The rest of the winter felt like a dream. The dragons were gone for the season, off for warmer climates, and the town was free from raids in the meantime. It seemed like people were slowly coming around to Astrid's failure in the ring. They began smiling at her again, and she could mostly conduct business with the stall vendors as normal.

Astrid and Hiccup did spend a lot of time together, in between chores, working at the forge, and spending time with Toothless. They never quite had the freedom to return to the hayloft, but they often shared knowing looks. Brief kisses were shared in the cove or up in the sky, never in town. These moments of intimacy were theirs, and theirs alone. No viking tradition would dictate what speed this relationship would go.

As for Toothless, he seemingly didn't mind staying in the cove, especially with the addition of Stoick's hut. The weather in the cove was more mild, thanks to the tall walls. Everytime Hiccup returned to the cove, the dragon had another fort built. And by fort, I mean a mound of snow that was tunneled out so Toothless could hide in it.

Hiccup's study sessions with Toothless weren't yielding as much new information, but their connection grew stronger. Some days Hiccup tinkered with his tail, and sometimes they just flew and explored.

This evening Hiccup sat by the fire, protected from the wind by Stoick's shack. He roasted his dinner, a fish on a stick, while Toothless ate his own meal.

HORK HORK BORFF

Toothless upchucked half a fish for his boy.

"Uh, no thanks, I'm good." Hiccup laughed.

A flock of Terrible Terrors, perhaps the only on the island that hadn't migrated, came out to try to pilfer the stash of fish Hiccup had.

Toothless wasn't having it.

Hiccup watched with amusement as the tiny dragons tried to sneak a fish, only for Toothless to swipe it back with a growl. One brave dragon inhaled deeply to attempt to blow a fireball, only for Toothless to puff a small flame in its mouth, making it burp out its smoke and saunter away dazed.

"Huh, not so fireproof on the inside…"

"Ah! There you are, son!" Stoick called from the entrance to the cove.

Winter meant that most people were spending time inside. This meant less drama for Stoick, and more time for him to get his actual duties done. By sunset, he was done for the day, and took a hike out to the cove.

"Hey dad."

Stoick stepped around the flock of Terrors, not as keen on them, and gave Toothless a fond pat on the snout. "Keeping busy, lad?"

"More or less. You know, I always assumed that the dragons migrated because they got sick of snow, but Toothless plays in it. I wonder what the real reason is? I wonder where they go?"

"They move to be someone else's problem." Stoick said, rather callously. Then added, "no offense, Toothless."

The dragon rolled his eyes and smacked his gums.

"You're right though. It's a good thing we get a break now. What a disaster it would be if they raided and accidently set the store room on fire!"

"Aye. We had a hard enough year storing up rations."

"Even with the eels?" Hiccup winced.

"Don't get me wrong, the eels helped! We just had a poor harvest this year."

Hiccup frowned, then tried, "imagine how helpful dragons could be with farming? Twice the power of an ox!"

"You're getting ahead of yourself again, son. Find a way to stop the raids, then you can brainstorm all the ways to get the village to accept dragons."

Hiccup sighed. "The second one is easier though! We don't even know why they raid! Or where they go! Look, Toothless eats fish, almost exclusively. He eats a lot, but he'd certainly be able to catch it all on his own in the wild. And even when he joined the raids…" He turned to look at Toothless, and scratched under his chin. "I wish you could just talk and tell us everything, bud."

"Aye, that would be the easiest way, hmm? But if dragons could talk, we would have solved this problem generations ago."

"Yeah…"

"But, son." Stoick rested a hand on his shoulder. "You're the first to get this far. I know you'll figure it out."

Hiccup clenched his fist. "I really hope you're right."

Stoick just rubbed his head with a little smirk and settled into his chair by the fire. Hiccup watched him, noticing the look on his face. It was a different sort of smile, one he hadn't seen his father show before.

"Why are you so smug?"

Stoick grinned wider. "Well, not to toot my own horn…but I made an observation of my own."

"Wait, what? Observation? You mean you discovered something about dragons?"

