GENDERBEND! HTTYD!

The Viking and the Dragon Maiden.

Chapter Eight; Time to Understand.

Ash's POV.

The guys were just staring at me, shock clear on their faces. I saw it coming. I was the one that could possibly get picked to become Chief and I say this. We have to help Hicca.

"WHAT?!"

"Are you serious?!"

"Awesome!"

"Does this mean we ride Dragons?!"

Snotlout's seemed a bit cross, Fishlegs look excited, and the Twins looked really mischievous. I didn't know if the last one was a good one, but at least Fishlegs was willing.

"You are not serious! Let this Dragon Chick how to teach us how to befriend and live with Dragons?! Were you hit on the head when we crashed here!?"

"Snotlout, everything we know about Dragons goes beyond sick and wrong! Which is why we need to help her."

"But they have killed hundreds of us!"

"And we've killed thousands of them! All because of one heartless Legendary Dragon that only cares about her next meal! If it weren't for her, Dragons wouldn't even be our enemies!" I yelled, making him back up slightly. Everyone seemed surprised by my outburst.

I would be as well, since I have been the embodiment of working hard to fight and kill Dragons.

I took a deep slow breath, before continuing.

"Look, I was as conflicted about Dragons as you guys are now, but the whole thing behind the war is because we didn't even bother to try and understand them, and because of these monster Dragon, Infernia. And because of that, our ancestors had to face years of loss, death and distraction, all because we were too afraid understand these powerful, yet wonderful creatures." they all stared at me, seeming to be thinking it over.

"I mean, ever since we got here, we have been seeing incredible things lately. We always thought that Dragons were just dumb animals that only thing they know is hunting and killing, yet somehow, Thunderdrums and Skrills had enough intelligence and skill to create a massive thunder storm that was enough to wreak one of Berk's finest ships. We met a Scauldron that knew a thing about medicine. What kind of crazy miracle is that?!" we all laughed a bit.

"We witnessed Speed Stingers, that were supposed to be the most independent of Dragons, carry off a wounded Thunderdrum with a Snow Wraith. Now that is something! And Snotlout, last night Hookfang, that Monstrous Nightmare, who was the most prideful and stubborn of all Dragons, lit himself alight, just to keep you warm. And the entire Flightmare population plagued their loyalty to me and the Hofferson name, because one Flightmare wanted to make up for killing my uncle. Heck, I met a talking Terrible Terror, for Odin's sake!" I was starting to smile as I saw it in their eyes.

They were coming around.

"We can do this. All we need to do, is understand." I told them slowly.

A moment of silence ensued, before Snotlout sighed.

"Gives us until tomorrow morning." he mumbled, sounding defeated, and it made me smile.

I won.

"Okay."

The Next Morning.

Morning eventually did come around, and now everyone was in my cave with their respective Dragons. Fishlegs was smiling, the Twins looked mischievous, and Snotlout looks a bit pissed off. Fishlegs made the first move.

"I'm in. I've always had mixed feelings about the Dragon mind, and now is my chance to fully understand them!" he seemed to squeal in excitement as Meatlug nudged him, he smiled. "Besides, I think she likes me." he hugged her, and she responded positively.

The Twins came next.

"With these guys, we are going to get along just fine." they banged heads, as did the Zippleback. I know I should be grateful, but somehow that bothers me.

Snotlout finally spoke.

"I hate you." he told me bluntly, pointing at me to get it across, but it told me all I needed to know.

He was in.

Then he pointed to the Nightmare behind him. "And this does not mean we are gonna be buddy-buddy. Got it?" he asked me seriously as Hookfang rolled his eyes, and spoke, "Oh yeah, this is a picnic for me." he told him, making him freeze, before remembering that most of the Dragons here knew Norse. That is actually a good thing. I doubt that he and the Twins would take the time to learn Dragonese.

I turned around to Stormfly, and held my hand out to her, palm facing outward, waiting for her response. After a few seconds, she pushed her muzzle into my hand, purring. I smiled.

It was time to change our lives.

Two Hours Later.

After a bit of bonding, we decided to go fishing. We just made makeshift rods out of sticks and vines, and place a single berry on it. After a while, we finally stared catching something.

"Finally!" Snotlout pulled on his line and got... a Conch Shell.

