I considered posting this chapter under a separate title as a sequel, since the tone is slightly different. But eventually I decided to continue it here, even if it has a bit more angst.

After all, it can be a slow transition going from being a runt to a hero as well.

Astrid hurried down the dirt road that led to the blacksmith. The sun was already low on the horizon, almost touching the white capped waves of the ocean. The brilliant red and yellow hues of sunset told her she was late. Very late. But she'd been so preoccupied flying Axe over the island… Flying atop her dragon was too exhilarating for words. Or for timekeeping it would seem.

And even when the flying was over, she had to take care of her Deadly Nadder. Admittedly, half the time she spent taking care of the beast was pure pampering. But she thought the dragon deserved it. She'd been spending almost all her free time with her lately, and every day she learned something new about her companion. It certainly made each day new and exciting!

And it also made her late getting to the smithy to pick up some new bits of tack for Axe.

Everyone who'd managed to bond with a dragon was looking to have a proper saddle made. Most were making due with cobbled together junk not much better than the ropes Hiccup had jury rigged for all of them that first flight. But the ropes were wearing thin and seemed to be chaffing Axe's scales. It was past time for a better made and more permanent solution.

Hiccup himself had been by a few days ago to take Axe's measurements for a saddle. They hadn't had much time to talk though. Astrid had been busy hauling some fish for her dragon, and Hiccup hadn't been able to stay long in any case, though he had offered her a shy smile. Which she had returned a bit shyly herself of course.

Hiccup was the only one with any experience making equipment for dragons as well as training them, so it was no real surprise he was busy. But these days he was becoming a hard man to find. Whatever time wasn't spent in the smithy or giving lessons to small groups of Vikings was spent riding Toothless off to who-knows-where.

Astrid was a bit torn about it personally. She wouldn't have minded a bit more time around Hiccup herself. But how could she blame Hiccup for spending every spare moment he could with Toothless, when she was doing the same with Axe? Astrid had always been a very focused girl, and at the moment she was VERY focused on working things out between herself and her companion. Which meant spending a great deal of time with her dragon.

Astrid slowed her steps as she neared the blacksmiths, noticing a familiar pile of black scales, wings, and claws next to the doorway. Toothless raised his head as she approached, locking his bright green eyes on her for a moment before his ears flickered at her in recognition. He made a low grumbling sound at her as she approached, relaxing once again as the blonde girl drew near.

"Hey there Toothless." She smiled at the dragon as she headed for the door, sliding a hand over his smooth scales. If Toothless was here, Hiccup must still be in the shop. These days you never found one without finding the other.

Astrid was just reaching her hand out for the door when it abruptly slammed open in front of her. Only her quick reflexes saved her from being walloped by the wooden slab, and she found herself stumbling backwards as a figure marched through the doorframe. Silhouetted by the light of the forge, Gober the Belch cut an imposing figure regardless of his missing limbs.

At the moment however it wasn't his missing limbs that concerned Astrid, but his missing attention. Gober wasn't even looking where he was going, his head turned back to shout into the smithy while he used his right hand to snap a dull metal hook into place on the stump of his left arm.

"That's enough for me Hiccup! I'm off! And you should be too! Damp down the forge and GO HOME!" He shouted. A muted 'yeah, yeah!' was barely audible over the man's snort as he pulled the door closed behind him, finally turning to face forward. Only to find himself face to face (well, more like chest to face given the difference in height) with the blonde girl who was still in the process of backing away to avoid a collision.

"Whoa! Well, hello there Astrid! What brings you here at this hour?" With a grunt and a click, Gober succeeded in getting his hook seated, giving his arm a shake to make sure it was well attached. Toothless, who had been watching Astrid leap back and practically windmill her arms to keep her balance, let out a small snort of amusement.

