Chapter 6: Bonding

Hiccup and Nico took their time making their way to the arena so that Astrid could get there a few minutes ahead, to avoid suspicion, instead of arriving with the two boys. Nico knew that would probably start some rumours that Astrid didn't need. Also they had to sneak the Terror into Astrid's house which was no easy task.

"So what's the plan for today?" Hiccup asked breaking the silence between them.

"I need you to distract Gobber as much as you can…I'm going to try to interact with this dragon a bit." Nico told him.

"What about the others?"

"I'll ask Astrid to take care of them, the last thing I need is them setting the dragon in a rage." Nico replied.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Hiccup told him as the arena came into view.

"So do I." Nico muttered. He looked and saw the rest of the teens and Gobber waiting for them at outside the arena gate.

"By the way." Hiccup started. "What was Astrid doing in the forest and why did she kiss me?" He asked the last part quietly.

"The answer to your first question is it's a long story, the second is that she's finally realised that the feelings she's had for you are positive." Nico told him as he smirked. "Come on." He told Hiccup as they jogged the rest of the way.

"Why are ye so late?" Gobber asked the two boys.

"Sorry we had to back and get my axe." Nico explained.

"Gettin an axe disnae take that long Nico." Gobber told him suspiciously.

"We were in the forest…" Hiccup added.

Gobber looked at them assessing whether they were lying or not when Astrid spoke up.

"It's true I almost took Hiccup's head off when I was practicing my axe throwing." She told Gobber.

She looked out the corner of her eye and saw Nico winking at her.

"She almost took his head off." He thought. "Just not with an axe." He smiled cheekily.

"Very well." Gobber said dropping the subject. "Today is all about attack." He explained as he pointed his hand at the arena. "We're using a maze in today's class as well as a Deadly Nadder." He told them with an evil smirk. "Your job is to make sure that you're quick and light on your feet… and don't get blasted." He added. "Alright in you go." He told the recruits as he opened the arena gate.

As the teens started walking in Nico walked over to Astrid and whispered his plan to her. She nodded and took the rest of the teens into a huddle. Nico then turned to Hiccup and nodded. Hiccup gulped and nodded back.

"Oh by the way the Nadders already in the maze." He told them.
On cue Hiccup started talking to Gobber as Nico ran into the maze unnoticed. The wooden walls were far too high for him to see over so he chose a path and started to follow it. Behind him he heard Gobber shouting at Hiccup.

"Come on I'm running out of time." Nico thought to himself as he started whistling hoping to draw the Nadder's attention. It worked and soon its chicken like head appeared round the corner of the maze. It hissed at him and was about to strike when Nico dropped his axe and shield. He held up his hands to show he wasn't a threat.

"It's okay girl." He told the dragon as it cocked its head in confusion. Slowly Nico started walking towards the dragon with his hand stretched in front of him. As he came closer the dragon made a soft cooing noise and took a step closer to him so it was just in front of his outstretched hand. The Nadder sniffed his hand curiously before slowly closing the gap and laying her snout against his palm.

"Good girl." Nico told her as he gave her snout a gentle rub. Suddenly he heard someone shouting behind him.

"Nico get down!" Snotlout shouted as he threw his hammer at the Nadder.

"No!" Nico shouted but it was too late. The hammer missed but the Nadder snapped out of its peaceful way and roared at Snotlout who yelled and ran back further into the maze.

"It's okay girl easy." Nico told the Nadder as he tried to calm it down but more shouts from the other teens set it off and it shoved past Nico and ran towards the source of the shouting.

"I'm telling you guys he was rubbing the Nadder's snout." Snotlout told the twins.

"Uh…I don't think that he'd still be alive if he was, I mean a dragon's deadly right?" Tuffnut asked.

"Maybe he got a cool scar out of it!" Ruffnut said excitedly.

"Cool I want to pat a dragon!" Tuffnut shouted as he moved to run past his sister but she blocked him.

"Hey it was my idea!" She said shoving him.

"So I'm using it!" Tuffnut shouted shoving her back.

"Why you little." Ruffnut yelled as she tackled her brother to the ground and they started having one of their usual fights.

Snotlout face palmed.

"Why did I tell you two?" He asked out loud. He turned to go when he saw the Nadder at the other end of the maze looking in the opposite direction.

"Guys shut up the Nadders right there!" Snotlout hissed realising his mistake just as the words left his mouth.

The twins stopped fighting to look at the Nadder.

"It's mine!" Tuffnut shouted as he leapt up only to be shoved aside by his sister.

"Na uh its mine." She yelled at him as she started running over to the Nadder who'd turned around and was getting ready to strike the girl who was running at her. The Nadder opened her mouth and shot a flame ball at Ruffnut. It would've hit her if Nico hadn't tackled her out the way as he came running after the Nadder. It seemed everything went I slow motion as Nico safely tackled Ruffnut out-of-the-way but his trailing leg wasn't as lucky and as a result the flame scorched the back of his leg. Nico cried out in pain. He tried to grab the injured area but withdrew his hand at the temperature of the burn.

"Nico!" Snotlout yelled as he saw the Nadder approaching the injured boy but instead of attacking the Nadder made a sad cooing sound and rubber her head against Nico's torso.

