XXX

Hiccup

The fact that Alvin had showed up was enough to cause a fuss in the village but now that he was staying on the island people became very paranoid. However I thought it was nice to know at least come people survived the Romans because usually they didn't let anyone live who resisted. Astrid was always close by and it was comforting that she stayed in despite of what happened as many in the village avoided me out of pure fear.

Well in Snotlout's case it was out of pure hatred but I could have cared less what they all thought, I was here to stay. You could feel the tenseness in the air as many simply waited for the attack they knew was coming but I couldn't simply just let them sit and wait. What was coming was something that none of them could possibly handle alone. I planned to meet the gang in the arena because I had a surprise in store for them.

Upon arriving no one was there so I simply sat down and leaned against Toothless and looked out over the ocean as I waited. Magna was just off the coast asleep but it was good having him around. His size alone is enough to match the queen which no other dragon could hope to compete with. Toothless I knew was going to get bigger as like the bewilder beasts live for thousands of years and constantly grow until they die. I was simply lucky to find him when he was my age before he got huge.

I knew Toothless had high hopes with Reylia being here that he could help his kind and one day find his family. But if we spent the better part of five years looking for them and found nothing I didn't believe we ever would and Toothless would have to deal with that. His kind was so mysterious that even Magna who has lived for nearly two thousand years knows nothing about them or where they came from. That just peaks my curiosity even further to know more and thanks to my mother I know I can figure it out.

I still think about what happened to her as we met just a year ago before she vanished again without a trace. It had been the best months of my life before she up and left with Cloudjumper and never came back. I didn't want to think she was dead, not again and especially after what I saw of her. She knew how to take care of herself and actually reminded me of Astrid in a way. She pushed me to come back to Berk to finish what I started and bring an end to the killing, hatred, and save this place.

I had brushed to Roman territory enough to bring their attention down upon my home and now I had to fix it and drove them away. I've never seen more than the Roman frontier but from how they talk and what they have their empire must be huge. I had actually run into Johann at a small village on my way home and he told me that the Romans owned most of the world and it seemed as if nothing could stop them. Of coarse it didn't help when they had a raving lunatic as an emperor.

I looked back to the gates and saw the gang walking in with Ruff and Tuff shoving each other and Snotlout looking as cocky as ever. I had hoped he learned his lesson when I knocked him on his ass a few days ago but if he hasn't then I'll just do it again. Astrid came in a few minutes later trailed by Reylia and then that reminded me that I had a surprise for her that I hope she will like.

"Alright welcome everyone to dragon training." I said standing up.

"Uh, Hiccup we've already been through dragon training." Ruff said.

"No you've been through how to kill dragons training not the kind I have in mind."

I walked over the manual all release switch I had installed into all the dragon cages. That got everyone with worried looks except for Astrid as she already had her dragon and wouldn't have to worry about anything. In fact the person I was most worried about was Snotlout as he would try and do something stupid and freak the dragons out. That would simply ruin everything.

"First step is to pick a dragon. I have a few here that you may like but remember no weapons. You'll just freak them out and end up on fire, I've talked to them to make sure they wouldn't come out and try to kill you all but seriously don't try anything."

I moved the lever down and the doors opened and the dragons came out slowly. A Gronckle, a Zippleback, and a Monstrous Nightmare are the ones I picked out to match each one of their personalities.

"First you want to gain their trust and from there you need to from a bond to where you both understand each other." I said handing them a fish.

"I don't need this." Snotlout said.

He tossed his fish down and the Nightmare which is named Hookfang took serious offense to that.

"He's not getting away that easily." Hookfang said.

Moving fast he snatched Snotlout by the pants and lifted him off the ground and held him there while Snotlout freaked out.

"If there's one thing you don't do is exactly what you did, Snotlout." I smirked.

"Hiccup! Tell this beast to put me down!" he yelled.

"Not if you keep insulting him like that. Hookfang is a very sensitive dragon and does not take insults very well."

"Fine I'm sorry." he whispered.

"About time." Hookfang said.

He dropped him and Snotlout landed with a thud and he had a frown on his face.

"I won't forget this dragon." Snotlout seethed.

"Good I hope you do remember it." Hookfang said.

I laughed and walked away to see the twins already trying to get the Zippleback to blow stuff up so I had no worries there. However Fishlegs wouldn't go any closer to the Gronckle than he already was.

"Something wrong Fishlegs?" I asked.

"How do you do it? You make it look so easy."

"You have nothing to worry about all you need to do is trust the dragon but more importantly you need to trust yourself."

He nodded and I smiled so I left him to figure it out himself and I walked over to Astrid while she was feeding Reylia. She smiled when she noticed me and I smiled back at her and patted Reylia's head.

"What's up Hiccup?" Astrid asked.

"I have a surprise for you bring Reylia." I said.

She looked a little confused but I simply began to walk over to Toothless and picked up the cloth I had brought with me. I turned around and she was searching my face for answers but all I did was smile. I unwrapped the cloth and produced a saddle fit to Reylia and hopefully Astrid as well. She looked at it as I handed it to her and said nothing but had nothing but astonishment on her face.