"I did, as a matter of fact! The other day, you were working late in the forge. I came out here and sat for a while…and noticed this." Stoick took hold of a large stick in the fire, and pulled it out. The end was mostly embers, with a tiny flame. He stood and brought it over in front of Toothless and the Terrors. They all watched.

Stoick slowly waved the stick around, making a figure eight in the air. The Dragons all crooned softly as their pupils dilated.

"Whoa…they're totally hypnotized."

"Dragons like fire…who knew?"

They took turns waving the stick around, making the dragons sing with a pleasant tune. It was kind of adorable. Finally, when the embers burned out, the dragons gave a little shake and went back to normal.

"That has to be useful, somehow," Hiccup mused.

Stoick snorted. "Next dragon raid, we lull the beasts into a state of peace and then whip out the eels and send them scattering."

"You joke, but that was what I was working on!"

Stoick laughed, but then became somber. "Something you said bothered me, son. Why they raid. I had never thought about it before. I guess I had always assumed they were lazy and wanted an easy meal. But they come together, all at once, and all types of dragons, even those that shouldn't get along." He looked over to where the Terrible Terrors were harassing Toothless again. He took it in stride, and simply smacked them away when they got too close.

"It's almost like the dragons coordinate an attack," Hiccup mused. "I mean, it's not that surprising, Toothless is very smart."

I am, aren't I? Toothless crooned.

"Perhaps then, when the weather is better, you and I could look into it more." Stoick suggested.

"Like how?"

"Like, on Toothless. We haven't had any luck from the boats. Maybe flying is the key."

Hiccup wasn't sure he liked that idea, but relented. "It's worth a shot."

—-

When spring arrived, it was like waking from the dream. The green grass and spring flowers were still a few months off, and for now, spring meant rain, mud, and gray.

Once the snow had slightly melted, the dragon raids began again. And the first one was a nightmare. Everyone scrambled to find eels to fend them off, but there were none to be found. The eels had their own winter migration, and hadn't returned to be caught.

"How could you do this to us?!"

"You let this happen! This is all your fault!"

"I lost three of my sheep! I only have three left!"

"My house was destroyed!"

Hiccup stood in the midst of very angry Vikings, all violently yelling and shoving him around.

"I didn't—of course I wasn't—p-please just listen—I'm so sorry…"

Right before he could burst into tears, Stoick yelled over the crowd. "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The crowd settled slightly, but by their body language, they were not happy.

Stoick crooked a finger towards Hiccup, and silently beckoned him to stand next to him.

Feeling two feet tall, Hiccup slunk up the stairs and stood next to his father.

"Now, you all have had your whole lives to know how dragon raids work. We all knew the eels were a temporary fix. And they'll work again when they migrate back to our waters. This solution is brand new, there were bound to be some hiccups—Ah, no pun intended. Don't take it out on the poor boy."

"You're just saying all that because you're his father!" Someone shouted.

"And what of it?! I'm the proud father to a genius! I'd like to see any of you stubborn goats come up with a better plan!"

"Dad," Hiccup stated, stepping up. "I'll take it from here."

Surprised, Stoick gestured it on.

Hiccup took a deep breath. "I'm sorry that this happened. I only had the best intentions when I gave the advice of the eels. My goal is to save lives, and it failed this time around. I'm not done coming up with solutions. I want to ask for another chance to help. Eventually, I will find a way to stop these raids all together. Will you believe in me?"

The response was a wave of muttering. Then Spitelout shouted out, "we don't have a choice!" And then people started to filter away, frustrated that they didn't get any justice.

Stoick gave his son a gentle head rub. "It's alright son. You are tackling the problem with the most investment in it. People are bound to be upset when it goes wrong. They forget how much livestock was saved last year with the eels."

Hiccup didn't respond, just sighed in defeat.

"You had a good speech too. It was good practice."

"They don't respect me, dad. They don't trust me."

"Your fellow men have a hard time respecting boys. A lot of respect will come with age. Don't get discouraged."

It was easier said than done.

—-

Hiccup was exhausted. His deal with his dad did have two terms. One was studying the dragons and trying to find a solution to the raids. It required brainpower and careful observation. The other part of the deal though, was working in the forge, to grow strong and better handle weapons. This was the exhausting part. Hiccup could observe dragons all day, but this was hard work.

