I'm back! (Said in sing-song voice)

So this chapter is very special: It's in Dark/Hiccup's POV. I've gotten a lot of reviews, asking if Dark was Hiccup, so I wanted to clear the air.

Dark is Hiccup, and this chapter should make everything a bit more easy to understand.

Here it is! Hope you like it!

If you do, I might do maybe one or two more chapters with Hiccup's POV in them, not just the whole chapter in his POV like this one.

Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD. I only own the plot.

Chapter 6-The Second Dragon Rider

Hiccup opened his eyes to the familiar gray of his home. He yawned, and stretched leisurely, sweeping the blankets off his leg and stump. He swung them both over the side of his cot, and attached his prosthetic leg.

He stood up, and looked behind him, opening his mouth the wake his mom, but stopping when he saw a blond head on top of the pillow instead of an auburn one.

He closed his mouth and smiled as the memories flooded back to him: He had been flying when he and Toothless spotted a village being attacked. They started to drive away the dragons, when they were shot down.

Turns out, the village was Berk, his birthplace, and of all the people who shot him down, it had to be Astrid Hofferson: The girl he had the biggest crush on when he lived there. He showed his face, but they didn't recognize him due to the five years of being gone, and him coloring his hair black with ash.

Hiccup agreed to answer all their questions, if Berk would let him and Toothless go free afterwards, and his dad agreed.

He convinced them that his name was Dark Ness, and he never even knew his dad, and his mom had died, which couldn't be further from the truth. He convinced his own father, of all people, that he never been to Berk before he was shot down, and do you know what?

His father decided to keep him at Berk, saying that he was sure more questions would arise. On top of that, he assigned Hiccup a chaperone! Hiccup was infuriated to say the least when it was announced.

He was surely less than pleased when Snotlout's hand instantly went up, but what changed everything was when Astrid's hand went up, and she became his new chaperone.

He stopped the teens from killing a dragon, and even tempted Ruff and Tuff to keep the Zippleback as their own dragon, but they declined, calling him a traitor.

Then, he convinced Stoick to let him come ack to his nest to tell the king where he would be, but he was just going to let his mom know where he was.

She was gone on a month-long trip, but when she got back, she would expect to see Hiccup. He was going to leave her a note telling her about his little adventure.

Stoick let him, but on the one fact that Hiccup had to take Astrid, but Hiccup was already planning on it. The one thing that made his plan even better, was when Astrid willingly agreed.

The flight to the nest was even better than living in the same house as his old crush. Astrid clung to his waist for dear life, and it made his heart soar like a free dragon. Maybe his feelings for her weren't completely gone.

When they got there, Astrid had reacted better than he ever expected. She was in awe, not fear or anger. The day had gone by pretty fast, with Hiccup showing Astrid how the dragons were fed, and a full tour of the nest.

Hiccup smiled wider as he caught up with his present self. He looked at Astrid's pale braid that was hanging off the bed, and her pretty face, which was resting gently on a pillow.

He turned his attention to his big black dragon, who was sleeping like a cat on his nest. Hiccup walked over to his dragon, and stroked the flat head. Black eyelids lifted to reveal sleepy big green eyes.

"Hey bud." Hiccup whispered. Toothless grumbled in reply, and turned over, wrapping his wings tighter around his body. Hiccup laughed, and walked back to the cots.

He slipped on a black leather tunic, and strapped his armor on. He only slept in his leather pants, due to how warm it was in the cavern.

He looked at Astrid, to see her still asleep, and then slid a box out from under his cot. He lifted off the lid, and peered inside. The box contained a small mirror, a paintbrush, and a jar of black ash.

He took out all three items, and put the mirror up to his hair. He inspected ever inch of his hair, and seeing that only a small part needed covered up.

He uncapped the jar, and coated the tip of the brush in the silky ash. He dabbed the brush across his hair, disguising his true auburn hair color.

Once he was done, he put everything away and slid the box back under his cot. He stood up, and looked to Astrid again. She was still asleep. Hiccup chuckled. That girl could sleep through anything.

"ASTRID!" He yelled, startling the used-to-be-sleeping viking. She snapped awake, and in a millisecond, had brandished her axe and was on her feet, ready to fight. Hiccup broke down laughing at her alertness, as her eyes slowly unclouded.

