Hiccup woke up with his face pressed against the wall. It might seem an awkward way to wake up, and it was, really. At first, he was confused, blinking with a puzzled look on his face as he slowly pushed himself away from the wood. Looking around, Hiccup saw that it was still dark outside, the first few rays of the sun poking through the window almost carefully. It was the cold that had woken him, nothing else. How did he get all the way over here?

Ludi's fuzzy head rose up slowly, the kitten blinking blearily as she looked at Hiccup like he was stupid. But she tried to push herself up, nonetheless, it taking a large amount of effort for her to even get into an upright position. Hiccup had no idea what time it was, it had to be something like six or seven. He didn't even try and consider the fact that it might be five.

Straightening, Hiccup finally realized where he was. Pushing himself up with difficulty, Hiccup looked down at the corner of the room that he had mostly been avoiding for the past two weeks. He pushed away the twinge in his heart quickly, giving the small space a glare as he turned pointedly, shuffling back over to his bedside.

Ludi mewled softly, watching him with her large amber eyes. The sight of the cat reminded him of something, and he turned to cast a look back at the shredded mess that was still left on his floor. Almost as if she was scared that he would get angry again, Ludi's ears flattened her head, looking away slightly as she shifted. Holding back a small sigh, Hiccup reached out and patted her head affectionately despite himself, giving her a crooked smile.

Turning over without a word, Hiccup bent down carefully, reaching out an grabbing up fistfuls of the torn pieces of paper, holding them tightly in his hands as he leaned back. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Hiccup's eyes slid over to the trash can that lied a few inches away from him. "It's already ruined." He muttered to himself, looking down at the crumpled bits of paper. "It's not like they'll make a difference if I keep it."

Ludi chirped where she lied, shaking herself roughly and jumping off of the bed, landing unbalanced as she staggered. Hiccup glanced over at the cat as she bounded forward, pushing her head against Hiccup's arm with a rumbling purr. Edges of his mouth titling up slightly, Hiccup scratched her behind the ear gratefully. "Alright then." He sighed, gulping once more as he looked over at the small basket. "I guess I have to do this sooner or later. Although I'd rather do it later."

The kitten curled her tail over her paws neatly with a tilted head as Hiccup reached over slowly to the trash, pulling it closer to him and sighing as it made a small scratching sound on the wood. Tightening his grip on the paper, his knuckles turned white and he couldn't help but cast one look back at the corner. It was empty, and bare, and mocking him where he sat. Ludi was right beside him, ears perked as she studied him carefully. Her warm presence encouraged Hiccup. She was here. At least he still had something.

He had to think about that. He couldn't dwell on Toothless anymore, he had to bring himself out of the state he had been in for the last few days. In the back of his mind, he realized that he hadn't been acting like himself for a long time. Waking up in the corner where Toothless slept, becoming more quiet than usual, shying away from people and passing dragons…yelling. He winced visibly as he glanced over at Ludi.

But the kitten gave him a large smile as she caught his gaze, seeming unbothered by the memory of last night that still lingered in his head. Her tail flicked across the ground as she sat neatly, and her gaze was trained on the pieces of papers in Hiccup's hands. It was as if she waiting for Hiccup to make a move. To see whether or not he would actually throw away the shreds, or just cling to the remains of the drawings. Hiccup took in a sharp breath as he looked down at the mess in his hands, freezing as he caught sight of a small drawing of Toothless looking back at him.

Smiling, eyes bright. This wasn't the Toothless he had seen in the last moments. He had seen a dragon completely changed, eyes glaring and cold, fangs bared and claws drawn. It was like something foreign to Hiccup, and he could do nothing but stare down at the papers for a few moments, locked in silence. Ludi didn't even do anything, not daring to even mew the smallest bit as she sat beside her owner.

Hiccup flinched as he saw his hands shaking, and quicker than he had meant to, he flashed over to the side and slammed the papers down into the basket. He blinked, looking somewhat startled as he looked down into the basket, hand twitching as if he wanted to reach back in and grab it. But he retained himself, instead leaning over and grabbing more pieces of paper, repeating the slow process as he stared down emptily at the papers.

