A/N – SORRY about not updating sooner. I've been putting the majority of my time into my novel. That's not to say that I don't love this story, too, I do, but I've got priorities.

Good news – I've finished my final proof. I'm self-pubbing through create space, and I uploaded the manuscript about an hour ago. They are doing some review thing that will take about 24 hours, and then I think it'll be good to go. I don't know. I've not done this before.

Thank you to everyone that waited patiently for this update. I know it's been a while. Since I'm done with the editing, I'll have more time now. I will try my best to push out these updates sooner.

X

Chapter 13: Hideaway

Hiccup froze; he'd seen his mother's gaze worried, angry, disappointed, and sad, but he had never seen such a livid rage before. Astrid took a step back, and Hiccup sidestepped in front of her, putting himself in his mother's view instead.

"Mom, it's fine," he said, but she spoke over him.

"You brought one of them into our house!" She flailed her arms at Astrid, eyes wide and manic. "Do you even realize what you've done? You've exposed us both! They'll be here in hoards by sunup."

"No, they won't," Hiccup said, louder than his mother.

"Oh?" Valka snapped. "And just how do you know she won't run home and tell them all?"

"Because," Hiccup said, and steeled himself for the rest, knowing his mother's fury. "If she was going to, she'd have done it before now."

Valka's brow came together, and a silent confusion spread over her lips. She looked over his shoulder at Astrid, and understanding came over her features, widening her anger into shocked surprise. She began to pace, hands rubbing her head. A Terrible Terror scurried back and forth with her.

"I should have known," Valka said, eyes closed. "I thought it was strange that you just happened to find a girl in the woods and watch her fall. You couldn't have just left her alone, could you?"

Hiccup looked back at Astrid, who looked uncomfortable. She had backed against the wall, and flattened herself against it.

"How long have you been seeing her?"

Hiccup shrugged. "A while."

Valka glared, eyes open and wide. "How long is a while?"

"Years."

Valka said nothing, but her rage boiled behind her eyes, into steam. "Gods, son. Go into the hearth and wait for me. I want to hear what happened. Everything."

Valka vanished down the hall, and turned into her bedroom. The curtain swished behind her, and the little Terror ran inside after her.

"I'm sorry," Astrid said, barely audible.

Hiccup spun. "No, no, it's not you. She's like that most of the time."

Astrid didn't look convinced. Hiccup held out his hand, and she took it. He led her the short ways into the hearth room, and she sat while he put another log onto the fire. Valka returned shortly, with makings for tea. She took one of the pans, left, and returned with clear water. While the water heated, Hiccup and Astrid took turns retelling the story of the past few years, each of their meetings summed up. Valka kept her comments to herself, with effort. She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth several times to keep her half-gasps and angry snorts to herself. Finally, at the end of the story, she let out a long sigh.

"This is a mistake," Valka said at last. Her eyes were on Hiccup's hand, holding Astrid's. She rubbed her temple. "What am I supposed to do with you? I can barely keep the two of us alive and fed, let alone another."

"We'll be fine, Mom," Hiccup assured her.

"You don't know that," Valka said. She turned her gaze back on Astrid. "If you stay here, they'll assume you dead. They'll claim another victim to the dragons or witches, or whatever states their bloodlust. If you return now, I might as well slit your throat for you."

Astrid tensed beside him, squeezing his hand.

"It won't come to that," Hiccup said, shaking his head.

"I hope to Odin that it doesn't."

The water boiled, and Valka poured three mugs of tea. Astrid hesitantly took hers, and only sipped it after Hiccup sipped his. Valka took her mug and left, long dark braid swinging behind her. She paused in the doorway.

"Just, stay here today. Don't go near the village, either of you." She put a hand to her head. "I need to lay down."

Her footsteps padded down the stone floor, accompanied by the scurrying of four little ones.

"I don't think she likes me," Astrid said quietly.

Hiccup smiled at her, to get her to smile, but she didn't. "That went a lot better than I thought it would, actually."

He squeezed her hand, but her frown persisted. He leaned in, and kissed her cheek. A small smile, more timid than happy, broke apart her lips.