I struggled to breath at his disappointed face, before I caught something on my line and pulled, and caught a nice, big Trout. Smiling, I fling it over to Stormfly, who caught it in her beak and chewed. Then I noticed that Fishlegs wasn't fishing like the rest of us.

"Gonna join us anytime now?" he shook his head.

"Gronckles only occasionally eat fish, but their true diet is rocks. Of all kinds." as if to prove this, he threw a bit of sandstone into the air, and she let it fall into her mouth. I smiled.

Before I heard the Twins yelling, and looked to see them literally doing anything to get whatever they caught out of the water. After a bit of a struggle, they finally got it out, and was revealed to be an yellow Eel with black stripes.

"Cool!" Tuff snatched it off the hook, before Ruff grabbed it, and they started a little tug of war. Ruff finally won, when she bonked him on the head. She held it up to Barf and Belch. "Well, eat up."

But they and the other Dragons did something quite unexpected.

They started screeching in fear and backed away, wings raised like shields. Hookfang and Stormfly shielded their faces away from it, faces etched it fear. Meatlug hid behind Fishlegs, terror planted on her face. Barf and Belch reared on their hinge legs and flapped their wings furiously.

"Get it away! GET IT AWAY!" they both cried in unison, the same kind of panic the Twins had right now. Then I realized it was the Eel. Running over, I snatched it from Ruff's grasp and threw it away. The Dragons let out a sigh of relief the moment the Eel was flung into the air.

"How did it get in? HOW IN DRACO'S NAME DID IT GET IN?!" the Zippleback heads cried together, looking distraught, the others, just the same.

"I don't know, but someone should let the Typhoomerangs take care of it, before a whole swarm of these things get in!" Stormfly told them, and Hookfang nodded, flying off to find these 'Typhoomerangs'. I looked over to the Zippleback, who was still freaking out.

"Ruff, Tuff, comfort them."

"How?"

"Talk to them! Ask them what the problem is!" they nodded, and walked over to the panicking Zippleback slowly, not wanting to scare them any more then they already were.

"Calm down, Zippy, easy." Ruff uttered what I suppose were 'comforting' words, and sigh. It could work. "Yeah," Tuff spoke up, "What's the trouble? It was just an Eel." he told them, and the two heads finally looked at them.

"To you it was just an Eel, but to Dragons, they are dangerous to us." Barf talked as Belch caught his breath. "They cause terrible things for us." "Yeah," Belch finally spoke, "Toothless ate one once. It wasn't pretty." "Uncontrollable firepower, infinite number of red shots, affected vision and hearing, skittish behavior,seeing things that weren't there or just wasn't what they truly were. Meatlug still had some burns on her claws from holding Toothless down!" they all looked at the Gronckle, who looked a bit uncomfortable as she held out her paw, to show a nasty looking burn. Fishlegs gasped as the sight, before holding the claw in his hand and just held it, comfortingly.

I noticed that the Twins looked like they were think, before Ruffnut brightened, and reached into her vest, and pulled out a Salmon. Tuffnut smiled as well and pulled out another Salmon. Barf and Belch's eyes widened at the sight of food. The Twins held out the fish carefully, and the Zippleback heads each gently took the fish from them, gulping it down in one go, before purring and nuzzling them, making them laugh and hug them.

I smiled.

We were making progress.

I felt another pair of eyes on us, and looked to see Hicca and Toothless watching from a cliff, smiling at us. I smiled and waved. She slowly waved back, before jumping on Toothless's back and flew off to Thor knows where.

I sighed.

Why did that girl have to be so darn cute?

Some More Time Later.

We were all now gathered around in a large clearing in the forest near the Nest, the Twins now seated on the each neck of the Zippleback, now having gained their full trust. And since Fishlegs and Meatlug's friendship was going pretty well, they decided to try some flying.

"Alright girl. Let's do this!" he grinned. Meatlug nodded and beat her wings quickly, sending them hovering in the air. But Meatlug wasn't used to having extra weight on her just yet, and was flying a little off course.

Before finally falling into a field of Garlic Grass. We managed to find Fishlegs, who was rubbing his head from the dizzy fall, but no Gronckle.

"Fishlegs, you okay?" I asked him, and after shaking his head from dizziness, he nodded, before looking panicked.

"Where's Meatlug?"

"And the other Dragons?" Ruff asked, before some purring and cooing got our attention.

We shoved through the tall Garlic Grass, and met quite a funny sight.