"And what're YOU laughing at you mangy pile of scales?" Gober demanded, turning to face the night fury. "Think it's funny do ya, hanging around in front of my shop, scaring away half my customers?" Toothless just rolled his eyes, plopping his head back down on his body and ignoring the bulky Viking's rant. The dragon didn't seem to take any offence at Gober's blustering, likely because there was an obvious lack of passion behind his words.

"On the other hand, we've been so busy as is I suppose it'd be a favor if you were keeping half our customers away." He continued a bit more calmly, scratching his chin with his hook. "Eh, I guess we'll just call it a wash." Toothless just snorted and acted like he was going back to sleep while Gober turned back to face Astrid once more.

"Now, where was I? Oh yes! So what're you doing here, lass?"

Astrid cleared her throat, having regained her poise and balance while Gober was berating Toothless. She gave the older Viking a smile as she responded.

"Well, I know it's a bit late but I was hoping to pick up some of the tack I was having made for Axe. I meant to come by earlier, but lost track of time…"

Gober eyed her for a moment, one hand rubbing his chin, a gleam in his eye.

"Well, normally I don't let anyone into the smithy this late. But Hiccup's still working. And I get the feeling he won't mind me letting YOU slip in, just this once." He gave Astrid a knowing grin, causing the teenager to blush despite herself.

'I'm blushing an awful lot lately' Astrid thought to herself. 'And it's always Hiccups fault.' A small mischievous grin crossed her face. 'I'll just have to think up a reason to punch him for making me blush so much.' Of course, she'd have to kiss him after the punch. It was practically tradition. And no one could blame her for not wanting to break tradition. The kiss was a sacrifice she'd just have to make.

"In return, you can help me by kicking my scrawny apprentice out of the building when you're done." He sighed heavily. "I swear, I can't understand that boy. He's been acting squirrelly lately." He made a circular motion at his head with his hook. "Well, more so than usual. Spends all day on that silly beast or in the forge, hiding away from the town."

"Well, at least this hero business isn't going to his head!" Gober finished with an upbeat tone. "Maybe YOU can knock some sense into the boy. Just make sure he shuts down for the night. And don't stay out TOO late." He gave the embarrassed Astrid a wink before turning on his peg leg and clanking off into the night.

Astrid watched him walk away for a few moments before adjusting her hair and clothes a bit. She stopped as soon as she realized what she was doing, shooting Toothless a dark look when he started to snicker again.

"Oh shush you overgrown salamander." She huffed as she reached for the door a second time. But once again she was interrupted, this time by Toothless, who stopped her by standing up and moving to block the door. Astrid gave the dragon a puzzled look, but Toothless just grinned back at her and shook his head before turning himself towards the door.

He immediately started bumping his head against it to open it, making plenty of noise as he nudged the door open. Then he let out a low growling sound and took a few steps in place before turning back to Astrid and stepping aside, sitting on his haunches beside the door with a reptilian smirk on his face.

Astrid gave the Night Fury a strange look, puzzled by his behavior. But after a moment she just shrugged and stepped through the door. Just in time to hear a distracted voice call out from somewhere in the back of the shop in response to the noise the dragon had been making.

"Toothless! How many times do I have to tell you to just wait outside?" There was a sound of clanking and banging as items were moved around. "I know you like to be close, but the forge isn't big enough for both of us. And I'm not as fireproof as you are! I don't want to have to re-grow my eyebrows! Again!"

Realizing what the sneaky dragon had been playing at, Astrid smiled and remained silent during Hiccup's minor diatribe and stealthily walked into the back of the smithy where the young metalworker was fussing over his work. His back was to the doorway so she took a few moments to watch as he stumbled around the room, piling unseen items into his arms. She couldn't help but notice how heavily he seemed to be favoring his good leg as he went about his business. After a few seconds she decided to cut the oblivious boy a break, and clear her throat.

"Huh? Toothless?" He blinked as he turned and caught sight of her, his arms full of lengths of wood and metal. "Astrid??" He gaped at her.