It was late, later than Gobber usually had him work. Gobber had even left for the day hours ago, leaving the work to Hiccup.

"There you are!" Astrid heaved a sigh. "I've been looking for you. I didn't think you worked this late."

"Not usually, no." Hiccup set the sword down. It needed to be sharpened, but that could wait a second while he took a break. "Spitelout had a big order come in."

"And Gobber's not helping you with it?"

"Spitelout asked me to do it, specifically. Something about wanting to keep me busy." He rolled his eyes.

Astrid hopped up on the counter by the wall, as Hiccup rested in the only chair the forge had, leaning halfway out the door into the cold spring air.

"I went out to the cove and hung out with Toothless and Stormfly for a while," Astrid said. "I assumed you would come out there when you were done, but you never showed."

"Yeah, I've been swamped…wait, Stormfly? Who's Stormfly?"

Astrid straightened her back and preened slightly. "She's my new dragon."

"What? Who? Since when?!" He laughed.

"You remember our big rebellion?"

"How could I forget?" He said, with a dreamy smile etching onto his face. After all, that's when Astrid had first kissed him.

"That Nadder we released, she must have understood me more than I thought. She was in the cove with Toothless. She must have gone looking for him when she migrated back." She smiled. "She remembered me too! Pranced right up to me!"

"Wow…" Hiccup breathed. "That's…that's incredible! She must have learned to understand us a little from her time in the arena! I know that Toothless certainly understands us! That's so cool! I–..." mid-rant, Hiccup noticed what she was trying to hide. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" She blinked several times, but her red eyes didn't clear. Her hair was still a mess, and she had dark bags under her eyes.

"You aren't wearing your sling. Did you get cleared today?"

Astrid sighed. "Yeah…that's kind of why I was looking for you originally." She unwrapped her arm guard from her right arm. A huge, ugly scar spanned the inside of her arm, and a smaller scar was on the outside. The Monstrous Nightmare's tooth had penetrated her arm all the way through.

"So, you got a scar. That's the mark of a warrior, right?" He smiled, trying to help. "Didn't you say it's only fun if you get a scar out of it?"

"The scar doesn't bother me. But…" She held out her arm and attempted to make a fist. Her index finger curled in, and her pinky curled half way. But her middle and ring finger only flexed slightly.

"Astrid…"

"I hoped that maybe by time it healed, I'd be able to move all of them. I figured my fist would be weak, but…"

Hiccup picked up a hammer and went over to her, gently laying the handle in her hand. She was able to hold it with a loose grip, the majority of the hold coming from her index finger. Gently, he wrapped her weak fingers around the handle. "Does that hurt?"

"Not at all."

He let go, and her fingers slowly released.

He frowned, holding her hand again. "Maybe, with time…"

"Gothi didn't think so." She finished his sentence.

He looked up at her, realizing her eyes were welling up with tears.

"It's okay," she breathed. "Because I have Stormfly now. She can throw spines…you just have to get the raids to end. Then she can always be with me and protect me when I can't protect myself."

He stared at her hand, studying the way her fingers moved. Maybe there was still something to be done. Some straps or something? "Can you bring your axe to me tomorrow?"

"What for?"

"I think…maybe I can adapt it for you. If you're willing to experiment with me…" he trailed off, a blush rising to his face.

Astrid smiled, before tugging on his tunic to pull him closer. "You know how I feel about experimenting with you." She smirked before placing a cheeky kiss on his lips.

Hiccup giggled after that, before quickly trying to play it cool. "Uh yeah…we…" He gulped. "We're great at experimenting."

She smiled at him then, big and bright and honest. "Thank you. I just came to tell you what happened, and maybe…I don't know, get a hug out of it. But you actually came up with a solution…thank you."

Hiccup stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her. "I can still give you a hug though."

She breathed against him. "You're the best, you know?"

"I've been told."

"And humble!"

—-

Only a few days later, Astrid finished up her chores early to meet Hiccup at the cove. They were going to go for their first flight together on separate dragons. She had been so excited! She even got to introduce Stormfly to Stoick.

