*yawns* so tired….

What is it with being a teenager that just makes you sooooo tired? I never used to be like this, and I remember swearing that I'd never turn into one of those people who don't sleep all the time but…

Yeah, so much for that. XD

Okay, enjoy!

Hiccup and Toothless dove down towards the training academy, where Hiccup could already see Stormfly and Astrid in the middle of the arena, waiting for them.

Toothless landed outside the academy, pausing so Hiccup could climb off before dashing inside. Hiccup paused, then sighed, slowly making his way down into the academy.

"Morning, Hiccup. You look chipper." Astrid said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She smiled brightly at him, and he tried to offer one of his own, but he knew it was crooked and not very convincing.

"Come on, Hiccup. Look excited!"

Hiccup smiled weakly in response.

Astrid laughed, then grabbed his sword from the barrel of weapons by her side. She tossed it to Hiccup, who caught the handle easily.

"See? You've got quick reflexes, and I know you'll be good at this. You just need to practice." Astrid said encouragingly.

Hiccup tossed the sword up and down lightly in his hand. "Yeah, it's just I don't know…"

Astrid pulled out a sword from the barrel. It was similar to Hiccup's, about the same weight and design, just not made from Gronkle iron, so was a bit rougher. "Okay, so a lot of this is in the wrist. A small flick of it-" she demonstrated, her sword twirling about in her hand until she grasped it tightly, causing it to stop, "can be a whole defense mechanism." She finished.

Hiccup blinked, not sure if he'd ever be able to do that. Astrid made it look so simple. "There's no way-"

Astrid rolled her eyes, and came over to stand beside him, "Have some confidence in yourself! That's a major part in it. If you don't believe you can do it… then you won't be able to do it." She dropped her sword to the ground, reaching over to place her hand onto Hiccup's, moving them the way she wanted them on the swords handle.

"There." She said, stepping back. "That's how you hold it with both hands, and this," she moved forward again, rearranging his hands once more. "is how you hold it with one hand."

Hiccup nodded, moving his arm about a bit to get a feel for the weapon. "Okay. Got it."

Astrid placed her hands on her hips. "Now I want you to hold it with both hands."

Hiccup gripped the sword with his other hand, holding his arms out so she could see. Astrid nodded. "Good. Now one hand." Hiccup repositioned his hands, flicking the sword a bit for emphasis. "Good. Looks like you got it. Now for just some simple moves."

Astrid picked up her sword once more, holding it loosely in her hand. "Okay, so you're going to probably fight using one hand more than two, since you usually have your shield." She gestured towards his Gronkle Iron shield strapped to his back. "So, you'll hold that in your right arm, and your sword in your left."

She paused, "It'll be a bit harder for me to teach you because I'm right handed, and you're left handed, but just do everything backwards from me, alright?"

Hiccup nodded.

"Alright. This is how you block blows that come your way. Keep the blade flat, like so." She placed her sword at a diagonal position. "So, that you're attacker can't push his sword against you, but you can push your sword against him."

She moved towards him, demonstrating by pushing her sword against his. "See? Easy." She smiled. "Now do it to me."

Hiccup backed up a pace, then Astrid jumped forward, her sword swinging towards him. He hastily blocked it just as she'd shown him to do, the two swords making a grating noise as they pressed against them.

"That was perfect!" Astrid said happily. "See! Knew you could do it."

Hiccup laughed shakily. "Thanks."

So, the lesson continued from there, and Hiccup didn't do anything to horrible. He did almost get his prosthetic leg chopped out from underneath him, but thankfully- thanks to his quick reflexes- he'd been able to jump of the sword. Astrid had told him to try using his medal leg as a weapon sometimes too, if he didn't have a weapon on hand. Kick people with it, or trip people with it. Hiccup had never thought of that before, so was glad for the tip. She also said he had an advantage with it to. If he was in a sticky situation, that called for a dangerous escape route, always but his metal leg where the danger was.

