First, I'd like to thank everyone for the reviews, I'm getting some great ones and I feel wonderful in reading them! Thank you all!

And, as always, thanks to my beta, Ladipretender, this chap is now corrected! :D

I'm so very sorry it took so long, but I was in tests period in uni and it was hard to keep up... It's finally over now and I can go back to writing again!

Talking with NightsAnger, I had the idea to put a short intro that reviews the previous chapter, I hope it will help you all follow the story. Thank you so much, NightsAnger!

And I know some people are asking to make it Hicami, and believe me, I want it to, but I don't really know if it will work for several reasons that I can't say or I might give some spoilers, so, at least for a while, I'm gonna keep it 'Hicstrid with hints of Hicami'.

Sorry if there's mistakes and all, I revised them and my friend did read it too, but there's always something that escapes it, since English is not my native language, it's still a bit hard to write, but I'll never be good at it if I don't try it.

Read and enjoy! :D

Previously, Cami and Eret went to the Meatheads' island on Market day and so did Stoick, Gobber and the young adults of their tribe. The people of Berk soon find out that what they thought was impossible was true, there is a tribe that rides dragons, so they head in the same direction just to see if they'd find something interesting.

Chapter 8

Unwanted Guests

"So, what are you doing, Bork?"

Hiccup asked curiously, approaching with slow steps. The younger man smiled as he recognized his chief. Since Bork's vision wasn't good, he could only recognize people by their sounds or when they were very close to him. Although in this case, he recognized Hiccup at that distance by the black dragon shaped blur, he knew it was Toothless so the person with him could only be Hiccup. The dragon wouldn't be walking around the village without its favorite human.

"Good afternoon, Hiccup. I'm glad to see you're feeling better and on your feet again."

"You mean foot," he joked, gesturing to his prosthetic. Bork rolled his brown eyes.

"Anyway, I'm just working on my Terrible Terror training. I divided them in two groups of three. They're patrolling for me. I mean, since I don't have enough courage to fly a dragon of my own and I can't see far away, I've started training them to fly around the island, searching for suspicious stuff."

"And I thought the most difficult thing you'd make them do is fetch you stuff…" Hiccup said impressed, remembering that last time he saw Bork training dragons, he'd show them a picture and they brought him what he needed, soon, he managed to ask for what he wanted and they'd get it correctly. "How does it work?"

"It takes them about an hour to circle the island, they don't go very far. Right now Patience, Innocence and Arrogance are probably finishing their lap. When they come back, if they find something unusual, they'll warn me. I made this chart, when they see a ship or a dragon that is not from here, they point it out on the chart. I also put the numbers from one to ten, so they can tell me how many there are. And I'm making another chart so they can also show me the species of the dragon that is coming."

"How nice! Did they already spot something?"

"For now, just wild dragons. Thankfully, no ships, yet."

Suddenly, a reddish dragon landed on Bork's head in such an abrupt way that almost made the scrawny boy lose his balance. The dragon just growled as if to show he was there and then he flew off of his head, going to the ground a few meters away.

"Well, they're back," he declared, extending his bony arm so other two dragons could land. With his free hand, Bork showed the chart for them, but they didn't even look at it. "That's how you know they didn't find anything," he explained before turning to the dragons. "Innocence, Patience, go rest with Arrogance. I'll feed you guys soon."

"The three of them are so alike, it still amazes me how you can differentiate between them." Hiccup commented, looking at the two reddish dragons flying off toward the third one.

"It's easy once you get used to them. They are very similar, but their personalities are completely different. Now, it's time to send One Eye, Horrorcow, and Wodensfang patrolling." The young man announced going to the two brown dragons and the white one, so he could send them off.

Hiccup turned and started walking to the Great Hall of the village so he and Toothless could eat dinner.

Two days later, Hiccup was feeling even better. He was now able to walk normally and maybe even run if he tried. He had plans for flying with Toothless later too.