When she realized what had happened, she threw her axe down and stormed over to Hiccup. She punched his arm, then did it again. Hiccup quickly quieted down, rubbing the sore spot on his now bruised arm.

"What was that for?" Hiccup asked. She looked at him incredulously.

"Seriously?!" She asked, her voice raising slightly.

"Nope!" He said cheerily. She glared bloody murder at him, while he walked over to the fish, laughing to himself.

"Wake up Toothless!" He yelled to his dragon. Said reptile grumbled, and finally sat up. He looked at Hiccup, and grumbled incredulously.

"The drama queen awakens!" Hiccup said, bowing mockingly to Toothless. Toothless glared at Hiccup, and tried swat his head with his tail. Hiccup ducked, the tail passing by him harmlessly, but Toothless wasn't done.

He swept his tail underneath Hiccup's feet instead of his head. Hiccup fell on his back with a oomph.

"Like I said." He mumbled, standing up. Astrid was laughing, and Hiccup glared at her. He opened the lid to the fish, and pulled out about ten, piling them on the plate next to the basket.

He turned to Toothless, and set the plate of food before him. Once he was done, he grabbed a loaf of bread out of a sack, and started to cut it with a knife.

"How many slices?" He asked, digging the knife into the soft bread.

"Just one." Astrid replied, walking up to Hiccup. He handed her a thick slice, and cut off one for himself.

"So Dark," Astrid said, using his fake name. "What are we doing today?"

"Well, first, you need a warmer outfit-" He started.

"Check."

"And then we need to get you a dragon." She paled at the last statement.

"G-g-ge-get me a d-d-dra-dragon?" She stuttered, her ice blue eyes as wide as platters. Hiccup smirked at her scared face.

"Yeah. You can't keep riding around with me and Toothless." He pointed out.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Because soon, you're gonna be exploring the nest on your own, while me and Toothless are doing something else."

"I have to stay with you, because I'm your chaperone." She countered, putting her hands on her hips. Hiccup raised his hands in a surrender motion.

"I know, but do you really think that I would run away? This is my home." Astrid seemed to ponder this, and eventually nodded her head in agreement.

"Okay," She admitted. "Seems legit. When will we get me a dragon?"

"As soon as we get ready, and I'm ready so..." Hiccup said, smirking at Astrid. She glared at him in response.

"Yeah, yeah. I get the picture. Could you step out so I can get ready?" Hiccup nodded, and nudged Toothless.

"Come on bud." The Night Fury sat up and stretched his winds, finally following Hiccup out of the cavern. He hopped onto Toothless, slipping his foot and prosthetic into the stirrups.

"Let's go." Toothless shot off deeper into the nest, flying in the circular motion that all the other dragons were. Hiccup put his arms out in a horizontal position, the wind catching his body.

He sighed in bliss, the feeling of flying as if he were a dragon never got old. He pulled back the harness bars, and leaned forward.

"Want to try it again bud?" Toothless snorted unhappily.

"Toothless! It'll be okay." Hiccup reached his hand out to unhook himself from the harness, when he spotted a person standing on the ledge leading to his cavern.

The person had blond hair, and a red shirt. He smiled, and flew Toothless back down. When he saw Astrid, his jaw dropped to the floor.

She was wearing a crimson shirt, and a plain black skirt with another skirt over the first, only this one had spikes surrounding it. On her legs were black leggings, and fur boots rested on her feet.

On her shoulders were skull emblazoned shoulder pads, and large arm bands with fur covered her forearms. Attached to her shoulder pads was a large fur hood, which rested neatly on her neck and upper back.

He traveled his eyes to her head, where he saw her blond hair done in a elegant braid that trailed down her left shoulder. She had a leather band wrapped horizontally around her head, with her bangs falling down the left side of her forehead.

Her ice blue eyes gleamed with excitement, and her thin, pink lips were turned up in a smile. Hiccup smiled himself when he saw Astrid.

She was gorgeous, and Hiccup felt like the small, weak viking who could never do anything right when she looked that great.

Hiccup shook off the feeling though, because he knew that he was probably stronger than Astrid, he was no longer weak, and he was no longer a viking. He was a dragon rider who never gave up, never turned away, and never backed down from a challenge.

And that's what getting Astrid her own dragon was.

