A/N: Yo, I'm back! I know, I was gone for almost twelve whole hours!? *Horrified gasp*, I'm kidding of course, the update speed for this is mostly due to HTTYD being my current binge-watching obsession so the idea's are just all there.

A little response to a guest who said my Hiccup is using his shield similar to a certain avenger (Capt. America.) I can honestly say this review gave me a laugh, but I hadn't even noticed I had Hiccup doing Captain America things, it just sort of worked out that way when I wrote it, but I mean, as far as use of a shield goes, Captain America's got that shit down pat, but I'll try and branch it out, Capt Berk's? Got to rest his shield arm (Not even ashamed :P) Without further delay, literature!

Hiccup only paused at the entrance of the cove to put down his knife, he walked inside and placed the large basket of fish on his back on the ground, overturning it, Toothless darted over quickly and began eating as Hiccup moved around the side of the Nightfury slowly, artificial tailfin tucked under his arm as he approached the injured side of its tail.

Hiccup paid the tail down beside it and moved it against the dragon quickly, it's tail swished slowly away from him, he glanced at the dragon, it's head still chomping away at the fish he had brought, he shifted once again pushing the tail against the dragon, only to have it move again.

Hiccup glared at the rock wall in front of him, got to his feet and sat down on top of the tail, fastening the buckles around it quickly.

Toothless's head perked up at the feeling of something against his tail fin, he frowned and shifted his body slightly before his bright green eyes widened and his wings outstretched slowly.

Hiccup watched the fin carefully, drawing it out and closing it before opening it again.

"Looks good, it works," He thought aloud, before his eyes trailed over the other half of the tail fin, the appendage slowly opening in front of him, before he could turn to the dragon it snapped it's wings down, a powerful burst of air taking them up, Hiccup latched onto the dragons tail as they gained altitude.

The tail snapped close against the air and Toothless let out a panicked shriek as he began falling, Hiccup grabbed a hold of the fin and pulled it out, Toothless leveled out.

"It works!" Hiccup exclaimed in excitement, turning it, the dragon banked to the left, swerving around the cove "I actually did it! Yes, it works!"

Toothless glanced at the boy still latched on to his tail, he turned over the lake and gave his tail a quick flick, the boy was thrown off and the fin snapped close, the dragon let out a growl as it slammed into the water.

Hiccup surfaced on the other side of the lake with a shout, throwing his hands into the air in excitement, Toothless groaned in minor annoyance as it made its way back to the shore.

Hiccup moved towards the dragon as water pooled underneath him, Toothless gave him a look before firing a wide breath of flame at him, the heat passed around him and effectively dried him, Hiccup let out a nervous chuckle "Thanks bud."

Toothless made a sound somewhere in between a grunt and a growl as he laid his head down, Hiccup placed his hand against the dragons nose "I'm the one that stopped you from being able to fly, I'll be the one to fix it." The boy smiled and tilted his head the side, the dragon warbled at him in what he hoped was appreciation.

Astrid awoke to the sound of one of her floorboards creaking, she lifted her head slightly to peer at the person in her room, still clad in Hiccup's shirt from the day before "Hey there." The voice of the person in front of her was definitely not her mother or father, her breath caught in her throat as the figure lowered, the early morning light illuminating the face just enough for her to make out Hiccup, his emerald eyes shining with something she almost didn't recognize.

Had Astrid been thinking properly, she might have asked why he was in her room at all, but she was not thinking properly, in fact she wasn't really thinking at all, A small half smile sat on Hiccups face as he moved towards her, Astrid glanced down at herself before grabbing a hold of her furs and drawing the around herself, inching away from the boy warily.

Hiccup paused, his eyes reflected a little bit of hurt as he took a seat the edge of her bed, Astrid paused and shifted towards him, she moved to give him a light punch on the shoulder, but he caught her hand and flipped her, a giggle escaped her mouth and she slapped her hands over it, Astrid may have done many things that would be considered out of character in last few days, but she did not giggle.

Hiccup tilted his head to the side slightly as he hovered over her, Astrid became suddenly aware of the situation as he pulled her hands away from her mouth, running his hands over her stomach as they settled on her waist, everywhere his hands travelled felt like it lit on fire as he dipped it his head towards her.