"Hi. I forgot to tell you before, but I left the scrap metal for you in the forge."

"Thanks. I'd get it myself today, you didn't need to bother doing that."

"It wasn't a problem, really. Eret did this, actually. He was the one who left it there for me. I was with him, though."

"Thanks anyway."

"Well, it's not like you can carry much weight."

"Toothless'd help me." He said before letting out a heavy sigh as he looked to the horizon.

"Are you okay?" Camicazi's voice was soft and caring. Sometimes she could be the sweetest girl he had ever met, sometimes she could be the toughest one; only one other girl he knew could match her fierceness.

"Yeah, it's just… I'm worried…"

"Let me guess, because of the Berserkers?"

"Obviously. It's just that it's been around a week since I saw them and they haven't shown up yet. Why is that? Are they planning some kind of trap for us? Or maybe they're regrouping? I don't know and I can't go to find out, let alone send someone to go. It's too dangerous…"

"I could go if you let me. Or Eret. By the way I'm the one who taught you everything you know about sword fighting."

"I know. Thanks for that. But I can put anyone at risk. It could be even worse… If only I knew what their plan is… it'd make things easier."

"Maybe they gave up when they figured out we knew their plan. They might be counting on the element of surprise. Maybe they're stalling just for us to think they gave up so they can attack. Who knows? But you can't keep worrying about that…"

"How can I not worry, Cami? It's not like we can match up against an entire armada with over 100 ships."

"We're not alone, Hiccup. We have dragons."

"Yeah, I know… But we are a very small tribe…"

"Stop whining, Hiccup, or I might throw you off of the cliff…" She joked, rolling her blue orbs. When she was younger, she used to tie her hair up in a ponytail, now she usually left it down, which made her develop the habit of twisting a blond strand around her fingers, especially when she was joking.

"Okay, I'll stop. But you should think about the Night Fury that will be jumping off to catch me. He doesn't deserve that…"

"What he doesn't deserve is a whining fishbone for a rider…" She joked and felt her purple Terrible Terror landing on her shoulder softly. The dragon screeched to get her attention and then pointed to the ocean, nodding her head towards the open sea. "What is it girl? Do you wanna play?" Stormcloud kept pointing there.

"Maybe she wants to tell us something?" He wondered.

"Hiccup! Hiccup!" Bork yelled getting closer, he only knew where to go because of the Night Fury's dark shape resting along with two human shapes and a red one he knew was Shimmer. There was a pack of Terrible Terrors after the running man.

"Slow down, Bork. Breathe first and talk later." The young man inhaled heavily a couple of times before managing to speak.

"Patience just spotted a ship, south-west from here."

"The Berserkers?"

"I don't think so, it was only one."

"Couldn't it be one of our fishing boats? We often go fish off to the south."

"No, I trained them to only warn me when it's an unknown ship."

"Thanks, Bork. I'm going to check it out." Hiccup declared.

"And I'm coming with you." She said and before he had time to open his mouth, she continued. "Don't you even try to complain, it's just one, it can't be that dangerous. And, actually, you weren't supposed to be flying."

"In fact, it is okay now, thank you very much. I'm feeling great," He mumbled stubbornly, quickly mounting on Toothless and clicking his metal leg into the pedal.

The Night Fury was eager to fly, as soon as he heard the click, he opened his wings and flapped off the ground faster than Camicazi could jump on Shimmer's back. The black dragon headed southwest, his eyes looking over the water with attention and so did his rider. The red Changewing rapidly followed.

Finally, they saw it. One single ship, with a wrecked sail on it. The boat's wood was damaged and a bit burnt, like it had been the scene of a fierce battle. It looked like it had been drifting off. The sail was useless, but Hiccup could see traces of its crest from afar. It was a symbol he couldn't easily forget. In fact, he wouldn't ever forget it. It was Berk's crest.