"She'll warm up to you, just like I did. She just needs time. She's not good with changes."

"I hope your right," Astrid said, and smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

X

Astrid fought to finished her bland, bitter tea. He had poured it down his throat like water. When he offered to go back outside, she didn't object. She didn't want to be in here anymore. Not with his mother around, frowning and scowling in her direction. She followed him back through the narrow tunnel and outside, where the sun had come up and lit the sky bright blue. She didn't see clouds, but she felt the humidity in the air. A storm was on its way.

Toothless played not far from the cavern entrance, with a blue Deadly Nadder. They raced each other in short circles, chirping to one another. It took Astrid a moment to realize that the Nadder was the same from before, from the clearing, from the arena. As it dawned on her, he looked back with a bright smile on his face.

"I've got an idea," he said.

"Okay," she said tentatively. He took a step backward, toward the dragons.

"There is a place up on the mountain, higher than you can climb, where I go when my mom is driving me crazy." He looked back at the dragons. Toothless saw him, warbled, and continued playing with the Nadder. He turned back to Astrid with a grin that melted her. "I'll take you there, but only if you'll fly."

"I've already flown."

"With me." He grinned wider. "You have to fly on your own."

Whatever grin she'd had fell into a frown. "What?"

"See? This Nadder is friendly." He whistled, and Toothless hopped over to his rider, nuzzling his nose into his hand, curving his black body around him. The Nadder took a cautious step forward, yellow eyes on Astrid, but when she saw him, she pranced right over. "She remembers you, Astrid. Come here."

Astrid took careful steps toward the Nadder. She fluffed her wings, and tilted her head to see her better. Astrid watched the dragon's nostrils flare and retract quickly, sniffing. The Nadder twitched her head toward Astrid.

"Go on," he said. "Show her that you're a friend."

Astrid reached out, palm exposed to the dragon, and she met her halfway, pressing her warm, dry snort into Astrid's hand. The dragon nuzzled Astrid, sniffing her hair and pushing her braid about. She circled her several times, pressing her nose into her stomach, her back, chirping and warbling. Astrid laughed as the short hairs that fell from her braid danced in the dragon's exhale, tickling her neck.

"What's her name?" Astrid asked, giving the Nadder a pat on the nose.

"She doesn't have one," he shrugged. "Nothing I've come up with seems to fit. She likes me, but not that much. I think she likes you, though."

With Hiccup's encouragement and instruction, Astrid climbed onto the Nadder's bare back. It was awkward, nothing like the leather saddle on Toothless, and he promised to make her one, but it might take time to gather materials.

"Okay, I'm ready." Astrid said. She held onto the Nadder's crown of horns. He climbed up behind her, and loosely draped his arms around her waist.

"Give her a gentle nudge," he said, and demonstrated with his own leg, tapping the dragon's side. "Each dragon has their own way of talking, but she'll get used to you and your signals."

Astrid nudged the dragon's side, and lightly tugged back on the horns. The Nadder leaped into the air, threw her wings out, and flew over the trees. Astrid held on tight, and blinked away the biting wind. The forest shrunk, and far away she saw the village. He reached around her, hands on hers, and urged the dragon to climb higher. As they rose, Astrid could see farther than she ever had. She saw the distant storm clouds, above the odd coloring on the horizon that could only be the ocean. They circled the mountain, and put it between them and the village.

"See? That wasn't so bad." He removed his hands from hers, and draped them again around her. Toothless flew beside them, looking odd without someone on his back.

He guided her higher, almost to the peak of the mountain. The air cooled; ice grew thick on the summit. She saw the cave he'd mentioned, and they flew toward it. Toothless landed first, and vanished into the cavern. Astrid landed after, and he slid off and landed swiftly. Toothless blew a bright blue blast into a dark fire pit, and the cavern came to life.

"Wow," Astrid said as she slipped off the dragon's back and onto the floor. "You've really spent some time here."

"Yeah, well, there's not much to do out here."