"It's okay girl…It wasn't your fault." Nico struggled to say as his trembling hand rubbed the Nadder's snout. Nico's cry had alerted most of the teens and a few seconds later Astrid and Hiccup appeared round the corner.

"Nico!" Astrid yelled as she started running towards him. Hiccup grabbed her arm. "What?!" She shrieked.

"We've got to be careful." Hiccup told her as he carefully set down his axe and shield and raised his hands. Astrid nodded and copied him. Slowly they approached the Nadder who hissed at them and curled her tail around Nico protectively.

"It's okay." Astrid told her.

"We're his friends." Hiccup added.

"It's okay." Nico told the Nadder who looked at him hesitantly before moving her tail so Hiccup and Astrid could see him.

"Oh gods Nico are you okay?" Astrid asked as she ran to his side and grabbed his hand.
"Yeah I'm fine." He assured her. "It was an accident…she didn't mean to hurt me…Ruffnut scared her…" His eyes widened as he remembered her.

"Where's Ruffnut?" He asked as he tried to sit up.

"Over here." She groaned somewhere behind the Nadder.

"Hiccup is she okay?" Nico asked.

"I'll go check on her." He replied as he disappeared behind the Nadder. After a few minutes he returned with supported an injured Ruffnut. The Nadder's tail spiked up when she saw Ruffnut.

"Stormfly!" Nico shouted at the Nadder.

Stormfly turned to look at Nico and cooed as she registered her new name. She nuzzled Nico's chest much to the bewilderment of the other teens. Nico scratched Stormfly's chin causing the dragon to coo even more.

"Nico?" Gobber's voice called out from somewhere in the maze.

"Oh Crap what am I going to do?" Nico asked himself.

"Stormfly I need you to stay calm okay?" Nico told the Nadder as he put his arm around the dragon's neck. Sensing what Nico was trying to do Stormfly started to pull him up from the ground. Nico hissed in pain as he was forced to put pressure on his damaged leg. Astrid took his other arm and put it around her shoulders so he could take the pressure off his leg. Stormfly looked at Astrid and gave her a soft coo. Astrid smiled back at the Nadder. Just at that moment Gobber and Fishlegs turned the corner and froze when they saw what was happening.

"Astrid get Nico away from that Dragon." He ordered as he let out a battle cry and charged at Stormfly. Stormfly seeing the Viking charging at her raised her tail, which had now spiked, and would've shot them at Gobber if Snotlout and Tuffnut hadn't grabbed Gobber.

"Gobber calm down that dragon helped Nico and let him stroke it." Snotlout told the blonde Viking.

"Yeah it was so cool he was like 'woah Stormfly stop' and then she like started making cooing noises." Tuffnut added excitedly.

"Are you saying a dragon let Nico pet it like a pet?" Gobber asked as he pulled himself out of the boys grip. Stormfly hissed at the word 'pet'.

"Gobber don't relate to her as a pet…she doesn't like it." Astrid told him.

Gobber stared at her in disbelief before looking at Nico's leg.

"By Thor! Nico we need to get you to Gothi immediately!" Gobber yelled.

"But it'll take too long if you take him." Astrid said not noticing the look Nico and Stormfly shared. Understanding what he meant Stormfly lowered her wing for Nico to lie on.

"What's she doing?" Astrid asked as she saw the dragon's movement.

"She's letting me ride her." Nico said. Astrid didn't hesitate she helped Nico limp over onto Stormfly's wing and waited for him to crawl on her back before climbing up after him.

"Wait ye can't ride a dragon are ye mad?!" Gobber yelled at the pair.

Astrid ignored him. "Hiccup help Ruffnut on." She ordered. Hiccup nodded and led Ruffnut over to Stormfly's wing. Astrid held out a hand for Ruffnut, who took it, and pulled her on Stormfly's back behind her.

"Wait!" Gobber called. "The village will attack ye if they see ye riding a dragon." He warned them.

"There's no other way." Astrid replied as she gently nudged Stormfly's side with her boot signally her to take off.

Stormfly cooed and took off but Astrid soon realised that they couldn't leave yet…the gate was still closed.

"Snotlout!" She yelled. "The gate!"

Snotlout paused for a minute before nodding and running back through the maze until he saw the lever for outside gate. He pulled on it and it slowly began to rise. As soon as it was raised Stormfly shot off through. Astrid looked over her shoulder and saw villagers shouting and running into their homes.

"Quickly over there." Astrid told Stormfly as she pointed to the small house on top of a mountain. Stormfly shot forward almost making Astrid fall off. They reached the house and Stormfly landed on the small platform outside the hut. Astrid was surprised to see Gothi standing outside the hut as if expecting them. She gestured for Astrid to bring the injured teens into the hut. Astrid put one of Nico's arms and one of Ruffnut's around her shoulders and using all her strength helped the two into the hut. As she entered the hut she was surprised to see that everything was already prepared as if Gothi knew what was going to happen.

"How did you know that we were coming?" Astrid asked the old woman.

