reply.

"It wouldn't be so bad, just crawl up close to Stormfly, she'll keep you warm."

The man let out a snort as he kept on soaping his hair. It really confused Hiccup and the fact he wasn't used to it, well not when it came to this happening on Berk that is, made it awkward and uncomfortable. His only comfort was that Felman was a man like him and despite barely knowing him, not entirely a stranger. Unlike Eda had been when her husband had dragged him inside. The first thing she had said was that reeked of fish, not surprising since he had sort of fallen into a pile of them thank Toothless for that, and had dragged him to a tub, had him undressed in a matter of seconds before he could protest, promptly pouring cold water over him the moment she had placed him inside the tub. He whole memory made him shiver visibly.

"Is the water getting cold already?" Felman asked.

"No, just… urgh, it doesn't matter," he muttered.

Fellman simply nodded and poured another bucket of water over Hiccup's head to wash out the soap. Luckily he didn't continue washing the rest of his body, but gave the teen the soap bar and a piece of cloth to wash himself with.

"About what I said the other day…" Felman suddenly started, breaking the awkward silence.

"It's fine," Hiccup muttered soaping his arms.

"No, it's not," Felman protested quite firmly.

It got Hiccup's attention and a little surprised he looked at the man who sighed and sat down on the stool Hiccup had been sitting on earlier.

"I never joined with the whole madness of blaming you for whatever, but I also didn't do something to stop it. Joining in with the making fun of part…" the man started to shake his head as he ran a hand through his graying hair, "I'm just as much guilty. What makes matters worse is that I have seen it happen before."

Hiccup stopped cleaning himself completely.

"What do you mean it happened before?"

Felman looked uncomfortable, but opened his mouth to answer the question.

"Ingrid had an older brother. He was an okay guy, but didn't have a lot of friends… well actually just his sister and perhaps he considered me a friend. We talked plenty, yes, but… he was a tad of an outcast. Terribly clumsy and if he had a weapon in his hand, disaster was to follow. And I mean actual disaster, not made up stories, sure they were there too, but plenty of the stories were try. He did kill a sheep by accident when he fell and dropped an axe on the poor creature. He did cause someone to fall down the well. Heck he was responsible for sinking three ships while they were still in the port. He was good in other things, like skinning animals as long as the knife wasn't too big that is."

Hiccup blinked, not sure what to think of the story. It sort of sounded like how he had been treated, yet not. It was different, with overlaps.

"Then one day, a dragon raid caught the village by surprise. It was pretty bad, the damage was high as well as the amount of people that died. Your father was assessing the damage," Felman continued and Hiccup noticed how careful he had been with his last sentence, "he then saw Ingrid's father attack his son. By the time Stoick had brought Old Wrinkly over it was already too late. Both father and son were dead. Ingrid saw the whole thing. I still think it's the worst day in her life, not only had she lost her father and brother but hours earlier her fiancé."

"Her fiancé?" Hiccup repeated confused to which Felman chuckled.

"Ya, I'm just second choice I guess," he grinned.

"I find that hard to believe," Hiccup mumbled and continued washing himself as he heard Felman chuckle in the background.

"Your grandfather is an amazing man, you know," the man suddenly continued, "no matter how much Even screwed up, he would always be on that boy's side. Seeing as to what happened back then… it's what really got him mad, no furious, with your father to the point that he dragged the chief around the village by his ear."

Hiccup looked at him in surprise, "wait, that really happened? Astrid told me, but I thought she was just trying to get me to talk."

"The whole village saw that happen, pretty sure he got lectured after that."

This made Hiccup chuckle, now he wished he had seen that. As he pictured the scene he washed the soap of his body. He then realized he was once again forced to be completely naked around the man. Pushing the uncomfortable feeling away he announced he was done, though in a mumble, and Felman helped him out of the bath. He was placed on the stool and given a towel.

"Let me get you some clean clothes."

"There are some clothes with my own stuff," Hiccup mumbled as he started drying his hair.

Felman left the room, though this time left the door slightly open, mostly because he didn't close it well and it bounced back. Listening to what was happening in the other room, Hiccup dried himself off as quickly as possible and then wrapped himself in the towel to stay warm. He heard the sound of something hard falling down.

"What was that?" it followed, it was Astrid.

"It seems like a stone," Felman this time.

"It dropped when you took the shirt out," again Astrid, but this caught Hiccup's attention.

"Just throw it away."

Hiccup jumped to his feet, rushed to the door and stepped in the hallway.

"No! Don't that's mine!"

Three pair of eyes were looking at him, as it dawned on him that he was standing there in only a towel wrapped around his body. He quickly turned around hid in the room, lost balance and slid to the floor with a bright red face.

"It's just a stone," he heard Astrid giggle.

"It's not just a stone!" he shouted back embarrassed, "just put it back with the rest of my stuff!"

A moment later someone pushed the door open, he expected Felman, yet it was Astrid that was handing him a pile of clothes. Quickly he looked away after snatching his clothes out of her hands.

"What's so special about the stone?" she asked, trying to hide her giggling.

"Can't I first get dressed? Get out, please," he pretty much begged, trying to sound annoyed, only ended up sounding utterly uncomfortable.