"Astrid!" The blonde started awake, she was once again in her room, again still clad in Hiccup's shirt, but it was now much further on in the morning, her mother stood at the door with a disapproving huff "Your gonna be late if you don't get a move on."

Astrid nodded her head stiffly as her mother pulled her door closed slowly, Astrid jumped to her feet, she stared at her hands for a few moments in panic, still waiting for her heartbeat to calm down and the images her imagination cooked up to disappear, which proved difficult since every time she inhaled she could smell him, she peeled his shirt off of her and lifted her arm to throw it before she paused, she took a deep breath, which effectively calmed her down as she dropped the shirt on the edge of her bed. She shook her head lightly as the color in her cheeks slowly subsided, she grabbed her own shirt and pulled it on, clipping her shoulder guards on and pulling her armored skirt over her leggings, she shook herself for a moment and grabbed her axe as she moved downstairs.

Astrid's mother moved about the hearth in the centre of their home calmly, stirring a pot every few moments as Astrid took her seat at the table, with most of the warriors out on Stoick's search for the Dragon's Nest it was only the two of them.

Astrid's mother raised an eyebrow at her daughter, she was quite similar to her daughter in looks, slender in frame, her hair was a dark red instead of Astrid's blonde that she inherited from her father, Astrid took after her mother in personality the slender fighter was known for her bursts of anger in her younger years, a mischievous glint entered her mother's eyes as she slid a bowl to her daughter.

Astrid accepted the bowl with a grateful smile and a wary look, as she placed the spoon in her mouth her mother spoke.

"Sounded like you were having a nice dream." Astrid choked abruptly on her food and her mother broke into a fit of laughter.

"H-H-How did you know about that?!" Astrid demanded, a small amount of fright in her voice as she started.

Her mother continued her small fits of laughter for a few moments before settling "Lass, I was a young girl once too you know, that and the sounds you were making gave it away."

Astrid colored four shades of red and averted her eyes.

"Hah, to be young and in love is a wonderful thing, I never wore your fathers shirt to bed, but times be changing." Astrid's mother chuckled as the girl seemed to grow redder, shoulders drawing in on themselves in embarrassment.

"The Haddock boy eh? A little wild, but he's definitely a catch and you know the rules of the Hofferson's, I shouldn't have to tell you." Astrid just nodded to her mother violently as she downed her food in hasty gulps, stopping to drink a quick jug of water and darting off.

"Okay, Mom great talk, got to go, bye!" The girl spoke in a quick frenzy as she pulled on her boots and left her home.

One outside Astrid took a long breath, she spotted Ruffnut across the village square, appearance not at all unlike her own, Astrid approached the girl slowly.

Ruffnut raised her eyebrow slightly "Ugh, Mother's right?"

"Yeah, I actually have to sort of agree with you on this one." Astrid nodded as she spoke.

"Oh, you got the 'young and in love' gush too?" Ruffnut asked with a chuckle.

"Oh, if it was only that I could probably have dealt with it." Astrid waved off, peering around the square.

"What could possibly make that worse?" Ruffnut asked curiously

"When your mother knows who your into," Astrid replied with a shudder "And approves."

Ruffnut made an intelligible sound between a gargle and a groan "Yeah, I don't envy you at all."

"Who's envying? Nobody envies on this island without me knowing about it, I want deets." Tuffnut dropped beside the pair of girls suddenly, Astrid started and Ruffnut cocked her arm back and punched her brother in the side of the head quickly.

"None of your business." She responded flatly

Astrid ignored the twins as she spotted Hiccup enter the square and move towards he forge, only from where he entered it looked as if he came from the forest, not his house, Astrid tilted her head slightly in confusion, 'Why would he be out in the forest this early?' She thought to herself as her eyes continued to follow the boy, eventually falling on Tuffnut, who had almost perched his chin atop her shoulder trying to figure out what she was looking at.

"I don't get it, it's just Hiccup," Tuffnut shrugged "Is it a girl thing to just stare at guys they like?"

"Wha? No, I don't like Hiccup." Astrid defended unconvincingly.

"What? Ruffnut, you lied to me, you told me Astrid had a thing for the scrawny wild boy." Tuff pointed at Hiccup for emphasis.

"Well, he isn't that scrawny." Ruffnut drawled in counter.