A challenge.

"Ready?" He asked, recovering from seeing Astrid in her new outfit.

"Yep." Astrid replied confidently, but he could see a gleam of fear in her eyes.

"It'll be fine." He said, and Astrid smiled gratefully at him.

"So, what kind of dragon were you thinking?" He asked, sitting down against a rock. Astrid slid down next to him.

"I don't know half of the species in here!" She complained.

"Then pick one from the species you do know." Astrid looked around at all the dragons. An orange Snafflefang waddled over to a drinking hole, as a bright red Zippleback did a flip in the air.

Her eyes focused on a group of Deadly Nadders playing a game of catch-the-rock. The gray rock flew towards a bright blue and yellow dragon, who caught the rock easily with her strong legs. Astrid smiled, and pointed to her.

"That one."

"The blue and yellow Deadly Nadder?" Hiccup asked to clarify.

"Yep." She confirmed, her smile finally reaching her eyes.

"Nice choice. She'll be a good friend." Hiccup stood up, and gave a Deadly Nadder call. The blue and yellow one looked at Hiccup, and mindlessly came to him with ease. Hiccup stopped the call as soon as she landed.

"Go up to her." Hiccup whispered to Astrid. She slowly walked up to the dragon. The Nadder saw her, and stared at her as Astrid approached.

"Reach out your hand." Hiccup told Astrid. She obliged, and reached out her hand to the dragon. The Nadder looked at her hand, which stopped only two inches before the Nadder's muzzle.

"Hi," Astrid whispered. "I'm Astrid. You sure are a pretty girl," The Nadder cocked her head as Astrid continued to talk. "We can be friends. All you have to do is trust me. Can you do that?"

As Astrid finished, the Nadder looked at her hand, and pressed her muzzle to her hand. Astrid gasped, and a smile spread across her face. The Nadder pulled back, and looked at Astrid with her bright, intelligent eyes.

"She's your dragon now." Hiccup said, walking up to the Nadder.

"Can I ride her though?" Astrid asked Hiccup. Hiccup translated to the Nadder, and the Nadder replied with a series of squawks, hisses, and trills. Hiccup smiled at Astrid.

"She says that she will let you ride her, and if she doesn't like you, than she won't be your dragon anymore." Astrid nodded and looked back at her dragon.

"Here," Hiccup said, walking over to Astrid. "I'll give you a boost." Hiccup helped Astrid up onto the Nadder, and the Nadder squawked.

"Okay, now just let the Nadder take off on her own." Hiccup said, standing back from the pair. Astrid braced herself, as the Nadder took off into the air. Hiccup could hear Astrid's whoops as she spiraled upward.

"Come on bud!" Hiccup said, as he slid onto Toothless's back and they shot off after Astrid. The four flew for what seemed like hours, but finally landed. The two people got off their respective dragons.

Hiccup asked the Nadder if she liked Astrid, and the Nadder responded with clicks and roars.

"So," Astrid asked, a nervous wake in her voice. "Does she like me?" Hiccup looked at her and smiled.

"Just one question: What's her name?" Astrid smiled.

"She likes me?" Hiccup nodded, and waited for Astrid to answer his question.

"She doesn't have a name?" Astrid asked Hiccup, her eyes clouded in confusion.

"No. Dragon babies aren't named most of the time." He replied. Astrid looked at her dragon, and smiled as the Nadder squawked and started to preen her wings.

"Stormfly," She said, stroking her dragon's nose. "Her name is Stormfly." Hiccup smiled at Astrid and Stormfly.

Nope.

His feeling definitely weren't gone. In fact, they were growing stronger. As Astrid smiled and petted her dragon, Hiccup's heart was flying like a dragon.

Astrid caught his eye, and he turned away blushing. He ran his hand over Toothless's head, and his dragon purred in response. He looked back at her.

Her beautiful eyes gleamed with happiness, and her elegant face held a soft smile, and slight dimples.

"If only she felt the same way." He muttered, looking at a ginger Monstrous Nightmare who was climbing up one of the nest walls.

"If only..."

Ohh! What will happen next? :) You'll have to wait to find out!

How did you like the chapter in Hiccup's POV? Review and tell me.

The next chapter will be out ASAP!

BookLover86, Out! ;)