"So, I'm toothless now, am I?" She asked with just a hint of menace. "An old toothless crone?"

"What? Astrid? No, no Astrid! You're not toothless! Toothless is toothless! Except when he has teeth! You have teeth! Beautiful teeth! I mean…!" He cut himself off with a yowl of pain as a metal rod slipped from his hands, landing on his flesh and blood foot. Which, of course, caused him to jump and drop the REST of the items in his hands in a cascade. When the clanging and thumping of wood and metal ended, Hiccup was left standing there, arms out, a defeated look on his face.

Astrid raised a hand to her mouth to keep herself from giggling at the sight. She HATED it when she giggled. Laughter was fine. But giggling? It just wasn't… properly Viking-ish. Still, he looked so cute standing there in his leather metalworking apron with a puzzled, dejected look on his face. Like a lost puppy. She started to reconsider punching him this evening. Though that didn't rule out the follow up, did it?

The look on his face only lasted until he heard a rumbling chuckle from outside however. Looking past Astrid's shoulder, Hiccup caught a good look at Toothless, who was leaning over to look through the doorway. He was keeping to the letter of the law of course, and staying outside the building. But that didn't stop him from causing mischief.

"This is all your fault, isn't it?" Hiccup narrowed his eyes at his scaly friend. The dragon just smirked right back at him.

"Hmph. Fine. Have your fun." He crossed his arms, then pretended to consider something. "You know… I was just thinking.. Maybe dad would like to make some nice smoked eel for dinner tonight…."

Toothless' ears dropped to the back of his neck as his eyes opened wide. He let out a yowl of terror and shot out of the doorway, disappearing from sight while Hiccup snickered.

"Yeah, I feel the same way about Dad's cooking…" Astrid couldn't help it. She giggled. She clamped her hand over her mouth to keep anymore of the completely un-Viking sounds from escaping, but it was enough to regain Hiccup's full attention.

"So, ah, Astrid!" It was kind of funny the way he'd say her name with a bit of an exclamation. It was as if he was constantly surprised by her presence. "What, ah, what can I do for you Astrid?"

"Well, I was wondering if the tack for Axe was done yet? The ropes I'm using are starting to chafe and…" Hiccup started nodding vigorously before she could finish.

"Oh yeah! Of course! I finished that just this morning. Just give me a second and I'll get it for you." He smiled happily at her, then glanced down at the metal rods and lumber he'd dropped. For just a moment a grimace seemed to cross his features, but he quickly started to kneel down to pick up the fallen goods.

It only took Astrid a moment to realize what the problem was. His foot! I bet he can't bend over properly yet with his new leg. I'm surprised he's doing so well with it so quickly! She started to bend over herself to pick up some of the items.

"Here, let me help you." But Hiccup just waved her off.

"It's fine. I've got it." He gave her a reassuring smile then focused on his task. Crouching down, he began to scoop up his possessions. It didn't escape Astrid's notice just how much he was straining to keep himself from toppling over, or how his leg muscled quivered in tension. The sight worried her a little. But it was clear Hiccup wanted to do it himself, and far be it for her to interfere with another Viking's stubbornness.

"S… See? No problem!" He grunted a bit in relief as he stood upright once again. "Let me put these away and I'll have your new harness and tack in a second!" He turned away from her and began walking into the side room he used as his workshop.

Astrid followed behind him, watching. Strangely enough his limp seemed to have… well, not quite vanished. But he was walking far more normally as the blonde watched. She flushed a bit when she found her eyes sliding up from his legs to his rear, and turned to look away with a huff as they entered his workshop.

What she saw inside gave her pause. The room was poorly lit with a few feeble candles for illumination. She wasn't even sure if there WAS a window in the place. It was small and a bit cramped with most of the space occupied by a long table and a few rough hewn shelves. But every square inch of the place seemed to be covered or occupied.