"Really?" Snotlout asked as we watch our Dragons rub themselves against the ground. Meatlug was rubbing her entire body against the grass, her leg kicking out like a puppy when you were rubbing that spot in their bellies. Barf and Belch were rolling around in it in a ball, purring playfully as they did. Hookfang was slowly dragging his head across the floor, enjoying the grass's sent. Stormfly was curled up in the grass, purring positively.

"What's with you guys?" I asked, walking over to Stormfly. She drowsily opened her eyes and smiled.

"This is Dragon Nip, Ash. We use it to make our nests. It's smell is so soothing and relaxing that we go to sleep in minutes." I couldn't help but smile like she did.

Note to self; Have bags of this stuff for the hatchlings.

A Few Minutes Later.

We were now walking our way towards this cove that Meatlug has been talking about, and I told her to lead the way. Like the Twins, Fishlegs was now seated on Meatlug's back, having earned her trust.

As we were walking, I noticed that Stormfly was looking a bit uncomfortable, and kept stopping to try a reach her leg or wing somewhere on her back.

"Stormfly, are you okay?" she looked at me with a sad and annoyed look.

"I have this itch on my neck, and I can't scratch it without injuring myself." she moaned, and I smiled. I got worried over an itchy spot.

"Aw, poor girl. Come here." I started scratching everywhere around her neck, and she leaned into me to get more. The others noticed us lagging behind and smirked when they saw what was going on. Stormfly's leg was kicking out as she leaned upward, exposing her chin, and I took as an opportunity and scratched there, defiantly not expecting her to just flop on the floor.

"Stormfly?" I knelt down beside her head, worried I did something wrong. Before she started to breath slowly, like she was... sleeping?

"Don't worry." I looked up at Hookfang, who had crawled over to me and carefully placed the sleeping Stormfly on his back. "There's this soft spot on our chins that can either put us to sleep or knock us out, depends on how hard the pressure is." I actually remember some Vikings back on Berk punching Dragons around that area, and they would fall from the sky like bricks. Apparently when just scratched, it just makes the fall asleep.

With a soft smile, I continued walking.

A Few More Minutes Later.

We finally came to this cove, and it defiantly was a great place to relax. There were berry bushes near by, a shimmering lake with a small waterfall, and plenty of places to just sit back and relax.

I heard Snotlout chuckle, "Okay, I'm never going back to Berk."

"Berk? Where's that? Cause I forgot." Tuffnut smiled as he and his sister balanced on some rocks in the water. I couldn't help but smile at their words.

They were right. This beautiful paradise that Stoick and all the Chiefs before were trying to destroy for years, beats rusty old Berk, any old day.

I sighed.

I wished I could stay here forever. Be with all these incredible Dragons that were teaching us something new every minute.

And if I did leave, I would really miss a certain someone with auburn hair, green eyes, and a fiery attitude that could rival Stoick's.

Huh, now that I think about it, they actually share the same eye color. Both of them share bright, forest green eyes. And there was the fact that Hicca's name still sounded familiar.

I was pulled out of my musings when I heard Snotlout snicker and looked to see him positioning a small medallion into the light, which bounce onto the ground and was watching the twins with an amused expression as their eyes stupidly watched the light.

"So stupid..." he whispered, trying his best not to out right laugh.

"Snotlout." I glared. Sure it was funny before, but now it was just mean.

He looked at me with a confused and annoyed expression, "What?" Before Hookfang rushed behind him, pushing him slightly as he raced across the field and jumped on something.

"It's gone!" he cried out in surprise, as the other Dragons looked at him.

"What's gone?"

"The moving light on the ground! It was here just a second ago!" Tuffnut barked out a laugh.

"Good luck trying to catch it!" he told the Nightmare as Snotlout got this mischievous look on his face, and placed the medallion into the light again, and made it appear on the wall.

"There it is!"

"I got it!"

"We saw it first!"

"It's mine!"

We all laugh as our Dragon all leaped on the light and got into a Dragon pile, as Snotlout kept making it move around, before Hookfang finally noticed what was going on and looked gobsmacked.

"Enjoying yourself there, Hooky?" Snotlout called out as he put away the medallion, as Hookfang still looked like a fish out of water, before a strange gleam entered his eyes and he got into a running start position.

"No. Don't. Come on, man. I was just messing around!" he squealed when the Dragon leaped after him as the rest of us laughed at this playful banter.