"Look at the state of this ship! I wonder what happened… Dragons around here aren't aggressive to humans…" She commented, noticing the burns around the hull. If they were drifting like it seemed to be, they probably lost the oars during the chaos.

"Unless they're threatened, Cami. This ship is from Berk. You know they hate dragons…"

"How do you know?" her question came automatically.

"Duh. I lived there for ¾ of my life, remember? I'd recognize the crest anywhere…"

"You're right… So what are we gonna do?" She inquired anxiously. She knew he didn't want to be recognized out of fear they'd hate him for running away, or so he said to her years ago. But she also knew he wouldn't leave anyone in need behind, let alone his old tribe members.

"Jump with me on Toothless and send Shimmer to go see them close. If she camouflages, they won't see her. They haven't yelled yet, so they might not have seen us…"

Camicazi agreed and jumped off of her Changewing to Toothless's saddle, right behind Hiccup. She wasn't scared; she trusted them and she knew they'd catch her if it was necessary. Shimmer understood what she needed to do and flew down, stealthy as ever. Soon she came back flying and screeching happily. The girl jumped back onto her red dragon.

"I think it's okay to approach. Shimmer seems to be relaxed and confident. If there was a problem, she'd look worried…"

"Let's get closer, then," He replied and Toothless flew down, with Shimmer and Camicazi right behind them.

As they got closer, they saw what was wrong with the people on the ship, why they hadn't seen them flying, or yelled at them or even tried to attack them. They were passed out. All of them were unconscious.

"Maybe they were drifting for too long? Insolation or something? Maybe they've been without food or water for a long time?" Camicazi questioned out loud, almost like she was reading Hiccup's mind. He was arriving at the same hypothesis.

"Yeah, I guess so… We need to take them to our island…"

"I wouldn't expect less from you. I'm jumping on the boat to find some ropes so we can pull it."

She said as she boldly jumped off her dragon again. Hiccup'd do this too, if Toothless could fly without him on his back or if there was enough space for the dragon to land. Camicazi found ropes, which she tied to the ship. Soon both dragons had pulled it back to the Strike Tribe's docks.

Flashback 8

Two days passed since they were captured and the things that Hiccup boy said wouldn't leave Eret's mind. He always looked at his dragons, his prizes like objects. That time when he saw that untamed black beast enter a cell actually being happy because of a human shocked him beyond anything he could ever expect. Now, it was hard not to feel at least a little bit of pity as he looked at his dragons. Though he quickly shut it out most of the time.

He also noticed that the green Thunderdrum in the cell nearest the kids seemed a lot better. He was almost completely healed, he looked stronger and healthier than before, but he didn't know why or how it happened. Sometimes, Eret observed the kids' cell from afar; it was intriguing to see how the deadliest dragon he ever laid eyes on looked like an overgrown cat most of the time. A big, bored and peevish cat, but a cat nonetheless. Eret also wondered why the dragon just didn't blast everything away and fly off. He didn't notice the prosthetic back then, or know what that would do.

Other interesting thing he observed were how the tiny dragons interacted with the kids. Like they wanted to be with them. How could that be? He kept wondering.

One time, at night, Eret approached the cell. The two boys were fast asleep, and the pretty girl seemed to be drifting off to sleep as well with her tiny purple dragon. The Terrible Terrors crawled around the boy named Bork like a cover and slept softly. But the Night Fury opened his toxic green eyes, pupils as narrow as slits. The dragon didn't move, just kept looking at him from the other side of the bars, his wings securely around the scrawny human named Hiccup.

"I don't understand. Why do you obey this boy?" Eret asked the black dragon, not even believing he was actually talking to the beast like it could understand him "You could do whatever you want, it's not like he has control over you."

The dragon snorted, Eret could have sworn he did it on purpose like he wanted to say 'of course I can do whatever I want, I'm a Night Fury.'