Bits of wood and metal littered the workbench. Chisels and hammers and random tools fought for shelf space with half carved blocks of wood and scraps of iron and leather. Wicker baskets filled with bits and pieces of who-knows-what also occupied their fair share of the space. Even the walls themselves were being put to use, having been covered in paper and parchment. Mostly sketches of one sort or another. Some were just fanciful drawings, but most seemed to be drawings of devices or objects. One of the larger ones was stretched out on the wall over the desk, and was obviously a design for Toothless' prosthetic tailfin. All of the drawings were covered with little scrawled notes or scribbles of smaller details. Or sometimes just random doodles of flowers or animals.

The room was small and cramped and cluttered. It had no real windows and each lit candle sat upon a pile of melted wax, the remains of it's many predecessors. This was clearly a place where Hiccup spent a great deal of his time. Hidden in the back of the forge, out of sight. Out of mind. For some reason Astrid found herself frowning at the thought of Hiccup spending so much time here, alone.

With a small sigh of relief, Hiccup dropped his load on the workbench. Glancing over at Astrid, he flushed a bit. He could tell she was looking around at the disarray of his inner sanctum, and could see the frown on her face.

"Sorry, it's a bit of a mess in here." He muttered, quickly moving over to one of the shelves to grab a mass of metal and leather. "Here, there's more light in the forge…" He moved quickly, blowing out the candles before Astrid could see more of his embarrassingly messy space.

Once again Astrid found herself following Hiccup as he ambled into the main room of the smithy. Sparing the darkened doorway into the workshop one last lingering glance, she returned her attention to Hiccup as he turned to face her next to the forge. The flicking illumination from the wall sconces combined with the dimming flames of the forge to fill the room with light, revealing what Hiccup was carrying.

With a slightly nervous smile, he held out the harness and saddle for her inspection. It was different from the one he had made for Toothless. A Nadder's back was shaped differently than his best friend's, so of course the saddle had to be made differently as well. Long straps of leather were woven together to form a single seat. Additional leather straps hung off the sides of it, leading to metal belts and buckles that would allow it to be strapped around the dragon's neck and stomach.

Astrid stepped forward and carefully took the saddle from Hiccup's hands. The craftsmanship was impressive. One of the metal bits caught her eyes as it reflected the light of the forge. Taking it into her hand, she looked at it closely. It was a round metal buckle that would rest across Axe's chest and act as the center point of the harness. Hiccup smiled softly as she turned the polished metal this way and that, admiring it.

Hiccup had a good hand when putting charcoal to paper, but he was no master engraver. Still, he'd obviously put some effort into this. The image was simple, and a bit rough, but the intent was still clear. A simple pair of double bladed axes, their shafts crossed, stood out on the metal.

"I, ah, just thought that you named her Axe, and you always seemed to carry that axe around with you in training, and…" He trailed off as Astrid lifted her head to look at him.

"It's beautiful. Thank you Hiccup." She surprised both of them as she leaned forward to give him a kiss on the cheek.

Hiccup took a step backwards in surprise, a smile on his face. Unfortunately this caused the stump of his injured leg to bump against the bench behind him. On the plus side, he had someplace to land when his leg gave out while he grimaced in pain. He sat down on the bench with a thud while lifting his metal foot off the floor and trying to ignore the stabbing sensation shooting up and down the remains of his limb.

"Are you okay Hiccup?" The concerned look in Astrid's eyes made something in Hiccup's stomach flutter. But it also it also filled him with shame to show such weakness in front of her.

"Ah, I'm fine Astrid, fine! Just thought I'd sit down to, ah, enjoy the… warmth of the fire!" He laughed weakly, trying to look nonchalant. He was a little surprised when Astrid didn't reply. Instead she just sat down next to him. Quite close to him, really. He raised an eyebrow at her after a moment of silence.

"What? Maybe I wanted to enjoy the warmth of the fire too." She replied haughtily. Hiccup gave her another small smile and turned to face the forge as silence descended once more, neither teen quite knowing what to say.