"Good point, you must have meant a different wild boy, where can I find him?" Tuffnut asked quickly.

Astrid just face palmed.

"You seem to be spending a lot of time in the forest these days lad." Gobber noted as Hiccup entered the forge.

"I go out early to get extra training," Hiccup replied with a shrug, he had already thought up an excuse for this "Plenty of room out there to let loose, you know?"

"Aye do at that," Gobber nodded as he bent a sword back into shape "Seems like the ol'gothi's got her work cut out for her this year, choosing the recruit that gets to slay the dragon."

Hiccup shrugged "Honestly, I think I could do with another year of your fine tutoring Gobber." He replied sarcastically

"Aha, of course you could," Gobber laughed "Sure you're not just going to let your lady friend win to make yourself look better."

Hiccup stiffened and approached the one legged man quickly, Gobber rested his chin on his hammer as the boy walked up to him.

"How could you possibly know about that? I only figured it out yesterday!" Hiccup threw his arms into the air in exasperation.

"Hiccup, when you've taught as many teenagers as me, you start to see the signs very early, I'm telling you, I will soon be known as Gobber the wise!" The man clenched his fist and struck as pose.

Hiccup slumped and ran a hand over his face "Great perfect, at this rate half the village will know before Astrid does."

"Before I know what?" Astrid asked, entering at the end of the conversation.

"Uh, Astrid! Hey, Astrid, hi Astrid, hey Astrid…" Hiccup trailed off nervously with a chuckle "Just you know, that you're the most likely too…uh, get picked in Dragon Academy."

The blonde's eyebrows rose slightly as she looked too Gobber for confirmation, Hiccup made a gesture of prayer behind Astrid and mouthed the word 'please' to the old blacksmith.

"Uh, yeah, what he said," Gobber gestured at Hiccup with his hammer "If everything keeps going as it is that is of course." The blacksmith added, bailing Hiccup out just in case Astrid wasn't selected.

Astrid nodded her head "Well, can't get my hopes up to early."

Gobber nodded his head quickly, the blonde dropped her axe in Hiccups hands and the boy moved to the grindstone quickly, mouthing 'thank you' at Gobber as he sat down.

Gobber let out a quick chuckle as he continued beating the sword with his hammer.

Hiccup ran the blonde's axe over the grindstone for barely a second before he pulled it up and looked at it, he ran his finger over the blade and winced when it nicked him, he shook his finger and placed it in his mouth for a moment.

"Uh, Astrid this is already really sharp." He sounded as he handed to her.

Astrid started slightly "Oh is it?" She replied, her voice at a higher pitch than he had heard before, she coughed into her hand "So it is." She nodded as she examined it.

Astrid's eyes kept darting to Hiccup's face, specifically his lips, 'Curse that stupid dream, curse my stupid mother, couldn't he just have waited twenty more seconds?!' She shook her head roughly dispelling the thoughts effectively, until Hiccup spoke and they popped back into her mind more obvious than before.

"You two crazy kids can get over to the arena, I'll be there momentarily." Gobber waved, the pair nodded, Hiccup darted into the back room to grab his helmet, as soon as the door closed behind him he shook himself, letting out a few breaths as he grabbed his helmet and calmed his nerves, he was trying to behave normally around Astrid, no good could come from randomly professing his feelings in the forge, no he needed, time, a plan and with the Nightfury to worry about he had more than enough on his plate.

He let out one last exhale through his mouth as he pulled his helmet on, as he left the forge he fiddled with the buckle on his gauntlet tightening the slightly lose piece of armor as he heard the sound of a boot scratching on dirt, his eyes lifted to see Snotlout's fist flying towards him, Hiccup dropped and ducked left, the fist flew passed his face by barely an inch as he spun around Snotlout quickly and glared at the boy.

"You need something?" He demanded angrily

"See guys, I told you it'd never work!" Snotlout shouted, the twins broke into laughter behind him.

Hiccup straightened and turned to the twins in curiosity "Don't look at me it was her idea." Tuffnut pointed at Ruffnut blankly.

Hiccup didn't even know where to start, so he just sighed and fell into step beside Astrid "Thanks for the warning."

"Eh, was kinda hoping Snotlout would get you just so I could see you beat the tar out of somebody." Astrid shrugged a smug smile on her face.