"Oh, yeah? Then why don't you just break everything up and fly away?" Toothless snorted again and looked at Hiccup, then, he lowered his head to rest and closed his eyes, ignoring their captor.

"Okay, now you just ignore me. Great. And I'm still talking to the dragon…" He rolled his eyes and turned to leave when the green Thunderdrum approached, growling.

The dragon once had a few rope marks and cuts from when he struggled against capture, however, the wounds were practically healed, Eret somehow knew that it was because of the kids. They probably helped him with the ointment the girl asked for.

Since Thunderdrums don't shoot fire, his cell didn't need to have the heavy metal fire protection, but the dragon needed to be fitted with the metal muzzle all the time, except for feeding and drinking at least once a day.

Eret could see the anger in the dragon's eyes. And why wouldn't it be? He had chained him, muzzled him and locked him in a tiny cell just to call him his property. It had actually been normal for him, only days before. But now, looking at how the dragons reacted with the kids, he started thinking about dragons like animals with feelings and wills. Even though part of him constantly told himself it was ridiculous.

"I've hurt you, haven't I?" he asked the dragon softly, he was so surprised it took him a second or two to realize that it was his own voice speaking, "I'm sorry."

The dragon soon soothed before his eyes, he was clearly less angry. Maybe, he appreciated the apology of the human. Eret sighed, trying not to think how insane he was, when he heard shouts. "We're being attacked!" "Outcasts!" the men kept yelling while grabbing weapons. Eret ran to the dungeon's entrance.

There were lots of Outcast ships on the sand and a bunch of men jumping onto the shore. One of them was a really tall, strong, and menacing looking man, Eret had heard stories of him, he was the leader of the Outcasts, Alvin the Treacherous.

"I want your dragons." He said, grinning evilly. The truth is, he heard about the dragon collection, and he wanted it for himself.

The men who followed Eret started fighting, but he soon saw that they'd be at a disadvantage. He went back to the dungeons to grab more weapons, when he heard Hiccup's voice yelling and asking what was happening.

"We are under attack…" was Eret's reply.

"But, why?" He asked again. Eret walked closer to the cell the boy was in.

"Isn't it obvious? He wants my dragons."

"Wait, maybe we could help you."

"Don't fool me. I know you'll run away as soon as I open this door."

"What? No!" He said stubbornly, "Just open this door, and even if I wasn't going to help, how good can we do locked in here?"

"Okay, then. I'll let you out" Eret opened the door before running out again to try and help defend his place.

"Now we only need a rope for Toothless's tail fin and we can go. You ready, Shimmer?" Camicazi asked her dragon that soon turned visible, the Changewing didn't leave them, she only waited patiently, camouflaged on the outside.

"I just can't leave them like that. They all might all die."

"They deserved it, I mean, they locked us in here for days! That was ridiculous!"

"He's changing his mind about dragons. I can make them understand the truth. Change the way they view the dragons."

"Hiccup, you're being too optimistic. Some people just won't change," Camicazi said, sighing sadly.

"Look, you can go ahead if you want to, I'm not gonna stop you. Toothless and I can catch up later. Besides, you know we could have gotten out days ago, we just stayed in there for a little longer."

"Oh, Hiccup, you know we won't just abandon you. We're a team now." Bork said.

"Thanks. I need you to free all the dragons."

"That was what you wanted all along, isn't it?" The blond asked, crossing her arms with a playful smirk on her lips. "To free the dragons?"

"Obviously. We can't just leave them here, can we?"

"No, we can't. Leave that to us, you and Toothless go and stall them."

"Yes, ma'am," He said jokingly and ran to get a rope with his faithful dragon right behind. He soon found what he needed and connected the pedal to the prosthetic tail fin, jumping in the saddle. Toothless was happy and relieved to finally be airborne again.