"Oh, so there's two now?" He had lamented.

"You're next, you know," Hiccup had teased.

"I'm not training any beast!"

It had been rather funny, and the memory still brought Astrid joy. The chief of her clan, more or less approved of her training a dragon! With Stormfly on her side, she was sure to help Hiccup find a way to stop the dragon raids!

"Astrid, dear, where are you going?" Phlegma asked, jolting Astrid from her memory.

"I'm meeting up with Hiccup," she said simply, scooting on her boots.

"Actually…we have something to talk to you about…" Her mother said, not meeting her eyes. Phlegma was usually an optimistic person, but her tone held nothing but dread. If anything, it was the tone a child had as they told their parents they broke a family heirloom.

"What's wrong?" Astrid asked, on edge.

Axel walked into the room, a grim look on his face. "Perhaps you should have a seat."

Astrid sat down on a bench, as she was instructed. Axel took a seat next to her. His hand rested on her back, more gentle than he had ever been, especially with his shift in personality. He gazed at her, eyes full of sorrow and grief.

"Dad?"

"I'm so sorry, Astrid."

Astrid sighed, his apology like a balm on her broken heart. Was he finally over her failure? Was he finally trying to make amends?

"I forgive you, dad." She smiled.

But he only shook his head. "You won't forgive me. I've done something horrible."

And then he proceeded to tell her what had happened. What was at stake, what the future held for her, and that she had no say in the matter. Each word brought her lower and lower, a knife cutting into her chest, threatening to cut her heart right out from her ribs and leave it bleeding and quivering on the floor. Betrayal. Absolute, horrible, betrayal.

"YOU'RE A MONSTER!" She shrieked before bursting from the house. She ran. Ran for her life. Ran to what made her happy, what felt like home, and what she would soon be losing. There, perhaps she could glean a fragment of joy before it was all over.

—-

While the storm was still gathering, and things were seemingly falling apart, lightning struck suddenly and hard, destroying the very foundation to Hiccup's happiness.

All seemed well, as he and Stoick spent an evening together in the cove with Toothless. An easy day, a quiet day, a day that didn't give any indication of what was going to happen.

"Hiccup!" Astrid's voice echoed over the forest.

"Astrid?" He called back.

"Hiccup!" There was so much pain and sheer terror in her voice. He stood and started quickly towards the entrance. She appeared quickly, running at top speed. "HICCUP!" She cried. She ran to him and flung her arms around him, burying her face into his shoulder and weeping openly.

Hiccup stood frozen, shaking, before he hugged her back.

"Lass? What happened?" Stoick asked, his tone serious and hard.

Stormfly squawked, and stood nearby, crooning cautiously.

Hiccup pet her hair. "I gotcha," he whispered. "When you're ready, tell me what's wrong?"

"My father!" She wailed. "He–he–he bet on my fight!"

Both Hiccup and Stoick winced, already knowing this, but not prepared for how badly it would affect her.

"Well, you know how vikings are–..."

"He bet me! He made a bet with Spitelout and I lost that fight and now I have to marry Snotlout!"

"WHAT!?" Stoick and Hiccup both shouted.

Astrid pulled away slightly to grab Hiccup's tunic. "It's already been arranged! Those weapons Spitelout ordered were for my father! They made up the contract and exchange and everything! I didn't even get a word in!"

Hiccup stood shell-shocked. This couldn't be happening! Everything had been going so well, and now…he was losing her? He didn't even get a chance to fight for her?

"How do I undo this?" He asked his father.

Stoick shook his head. "I'm sorry son, but this is a contract between families. The chief has nothing to do with it."

"But–but you have to be able to do something! Anything!"

"We could try talking to Axel and Spitelout, if they both agree to call it off…"

"My dad will agree," Astrid said quickly. "He wasn't happy about the agreement. Please, please Stoick. Please talk to Spitelout! I beg you!"

"Alright lass, alright," Stoick sighed, patting her head. "Let's go and have a word with the man."

By the time they returned to the village, night had descended. Hiccup walked with an arm firmly around Astrid and held her hand with the other.