This lasted longer than he planned. He was in his own little world of memories, eyes misty and glazed as he stared down. Memories swam like minnows in his eyes, and Ludi settled down to lie beside him, blinking as she watched the sun rise in the distance. The whole mood was detached, Hiccup not paying attention to anything else, and Ludi waiting patiently as she watched the golden rays seep into the room.

By the time Hiccup had cleared the whole ground, the sun was higher in the sky, and he guessed it to be about eight. He let out a loose sigh, slightly shaky as he looked at the empty ground. "There." He breathed, hand rising to press against the side of his head. "It's done." He paused for a moment, looking around absent-mindedly. "Wha-"

Almost as soon as he said that, the door flew open, and a girl's head popped inside. "Hello? Hiccup, are you awake?" Astrid asked, eyes sparkling. She smiled as she saw Hiccup sitting on the ground beside Ludi. She seemed not to notice the slightly disturbed look on his face, for she gave a small laugh, slipping inside and sitting down next to him. "Hey there!" She said warmly. "I figured we could do something together today. I felt sort of bad ditching you yesterday."

"Oh- no, that's fine." Hiccup said easily. "I wasn't mad or anything." Not at her.

Astrid seemed not to notice, tilting her head and reaching over as she petted Ludi on her head affectionately. "So what have you two been up to?" She asked, flashing Hiccup a smile. "You know, this cat reminds me a lot of you. You two are perfect for one another." Hiccup snorted, reaching over and shoving her to the side good-naturedly. "So…what do you wanna do today?"

Ludi meowed loudly where she sat, tail lashing to the side as she shot a glare at Hiccup. The boy blinked, "I think we should have breakfast." He offered, Ludi getting to her paws and dashing out of the door before he could even finished. Astrid shot him a humorous look where she sat, and Hiccup heaved a small sigh, pushing himself unsteadily to his feet. Astrid started, jumping up beside him and starting after the cat.

Looking after her, Hiccup hesitated, turning and looking back at the woven trash basket with a small blink. Rubbing his arm uncomfortably, Hiccup leaned back over, reaching into the trash can quickly and grabbing the piece of paper that contained Toothless's whole image on the surface. It was the only one that Hiccup had found that wasn't ripped, and he shoved it into his pocket as he rushed after Astrid.

She was already downstairs in the kitchen, Ludi meowing loudly beside her. The girl was picking up some pieces of bread and berries, putting them out on the table neatly. "You need more breakfast food." She said once Hiccup came into the kitchen. "You don't have anything, this is the last stuff that was really good."

"I don't really eat breakfast." Hiccup sighed, taking a seat in one of the chairs with a thump. "But thanks anyway, you mean well." Astrid made a face at the last part, but took a seat across from him nevertheless.

Ludi snorted where she sat, looking very put-out. Hiccup started, turning and getting up from his seat to go to the cabinet. Reaching up, he grabbed the small bowl that contained Ludi's food. It was dried food, and was meant for all pets that weren't dragons. It looked pretty unappetizing compared to what was on the table, which was why Hiccup wasn't surprised when Ludi turned up her nose as he placed the bowl of food in front of her.

He was about to give her a bowl of berries instead, but he caught Astrid's raised eyebrow, and knew that she would never let him live it down if he got beaten by the cat. He had to be smart about this. "Ludi, be grateful!" He snapped, folding his arms over his chest. "A lot of kittens like you would kill for this food."

Ludi deadpanned as she looked at the dry slop. Hiccup fidgeted before going over and sitting down in his chair. "Eat, Ludi." He ordered, trying to make his voice sound final. "You'll eat the food because that's what you're supposed to eat." He looked over at Astrid, and the girl gave him a small smile, bending over and starting to eat.

The two launched into conversations at once. They talked about Hiccup's job, the constant snow in Berk, and Astrid even briefly talked about her dragon, eyeing Hiccup uneasily as she did so. But Hiccup listened with something close to enthusiasm. It almost felt good for him to be able to talk about dragons again. Even though there was a small ache in his heart as he smiled at her, he never knew that Stormfly had learned to boil water and make fires without burning down the house as well. Quite impressive.