The Night Fury flew so fast in the darkness that he was almost invisible. Hiccup heard a faint cry of, "Night Fury! Get down!" from desperate people down there, especially the Outcasts, since Toothless's blasts were directed towards the ships. The shore was in chaos. It was the perfect distraction. Just then, the Outcasts saw the dragons leaving the dungeon. All of them were free again.

"No! My dragons!" Eret exclaimed.

"Hey, Outcasts. It is over now. The dragons are gone and so is the reason for you to be here." Hiccup said when Toothless landed in front of what seemed to be the Outcast's leader. "And if you don't want to be destroyed by the Night Fury, you'll leave right away." The men didn't need a second thought, they turned and left running. Alvin, however, was not scared, but amazed. There was a freaking fishbone of a boy sitting on a Night Fury in front of his eyes! He couldn't ignore that. But he also knew he couldn't do anything at that moment, surrounded by chicken idiots.

"It is not over, dragon boy." Alvin said as he walked away. He wasn't a highly intelligent person, but he wasn't stupid. He knew it'd be pointless to stay there alone, so he left with the rest of the Outcasts that were still alive after all of that mess.

There was a moment of silence as Hiccup, Toothless, Eret and his men stared at the ships going away. It was a matter of seconds since the Night Fury started attacking; the Outcasts were surprised and not prepared by its power. Then, Eret blurted out, incredibly mad.

"My dragons! You freed my dragons! All of them are gone!"

"Well, you were gonna lose them anyway. The difference is that the Outcasts would probably kill everyone around here to get what they want." Hiccup said, dismounting from his dragon. "And sorry, but that's kinda of what I wanted to do all along. We could have escaped the first night. I just didn't want to leave the dragons caged like that."

"But they were mine! And now they're gone! I've lost every single one of them!"

"Really?" Hiccup asked, sounding a bit surprised, Eret was confused until the boy point somewhere behind him. Eret turned and saw one dragon standing there. It was that green Thunderdrum from before. The man was stunned.

"B-but how?"

"I guess one of them didn't want to leave, after all."

Days passed by since then.

Eret got more curious about the dragons. He actually wanted to see the truth about them. And a few of his men decided to leave, but others wanted to keep following him. Since the dragons on the island were a bit frightened by the hunters, they usually stayed far away from them, except for the Thunderdrum who quickly got attached to Eret.

"So, we're back on a ship…" Camicazi said, bored.

"Well, for now, yeah. We don't really have a choice; I mean, there's Eret and seven more men now, it's not like we can take them on our dragons. Not all of them. All we have to do now is find a good place to dock so they can meet dragons too."

"Yeah, but it takes too long…"

"What if the dragons pulled the ship?" Bork suggested. "They can hold ropes we tie onto the ship and they can pull it. It will be faster then, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so," The girl agreed.

And that's what they did, started pulling the ship, it wasn't so difficult for the three big dragons. Soon, they reached a deserted island about half the size of the whole island of Berk. And they decided to dock there. During the trip, Hiccup told them about what he wished for: a place where dragons and humans could live peacefully together. "That place could be right here," Camicazi suggested as they looked around the beautiful island.

"Yeah. You're right." He answered. And simple as that, they began to establish their home in that spot.

First, they verified that the island was really deserted, and when they found nothing but wild yaks, pigs and dragons, they claimed the place as their own. Secondly, they built a big hut so they could safely sleep; they finished it right before a rainy night. After that, they constructed a forge, so Hiccup could make all the tools they'd need. Only then did they start building their houses. Meanwhile, all the men who hadn't had a dragon for themselves shortly started to befriend at least one.

The house for Camicazi and her dragons was the first one they started building. Not only because she was the only lady, but also because she only slept in the bigger communal hut when it looked like it'd rain at night. "I don't have a problem if it was just you and Bork, but I don't really feel safe with all those men next to me, sorry. Even though Shimmer'd probably throw acid on them if they got too close." That was her explanation when Hiccup asked why she didn't like to sleep there.

