I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. Direct quotes from the movie will be bolded.

Flight Trouble

"You know, I think Gobber is trying to get us killed," Hiccup muttered as he and Sunset carefully manoeuvred through the smoke, attempting to catch sight of the Hideous Zippleback they were supposed to be fighting.

"Well, at least he paired us up together," Sunset said positively. "You could be stuck with Snotlout, and I could be stuck with Ruffnut."

"That's a very good point," Hiccup agreed.

"To render the Zippleback powerless, you need to get the head that lights the gas to make fire. Have fun figuring out which one is which," Gobber called down to them.

Sunset clutched her bucket of water. "I can't see anything. How are we-?"

Suddenly she and Hiccup were drenched by a wave of water. "Not again," Sunset groaned. "My boots are going to get ruined!"

"What was that about?" Hiccup snapped. Ruffnut emerged from the smoke, having the grace to look somewhat apologetic.

"Thought you were a dragon."

"And I was dumb enough to listen to her," Astrid said flatly.

"No, that was awesome!" Snotlout snickered as he, Tuffnut and Fishlegs joined them. "Do it again!"

"Ssh!" Astrid suddenly hissed, listening intently.

Sunset saw the tail as it swung towards them. She tackled Hiccup out of the way just as the others got knocked over, their buckets flying in all directions. "Okay, I am very much hurt!" Tuffnut hollered.

"Sunset, behind you!" Hiccup cried.

The girl whirled around to see a Zippleback head nearing her. She thrust the water at its head. The Zippleback sprayed her with gas in retaliation. "Whoops."

"Sunset!" Gobber hollered in worry. "Hiccup, get the other head!"

Hiccup attempted to do so, but the water completely missed its mark. Sunset shook her head. "Come on, I saved your life once already. Try putting more effort in saving mine."

Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Get out of there, you two!" Gobber shouted as the other head began to spark up.

Hiccup and Sunset stepped towards the Zippleback, their arms outstretched. The dragon hissed in terror, scrambling back towards their cage. "It's alright," Sunset cooed. "Just get back to your cage and everything will be fine."

"Don't make us have to tell you again!" Hiccup ordered.

When the Zippleback was safely in its cage, the two teens removed the eels from inside their vests and tossed it into the cage. Hiccup closed the door firmly and the two friends high-fived before turning around to face the disbelieving observers.

"We're done, right?" Sunset asked.

"Cause we kinda have some things to do," Hiccup added.

Gobber nodded slowly and the two teens raced from the arena. Astrid frowned after them.

Something wasn't right.

...

Hiccup and Sunset spent the rest of the afternoon creating a new tailfin for Toothless. Hiccup added a few new features that Sunset suggested, and soon they were lugging a new tailfin (complete with harness and foot-pedals) to the cove.

"I call trying this one out," Sunset said as they greeted Toothless. She petted his muzzle and then took the dragon riding gear from her best friend. She went to put it on Toothless, but he snorted and ran away. "Toothless!"

Hiccup laughed as he watched Sunset chase Toothless around the cove. The girl managed to corner the Night Fury against a rock and jumped on his back, fastening the gear to his body. "Thanks for helping, Hiccup."

The boy smirked. "Hey, you were the one who called trying it out. I have nothing to do with this."

"You can be insufferable at times." Sunset shook her head and adjusted her position. "Alright, Toothless. Let's give this a shot."

She gave Toothless a nudge and the two flew into the air. Sunset grinned widely as the wind rushed through her long red hair. "This is awesome!" she cheered as they flew out of the cove.

Hiccup watched them fly with a wide smile-for a moment, he thought he had created the perfect tailfin.

But then Toothless twisted in the air, causing Sunset to fall to the ground below. And since Toothless could only fly if there was a rider controlling the tailfin, he too went down. Hiccup quickly ran out of the cove and through the forest, where he found Sunset dangling from a tree branch. Toothless was below, cooing softly in concern.

"Okay, I think we may need to put some glue on a saddle or something to keep us from falling off," Sunset said dazedly.

Hiccup stood below her and held out his arms. Sunset let go of the branch and landed right in them. "That's a good idea. Maybe I can hook a metal clasp to-"

"I'm more of a visual learner," Sunset interrupted with a sheepish smile. "Every time you speak 'blacksmith' talk, everything goes in one ear and out the other."

Toothless nudged her shoulder. Sunset patted his head. "Don't worry, Toothless. Hiccup will get it right eventually."

