The Vikings had returned. This meant that Merida's father was back, as well as his. Hiccup loved his dad, and he knew Merida loved hers, but there was a silent mourning for the loss of freedom the two teens had shared. They could no longer discuss Toothless by the fire, and even in hushed voices they feared being overheard. Merida would come to the shop, but Gobber was always there. Hiccup had barely been able to tell her that his latest flight was successful. He hadn't told her how proud his dad was of his new social standing. He knew that she knew he was supposed to kill a dragon because of it, but he couldn't talk to her.

Of course wen you loose your best friend and then have to kill a member of the same species as your other best friend, the only logical option is to run away. Often times those plans are made difficult when a blond Viking gets involved. How Astrid had found out about the glen, he didn't know. Not even Mer knew where he kept Toothless.

"Aggh! What the- What are you doing here?" Hiccup tried to remain calm.

"I want to know what's going on. No one just gets as good as you do. Especially you. Start talking! Are you training with someone?" She was inspecting him, trying to piece it all together.

"I know this looks really bad, but you see...this is, uh..." Just then the sound of Toothless moving hit Hiccup's ears. He had to get Astrid out. "You're right! You're right. I'm through with the lies. I've been making... outfits. So you got me. It's time everyone knew. Drag me back. Go ahead. Here we go." But of course she was a viking, so instead of being reasonable, she flipped him over her shoulder. Jeeze, she must not like outfits… She did wear the same thing every day… "AAAAUUGGGHHH! Why would you do that?!"

"That's for all the lies!" She hit him with the butt of her axe, "That's for everything else!" Hiccup let out a yelp of pain. Toothless heard the yelp, because he was a dragon and so why wouldn't he hear the yelp.

"Oh man…" Hiccup watched in disbelief as the nightfury took a defensive position and began snarling at Astrid. And then he pounced. Of course the dragon would pounce.

"Get down! Run! Run!" Astrid yelled as she grabbed her axe, ready to cut Toothless a new one.

"No!" Hiccup tossed her axe aside and began to calm his friend down. He whispered soothingly to the dragon. "She's a friend," turning to Astrid he continued, "You just scared him."

"I scared him?!" Disbelief mixed with anger as she continued, "Who is him?"

"Astrid, Toothless. Toothless, Astrid." And with a look of disgust, Astrid began to flee to the village. Turning to Toothless Hiccup muttered, "We're dead. Where do you think you're going?" He said to the dragon as it turned away in a satisfied manner. "We have to get her!" Hiccup was sure the dragon rolled its eyes at him. Nevertheless, he allowed Hiccup to climb adored.

Maybe kidnapping her wasn't a good idea, and perhaps he shouldn't have put her at the top of a tree, but he needed her to listen!

"Hiccup! Get me down from here!"

"You have to give me a chance to explain."

"I'm not listening to ANYTHING you have to say!"

"Then I won't speak. Just let me show you." Extending a hand he continued, "Please, Astrid." She really didn't have any other options unless she wanted to climb down. She finally got on behind Hiccup.

"Now get me down."

"Toothless? Down. Gently." Hovering in place for a moment Hiccup thought it opportune to say, "See? Nothing to be afraid of." And of course the dragon took that as, now lets turn this into a wild ride. Toothless! What is wrong with you?! Bad dragon! He's not usually like this. Oh no...Toothless, what are you doing?! We need her to like us! And now the spinning. Thank you for nothing you useless reptile." He was just about to give up on this silly thing when Astrid, white as a sheet and clinging on for dear life, finally spoke.

"Okay! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Just get me off of this thing." Taking it as his cue to behave, toothless leveled out into a calming ride. Gasping in awe as she opened her eyes, Astrid gripped Hiccup tighter and resting her chin on his shoulder spoke again. "Alright I admit it. This is pretty cool. It's... amazing." She paused, "So what now?" she pressed on, ignoring Hiccup's groans of pain. "Your final exam is tomorrow! You know your going to have to kill… to kill a dragon!" She finished in a hushed whisper.

"Don't remind me." She was about to press him, but suddenly toothless dipped. The dragon seemed anxious, barking at them to be quiet.

"Get down." Hiccup hissed.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know. Toothless, you have got to get us out of here bud." Looking around he saw hoards of other dragons bringing in livestock. "It looks like the are hauling in their kill!"

"What does that make us?" Astrid said, worry and panic filling her voice. Hiccup said nothing. They watched as dragons streamed into a cave.

"What my dad wouldn't give to find this." They continued watching as the dragons began dumping their kill into a huge pit. "It's satisfying to know that all our food has been dumped into a hole." He said, his voice flat with sarcasm.

"They're not eating any of it." Astrid sounded puzzled as the continued to watch. All of a sudden they watched as a gronckle dropped a small fish into the pit, and was promptly swallowed whole by another dragon.

"What is that?" Astrid yelped in hushed horror.

"Alright bud, we gotta get out of here. Now!" Toothless managed to get them out of the cave in one piece.

They finally made it back to the cove. Astrid was talking about what they had just seen, but Hiccup wasn't listening. His attention was only drawn when she said,

"Let's find your dad!"

"No! No, not yet. They'll kill Toothless!" He couldn't let that happen. "Astrid, we have to think this through carefully."

"Hiccup, we just discovered the dragons' nest...the thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here. And you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon? Are you serious?"

"Yes." Hiccup responded firmly and without hesitation.

"Okay, then what do we do?"

"Just give me until tomorrow. I'll figure something out."

"Okay." And just like that she punched him. "That's for kidnapping me." Then she bent forward. Expecting another punch, Hiccup winced. What came next was much gentler. A quick peck on the cheek, "That's for everything else." Blushing Hiccup turned away.

"What are you looking at?" He said to Toothless.