Hiccup glanced at her, the let out a casual whistle as he slowed his pace ever so slightly and looked around.

As they rounded the corner Astrid felt something sharp press against her backside, she started and her hands darted behind her, as Hiccup took a quickstep past her, she could make out the mischievous little smirk on his face just from his eyes, her lips pursed as he darted in front of her, she lowered slightly as she chased after him.

They arrived at the arena in recorded time, mostly thanks to Hiccup running like his life depended on it, from Astrid's face it might actually be.

He slid to a stop when he realized the arena's portcullis was still closed, he frowned at it and tilted his head, Astrid didn't slow down as she slammed into his back, pinning him against the bars with one hand whilst the other flew passed his head to stop him from running.

A devilish smile came to her face as she pulled Hiccup's helmet off his head, his auburn hair spewed out loosely around his head, Astrid tilted her head as she eyed him carefully.

"Uh.." Hiccup started before she cut him off.

"I'm gonna give you one chance to explain that." Astrid sounded flatly.

"Look now that I think about it there were many methods I could have used to wipe that smug smirk off your face, this might not have been the best one, but it was effective." He defended in a quick flurry.

For a long moment Astrid remained silent, then something seemed to click in her brain as she moved her hands around Hiccups head slowly, running her finger along his jaw line, Hiccup just froze, half of him wondering what she was doing, the other half assuming she was about to strangle him.

Astrid leaned towards him, close enough that he could feel her breath on his face, she smelled faintly of vanilla, although he couldn't understand why at all, the thought did hit him as she quite suddenly pulled away from him, quite pointedly strutting away from him.

Hiccup tilted his head slightly watching her figure sway as she moved "Gobber must think he's hilarious right now."

"Why's that?" Hiccup asked in confusion.

"That portcullis only closes when we aren't having a class." Astrid called back as she disappeared around the edge of the arena.

Hiccup sank to the ground and let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, his cheeks colored as his body snapped through every emotion he had felt in the last four minutes, he made a long exhale and pulled his helmet back on.

He eventually made his way back to the forge, finding Gobber still working away calmly, as Hiccup entered Gobber gave a short laugh "Heh, have a nice chat?"

Hiccup shot the man a glare and Gobber shrugged "Figured I'd give you the opportunity to declare your feelings somewhere private, can't hurt a man for helping."

"You're not helping," Hiccup shot at him, before taking a breath "Just, leave it alone, I'll figure it out on my own."

"Aye lad, you are always a man with a plan, much like your father in that sense." Gobber waved off as Hiccup entered his office.

He set his helmet down calmly, he had a whole day left to use and no idea how to use it, he pulled out his journal and looked over his designs for the tail and rubbed at his chin calmly, the action reminded him of Astrid and his hand recoiled from his face as it had been burned, his eyes trailed up in annoyance as he realized she had done that on purpose, apparently she had noticed he rubbed his chin when he thought 'All for a pinch? Granted, the target I pinched might have been a little…inappropriate, but a man needs to think!' He mentally defended.

He ran a hand through his hair in exasperation 'Okay, focus,' His foot began tapping the ground as he thought "I can't just sit on Toothless's tail and move the fin, I need a saddle, a mechanism that lets me move the tail without having to move from Toothless's back.' His hand almost began moving on its own as he thought, drawing the saddle, the connection to it, the small foot pedal to tilt the tail, the connecting rod, he stretched up as he finished, his shoulder letting out a resounding pop, he glanced up at the small hole in the corner of his office, the sun was glowing a dark orange. He couldn't hear Gobber in the forge anymore, moving out of the room he slipped in apron over his head as he got to work, melting down metal and molding it, he removed the screws from shields and melted them into small balls, he chiseled connections into them as he designed built the pedal he would use to move the fin, he made the saddle out of the best leather he could find in Gobber's small forge, he finished with a small smile on his face and wiped at his brow, the mechanism folded in on itself, allowing him to hide it behind the saddle easily, he blew out the last lantern in the forge and made a quick dash home, he placed the saddle on his desk and quickly flopped on his bed.

He woke up the next morning to a note on his door from Gobber, it simply read 'take a day off, a proper one.' Hiccup shrugged, tossing the not into the hearth as he moved out the backdoor into the forest, in his haste forgetting to bring more food for Toothless.