Gothi shook her head and pointed at Nico then pointed at a wooden table, then she pointed at Ruffnut and the small chair in the corner of the room. Astrid nodded knowing the elder's meaning. She guided the two over to the corner.

"Ruffnut can you make it to the chair?" Astrid asked the female twin.

"Yeah no problem." Ruffnut replied as she removed her arm from around Astrid's neck and sat down on the wooden chair. Once Astrid was convinced Ruffnut wasn't going to fall off the chair or anything she turned back to the table and led Nico over to it. The poor boy was struggling to stay conscious.

"It's okay Nico you're gonna be okay." Astrid told him as she laid him on the table.

Gothi appeared out of a small room carrying a small jar of green liquid.

"What's that?" Astrid asked as Gothi handed it to her.

Gothi shook her head and gestured for Astrid to make Nico drink it.

"Oh okay." Astrid said as she turned back to Nico. "Don't worry Nico this'll help." She told him as she raised the jar to his lips, she felt his hand tugging at her arm so stopped.

"Make sure they don't…hurt…Stormfly." Nico was breathing heavily now. Astrid nodded and tipped the contents of the jar into his mouth. Nico eyes closed and he visibly relaxed. Astrid felt a small tug on her skirt and turned to see Gothi pointing at her to go outside. Astrid nodded and walked out the hut. She saw Stormfly look up as she heard the door open but lowered her head again when she saw that it was only Astrid. Cautiously she approached the blue Nadder.

"I'm worried about him to girl." She told her as she slowly raised her hand to the Nadder's snout. She was surprised when Stormfly cooed softly and let her touch her. Astrid rubbed her snout causing the Nadder to coo in delight.

"You're a big softie aren't you?" She told the Nadder as she put her other hand under her chin and scratched her. She stopped as she heard voices coming up the stairs to Gothi's hut, she relaxed when Hiccup, Tuffnut and Snotlout came into view all wheezing and trying to catch their breath.

Hiccup was the first to speak. "How are they?" He asked.

This sent Astrid overboard as she thought of Nico and his leg, she flung herself at Hiccup and pulled him into a tight hug.

"I don't know…he looked terrible and I've got no idea what'll happen to him." She sobbed.

"Nico really has changed her." Hiccup thought as he put his arms around Astrid.

"Shh." He told her. "He'll be okay I'm sure of it." He comforted her.

Astrid looked up into Hiccup's emerald-green eyes.

"Nico was right, he does care about me." She thought. This sent her into more hysterics as she hugged Hiccup tighter.

Meanwhile Snotlout and Tuffnut watched in disbelief.

"Is Astrid crying?" Tuffnut whispered.

"Yeah but is she crying and hugging Hiccup?" Snotlout whispered back.

Stormfly seeing Astrid cry started to coo and rubbed her head softly against Astrid.

Astrid looked at her and smiled. "Thanks girl." She said as she put a hand under her chin and gave her a scratch. Stormfly replied with a soft coo.

"Where's Fishlegs and Gobber?" Astrid asked suddenly.

"They're trying to hold off the villagers at the foot of the mountain." Hiccup told her.

"Lucky that most of the men aren't here then." Astrid joked as she tried to lighten the mood before realising what she'd said. "I'm sorry." She apologised. "I didn't mean it like that."

"It's okay." Hiccup told her as he smiled his eyes lighting up slightly.

"Umm…we'll go help Gobber and Fishlegs…" Tuffnut told the couple as he dragged a shocked Snotlout back down the stairs. As soon as he was out of view Astrid leaned forward and kissed Hiccup softly on the lips. Hiccup hesitated slightly before pressing into the kiss. As they continued Stormfly cocked her head as she watched the two. Who knows what was going through the dragon's head as she watched them get more and more passionate. What did happen though was that Stormfly eventually got tired of seeing them kissing each other's face off and decided to coo and put her head in between them.

"Stormfly!" Astrid whined as the dragon made a sound that sounded like an attempt at laughing. Hiccup laughed as well when the dragon moved her head and he could see Astrid's annoyed face. She looked at him and tried to keep a straight face but Hiccup's laughter was too contagious and she burst out laughing too. Hiccup reached for her hand and intertwined it with his. She looked into his emerald-green eyes as he stared into her sky-blue ones.

"I love you." He said softly.

Astrid didn't hesitate to answer. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"I love you too."

Didn't think I could update that fast didja? XD

Anyways as I said last chapter this chapter was a lot different from the movie, mainly because I don't feel like I'm doing anything if I'm just copying the movie and I'm a bit bored of reading stories that only do that.

Ami: Don't worry this is a Hicstrid story although Astrid did have feelings for Nico, Nico was good enough to deflect those feelings onto Hiccup, so Nico is now a bit like the caring older brother that Astrid never had so there will be scenes where they'll be close like in this chapter but it will be as friends not closer she is now Hiccup's girlfriend but she cares a great deal about Nico as a friend.

Anyway i suppose at this rate I will quite possibly have another chapter out this week (writing with a laptop is so much easier!)

So stay awesome people I really appreciate all the subscribes/favorites and reviews I've got so far and I'll see you in chapter 7 where we'll see what Gothi has had to do to Nico to help heal him.

Adios