"I thought that you could use one and I fitted it to Reylia but I hope it fits you as well. I didn't want to ask you as I wanted to keep it as a surprise."

She looked back up at me and quickly pulled me in for a kiss and I had absolutely no time to react and was completely caught off guard. Before I could react again she pulled away and enveloped me into a hug and this time I reacted by hugging her back. Once we untangled she took the saddle and I helped her attach it to Reylia and I could see in Astrid's face that she was excited to go flying.

Once the saddle was attached she hopped on and I smiled at her and got on Toothless and got ready to fly.

"Ok everyone just continue to get to know your dragon and you don't have to fly today. Me and Astrid will be back in a little while."

With that we took off into the sky and Astrid simply yelled as they climbed into the sky and I couldn't help but smile remembering the first flight I had with Toothless and how amazing it felt. She seemed so at peace when up in the skies just as how I used it to get over the many pains I had suffered but sometimes I would wonder if she would like to know them all, and it seemed it would help take a weight off my shoulders.

Before long I realized that I knew where we were going and it was not the place we needed to be nor would we most likely survive. I urged Toothless to catch up with Astrid and he put in a burst of speed and we shot off after her. I had completely lost my sense of where we were and I sure hope nothing terrible came out of it.

"Astrid!" I yelled.

"What?"

"We need to turn back were heading into Roman waters, who knows what's in them!"

"Alright we can go back but you owe me."

We turned but on the horizon I could see it, the Roman fleet. It had at least doubled since the last time I saw it and it was currently sailing towards the Berserkers. Most likely they were taking out all resistance all around Berk to leave us completely surrounded.

"Astrid its their fleet we need to get a closer look." I said.

"Hiccup we could get caught and what if you or I were shot down. Its a risk we can't take."

"I've managed to avoid them for the better part of five years, one quick look won't hurt."

"Alright but if they spot us we high tail it back."

We both turned and flew towards the fleet to discover what exactly they had in plan. Once overhead I could see huge mounted ballista on several of the ships with scorpions and flame throwers. Piles of arrows and short swords littered the decks and some of the ships were huge which were most likely the troop transports. At the center was the huge command ship and I recognized the legion banner anywhere.

It was Caesar and he was on a war path and with what he had the whole island would have to ride dragons to stop him. I heard a few shouts and saw that they had spotted us and waved Astrid and we began to make our retreat and then came the nets flying though the air. We dodged easily but Astrid didn't see one and I couldn't let her go down.

"Astrid!"

We shot over and in blocking the net from hitting her we became tangled up in it and started to drop. Toothless still had some control and we crashed down onto the deck of the command ship and I could faintly hear Astrid yelling at us.

"Reylia take Astrid and warn the island." I said.

She turned and they flew off back to Berk and I was surrounded by a dozen armed soldiers and I knew things were going to get a lot worse. I held a hand to Toothless to tell him to back down and then a man strode onto deck some one I had hoped to never see again.

"Commander Caesar."

"Hiccup so nice of you to join us again."

XXX

Astrid

We were flying back and I was still in utter shock of what just happened or rather what Hiccup did. He sacrificed himself to another round of torture rather than see me go down. I had to get back to tell the others so we could go and save Hiccup. Who knows what they'll do this time to him, because they already know its hard to make him break.

After an hour or so I saw the edges of the island and read in landing in the main square scaring a few. I ran up to the nearest person and asked where Stoick was as he needed to know first. He was in fact in the mead hall so I ran up the hill and burst through the doors creating quite a scene. Stoick was up at the main table talking with a few others and ran over to him.

He was surprised at my sudden appearance to say the least and he waved the men away which I was grateful for.

"What can I do for you Astrid?" he asked.

"Its about Hiccup, we were flying and we saw the Roman fleet so we flew over them and they spotted us and started shooting up nets and Hiccup…"

"Hiccup what?" he asked earnestly.

"He stopped a net from taking me down and landed on the deck of the command ship."

Stoick was utterly silent for a few minutes making them painful as I was trying to gauge what he was thinking. He suddenly moved and smashed the table making the entire hall quiet. He looked at me with fury but with an insane amount of fear as well and if there is wine thing I have never seen on his face is fear.

"Where were these ships headed?" he asked loudly.

"They were headed to the Berserkers."

"Good they'll give them a good fight but eventually they won't win but they'll make them bleed. We will fortify the island and wait for them to come at us but not you. You and your friends are to find Hiccup and get him home."

"But sir how? He'll be surrounded by dozens of guards."

"Tell that huge dragon out in the water he's in danger. He looks more than cable of keeping that fleet occupied while you sneak in."

"Alright."

I ran out of the hall and went around getting all of the gang and their dragons and then ran to the coast to see Magna sleeping in the water.

"Magna!" I screamed.

His eyes opened and he looked at the coast eventually resting his gaze on me.

"Yes young Astrid."

"Its Hiccup he was captured by the Romans and they're on their way to wipe out another island."