When he arrived at the cove, he didn't even bother to leave his blade at the entrance, Toothless greeted him with a quick tackle, a long lick across his chest.

Hiccup groaned slightly in disgust as he got up, flicking the dragon's saliva off of him, Toothless warbled at him and Hiccup flicked the last bit at the dragon, it slapped against its face lightly.

Toothless tilted it's head, silently wondering what Hiccup had brought, Hiccup smirked as he lifted it "Look at this bud!"

Toothless back away from the saddle, quickly realizing the teens intention "Toothless, I get this on you and we might even be able to get you flying again."

The dragon paused, eyeing the teen carefully, it placed its front leg on the ground slowly before moving towards him, as if in understanding, Hiccup grinned as he set to work, tying the saddle onto the Nightfury's back, Hiccup climbed onto the dragons back slowly, the pedal clattered slightly as Hiccup set his foot into it, he peered back at the tail as he moved his foot, the tail flipped open, Hiccup pushed it foot forward and the tail snapped shut.

Hiccup could feel Toothless relaxing his shoulders under him "I know your eager bud," Hiccup patted the dragons head lightly "But I don't know how you fly exactly, we are gonna have to take this slow."

Toothless bobbed his head, seemingly in agreement, Hiccup frowned, his knuckle brushing against his chin as he thought, a light shiver went up his spine and he shook himself quickly before an idea came to him, he pet the back of Toothless's head "I think you are going to like this."

Toothless glanced at the teen for a moment before Hiccup lowered his body flush against saddle and snapped the tail open, Toothless relaxed into it as his wings stretched out, one powerful wing beat later the two were off the ground and out of the cove, Hiccup stayed just above the tree's but low enough no one from Berk would see them, he landed at the edge of a cliff, the stump of a tree standing resolutely in the stone, the landed lightly, Toothless made a discomforted sound as they did and Hiccup dismounted "I know bud, but I need to learn how to work your tail properly, this is the best way."

Hiccup withdrew a length of rope from the side of the saddle, he had filled it with a few things he thought might come in handy, he tied the rope the edge of the saddle and the stump, effectively anchoring Toothless to a low hover, cutting a smaller length of rope he tied it to a small metal connecter and clipped it to his waist before snapping the metal over, locking himself to the saddle, he rolled his shoulders as he moved his foot the tail fin snapped open and Toothless let his wings out, catching the air around them he floated into the air slowly, Hiccup snapped a small piece of paper onto the saddle in front of him, he quickly penciled in the first fin position, drawing a small arrow pointing up beside it signaling elevation. He closed the tail and added that for descent, drawing a small arrow pointing down, he did the same for each direction, he smiled to himself as he slowly began getting used to the tail, he heard the rope groan suddenly and it snapped, sending both him and the dragon rolling through some long grass, Hiccup was face first on the ground as Toothless rolled around in the grass happily, dragging the teen along with him, Hiccup drew his knife and cut the rope connecting him to Toothless, Toothless continued rolling in the grass, a clearly euphoric look on his face. Hiccup glanced at the bundle of grass he held in his hand and smirked, he pocketed the grass and moved to get Toothless back up, he glanced at the sky for a moment.

"Alright bud, I gotta get back." Toothless glanced at him happily as he began leading the dragon away from the cliff.

Hiccup yawned tiredly as he arrived at the arena, it had taken hours to convince Toothless to go back into the cove, the dragon had his freedom, he most certainly didn't want to give it back up, eventually a few dozen fish and the promise of actual flight had gotten the beast to settle down, Hiccup yawned again, but that left him with a new problem he had to end the dragon academy lesson quickly, his finger's brushed against the grass he had yesterday as his mind finally refocused on the scene in front of him, Snotlout was rammed away by the Gronkle as the dragon moved towards Hiccup.

The boy shrugged, bragging the small section of grass and sheathing his weapon, he held it out in front of him, the Gronkle caught the scent of the grass and flopped to the ground sliding to a stop in front of Hiccup, he scratched it's nose lightly and it's pupil's dilated as he moved it to its side.

The teens froze in minor shock, that was the second time the boy had downed a dragon without using a weapon, Hiccup stared back impassively "Okay are we done? Cause I've got some things I need to, yeah okay." He nodded as he jogged out of the arena.

