This chapter is pretty short, sorry! But after this it really starts to take off. (If only I would sit my lazy butt down and write it that is.) Thanks to Fireloom for the great work! I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for all the support!

It was the wee hours of the morning when the messenger entered the barracks, waking up all but two cadets to receive a letter from Major Haddock to the army. He didn't understand why it was so urgent. But as he accepted the letter he felt the burning stare of the wild blonde the entire time. The letter was heavy, sealed with the official military seal and signed in cursive black letters.

He had been tasked with carrying confidential letters before but this one looked very official. He felt the weight of it in his satchel as he set off towards the docks, the letter was to leave immediately and the reply would return on one of the fastest ships they had. It would be done in a day or two.

What he didn't expect was a figure moving with the stealth of an assassin and clobbering him on the head just as he turned the corner. Above him stood the wild-eyed blonde, holding a wooden practise sword.

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt." Said Snotlout coming around the bend behind her, he was followed by Ruffnut. Astrid grunted, rooting through his bag for the letter. What was so important that he had to send the letter this late at night? And after they had made such a huge mistake? They needed to make sure he wasn't asking them to close the academy or something.

"So what does it say?" Asked Ruffnut. Astrid carefully peeled away at the still soft wax seal. The letter opened to reveal delicate cursive writing, not something she expected. Though it made sense, no one became a Major without sending a few letters to a few important individuals.

"He wants to request a transfer back into the military, he feels like he could be better used there."

"Why? Cause we messed up today? Well, maybe we will get a better teacher." Snotlout huffed.

"Well, I don't really want him to leave thinking that we're bad students." Ruffnut muttered. He nudged the unconscious messenger with his foot before smirking and kneeling beside the messenger. Astrid rolled her eyes when she saw what he was doing.

"Let's go back and tell the others, I don't want him to leave either."

Ten minutes later the messenger woke up, all letters in his bag and nothing taken but his left sock. He would blame trolls for tripping him up. Silently he cursed his parents for naming him Irith, a beautiful name that everyone loved. Except for trolls.

The cadets acted so well the next day. Hiccup almost wanted to get on Toothless and stop the letter before it reached the capital. His ties to the clan were the only thing that stopped him. Even the dragons behaved and listened to their riders intently. By the afternoon all of them were flying up and down in the small arena with no difficulty.

Hiccup knew that if the transfer came through and they couldn't fly a dragon by the time the next instructor arrived the dragons would be subject to a much more painful and gruelling training. So, after a quick lunch, he lead the cadets out to the yard and saddled Toothless.

"We're going to try flying now, okay. You must stay calm, pay attention to you dragon and most importantly listen to me. I don't want an accident because one of you thinks they can do a barrel roll or shoot lasers from your eyes." Hiccup quipped. "This is to get a feel for your dragons, got it?" The students nodded intently and Hiccup began to open the gate. Slowly each dragon walked out, stretching their wings to full length and lifting their heads. Toothless was excited too but he walked at the back of the group slowly, making sure everyone stayed calm.

The soft breeze couldn't be felt inside the grey walls of the arena but here it raced around their bodies. The students and the dragons had become visibly excited. Hiccup couldn't blame them. That feeling of soaring through the air on the back of your dragons was incomparable to any other experience that the world had to offer.

"Everyone stay with me, okay? Slow and steady now let's get into the air."

"Yes sir!" Was the collective response.

The dragons rose under their riders' command. Soon the array of dragons had all taken to the air, not even the most prideful of the bunch could hide the twinkle in their eyes. Then slowly they moved forward, the light wind catching under their wings as they rose. Soon all of Berk could be seen above them.

"Let's head over the ocean so no one has to clear you off the cobble." Hiccup shouted out, speaking again with his authoritative voice. Soon the 6 were above the stretch of the ocean, picking up speed as they got more and more comfortable with each other. Hiccup didn't speak, he didn't give orders, he didn't teach. He observed.

Observed the way that Astrid's hand brush slightly against her dragon's' neck as she tried to stay in front of the group. The way that the twins, who fight about the drop of a hat, work in unity to lead their dragon through the air. How the prideful Snotlout is so locked into his flight that he can't be bothered to try to be cool. The way that Meatlug is wide awake and happy, wearing matching expressions with his partner. They were all riders right now, not soldiers.

Each one was smiling, flying through the air on their partners. Hiccup could hear them speaking to each other.

"This is amazing!"

"Breathtaking!"

They were thrilled and honestly they were all naturals. Hiccup could have set them on dragons and they probably could've fought in the war without any training. Even now he could see the slight non-verbal ques passing from rider to dragon. He hopped that this was something that they had picked up from his lessons. It excited him how much they had learned and how much they could respect there dragons.

'This will all be ruined when the new instructor comes.'

That single thought was the only thing that kept Hiccup from enjoying the flight as much as his students. The students noticed it too, other than his excitement at the beginning he had been tame for the rest of the flying lesson.

"Master Haddock?"

"Yes Astrid?" came the timid reply, the Major was fixated on something on the horizon. Nothing anyone else could see.

"I- well actually, we read your letter. To the army. The request for transfer." Astrid started hesitantly, the co-conspirators instantly reacted, jerking around to look at her.

It took a second for what she said to click, then Hiccup turned to her in shock. "You did what? Do you realise reading someone else's mail is an imperial offence? Your lucky that I'm not the kind to report that stuff! More serious, a Major's mail they would've… oh what they would've done to you. You didn't take the letter though, did you?"

"No! We just read it, we were worried since we had done so bad yesterday. We thought you wanted to get the dragon's taken away." Astrid cried back. The dragons had taken control as their masters spoke, and only Hiccup realized they were flying towards Berk again.

"You read it then?"

"Yes, all of it. We want to know why you want to leave Hiccup. Is it because we couldn't fly the dragons that first time? We're flying them now aren't we?"

"It isn't like that. That was an honest mistake, none of you are to blame. Don't feel bad about it, okay?" They answered with a few quiet "yes's".

"The reason I want to leave has nothing to do with you guys. I just, well, I fell that a would be a better fighter than a teacher. I have enjoyed this time but I feel like I've done all I can for you."

"S-sorry Major Haddock," stuttered Fishlegs hesitantly, "but we've seen you flying on Toothless and I don't think that we've even scratched the surface of your knowledge."

Hiccup could only over a sad sigh and a bow of his head. His brown locks fell in front of his eyes blocking the tired look that held them. "Maybe so," he started again after a second, "let's finish this lesson. We can talk at the barracks tonight."

The dragons had happily entered their cages, tired from the first flight they had had in weeks.

They talked long into the night, discussing and re-discussing but Hiccup stood firm, in appearance, at least. Inside he was waging a war, his loyalty and his desire to stay, clashing together. It was the fact that the letter had most likely reached the court that allowed him to stay so steadfast on his transfer, if it were even to happen. The students seemed to think that he wasn't good enough to serve. Or perhaps that was just their wishful thinking.

He was surprised they had even gone out of their ways to debate him like this. They did everything short of actually asking him to stay. Which, honestly, was quite a relief to Hiccup. He just wasn't sure if he could give a definite no if they asked. The nagging in his head, a almost silent whisper of you don't belong fueled him through every other part of the argument.

Soon the students began to drift off, dipping their heads in mid sentence or lying down actively leaving the conversation. Hiccup stayed up until the last of the questions had been asked and each student had finally fallen asleep.

Finally, he crawled into his own bed, satisfied that he had at the very least allowed his students to see that violence wasn't the only way to fly a dragon.