"Hopefully," Hiccup added. He glanced at the sky thoughtfully. "I could probably make the adjustments before the sunlight disappears. That way we can give it another shot today."

"Then we better get to work!" Sunset cheered.

Hiccup arched an eyebrow. "We?"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Fine. You get to work while I watch from the sidelines."

"That's much more accurate, thank you." Hiccup grinned.

The duo returned Toothless to the cove before running back to the village. When they reached the forge Hiccup immediately got to work, making adjustments to the previous tailfin. Sunset took her usual place by the door and watched her best friend work.

"You don't have to stay, you know," Hiccup said after a moment of silence. "It's probably not too exciting watching me work."

"I think what you do is interesting," Sunset replied. "And I don't feel like going home anyway."

The sudden misery in her tone alerted Hiccup. "Is...everything okay with your dad?" he asked carefully.

A grim smile crossed her face. "He didn't even tell me he was leaving, Hiccup. The only reason I know he's gone on another dragon nest hunt is because I was with you when your father left. When I got home a while later he wasn't there. And he didn't even bother to let me know where he would be."

"I'm sure he figured you would-" Hiccup began.

Sunset smiled softly at him. "You make up as many excuses as you want for my father, but you and I both know that my father has all but disowned me. He could care less how late I stay out and he doesn't bother to know if I'm taking care of myself. When our house got burnt down by that Nightmare, he went to stay with a friend. He doesn't care, Hiccup. He just doesn't care."

"It's kind of odd that we both have father issues, isn't it?" Hiccup asked.

"At least you know deep down, your father loves you." Sunset swallowed hard. "The only reason my father keeps me around is because, as he says, 'I don't want to put the burden of caring for you on anyone else.'" She stared wearily at the stone floor. "He still blames me for my mother's disappearance."

"You were five when it happened!" Hiccup exclaimed.

"That doesn't matter to him," Sunset sighed. "Even if I killed the dragon in the final tournament, it wouldn't change our relationship. He hates me."

Hiccup hated seeing his friend so upset. Whatever problems he had with his father, he knew it was nothing compared to those of Sunset's. "You've done nothing wrong, Sun."

"...I know." Sunset offered a soft smile. "Thanks for letting me rant."

"Sometimes you just need to let it out. I'm sure I've ranted a couple of times."

Sunset snorted. "More than a couple, actually," she joked, attempting to brighten up. She could do nothing to change her father's severe dislike of her, so it wouldn't do any good to dwell on it.

"Hiccup? Is that you in there?"

Sunset whipped her head around and peered through the crack in the door. "Gobber!" she hissed.

Hiccup shoved his diagrams into one large pile. Sunset grabbed them and stuffed the papers behind the wooden cart full of axes. Hiccup agonized over where to put the prosthetic tailfin.

"Hiccup!" Gobber called again, nudging the door open.

Sunset yanked Hiccup's invention out of his hands and threw it out the window. "Because no one is going to see it lying on the ground!" Hiccup hissed.

"I panicked!" Sunset cried.

The conversation was immediately stopped when Gobber entered his forge. He eyed the two kids suspiciously. "Alright, out with it. What are you two up too?"

Sunset rocked back on the heels of her furry brown boots. "Uh...Hiccup was just teaching me...how to...do stuff?" she finished lamely.

"Uh-huh." Gobber crossed his arms. "And what 'stuff' is this?"

"I was just showing Sun how to sharpen knives," Hiccup lied.

Gobber arched an eyebrow. "Sunset Hockerson. The girl who names all the farm animals, doesn't harm even a spider and only eats meat when we force it down her throat wants to know how to sharpen a weapon?"

"I don't want to know how to sharpen a knife for weapon uses," Sunset said quickly. "I just want to know so that the next time I have a dull knife when cutting bread, I can...sharpen it...for better bread cutting."

As far as excuses went, this was by far the poorest one the duo had ever come up with.

"Okay, I'm going to pretend I believe that for now," Gobber said after a moment of embarrassed silence. "But if you two blow this place up again, I'll have you running laps in the arena until your feet fall off."

"We'll be good!" Sunset promised.

"Yeah, have some faith," Hiccup added.

Gobber shook his head and left the two alone. Sunset immediately raced over to the window and climbed out to retrieve Hiccup's dragon riding gear. "Learning to sharpen a knife for bread cutting," she muttered to herself as she collected the items. "How lame am I?"

"Do you want me to answer that?" Hiccup called from behind her.