Astrid frowned at the boys back as he darted out of the arena, Hiccup and her had been on an even playing field before he started using, what she could almost describe as magic, she wasn't a fool, she could tell the elder was beginning to lean towards Hiccup over her, her fist and clenched and she took a deep breath 'He's cheating.' A venomous voice suddenly spat in her head, she shook the thought away, but the small seed of doubt that planted in the pit of her stomach wasn't going to removed so simply.

Hiccup closed his eyes against the rushing breeze, a small grin appeared on his face as he lowered himself onto Toothless back properly, clouds surrounded them as they glided through the air, Toothless made a please rumble in his throat, obviously glad to be back in the air.

"Alright bud, let's see what we can do." Hiccup announced excitedly, Toothless let out another rumble in agreement as Hiccup moved his foot, the fin snapped open the pair began ascending, Toothless let his tongue flap out his mouth much like a dog, as the climbed.

"Woo! Go baby!" Hiccup urged, standing slightly in the saddle, the action cause the tail to close slightly, Toothless turned down abruptly, Hiccup's eyes widened slightly as he felt the rope that connected him to the saddle slide off "Oh, no." He let out sarcastically as the pair began falling, Toothless realized a moment later that Hiccup was now hovering ever so slightly above him, the dragon let out a panicked roar as they began to plummet towards the earth.

Hiccup spread his arms out beside him, wind caught underneath him and hovered him for a moment as adrenaline kicked his senses into overdrive, he watched Toothless flail for a moment before he snapped his arms to his sides, rifling towards the dragon as it turned and flipped, he caught hold of the back of Toothless's tail and clawed his way along the dragon's back, pulling himself correctly onto the saddle he clipped himself back in quickly, he pushed backwards hard, Toothless's wings open slowing their descent slightly, the of ahead of them parted and Hiccup could see the large jagged rocks that awaited them, Hiccup glanced at the cheat sheet in front of him, he took a quick breath as he lowered into the dragon, Toothless felt the boys confidence and quieted as they moved like a missile towards the rocks.

Hiccup let out a long breath as he moved, his foot slid forward and Toothless turned right, flipping over and dropping through a hole in the rocks, Hiccup pulled back, a sharp left turn around another rock as he leveled the fin, Toothless pulled his wings in rifling through the last gap in the rocks before the pair leveled out, Hiccup tossed the cheat sheet into the wind and threw his arms in the air.

"Yeah!" He shouted in excitement, adrenaline wearing off as Toothless let a fireball explode in front of them in victory.

Hiccup slumped as the fire hit him, effectively dying around his eyes black with soot, the pair sat around a small fire, Hiccup roasting a fish as Toothless spewed a piece of one of his latest meals onto the rocks, Hiccup glanced at it "Uh, no thanks I'm good." A shriek brought the boys attention to the sky.

A handful of terrible terrors landed a short distance from the fire and Toothless growled, as far as Hiccup was concerned the small dragons in front of him posed no threat to either of them, so he ignored them as one grabbed the head of fish Toothless had thrown up for him.

Toothless jumped slightly and Hiccup watched a cod suddenly seemed to stand up, before it was dragged from the pile by one of the smaller dragons, Toothless latched onto the food quickly, the terrors teeth ripped through the fishes tail and Toothless made a sound all too similar to laughter.

The terror spat the pieces of fishtail from its mouth and dragged it's claws along the rocks, raising on its hind legs as fire built in its belly, it opened its mouth to fire and Toothless shot a small ball of fire into its gullet, lighting the gas that built in its body up, smoke billowed from every hole in the creatures body and Hiccup chuckled "Not so fireproof on the inside huh?" He said aloud.

"Here ya go," He tossed the small dragon his spare fish, the terror gobbled it quickly before curling in a ball under Hiccups hand, a sudden realization struck the boy as the small dragon breathed beneath his palm "Everything we know about you guys…is wrong."

Toothless eyed the boy curiously as he fell into thought.

Gobber stood on the docks, an almost bored expression on his face as he watched what was left of the last boat pull into the docks, Stoick stepped onto the dock heavily an angry look on his face.

"Well, I trust you found the nest at least?" Gobber asked optimistically.

"Not even close." Stoick practically growled in response.