"You know what, I think we need a name for us," Camicazi said during dinner one night. They were all sitting together around a bonfire eating and talking; their dragons lying down next them.

"What? Why?" Bork asked, confused as he fed his pack of Terrible Terrors.

"Isn't it obvious? We're a group. An awesome group that rides dragons. We'll soon be noticed and famous. People will get to know us and so we need a very cool name so we can be known all over the Archipelago!"

"Ok, so what about The Destructors?" Eret suggested, chuckling.

"People already are afraid and hate dragons, I think we needed a name that's a little less frightening…" reasoned Bork.

"He's right. We don't want another reason to be attacked by Vikings, but we also need a name that will make them keep a safe distance." Hiccup said.

"What about the Strike Tribe?" The girl asked, excited, standing up.

"It sounds nice, but why this name?"

"Well, first, it sounds very cool, it's strong but not too threatening. Second, Toothless is one of the few dragons we know from the Strike Class, and one of the most powerful that we've ever seen. Besides, his rider is kind of our leader, so it makes sense."

"Oh, wait a minute. I never asked to be the chief!"

"But you know you are, Hiccup, whether you want it or not. We always seek your guidance, you're always planning something, this whole idea was yours, and you were the first dragon rider in history! I think those are reasons enough to make you chief!" She explained. Bork quickly agreed, Eret ended up complying and so did the men who worked for him when he was collecting dragons. "See? Its unanimous, you're the official chief now."

"Wait, so that's it? You're just gonna vote in me? I didn't ask for that!"

"Yeah, but you were born a leader. And maybe we could share the responsibility, Eret knows a lot about leadership and I'm still the heir of the Bog Burglars and my mom did teach me a lot over the past years."

"Okay, then. I accept. Seems like I don't have a choice, anyway…" Hiccup complained, agreeing.

After a few weeks, they soon realized they'd need some things like new clothes, more paper and ink for Hiccup's designs, and other stuff they couldn't produce or get on the island. They needed to commercialize. It was only natural for them to begin doing it with the Bog Burglars, the only tribe that wouldn't get too scared when they got there mounted on dragons. Unfortunately, they knew they'd need to expand their commerce.

"What about we start with the Meatheads?" Bork suggested. "Once a month, on an specific day they hold a big Market Day, open to anyone who comes willing to sell, trade or buy anything. They usually don't ignore anyone who wants to come, what is more important for them on this day is making money."

"Which days?" Hiccup asked, curious.

"It's the day 14th day of every month. And even if we don't come on our dragons at first, we'll probably mention the truth. But at the same time, if we appear on our dragons, they might not accept us and not allow us there ever again. On a Market Day, Mogadon, the chief, usually stays around the docks to greet known people and to accept new visitors."

"How do you know so much about them?" Eret asked, confused.

"I lived there my whole life. So maybe I should go the first time to try and help out? Maybe I could talk to the chief and if something goes wrong we can just fly away?" The truth was, he was scared about doing it, but he also knew it was something they needed to do.

"Are you sure you want to do it?" Came the unusually soft voice of Camicazi.

"'Want' is a strong word, but I'm willing to do wherever it takes to help out. I mean, I know I can't do much. I can't see properly, so it's hard for me to patrol, I'm not too strong to help in any physical activities and I'm not creative like Hiccup to invent all the stuff he built like the feeding stations for dragons. So if can do at least that, then I will." He answered sincerely.

"Okay then. I think we should go as we truly are. But only when we absolutely need it. Our trips in there shall be quick and uneventful. Our dragons must be close to us at all times and controlled, so they won't accidentally mess up with anyone. Does everyone agree?"

"Look, I'm all about danger and stuff, but I'm actually a bit scared. Maybe we can go there by ship and let them get used to us before going on dragons. Besides, what are you going to do if there are people from Berk there?"

"Okay, you do have a good point, Cami… So next month, we grab Eret's ship and our dragons pull us there in no time, we hide them, we buy wherever we need and we're out."