Hookfang finally pinned him down, and seemed to glare at him for a bit, scaring him, before he purred and started rubbing his head against his stomach, apparently hitting a tickle spot, as he started laughing uncontrollable.

It was kinda ironic. When we were younger, Snotlout would always tell me that he wanted a brother or cousin, just to do things with together. Looks like he got his wish.

Hookfang finally ceased playfully torturing him, and just sit back as Snotlout caught his breath.

"Truce?" Hookfang offered, and Snotlout smiled before nodding.

"Truce." they smiled at each other, and we all decided to just sit back and relax.

I watched as the sun started to set and the moon start to rise as the stars slowly made themselves known. I smiled.

I wonder if Hicca or my mother could see the stars from wherever they are?

Hicca's POV.

We were having another meeting. A meeting with the Dragon Heart leaders regarding Red Death.

"We have to something! We have no idea what she might do next!" Cloudjumper cried.

"We know that brother," Skullcrusher told him, staying cool under pressure. "I can sense that Infernia is planning something that doesn't mean well for all of us." he told me, using his disaster sensing abilities.

"If we don't do something soon, she'll soon be strong enough to leave her 'Nest' and attack anything and anyone in sight, until there is nothing left in the world to eat!" Etch stressed.

"I know." I muttered as I stared at a Dragon's eye view sketch of Infernia's Nest. "We have to find out what she's planning. But if we go in there again, she'll be able to smell us out, even if we're a Dragon short." I grew sad at the thought of Thornado getting hurt, or Toothless. I wouldn't live with myself if he got killed.

A Dragonic cough stopped my thinking and looked to see Windshear, a Razorwhip that was apart of the Sharp Dragon Heart. She was sweet and caring, but strong, confident and intelligent, and ready to fight when she had to. She had trained hard to become part of the Sharp Division, and was now on her way to becoming Sharp Division Captain.

"Can I make a suggestion?" she asked, looking uncomfortable. I smiled. She was always like that with big crowds. I ushered her in, and she sat next to me.

"Well?" I waited for her to tell this suggestion. When it came to battles and wars, she was the one to go to with battle plans.

"Well, we send in just a small team, not a whole group and spy on the inhabitants of her Nest. That way, we'll be too far away for her to smell us out, and if she does, we would already be long gone, or in hiding, not causing our ranks to falter."

I thought about. Once again, Windshear saves the day with her smarts.

"That might work. How small of a group are we talking here?" "Two or three Dragons at least. And I think it would be best with Dragons species that she doesn't recognizes, as then, it's not obvious that some Northern Dragon are there, like a Nadder, or a Nightmare, but smaller."

"Agreed. Would you lead this spying mission?" I asked the big question. She seemed surprised by it. "Listen Windshear, none of us can go. She knows our sent to well, but she doesn't know Changewings or Night Terrors, or Razorwhips." her eyes were wide as I said this. "Will you lead this group?" I asked again.

She seemed hesitant, but took a deep breath and nodded, her resolve clear.

"Of course." I smiled and patted her head. She purred.

"You set out tomorrow. Meeting adjured." we all went our separate ways.

Toothless and I were making our way to our cave, when I heard excited talking and laughter. I looked below and saw the guys walking across the Dragon Nip fields with their Dragons, each had an arms full of Dragon Nip. I smiled brightly.

Maybe Sharpshot was right. Maybe some people can change.

They made their way up to their caves, but Ash stopped when he saw me, and smiled. I smiled as well, suddenly feeling very shy. What is wrong with me? We stayed like that for a bit, before Freefall came out and tugged on his leggings, making him chuckle.

"Alright, I'm coming!" he called out to her as she ran back inside. He turned to me with a smile and nodded, "Goodnight, Hicca." I smiled, still feeling really shy, "Goodnight, Ash." he walked inside, and once I was sure he was gone, I lost all feeling in my legs and would have falling on my rear if Toothless hadn't had helped me stay up right with his head.

With a goofy smile on my face, I knew.

I was falling for Ash Hofferson.

Ash's POV.

I plopped and spread all the Dragon Nip around the slab that Stormfly and her kids slept in, and they all hopped on and nestled in. I laid down in my hammock with a sigh. I kept thinking about Hicca. The way she walks, the way she talks, the way that cute little blush that appeared on her face.

There was no more denying it anymore.

I was in love with Hicca Littlefire.