"Ah, perfect." Gobber nodded sarcastically

"Well, I hope you had more luck than me." Stoick prompted

Gobber sighed, that was likely Stoick's way of asking how Hiccup was doing "A bit, Astrid and Hiccup seem neck and neck with the elder, although recently the boys been improving in astonishing way, I won't be surprised if he ends up on top before the end."

Stoick hid a grin behind his hand and snorted "Ah, Good, very good." He nodded "I'll have to come and watch the lesson tomorrow, see for myself."

"Aye, I suggest you do, can't imagine Gothi waiting much longer." Gobber nodded

Hiccup leaned against Toothless's side, He got to his feet slowly and Hiccup whimpered quietly as the boy moved to leave, Hiccup titled his head tot eh side as the dragon rose to follow him, Hiccup moved his hand along the dragons chin, scratching lightly, Toothless purred into his hand quietly, Hiccup moved along the dragons neck before Toothless suddenly stiffened and fell to the ground, completely asleep.

Hiccup looked at his hand in surprise as he left the cove 'That one will definitely come in handy.'

He moved toward the back door of his home before someone came up behind him "What are you doing?" Hiccup jumped at the familiar voice.

"Astrid! Hey!" He exclaimed in surprise

"What could you have possibly had to do in the forest Hiccup?" Astrid asked curiously, Hiccup could tell she was also suspicious of him.

The boy averted his gaze slightly as he thought "I was practicing again." He answered

"Really, those weaponless dragon incapacitating moves, wanna tell me how you figured those out?!" She demanded flatly.

Hiccup sighed "Those moves I can't tell you anything other than they work on Wolves and I got lucky." It wasn't entirely untrue, he had found the dragons behaved very similar to wolf pups.

"You expect me to ju-." The pair cut off as Stoick rounded the corner with a loud shout.

"There they are the prides of Berk's Dragon Academy," Stoick announced as he rounded the corner of the house, Astrid stiffened suddenly, 'How much did he hear? Oh, what's he going to think if he heard me drilling into his son all suspicious like that? On that note, what was I even thinking nobody with the skills to teach Hiccup any of that was even on the island!' She chastised herself quickly.

"Hey dad." Hiccup waved nervously

"Everything alright, you two were starting to get loud." Stoick asked curiously.

"Yeah, it's fine, Astrid was just pointing out a few of my mistakes in the ring today, helping me improve you know." Hiccup lied, covering Astrid smoothly.

The girl let out a breath of relief "Yeah, it might be a competition, but we figure we will both be in the force eventually."

"Exactly." Hiccup agreed with a smile.

'He never did answer you though.' A voice whispered in the back of Astrid's mind, she decisively snapped it shut.

"It's a good thing you two are taking your training seriously," Stoick smirked "I've been informed that Gothi will be making her decision tomorrow, while there can only be one winner in that ring, I want you to know I'm proud of both of you."

The pair nodded, Astrid excused herself calmly, walking passed Stoick silently, Stoick noticed Hiccup's gaze lingering on her back a little longer than necessary and smirked "Well, we have a big day tomorrow, you'd best be getting some rest."

Hiccup yawned tiredly at the mention of rest, his tiredness from earlier suddenly coming back with a vengeance, the feeling had been completely forgotten after his adrenaline high earlier that day, he nodded slowly and moved inside, hitting his bed with a heavy thud as he darted upstairs and dived onto it, quickly falling asleep.

Astrid stared at her ceiling, the venomous voice whispering in her head again 'He had never even seen dragons before two weeks ago, there is no way he could suddenly develop the skills he has.' The voice hissed, Astrid gritted her teeth in annoyance, both that she would allow herself to feel envious of the boy and the fact that she was weak enough to consider the damn voices opinion 'He was very skilled when he showed up, he's been nothing but respectful to me since he arrived, I will not doubt him.'

'Well, theirs is always one way to find out,' The voice suggested 'Follow him.'

Astrid drifted to sleep as the voice finally stopped talking.

A/N: Remember Astrid's competitiveness I mentioned? Yeah, it's been triggered hard, on another note, I think Tuffnut is my spirit animal, aside from the fact that I can imitate his voice perfectly (I am not even kidding a little bit, I was doing it earlier and my dad shouts out 'Are you watching How to train your Dragon again?!') I find writing him just so easy, so yep, spirit animal Tuffnut, not even mad. Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I will see you next time!