Hello, wonderful readers! I have finally returned! The curse of restricted access has been lifted by the sword of justice! ...Never mind. But any way, more on my return at the bottom.

Chapter 6: The Viking Way

Aiden's POV

The next morning, we found ourselves at the docks. I was helping Gobber load the warrior's packs onto a boat. As I looked around, I noticed many of the teens saying goodbye to their parents. Spitelout put a hand on Snotlout's shoulder, Astrid hugged her mom. But as I moved my gaze to Hiccup and Stoick, I could almost see the awkwardness of the situation. Both father and son stood next to each other, staring out to sea.

"I'll be back, probably," said Stoick.

"And I'll be here… maybe," replied Hiccup.

Gobber, noticing the pair, tosses the last bag at my, effectively hitting me in the head and knocking me overboard. After a muffled shout, franticly swimming to the surface, and pulling myself onto the dock, I watch Gobber move over to the awkward family. He took one look and each and slaps his hand over his face.

"Uh, Hiccup would like to say that he'll miss you, and he wishes that you'll find that Thor-forsaken dragon's nest, so you'll stop taking your frustrations out on everybody, mainly poor Gobber."

Hiccup nodded.

"Stoick wants to tell you that he'll be thinking of you the whole time, so train hard, don't throw a house party, and he'll do his best not to be eaten by a sea serpent or dragon, but if he does, well, you know, that's that."

"We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard," Stoick replied in monotone.

"We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard," Gobber said enthusiastically.

"I said that."

"Oh, sorry for helping," Gobber shot back sarcastically.

Stoick turned to him after getting on the ship, and seriously said, "I want him back. With all limbs in tack."

If only you knew, I thought to myself.

We watch as the ships pull out of the dock, and start on their quest. I turn to Gobber and ask him, "Was that really necessary?"

All he does is laugh. "Come on you two. Training starts tomorrow."

As we make our way up to the forge, I see the other teens moving about the village with weapons and big smiles. Excited for dragon training would be my guess. I see Astrid with her axe in hand heading toward the forest. Probably going off to murder some innocent trees.

Astrid's POV

WHAM!

I smile at the satisfying sound of my axe slicing into a tall tree.

Then I sigh. I can't seem to get a certain person out of my head. He's always in my thoughts, no matter where I go or what I do. What is wrong with me! I, Astrid Hofferson, do not like guys. I train, work, practice, and then train some more. I don't have time to like guys. Especially guys like… Hiccup. But now he's invading all my thoughts. I know that he has a thing for me. According to Ruffnut, he has more than a thing for me. According to her, he's in love. Not that I mind. But I wish he would take action.

This crush started a while ago, two years to be exact. It had been late in the afternoon and the other teens and I had just finished our dinners. Well, the others did, I wasn't hungry for some reason, so I didn't eat much. Hiccup had just showed up and had spent several minutes scraping at the bottom of the kettle for the last of the chicken broth. Once he got enough to be called a lite supper, he moved off toward his usual lonely table. Of course, Snotlout had to go and bully him, like always. He stuck a foot out at the last moment and tripped Hiccup, causing him to fall flat on his face and spill all his broth on his head. He just glared at Snotlout and the twins, whom had been laughing hysterically. Hiccup went to his bench and rested his head on the table.

I don't know what compelled me to do this, but the next thing I know, I'm walking toward him and resting my hand on his shoulder. I remember him cringing and guilt had flooded me. Had we all mistreated him so much that he was wary of any physical contact? He turned to face me and I extended my bowl of soup towards him.

"Here. I didn't eat this because I don't really like it. You can have it."

He looked deeply into my eyes, and I didn't turn away. I couldn't.

Hiccup's face flushed red, and he stumbled out the words, "Th-thank you, Astrid" And gave me small, lopsided smile.

Up to that moment, I only thought of Hiccup as the scrawny, awkward kid that worked in the blacksmith shop. Other than dropping off weapons to be sharpened or fixed there, I had rarely paid any attention to him. I had, just seconds beforehand, come to the conclusion that I was giving him my soup because I was tired of seeing Snotlout and Tuffnut tormenting him for some stupid laughs! I had had enough of the hurtful pranks and was trying to clearly send that message back to the other Viking teens who were now watching in disbelief. Or so I thought.

But what had happened next shook that belief to the core.

As I stared down at this freckle-faced oddball with soup still dripping from his hair and the most ridiculously goofy smile beaming at her, which was handsome in a strange kind of way, I noticed his eyes.

They were large and dark in the dim light of the hall. They were not like the eyes of any of the other Vikings. These eyes were filled with tenderness, compassion – and pain. These were not the eyes of just any boy, and something inside me compelled me to continue gazing into them.

An unusual sensation swept across my whole body. I suddenly felt very warm, as if the whole room had instantly become hotter. I could feel a couple of sweat drops blister onto my forehead. What was happening? What was this feeling?

I then remembered that, just a moment before, Hiccup had said something to me. What was it?

He had thanked me for the soup.

I cleared her throat and sputtered out, "Y-you're welcome."

After that day I started to watch Hiccup more closely. I remember watching him work at the forge and sharing his small successes secretly. I remember being disappointed during the Thawfest games when he didn't win, yet admiring his ability to still be a good sport and congratulate the winner (usually Snotlout). I also noticed that while Hiccup may cause a lot of damage in the village, he really had the best intentions at heart.

But that didn't get rid of the damage. He was still Hiccup. He still didn't follow orders well. He still was the weakest Viking alive. He was just… different. He was the complete opposite of a traditional Viking. He was as skinny as a sapling and couldn't lift a hammer to save his life. He thought everything through and always put others before himself. He could see solutions that others couldn't because it was too complicated. He was just so… Hiccup. And now that I think about it, most of those thing that I just said are good things, just different. Maybe that's what drew me to him.

I give a more a more exasperated sigh. This is all just so confusing. No one but me knows about my crush, not Ruffnut, or my mom, or my older sister, Frostbite. Just me. And it has to stay that way. Or else I would lose everything that I've worked so hard for. My battle skills, my reputation, and the respect (or fear, whichever you wanted) of the other teens.

This is too confusing. I decide to focus on more practical topics. Such as tomorrow. All the teens, myself, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Hiccup, and Aiden, would be starting dragon training. Once I had gotten over my excitement of finally being able to fight dragons, I wondered how, and more importantly, why, the chief had decided to allow Hiccup and Aiden to join. One was synonymous with natural disaster and the other had only been here a little less than a week.

But lately, Hiccup had been causing noticeably less destruction. The only different thing in his life was Aiden. Perhaps having a friend was all that Hiccup needed. Maybe Aiden was a good thing.

As for the others, I wasn't worried. We had all been training to prepare for this. Even Fishlegs had gotten better with his hammer. When he had started, he could barely swing it without it flying off to Thor knows where.

The twins just had to stop fighting with each other and start fighting with the enemy to become deadly warriors. They both knew how to wield and throw their spears.

Snotlout was very skilled warrior, him being the perfect Viking and all. If he would just stop flirting with me and realize that I wasn't interested, then he might actually succeed. But in order to do that he would need a lot more brains.

I looked up and saw that while I had been thinking, the sun had begun to set. I grabbed my axe and started for home. After all, I wanted to be wide awake for tomorrow.

So, I have planned chapters 7, 8, and 9, so I hope to have them all typed and posted by the time school starts again. Then it will be an update every week. Also, I have accually been thinking ahead and wondering if, after I finish this story and my other one, "Letting Go of Control", I should do a sequel. So, by the time chapter 9 is posted, there will be a poll and I hope you all will vote on it. Please reveiw (I feel like I might be a little rusty).