A stack of firewood rested in one corner, and a well-used fire-pit glowed in the center. He had a makeshift bed with furs and wool blankets, a small forge, workstation piled with pencils, drawings, and do-dads. A basket beside the desk was full of metal scraps. Leather piled on one shelf, wool on another.

"Where did you get all this?" Astrid fingered the stack of leather. Some were new, some were quite old and brittle. The metal looked as mismatched as the leather.

"I-I, uh, may have taken it from the village. I know, it's kind of stealing, but I'm trying to survive out here without losing my mind." He half-laughed. He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. "I don't take things that I think will be missed. I try not to. A strip of leather here, a loaf of bread there, some hay over here. A blanket. A pair of socks. Wool. A spoon. Mom does it to, she just doesn't like to admit it."

Astrid gazed at all the drawings. They were of dragons, of weapons, of people and plants. She spotted one drawing, half-hidden by another, and she pulled it out.

"Oh, wait, that's-"

"Me?"

He stopped mid-step, mouth open and eyes wide. He retracted his outstretched hand, curled his fingers into his fist, and nodded. "Yeah."

Astrid stared down at the picture. It was her, in the woods, with her axe stuck in a tree. He'd put some detail into her face, into her hair, into her clothing.

"I didn't think you'd be here, or I would have hidden it better."

"Why?" She looked at him. Red tinted his cheeks. Astrid set the picture down on top of the others. No one had drawn her before. "It's nice. What do you with all this metal?"

"Nothing, really, I just mess around for something to do."

Astrid was looking at the jumbled parts when she heard him yawn. She turned around just in time to see his mouth close. He looked at her, sleepy and droopy.

"What?" He said with a half-grin. "It's been a long night."

She walked toward him, hands in front of her, face blushing. Her eyes landed on his bed, room enough for one, comfortably. "It has been. I could use a nap."

He blushed, too. "The bed's not very big."

"That's okay." She smiled, and looked down at her hands. She'd never flirted, but she'd seen others do it plenty to understand it. She looked up at him, bit her lip, and said, "It's cold up here. I'll need someone to keep me warm."

He blushed, and held out his hand. She took it without hesitation. He led her toward the simple bed. Boots off, they cuddled into the furs. Astrid settled into him, and he molded against her. Toothless and the unnamed Nadder settled, too.

"It's amazing that the dragons are so well behaved," Astrid said. Her breath bounced off of his cheek, and came back to her lips. "When they attack the village they're so…angry."

He sighed. "I know. It's not their fault, it's the alpha."

"There's an alpha?"

"Yeah, he's somewhere close by. He's the one telling the dragons to attack. They always listen to the alpha dragon."

"Can't we go talk to him about his attitude?"

"It's not that simple." He hugged her closer. His fingertips touched her neck. "Mom is worried that if we did something to the alpha, the dragons might go into a frenzy, worse than before."

"There's got to be something we can do."

"I wish there was. I've been trying to figure something out for a while now."

"You'll think of something. You're the dragon master, after all."

Astrid fingered the collar of his shirt. It looked like one he'd worn for a long time. The edges were worn and frayed. Above it, his throat pulsed with his heartbeat. The bob in his throat moved when he swallowed. His hand moved beneath the blanket to her waist, and his lips met her forehead. Astrid held her breath, and savored the feeling. How could this one man make her feel so…amazing?

"Thank you, Astrid."

"For what?"

"Being you. You're amazing, you know?"

She curled into him, pressing her nose into his neck, into his rapid pulse, and hugged her body around his. She'd never felt an attraction like this before. She'd had simple childhood crushes, on warriors with envious skill and merit, but those were nothing like this one. She admired the others; she wanted to curl up with her dragon master and make love with him. She'd never felt the urge before, to be with someone so entirely. She understood the pull, now. The need.

She ran a fingertip along his jaw, and kissed his stubble-strewn cheek. His arms came around her, and he met her lips with his own. Under the blanket they were safe, unseen. No one could point fingers, accuse, deny, or cajole. Here, in this cave high in the sky where only dragons tread, they were safe.