Sunset scowled. "Oh, shut up, Dragon Boy."

...

Hiccup finished his adjustments a few hours before sunset. The two friends raced down the now well-tread path to the cove for one more flight of the day.

Toothless ran over to meet them, tail wagging. There was no resistance this time as Hiccup strapped on the latest tailfin. Sunset scratched Toothless' muzzle. "Are you ready for another fail attempt?"

"Why are you automatically labelling this as a fail?" Hiccup demanded as he fastened the saddle around Toothless.

Sunset smiled. "I'm just preparing myself for the likely crash. But if we succeed, then I will be pleasantly surprised."

"The confidence you have in me is astounding," Hiccup drawled. The two decided that they would fly on Toothless together this time, with Hiccup navigating the tailfin.

"One...two...and up!" Hiccup cried as he nudged Toothless. The Night Fury took off in the air, flying over the stone walls of the cove and over the forest.

Sunset wrapped her arms around Hiccup's waist. "It's beautiful up here."

"It is," Hiccup agreed.

The creeks of the forest looked like sapphire snakes. The emerald trees covered most of the rough forest ground. The sun warmed their faces as they flew through the air. It was a sight Hiccup had never seen before.

And he was happy that he got to share the experience with his best friend.

They soared over a cliff, diving towards a grassy field. Hiccup adjusted the tailfin, but it jammed and Toothless tumbled to the ground, throwing Sunset and Hiccup off in the process.

"Okay, that was less fun," Sunset moaned, rubbing her head.

"There's got to be a way to stop it from jamming," Hiccup said in frustration. He looked over to see if Toothless was alright and gasped. "Sun! Look!"

Sunset rolled over and watched in amusement as Toothless rolled in the tall grass in obvious bliss. "Gee, what is this stuff? Dragon nip or something?"

"Dragon nip..." Hiccup mused and picked up a handful of the grass. "Sunset, I think I know how we're going to handle that Gronkle tomorrow."

...

"You're late," Gobber said as Hiccup and Sunset raced into the arena the following morning. "Were you up all night learning how to sharpen knives?"

Sunset shot Gobber a dry look. "I'm dying of hilarity."

"Hey, the only one who is allowed to do sarcasm in this place is me. Grab your shields and join the others. It's Gronkle time!"

The two obeyed, grabbing their shields and cautiously moving into the arena. The Gronkle was flying about madly, slamming its tail at anyone who came too close.

"Yikes." Sunset winced as the Gronkle's tail slammed into Snotlout, sending him crashing into one of the miniature wooden walls. "Looks like the Gronkle's been busy while we were sleeping in."

Sure enough, the only other teen standing was Astrid. She attempted to confuse the dragon by banging on her shield but the Gronkle had already spotted the two newcomers and made a beeline for them.

"Here we go," Hiccup muttered. The two dropped their shields and held out their hands just before the Gronkle could bite their heads off. The dragon smelled the dragon nip clutched in their hands and dropped to the ground, panting heavily. Hiccup smiled slightly and rubbed its nose.

Astrid scowled and glanced up at the stands. Gothi, the village shaman, was watching Hiccup and Sunset with an impressed expression on her face.

"Good job, Hiccup and Sunset!" Gobber came down from his observation spot and clapped them both on the back. "And your father thought you'd be killed the second I let the first dragon out of its cage."

Hiccup managed a smile. "Yeah, well, we're just lucky."

"Very lucky," Sunset emphasized.

"Alright, you lot. That's all the training for today." Gobber shooed them out of the arena and smiled slightly when the other teens gathered around Hiccup and Sunset, bombarding them with questions.

Hiccup and Sunset found that they didn't need to make excuses, as the teens were asking the questions too quickly for them to answer. They started to cross the bridge and Hiccup knew that he and Sunset would have to make an excuse to separate from the crowd in order to be alone.

"Hey, you know, I think I left my axe back in the arena. I'm gonna go grab it." Hiccup raced off. Sunset blinked in confusion and started to go after him. A hand clamped down on her shoulder and she turned to see Astrid glaring at her.

"And why are you going?" she asked suspiciously.

Sunset smiled nervously. "Wherever Hiccup goes, I go and wherever I go, Hiccup goes. It's a tough habit to break." She escaped Astrid's grip and took off after her best friend.

"They're amazing," Fishlegs said in awe.

Astrid snorted. "No they're not. Like Sunset said, they're just lucky."

She was certain that their luck would run out soon enough.