Magna rose onto his legs but his face revealed nothing and then he roared loudly shaking the island and scaring the people and moved to the coast to look directly at me.

"Are you sure he's gone?"

"Yes, he sacrificed himself to save me."

"We must go then."

"Once we get in the sky we'll go."

I ran back to get the gang and we quickly took to the skies and Magna followed me and I could feel a few tears begin to streak down my face and everything caught up to me. I leaned over and began to sob uncontrollably and Reylia tilted her head back to look at me and she had a concerned look on her face.

"Its okay Astrid we'll find him." she said.

"How could I have been so blind, I'm such a dumbass!"

"You couldn't have known and you shouldn't blame yourself."

"No, he is just going to keep doing this shit to keep me safe and I can't deal with that. I can't let him constantly feel like he needs to defend a piece of shit like me."

"Don't you say that, he cares deeply about you. You have no idea how much he cared, even when he was gone for those years he still cared. He told me himself all about you and I could tell that if it came to it he would fight the entire Roman army to see you safe."

"Really? What did he say?"

"He said you were so strong even if you never noticed him. He cared about you and hated he was taking your glory in the ring as he knew you deserved it. He ale said that if you ever found him and asked him to come back he would without a second thought."

That made me smiled and another tear went down my face as I knew that he was still in severe danger and a new round of torture may actually break him this time. So much that he may not come back form it but that only strengthened my resolve to get him back. I flew back to the gang.

"Once we get to the fleet we need to find Hiccup as quickly as possible. Its only a matter of time before he snaps and if he does he may never come back. Without Hiccup we don't stand a chance against them."

"We know Hiccup is the most important thing. Don't worry Astrid we'll get him back." Ruff said.

I nodded and went back to the front and looked down at Magna swimming quickly underneath us and that helped ease my nerves. I looked up and the sun was beginning to go down and it looked beautiful despite the circumstances. We would have to find a place to sleep for the night and then fly out at first light. A small island appeared on the horizon and it seemed like the best spot to stop and I motioned to set down there.

We landed and what seemed like a completely uninhabited island but after a little while we had a camp and a small fire going. The twins had fallen asleep and Snotlout's head was dipping and I knew he was going to be put soon. Fishlegs was the only other one still wide awake and reading something with gusto.

"Hey Legs what are you reading?" I asked.

"Something Hiccup wrote while on his travels that he gave to me."

"What's in it?"

"A lot about dragons and everything that he knows about them. He also has a little magic in there but he also has his thoughts and events written down. There's a lot of you in here actually. I can see why he did what he did."

"He really does care doesn't he?"

"You may never have seen it but I did and so did the others. He was infatuated by you and that's part of the reason why Snotlout was so annoying to you?"

"Because he was afraid Hiccup would win me over.?"

"Yeah it was actually fun to watch Snotlout make a fool of himself and you be totally oblivious to what Hiccup was trying to do."

"I never knew."

"Yeah but I think I'm going to get some sleep."

He shut the book and put it back in his bag and layer down and shut his eyes. I sat there and thought for awhile and at some point I fell asleep. I woke up to a starry sky and the fire had gone out but that wasn't what woke me up. A rustling went off in the forest behind us and I turned to go investigate. Then a person with a four winged dragon emerged from the woods.

She wore light armor and and a staff with her but I saw green eyes and auburn hair a lot like Hiccup. She stopped and Reylia came up behind me and began to growl at her. She didn't move and seemed to be waiting for me to make the first move.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Valka, Hiccup's mother."

XXX

Unknown

He was utterly happy, not only with his forces but about his sheer luck. He had somehow managed to lure Hiccup back home and now and him captured and imprisoned in the lower levels of the ship. His dragon was out on the open deck with his mouth shut tight and he planned to talk to Hiccup. He went into the lower levels of the ship until he reached the empty cells except for one.

Hiccup sat on the floor asleep against the wall and he seemed to be at peace but inside his head held the secret to ensuring the Roman Empire lasted forever. He hit the bars and Hiccup had his eyes shoot open and look over at the opening in his cell.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

"And to think I thought we were friends." the commander shot back.

"We never were or will be."

"Shame but you hold secrets that I need and this time I don't intend to be nice in how I get them. I always stuck to physical out of the goodness of my heart but it seems you will only respond to mental torture."

He had a fearful look on his face and the commander smiled as he knew he would finally get what he wanted. All he need was time which most likely would be strained as his friends would come to try and rescue him but he had a perfect idea in how to deal with that.

"Hiccup I hope after our time together you will finally understand that I always get what I want."

So this took a little longer to write but I hope you enjoy it. I added in a little spice to the story and were gearing up for a big fight here soon. Not the last big fight but one of the major ones. For those who are upset that Astrid doesn't have Stormfly be patient as I will deal with that soon. Now its ten chapters in and only one person had reviewed so I really want to know what you guys think. In my experience criticism is the best way to improve your writing. What's crazy is that the story has almost 1,000 views which is great. Enjoy and review or not. -starwarswiz