Here we go, another chapter! I like these ones, too, even if there aren't really any dark ones here. But #35 makes me insanely happy. I don't know why - the idea just really appeals to me, you know? Anyway, enjoy!

~.~

34. Strange

Despite the fact that it wasn't even dawn yet, Hiccup had been up for a considerable amount of time. Already he had been through Berk and back twice, and Stoic and Toothless had only just arrived at the point where they were awake enough to think properly. Now, as Stoic sat at the table eating breakfast and Toothless lay on the floor, begging, the boy returned, breaking the calm inside of the hut as he burst in the door. Stoic and Toothless watched silently as Hiccup scrambled across the room and got down on his knees to riffle around beneath the bed. Fifteen seconds later he was dragging a large bag across the room and disappearing out the door.

There was a moment of silence before Stoic began to eat again, unconcerned by his son's odd behavior. He was, after all, used to not understanding Hiccup's motives. Toothless was a bit too hungry to be involved in his best friend's shenanigans so early in the morning.

Less than a minute later, Hiccup showed up again, slamming the door open in a hurry and running through the room. In the middle of the hut, he paused for a second, looking thoughtful, before whirling around and sprinting back out the door. Again, a moment later, he reappeared, dashed to the large wooden chest in the corner where he grabbed some suspicious-looking object wrapped in cloth, and vanished out the door again, slamming it behind him.

After a moment of staring at the door, Stoic resumed eating. Ten seconds later, instead of bursting in the door, Hiccup ran by the window with Snotlout, dragging what looked like a small tree behind them. Again, Toothless and Stoic stared. And again, neither were surprised when Hiccup breezed into the hut once more, grabbed a wooden bucket from beside the bed, and dashed right back out. A second later, the door reopened and Hiccup stuck his head in.

"Morning, Dad!"

The door slammed shut again.

Toothless snorted. Typical. Stoick exchanged a glance with the dragon. "Strange, strange child. . ."

35. Imaginative

Toothless has noticed, over time, that Tuffnut has always been a bit more imaginative than his twin sister, if only just a little. While Ruffnut is, was, and always would be firmly rooted in reality, Tuffnut was more of a dreamer, a bit more creative, even if he didn't show it often. However, if there was one thing that even Tuffnut, with all his creativity, didn't see coming, it was the undeniable attraction between his sister and his best friend.

It was true. Ruffnut and Snotlout fell for each other. Hard. And Tuffnut never saw it coming. Not many people had, though. Even Toothless had been caught by surprise when the word had leaked, but looking back on it now, the dragon figured that he should have seen the signs a long time ago.

Tuffnut took it hard, to say the least. For a while, anyway. Eventually he came to accept the fact that there was nothing he could do about it, and he gave up trying to resist. His mood was helped slightly by the fact that Snotlout and Ruffnut, like most Vikings, did a lot of arguing that often ended in violence. Unfortunately for Tuffnut, over time those arguments began to end more and more frequently with Snotlout and Ruffnut simply giving up trying to make a point to each other and starting to make out.

Tuffnut didn't take that well, either. And it only got worse for the poor boy as, eventually, his twin sister and his best friend came to the conclusion that arguing did nothing for either of them, and therefore skipped the yelling all together and went straight to making out.

And while Toothless found their relationship amusing and rather sweet, Tuffnut would often stagger away, horrified, exclaiming that, for the love of Thor, even his active imagination could not come up with anything worse that this.

36. Waiting

Being a dragon, Toothless has a naturally restless soul. That is, he isn't always happy living in one spot. Toothless wants to travel, to explore, to expand his freedom far beyond the confines of Berk.

Some days he likes to find a cliff, high above the rolling sea waves, and stare out over the water, wondering what lies beyond that horizon. He knows that there is more out there. The world is a big place, he believes. He can't prove it, of course—but there has to be more to the world than Vikings and dragons, doesn't there?

Toothless hopes so. And he intends to find out, too. Someday, he wants to see what else there is out there. He won't go soon, and he hopes that he won't have to go alone, but he's going to go.

Because there's a world out there, and he feels that it's watching him. Calling him forward. Expecting him. Waiting.

37. Opposites

They were very, very different, and everyone—including them—knew it. Toothless found it reason-defying how two people so different could click together the way Astrid and Hiccup did; but they clicked, and that was that.

Even if they hadn't figured it out yet.

They usually tried to hide if from the world, especially themselves and each other, but occasionally you could get a confession out of one of them. With Astrid, if you got her riled up and ranting long enough, she would usually let some compliment for the boy slip without even realizing that she had done so. It was similar with Hiccup—he would be talking to you calmly enough but then get distracted by something he was doing, and before long he was rambling on about whatever came to mind. That was the easiest way to get a confession out of either of them: just get them talking.

Although, as far as Toothless could tell, talking was Hiccup's talent more than Astrid's. Astrid was more of a shouter and a complainer. While Hiccup made speeches, Astrid made protests. Hiccup was prone to the occasional monologue. Astrid was far more of a punch-somebody-while-they're-in-the-middle-of-one type.

And so on. Astrid was tough as nails. Hiccup was sensitive. Astrid gave no quarter and enjoyed being in charge. Hiccup could handle leadership if it was thrust upon him, but preferred to stay out of the way. Astrid acted like a Viking. Hiccup. . . didn't.

On top of it, they argued. Toothless had never met anyone in his life who quarreled as much as Hiccup and Astrid. And now that they were older and had been elected onto Berk's city council, or "circle" as it was called, it was even worse. Community meetings turned into shouting matches between the two of them, with everyone else sitting uncomfortably around and trying not to bring down the duo's wrath upon his or her head.

What could be said for both of them, however, was that they knew how to get something done. They were the kind of people who could start yelling orders, and others would jump to obey. And, Toothless supposed, they were capable of putting aside their differences whenever disaster struck and they needed to get along. It was one of the advantages of them being Astrid and Hiccup.

What Toothless was really dreading though, was the wedding. It was going to come some time, and when it did, it was going to be messy. And then there would be the house to argue about, and the income, and the relatives dropping by for a visit, and everything else the popped up along the way. . .

Oh boy. It was going to be a long sixty years.