As the silence lingered, Astrid found her eyes drawn back to Hiccup's leg. The length of wood and metal looked terribly out of place beside his flesh and blood foot. With it's strange angles and springs, it definitely looked like something Hiccup might make. But not something that should be a part of him.

"So, how are you doing with your new leg?" Astrid gestured in its general direction, unable to take the silence any longer.

"What, this thing?" Hiccup plastered a smile across his face, lifting his leg so the prosthetic was stretched out in front of him. "It's going great! Why, it's the most Viking like part of me! It's strong as steel, it doesn't bruise, and it doesn't feel pain! You can't get more Viking than that!" He grinned at the blonde, but the grin slowly slid from his face when he saw the serious look Astrid was giving him.

"How can you act like that? Like the whole thing is just… funny?"

Hiccup gave her a crooked smile and shrugged. "Eh, you know how it is. It's not any fun if you don't get s scar out of it!"

Astrid cringed internally as Hiccup threw her words back at her. Not that he meant it to hurt her, but she could remember saying those exact words back on the first day of Dragon Training. It had been so clear back then. All real Vikings had scars. They were badges of honor. Mementos of battles long past. And all the best scars came with the best stories. Glorious battles and deadly fights and everything a young Viking wanted to be a part of. The deeds and the scars went hand in hand in their minds.

But that was before she'd seen first hand how those scars are earned. She'd only gotten a glimpse of Hiccup's leg before Stoic had hauled his son off to the healers. But she'd seen enough. And she'd seen him laying there on the boat, pale and unmoving the entire trip back. She'd seen the blankets that covered his thin form barely rising and falling over his chest. Seen the way they draped over his body, only emphasizing his missing limb.

And suddenly she realized that battle scars weren't quite as cool or dramatic as she'd once thought. Certainly not ones like THIS. And she began to realize that maybe, just maybe the reason why the older Vikings showed off their scars wasn't because they were proud of them. Or rather, that wasn't the whole of it. Maybe they showed them off because there was little they could do about the pain or loss. So in true Viking fashion they sought to get some use out of them as reminders of the past and lessons for the future.

The teenage recruits, herself included, never thought to ask if their elders had WANTED those scars and injuries that they had so coveted.

And out of all of them, she was certain that Hiccup would have been the only one to consider that possibility beforehand. To consider that maybe those scars represented MORE than just glory and honor. That maybe they represented pain and loss and death. And that perhaps the price that was paid for them was one they should not be quite so eager to pay.

Which just made it bitterly ironic that Hiccup was the one to be so grievously injured while the rest of them had nothing more than a few bruises and scrapes. For some reason it upset her. It upset her a lot. And it upset her even more the way HE just seemed to shrug it all off as if it were nothing.

"Aren't you, I don't know? Angry? Upset?" Astrid demanded. "For Odin's sake Hiccup, you lost your leg!"

This time a smaller, sadder smile crossed Hiccup's face as he replied. "Angry? At who? The Red Death? That's a bit pointless now, don't you think? Dad? For what? Doing what any Viking would have done, and going straight for the nest when he learned of it? Might as well be angry at water for being wet. Toothless? For not saving my leg?" He snorted at that one. "He risked his life to save mine. Anyway, I don't think I could begrudge him my leg if he'd snapped it off on purpose himself."

Astrid just raised an eyebrow at him at his last comment, looking at him as if he were crazy. With a sigh, Hiccup tried to explain.

"Look at Toothless Astrid. Look at his tail. Do you think half his tailfin fell off all on its own?" He met her eyes again, his expression disturbingly blank. "I did that Astrid. It's my fault. It was my invention that brought him down. That sheered off his tailfin. That robbed him of the ability to fly."

"But you didn't do it on purpose…" Astrid stopped when Hiccup looked at her as if she were an idiot.