The three went to the Jorgenson household, and Stoick took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

A moment later, Spitelout opened the door. He smiled, though it didn't seem genuine. "Stoick! What can I do for you so late an hour?" He then noticed Astrid crying, and chuckled. "Oh chief, you're not getting involved in this, are you? Axel and I have a gentlemen's agreement."

"I'm not here to command you to do anything. I would never use my position as chief to do that. No, I'm here as Stoick, the man. Astrid asked me to talk to you."

"Well, there's not much to talk about. The contract has been agreed upon and I paid the bride price, he paid the dowry. It's settled."

Stoick kept calm, eerily calm. "Spitelout, I am very curious though. You didn't see how much time Astrid and Hiccup spent together? Did you not consider that?"

"I noticed, but you and I both know that has nothing to do with it. You and my sister were in a contract, even though you barely knew each other."

"Yes, but neither I nor Valka were particularly close to anyone before our contract. I'm not saying that Astrid and Hiccup are romantically involved, but given time—"

"Yeah, I know." Spitelout said sharply. "So that's why I took my chance now. If I wanted my son to marry well, I needed to make the contract now."

Stoick's nostrils flared. "And so you did that without considering the lass's feelings?"

"Since when did you ever care about feelings, Stoick?" Spitelout spat. "You certainly didn't care about my sister."

"I loved Valka!" Stoick bellowed. "And how dare you insinuate otherwise!?"

Spitelout yelled right back. "If you really loved her, you would have protected her better! She wouldn't have been taken!"

"Are you—wait, you're not doing this for Snotlout, are you? You're doing this to spite my family!"

Spitelout gave a bitter smile. "It's in the name, Stoick." And then he slammed the door in his face.

"Unbelievable." Stoick bit. He turned to look at the kids, only to see Astrid looking completely devastated. "Lass, I'm–"

"He's horrible!" She croaked. "A stupid feud! He's ruining my life over a feud!"

Stoick shook his head woefully. "I'm sorry, lass. I'll try talking to him in the morning. Spitelout can be reasonable, on occasion."

Astrid didn't have much hope in that regard, and elected to hold onto Hiccup as long as she could.

—-

The next morning, the horn that signaled an announcement echoed across the village, and everyone assembled in the square.

Hiccup already knew it wasn't going to be good, based solely on the fact that his father was standing on the steps, along with Astrid and Snotlout. Spitelout and Axel also stood on the steps, behind their children. Once everyone was assembled, Stoick raised his hands for everyone to settle down.

"Good morning everyone. As you have all surely noticed, the next generation, my son's generation, has reached the age of marriage. Axel Hofferson and Spitelout Jorgenson have completed a contract to bring their children Astrid and Snotlout into marriage!"

Hiccup scoffed. Stoick was delivering this news as clinically as he could.

"The wedding will be in the fall, after the first harvest. And because this is an important affair for our family, Hiccup will be conducting the ceremony."

"What?!" Hiccup barked out in outrage.

The assembled immediately began gossiping, and throwing looks over to Hiccup.

"It will be his first ceremony as heir, but we believe this is the best opportunity for him to learn."

Hiccup grit his teeth and clenched his fists. How could his father let this happen?

All in all, the crowd gave congratulatory cheers, more so for the prospect of having a big party than the actual marriage.

Once they started to disperse, Hiccup rushed up the stairs. "Dad, you can't be serious! I can't…please don't make me…"

Stoick corralled Hiccup away, a hand on his back. "Look son, I tried, but Spitelout is set. He originally wanted the wedding for this week, but I got him to agree to the fall. That way, you and Astrid have time to adjust."

"But why do I have to do the ceremony? I don't even want to be there!"

"That's what got Spitelout to agree. We have to take the blessings where we can get them."

Hiccup peered around his father to look over to Astrid. She was standing awkwardly as Snotlout was talking at her. She looked miserable.

Hiccup couldn't tell what Snotlout was saying, but by the sneer she threw his way, it wasn't a pleasant conversation.

"This sucks." Hiccup said tersely.

"You're a viking, lad. It's time to buck up." He gave him a rough pat on the back. "Besides, you still have Toothless."

Hiccup scoffed. "Yeah, well Toothless isn't even allowed in town."