By the time, Hiccup all but crawled up the steps to his hut, he just barely made it. Why did he have to live on a hill? The hill made everything so much harder… especially for a one-legged Viking who was dead tired and just wanted to collapse in to bed.

He opened the door with a creak, happy to see that his father wasn't home. He really didn't feel like talking to anybody. He just wanted to go to sleep. Nice, comfortable, relaxing rest… it sounded heavenly.

Hiccup dragged his feet up the stairs, Toothless tagging not far behind. The dragon would give Hiccup a nudge when he thought his rider needed assistance, making Hiccup smile and pat the dragon's nose. He was glad he wasn't alone, but didn't have to talk either.

"Ick." Hiccup groaned as he collapsed across his bed. Not a muscle in his body didn't hurt. He wasn't quite sure he'd be able to even move tomorrow, much less wake up at five in the morning to go through another toiling day of combat practice with fearless Astrid Hofferson. He'd just have to suck it up and live through the pain… but it was going to be so hard to get up in the morning.

Hiccup didn't even bother to undress. All he did was take off his armor, tossing them onto the chair in the corner before crawling under his blankets, falling fast asleep.

…

Hiccup blinked his eyes open, Toothless's large green eyes welcoming him. Hiccup groaned, rolling over onto his side. "Please tell me it isn't morning already." He moaned, pulling his pillow over his head.

Toothless warbled, tugging on Hiccup's shirt sleeve with his toothless gums. Hiccup swatted him away, burrowing deeper into his blankets.

Before Hiccup could think twice, he was lying on the floor, Toothless looking down on him from his place on the bed. The dragon gave a snort of dragon laughter, before eyeing Hiccup sternly.

Hiccup glared up at him, "Toothless… come on. Your supposed to be on my side."

Toothless just chuckled again, sliding off the bed towards the chair where Hiccup's armor was resting. He picked up the chair in his mouth before dragging it over to Hiccup- who was still lying on the floor.

"No, Toothless." Hiccup said drowsily, pulling the blanket over his head. "I'm so sore…"

Toothless looked pathetic for only a moment before shoving Hiccup again. Hiccup finally gave up, sitting up stiffly. He brought a hand to his back, rubbing it tenderly.

Hiccup glared at Toothless again before beginning to strap on his armor. Once done, he grabbed the side of the bed, and stood up slowly and stiffly.

"There's no way I can fight like this." Hiccup grumbled. "I'm too stiff."

Hiccup climbed onto Toothless's back, urging the dragon to leap towards the hatch in the roof. Toothless jumped, landing on the ledge of the roof easily, before jumping into the empty air, soaring easily above the village.

Hiccup and Toothless landed inside the Academy, Hiccup being too lazy to land outside and walk down the ramp. Hiccup climbed off rigidly, trying not to let his discomfort show in front of Astrid.

She smiled broadly, "Well, glad to see your up. Thought you might not show up."

Toothless gave Hiccup a satisfied look before walking off towards he sides of the arena, where he laid down to watch the show.

Hiccup rolled his eyes, "Yeah… almost didn't. Toothless insisted though."

Astrid watched him carefully as he walked towards the barrel of weapons, pulling out his sword. Her voice startled him slightly when she said, "A little sore, huh?"

Hiccup winced as he rubbed his shoulder. "Yeah, just a little."

Astrid shook her head, "That'll happen the first few days. You'll get used to it soon enough though."

"I hope so." Hiccup replied, gripping his sword as tightly as his aching muscles would allow. Both his hands hurt terribly, but he chose to ignore, hoping to get these lessons over as soon as possible.

Next chapter, or maybe the one after that, is where it starts getting action packed. Sorry this was so short and boring…

Counting down till RTTE! Only 19 days, 7 hours to go! :D Come faster February 17th!

Sorry I didn't do like… any updating today. I was gone all morning and most the afternoon. I just got home and immediately jumped on the computer to get this out. Sorry to keep you waiting!

Next chapter everybody! See you then!