"Of COURSE I did it on purpose! I was trying to kill him! Killing him was what I wanted most in the world! To kill a legendary Night Fury and win the respect of the village…" He made a broad sweeping gesture with his hands, before lowering them to his sides, shoulder slumping.

"And instead I managed to cripple my best friend." He hung his head lower, staring at the floor.

"But you fixed him! He can fly again." Seeing Hiccup act like this made her feel… uncomfortable. She wasn't quite sure what to do. Comforting people wasn't her forte. She didn't really know HOW. And this darker and more somber Hiccup was a stranger to her. The Hiccup she knew, the Hiccup she THOUGHT she knew, was always smiling. Or at least smirking. Or making snarky comments, mocking the world around him. This was yet another side of him she'd never seen before.

"I didn't really FIX him Astrid. He can't fly on his own. Only with my help." He raised his head again to look her in the eye. "I don't think I can ever give him back what he had before. The ability to fly where he wants, when he wants, all on his own." He wiggled his prosthetic.

"And that's why I'd never be upset with him over my leg. Even if I hadn't lost it in battle. Even if he'd taken it off himself. Because even then it wouldn't be fair. I can still walk on my own, more or less. Toothless can't fly without me. Besides, I know Toothless would never hurt me. What I lost, I lost by accident. But what I took from him… I took while meaning him harm." His eyes left Astrid's face and returned to the stone floor of the shop.

Astrid spent a moment taking in his words before placing a hand on his shoulder, startling him with the contact.

"But look at all the good that's come out of it! If you hadn't injured Toothless, the two of you would never have met. You'd never have been friends. And look at what you did for the rest of Berk! We'd still be fighting dragons instead of making friends with them if not for your two!"

Hiccup looked up at her as she spoke, and once again that small, sad, lopsided smile crossed his face.

"Just because something good came from something bad, it doesn't make the bad thing good." He said simply, a sad certainty in his eyes. His attention shifted to the hand on his shoulder for a moment before he abruptly stood up, stretching his arms.

"W.. Well, it's getting late, and I should close up for the night…" He hid another grimace of pain as he put weight on his prosthetic leg and plastered another smile on his face, trying to lighten the mood.

"After all, you know how clumsy I am when I'm well rested. If I start stumbling around in here, I'll likely lose another limb! And then Gober will start complaining that I'm trying to copy him." He rolled his eyes, smiling back at Astrid. But once again Astrid failed to smile back, instead giving him a steely look filled with determination.

"Stop that." She said simply.

Hiccup looked at her in confusion. "Stop what?"

"Stop acting like that!" She stood up off the bench, standing face to face with him. "Like nothing is important and everything is fine or like everything's a joke…"

"But… But Astrid, this is how I always act." The red headed Viking stared at her with an honestly puzzled expression on his face as Astrid stepped closer and poked him in the chest with a finger.

"That's it exactly! I don't want you to ACT around me!" She suddenly paused, taking a step back, her cheeks blushing red in the dim light of the forge.

"I, I think I'm starting to like you Hiccup Horrible Haddock the Third." She began, her eyes glancing away from him in embarrassment as she used his full name. But then her gaze locked back on his face once again.

"But I want to get to know you. The REAL you." She smiled softly at him, face still flushed, voice becoming gentler. "I know there's more to you than what everyone sees on the surface. Than what you LET people see. And I want to see those parts of you too. Without you hiding them away from me."

Hiccup just stared at her with his mouth hanging open in surprise, slightly dazed by the way her behavior seemed to whipsaw back and forth between angry and tender. When she said she liked him a truly enormous smile lit up his face. His green eyes seemed to glow in the light of the forge, and Astrid could feel her heartbeat speed up when she looked at that smile. The big, honest smile her words had put there. But then…

Once, when she was a little girl, Astrid had chanced to see one of the many rocky promontories of Berk collapse into the sea. The waves head eaten away at the bottom of the outcropping over the years, until the entire cliff face gave way. It started moving slowly, yet inevitably downwards, cracking and crumbling into pieces as it slid into the ocean, vanishing beneath the waves, never to be seen again. The entire event took a few short seconds, yet seemed to last an eternity to her young mind.