To his relieve she left him alone, though chuckled as she closed the door. Quickly the teen got dressed, whilst calling himself an idiot for actually nearly running in there in nothing but the towel. Thor, he was happy he was at least wearing that. Fully dressed he gathered his courage and went back to the living area where Astrid was playing a board game with her father.

"So what's with the stone?" she repeated, ignoring the board game now and giving Hiccup her full attention.

The stone in question was laying on the table, probably because everyone now was curious as to why he had panicked over it. Sighing he sat down, picked it up and rolled it around between his fingers.

"It was a present from Holly, that's why."

"Holly?" Felman repeated, "Your… girlfriend?"

Hiccup chuckled shaking his head, "no, Holly was only three when I met her for the first time. More like a little sister, I guess."

He rolled the stone some more and then placed it on the table, showing markings that together looked like a little terrible terror. The three Hoffersons looked at the ordinary object.

"Is that the shape of a terrible terror?" Ingrid asked eventually.

Hiccup nodded as he played around with the stone, thinking he shouldn't let it stay in his bag like this. Maybe he could put it in some weapon? No, he didn't want it to break. With a sigh he put it back in his bag, for now it was the safest place for it to be. As he did so, Astrid moved her chair back and moved it so that she was facing Hiccup.

"Leg," she commanded.

Startled for only a moment, he lifted his leg so she could change the bandages. It only took a matter of minutes, after which they were both sent to bed.

Hiccup was walking around in a cave. He was certain he knew the place, but couldn't remember how. The reason for being certain was because every time the cave offered multiple ways to go, he would enter one passage without hesitation. He couldn't explain why he knew he had to go that way, he just did. As if something was calling him or telling him to go that way.

Eventually he ended in a big open cavern with dragons everywhere. They were waiting for something it seemed. Not sure what it all was about, he looked around and found Toothless and decided to join the night fury. None of the dragons minded as he passed by. Toothless greeted him with a nod and turned his head back in the direction as every dragon Hiccup now noticed. Shortly thereafter he realized why as a head, as big as ten houses, raised from the depths. Dragons bowed. He did the same without thinking about it, unnerved by the size of the dragon.

"My dear subjects," the head started speaking, "it is time we show those filthy humans what it means to mess with us. To eat our fish and chase us from our lands. We shall show no mercy with the next raid. Destroy their houses. Kill their young ones. Take everything that is edible. We shall chase this vermin away so we can once again live in peace."

The loud roars of agreement echoed around and got amplified.

"Tomorrow, at dawn we shall strike!" the head continued.

More roars as the dragons started to fly up. Hiccup mounted Toothless and they too got into the air.

"Charge!" Toothless shouted and dragon followed them.

Soon the left the cave and entered a fierce battlefield. Hiccup took his sword joining the dragons in their fight. The words 'kill them all' resounded in him, though he knew they weren't his own thoughts. No, they were an order. And he was willing to follow that order. Sword he hand he down human after human, not caring, not giving them a look for they weren't worth it. Quickly covered blood and bodies dropping around him, he made his way through the human nest. Forth came a big man with an axe. It clashed with his sword. He glared at the man, who looked back at him with rage, which turned into surprised soon to be followed by disappointment.

"You betrayed us," the man said.

Hiccup had no idea what the man was talking about and raised his sword once more. Before he could strike however, something kicked him away. Instinctively he jumped back to his feet and attacked. His sword dug deep in the person's abdomen. A pair of shocked blue eyes stared at him.

Hiccup opened his eyes and rapidly sat up straight. Breathing heavily as sweat trickled down his neck, he tried to remove the images that were burned on his retina as most of his dream slipped into forgetfulness. The feeling however remained. It was fear. Shock. He did something horrible. Something he told himself he didn't ever want to happen again. Well it didn't really happen, right? It was just a dream… no nightmare… right?

Sheer fear was spinning in his mind as he tried to calm down. A soft touch of a hand on his cheek made him quickly crawl away until he was pressing himself against a wall.

"Shh, Hiccup, it's just me," a voice whispered with a worried tone. He recognized the voice and dared to look at the source. Looking over the person, he found Astrid giving him a concerned look with those bright blue eyes of hers. It gave him a sense of calmness as he stared at her for a moment, before pushing himself away from the wall. She was alive, it had only been just a dream.

Astrid placed the candle she was holding on the chest a little further away. A small terrible terror landing next to it, giving Hiccup curious eyes.

"Are you alright? You looked like you were having a nightmare."

He could only nod, not capable of talking at that very moment. He wasn't really alright actually, but didn't want to bother her, it was the middle of the night after all. She didn't seem convinced though. Not willing to tell her his nightmare, he let himself drop back down on his pillow and covered his face with his arms. When he felt wetness on his cheeks, he realized he had been crying. No wonder Astrid looked so worried and not the least bit convinced when he nodded he was fine. Another thing he noticed was that he was still shaking.

Astrid grabbed his blanket and raised it a little. The motion made Hiccup lift his arms and look at her whilst wondering what she was planning. What happened next made him hold his breath for a moment as she lay down next to him. Before he could even protest, not that he was going to, she wrapped her arms around him. There was no need for her to pull him closer as he rolled to his side and buried himself in her embrace.