Hiccup declared and they all agreed. At the morning of the next 14th, they were getting close to the Meathead's island. That time, Hiccup had already turned 18, he looked different than he used to when he left Berk, but he could still be recognized. So while Camicazi was commenting that they were probably the first ones to get there, Hiccup turned to Eret and said.

"I want you to pretend to be the chief. Maybe not the chief of the tribe, but at least the leader of this ship."

"I am the leader of this ship, it belongs to me."

"You know what I mean. I want you to talk with them. I don't want to be recognized. You came from faraway lands, they won't know you. But I'm from around here, so…" He said as he covered his face with the hood of his cape, his thoughts already designing a helmet that'd cover his face.

Eret agreed. On the other side of the boat, Hiccup saw Camicazi also pulling up her hood. Neither one of them wanted to be known or recognized. It was decided that Bork didn't need to come, and that was something he was actually okay with. He was probably considered dead, whether his tribe knew it or not, he left them anyway. Eret didn't say much about them, only that they were a new tribe from the Far East and that they needed to commercialize. He only said his name because Mogadon insisted.

After the acceptance, they hopped off the ship, but not before Hiccup left baskets full of fish for the three dragons hidden in the ship's basement compartment.

Walking around the shops, Hiccup remembered the few times he visited on Market Day with his father. The Hooligans and the Meatheads were at peace, and sometimes, some people of Berk came there, his father didn't do this too often, a chief has his duties, but they went together once or twice when he was only a boy. He didn't remember much, though, only the merchants yelling their sales or a few discussions here and there, usual Viking stuff. Nothing had changed.

Hiccup finally found what he needed; new leather gloves that he could use in the forge. Though he could make them himself with a nice piece of leather, he preferred to work with metal, except when making saddles. When he had almost reached it, another hand suddenly grabbed it first. He was surprised and so was the person who didn't realize his presence.

"I'm sorry. I didn't see that you wanted it."

"No, it's okay, you can have it," He said nervously, recognizing the girl's voice.

"That's fine. I was actually getting it for a friend who couldn't come. He's a smith, but I think these gloves are too small for him…"

Under the shadow of his hood, he tried to look around. If Astrid was here, maybe his dad was too. And if he saw him, it'd be a problem. As far as Hiccup knew, his father probably hated him for running away and turning his back on the tribe, him knowing about Toothless or not.

"Are you the smith? I guess they'd fit you, right?"

"Yes, they're my size." He said as he remembered that Gobber liked the gloves they made at the Meatheads. "You know, maybe he'll like these ones." He handed her another pair of gloves, because even though his former mentor only had one hand, they were sold by the pair.

"Thanks."

She said smiling. Hiccup always knew she was pretty, but he rarely saw her smiling. Astrid looked beautiful, even more so than he remembered. Her golden locks were tied down in a side braid now, and he wondered since when she started wearing it like that. She was still dressed in blue, but it was a darker tone than what she used to wear when they were 15.

Astrid bought them and then left. He kept staring at her back for a couple of minutes, still a bit dazzled by her beauty. That is until he saw the girl being called by a tall red bearded man, also known as Stoick the Vast. Hiccup gulped and turned to leave with quick steps. Soon they had what they needed and then they set sail back to their island.

It took almost a year for them to come with the dragons, at least with the dragons in sight. The Strike Tribe weren't regulars at Market Day, they only went when they needed something specific, so they decided to wait to present the dragons. First, they began showing up with the Terrible Terrors. The people there were scared and it took a lot to get used to it. Only then did they come on their dragons. By then, they were getting pretty famous around the Archipelago; that was when Trader Johan saw the group.

Liking it so far? Let me know!

By the way, at the beginning, I said that NightsAnger gave me the idea to put a short intro that reviews the previous chapter, I hope it will help you all follow the story, please let me know if it was useful, if it is, I'll keep it up.

Itban Fuyu