Hiccup was so wrapped up in the conversation, he almost didn't see what Ludi was doing. But he caught her in the act of trying to bring a roll over to her, and he turned around quickly, fixing her with a hard stare. One piece of almost-chewed bred hanging out of the corner of her mouth, Ludi blinked slowly at Hiccup, slowly dropping the half-eaten piece onto the tabletop. She slowly met Hiccup's eyes, and Hiccup realized what she was going to do a moment too late.

Her eyes got huge, her ears flattened to her head, and she looked up ever so slightly. It was the "Cuteness Meter" look, and Hiccup stiffened at once. She looked pitiful, and she shuffled her paws closer to her as she let out a small, pathetic mew. Eye twitching, Hiccup held her gaze a moment or two longer before he finally gave up with a yell, whirling around and shoving the bread close to her as he did so.

Ludi gave out a purr and tucked into the bread happily.

Astrid giggled from where she sat, and Hiccup threw a look over at her sharply. Immediately, she tried to stifle the laughter, struggling as she did so. "Oh, I'm sorry." She finally said airily. "But you have to admit, it's adorable. She knows just the right strings to pull on you!" When Hiccup only continued to glare at her, she laughed, reaching over and picking up Ludi, who let out a loud meow as she was drawn away from her food.

Holding the kitten out to face her, Astrid smiled warmly. "Is you a smart little kitten?" Astrid cooed, using improper grammar, Hiccup might add. "You are so cute, yes you are!" Looking over at Hiccup, and smiled toothily. "She doesn't even have to say anything for you to do what she wants, all she has to do is look at you! OH MY ODIN SHE IS SO ADORABLE!" She shook Ludi as she yelled the last words, jarring the kitten as she was flung about.

Hiccup huffed, leaning over and resting his chin on the table. Astrid still wouldn't stop though. "Oh my goodness, you're so soft! I would give anything for you to be my kitten, oh yes I would. I would LOVE to have you at my house." She paused for a minute, giggling as she looked at Ludi. "But of course, that would make me under your spell now, then, wouldn't it?"

"Spell isn't the right word." Hiccup sang where he sat.

"Oh come on." Astrid threw him a look. "She looks at you with that adorable stare and you do whatever she wants you to do. You would jump off a cliff if she gave you that look, wouldn't you? Keep away from cliffs, little baby." Astrid cooed, directing the last part to the cat. "Aww! I just wanna take you and snuggle with you SO BAD!"

"Astrid, you are FREAKING ME OUT. Stopit." Hiccup snapped, giving her a frustrated look. "Can you talk like a normal being? She is just a cat. She's cute, but she's a cat. I didn't know you could be like this. And let me say this: I never want to see this side of you ever again."

Astrid stuck her tongue out at him, bouncing Ludi up and down on her knee. The kitten was starting to look frazzled, fur bushed out and eyes wide as she looked at Hiccup helplessly. Hiccup merely waved to her once, a smug look on his face. "Maybe I'm under her spell already." Astrid giggled. "You'd better watch out, I might just steal her." She gave Hiccup a small wink, standing up from her chair, still clutching the kitten tightly. "Let's go get your collar on, huh?" She sang, going into the next room. "You coming, Hiccup?"

But Hiccup wasn't listening. He had a thoughtful look on his face, forehead creased as he looked with confusion at the wall. Something was odd. Something was…he straightened, tilting his head to the side as he sat back up. Silence reigned in the room for a long time, seconds seeming to stretch on forever to the boy. Thoughts whirred, memories clicked, Astrid's sentences fit.

Slowly…very slowly…the boy's eyes widened.

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A/N: BUM BUM BUMMMMM

CLIFFIE. …AGAIN :D

Hope all of you liked this chapter, and I get a lot of reviews for it! ^^

I really liked it a lot, and now I know where I am going for this! So strap yourselves in, because it's going to be a bumpy ride~!