It was the closest thing she could compare to the way Hiccup seemed to crumble in on himself. The way the smile seemed to slide off of his face. The way the exuberant light in his eyes dulled. The way his shoulders dropped and his posture slumped.

"That's. That's probably not a good idea." He mumbled, eyes downcast.

Astrid just stood there for a moment, shocked at the sudden and inexplicable change in Hiccup's demeanor.

"Wha.. What are you talking about?" Astrid gaped at him, a fist seeming to clench around her heart. Is… Is he rejecting me?

"You… you wouldn't like what you found." Was the quiet, subdued reply.

"Hiccup. Hiccup! Look and me and tell me what you're talking about!" She growled, hands on her hips. She couldn't understand the way he was acting. It was strange and confusing and it was easier to ignore the sensations in her stomach if she was angry.

Hiccup lifted his head to meet her eyes uncomfortably for a moment before lowering them and speaking.

"Astrid, you're the best Viking in out generation. And me? I'm the worst Viking Berk has ever known."

"Hiccup! You are NOT!" Astrid said heatedly, somehow offended that he'd even say such a thing about himself.

"No Astrid, I am." He spoke softly now, but with a calm certainty. "That's exactly what my father told me. Before he started complimenting me on how much I had changed. On how well I was doing in dragon training." He sighed heavily. "The first time I can remember him EVER saying he was proud of me. ME! And it was all a lie."

He looked back up at Astrid, silencing her reply with the look on his face.

"But that's not the reason I'm the worst Viking. Do you remember the first time we fought your deadly Nadder in the arena? Do you remember the end, when your axe got stuck in my shield?"

Astrid nodded her head silently. She and Axe got along well these days. Flying on her back was… Exhilarating. She didn't like to think back to the time, not long ago, when the two of them had tried to harm each other. But she remembered.

"You said something important to me then. You said that our parent's war was soon going to be ours." Hiccup turned away from her and started to bank the fires in the forge, putting away his tools, not quite looking back at her. "And you said I needed to pick a side." He paused again, hanging up a hammer. "Do you remember that first night when you found Toothless and me?"

"Of course. I could hardly forget it!"

"Do you remember what I was doing then?" He asked, voice low and quiet.

It took Astrid a moment to recall those memories. In truth, the shock, terror, and finally awe of the latter portion of the evening tended to drown out what came before. And atop that was the fact that her behavior then was something else she didn't enjoy thinking back upon.

But the things she'd heard as she stalked him came back to her. The words he'd spoken. 'We've leaving.' 'Taking a vacation' 'Forever'.

"You… you were getting ready to leave…? And not… not come back…" She whispered.

Hiccup kept his back to her as he undid his leather apron, not wanting to see the disappointed look on her face.

"That's why I'm the worst Viking Berk has ever known. I knew you were right back then. And I picked a side." Without looking back he hung his apron on a peg and stepped out the door into the darkening night, the clanking of his prosthetic leg quickly muffled as the door shut behind him.

By the time Astrid overcame her surprise at this sudden revelation and hurried to the door he was gone, the sound of a Night Fury's wings already fading into the distance.

And thus ends THAT chapter. Don't worry though. I have at least one more chapter planned. Time, motivation, and my muse permitting of course. Hopefully this chapter wasn't too much of a deviation from the first. I was a little worried Hiccup might seem a bit schizophrenic: Happy in one chapter, depressed in the next. Of course part of that can be explained by the fact that Astrid is poking past his shell.

Hopefully the next chapter will be a bit more uplifting. When I eventually get around to writing it.

Hmmmmmm. I really hope I caught all the major typos in this thing…