I can't promise on a regular update schedule for this, it's basically procrastination from my masters dissertation, sorry! Still, concrit still very much appreciated, hopefully I'm not making Astrid too harsh. I plan on some chapters from her point of view later which should explain her reasons a bit.
"Arg!" Hiccup growled in frustration, screwing up the paper he'd been sketching on and throwing it over his shoulder to join the growing pile in the corner of the room. Toothless regarded him with boredom from his sleeping place, before settling down to a more comfortable position and closing his eyes again.
It had been two months since Hiccup had been persuaded to become the strategist for the Viking raiding parties. His first task had been dissuading his father and the other warriors from charging in with brute force. Instead he had convinced them to send out spies to take in the lie of the land, study the defences of the clansmens' great castles, and to gain an understanding of their weaknesses.
However, subterfuge did not come naturally to Vikings, and the information they'd managed to obtain was vague and generally unhelpful. He looked around at the scattered papers, covered with sketches of castle walls and confusing weapons, but he was missing important measurements and information that would help him come up with a clear plan.
Just then he heard a shout from outside, and heavy wingbeats. Toothless sat up and looked intently out the window, then scrambled out on to the roof for a better look. Hiccup nearly fell over stumbling through his papers to the stairs. He burst out of his house and looked anxiously at the sky as the latest spying party returned. He desperately counted the dragons as they came into land, and felt his breathing hitch as he realised one was missing.
"Hey Hiccup!" shouted Snotlout as he dropped off the dragon he was riding. (It wasn't Hookfang, monstrous nightmares were not exactly subtle.)
"Guess what we've found! Seriously this is the most important information we've discovered so far, maybe now we can actually start fighting for a change."
"Where's Astrid?" Hiccup interrupted him.
"Huh?" Snotlout blinked at Hiccup. "Weren't you listening? The clans are... hey wait!"
Hiccup had spotted Stormfly coming in to land behind the others, and ran towards the colourful dragon. Astrid slipped gracefully off her dragon's back, grinning excitedly.
"So what do you think huh? At first we thought it was because they were on to us, but then I overheard some of the serving women and... what?"
"I'm really glad your safe." The relief was evident in Hiccup's voice. Astrid's face darkened.
"You're not even listening are you. You do this every time. Of course I'm safe, why wouldn't I be? And why aren't you worried about the others? You are so pathetic sometimes!"
Astrid stormed off towards her house. Stormfly paused to eye Hiccup, then followed her partner.
"Smooth," snorted Snotlout. "How is anything supposed to happen to her when all we're doing is skulking around anyway? But wait until you hear this!"
Hiccup turned towards Snotlout, trying to hide his humiliation. "Okay, what did you find?"
"The clans are all gathering at Dunbroch. They're going to take all their best warriors to compete for some kind of prize, and their lands are going to be left practically undefended. This is the perfect chance!"
Hiccup tried to forget Astrid's annoyance as he processed this new information. He smiled at Snotlout.
"That's great, that's really useful, thanks. And I'm glad nobody was hurt."
Snotlout snorted. "As if. They're all so caught up in preparation for the journey that they barely even noticed us. I could have landed Hookfang in the middle of the square and they wouldn't even see him." He rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, but then a thought struck him and he grabbed Hiccup excitedly. "Actually that sounds like an awesome strategy. Can I land Hookfang in the middle of the square outside Dingwall castle?"
"No!" Hiccup shrugged him off and started heading back to his house. "Let me think a bit more, I'll have something figured out by morning."
"You suck! Try not to get too distracted by your stupid non-girlfriend!" Snotlout shouted after him.
Hiccup winced as he entered the house. But he tried to take Snotlout's 'advice' as he sat down at his desk. He grabbed a new sheet of paper and began scribbling, doing his best to clear Astrid from his mind.
"Hiccup, I'm not sure this will work." Stoick peered at the scribbled runes and arrows his son had placed before him.
Hiccup swallowed. "No Dad, look. The castle will be practically undefended and with the dragons..."
"No no not that bit, it's this part I don't understand." Stoick pointed to the bottom of the page. "If every warrior in the Westland is going to be in one place, how on earth are we going to spy on them? The only way to get to Dunbroch in time is by dragon, far to easy to spot. There's no way we could pull this off."
"Most dragons yes." Hiccup agreed. "But there is one dragon who could do it."
"You don't mean? Hiccup..." Stoick was already shaking his head.
"Yes dad, a Night Fury. Before Toothless no one had ever even seen one, he's perfect for stealth travel. We can't miss this chance to see the clansmen in action, they're going to be competing with every weapon they possess, every skill they know, all laid out right there. We could get to know all their weaknesses, analyse all their techniques, it's perfect. And only me and Toothless could do it. You have to let us try." Hiccup stared up fiercely at his father, although at sixteen the height difference between them was far less than it had been three years ago.
Stoick was inscrutable for a second, then he gently placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Okay Hiccup. I trust you. We'll put this plan in action. But if you're not going to be there for the main attack, you'd better make sure the warriors know what they're doing down to the smallest detail We don't have much time either, so go." He gave Hiccup a gentle push towards the door. Hiccup paused, and turned towards his father smiling.
"Thanks Dad. I won't let you down."
He ran out the door to where his friends were waiting anxiously for the chief's verdict.
"He said yes!" he called to the others.
"Awesome!" Snotlout threw his fist in the air.
"We finally get to do some actual Viking stuff!" grinned Tuffnut.
"Thanks a lot for your help this morning Fishlegs" Hiccup smiled at his friend.
"Oh you'd done most of the work, you just had some discrepancies that needed ironing out..." began Fishlegs but was interrupted by Snotlout again.
"So is it still in? Do I still get to?"
Hiccup sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes Snotlout, you do actually get to land Hookfang in the middle of Dingwall castle square."
"This is the best day of my LIFE!" crowed the larger boy. "No wait, THAT will be the best day of my life."
"We're gonna show the clansmen who really deserves that land!" grinned Ruffnut.
"Haha, uh yeah we sure are" Hiccup tried to join in with the others. He noticed Astrid, who had been silent so far, watching him suspiciously.
"Okay, gather the other warriors at the dragon academy guys, we need to make sure everyone knows every detail of this plan."
The others ran off, but Astrid stayed.
"And the other part of the plan? Did your father agree to that part too?" she asked him.
"Yeah he did. Looks like me and Toothless will be missing out on all the action," he tried to force a disappointed tone into his voice.
"For something much more dangerous," stated Astrid. Then she smiled.
"I'm glad you decided to be our strategist Hiccup. Without you we'd probably have already failed by now."
She grabbed him in a tight hug, then ran off after the others.
Hiccup watched her go sadly. "Yeah, and you'd all have gotten yourselves killed." he said quietly after her retreating form. Then he turned back towards his house to gather what he'd need to start the training.
