The wind softly whistled as it passed the wings of the dragons. It was strong and powerful at these altitudes, and was effectively pushing them all the way to Berk. The dragons were calmly gliding, except for Meatlug, who needed her small wings to work furiously to keep herself and her rider in the sky.

The sun shone softly above them. Warming them slowly while the cold Nordic winds chilled them again. It was an interesting mixture, the sun warming cold skin. They flew calmly, everyone resting on their dragons. The night had only just passed when they left, hoping to be in Berk early, giving them enough of the day to do other things. This however did mean that some of the group were once again sleeping on the backs of their dragons.

But the beasts did not mind. Hookfang actually enjoyed the silence when his rider slept, and if he threw him off he'd also had to grab him again. Barf and Belch also didn't mind, they had straightened their necks together, allowing the twins to lean on each other as they slept. It was one of the most peaceful ways one could ever see the two. Calmly asleep.

The rest was awake, surprisingly, and were calmly flying in silence. Fishlegs was looking at some notes, struggling as the wind was throwing the pages of the book around. Making it difficult to keep it on one page.

The flight towards Berk wouldn't take too long, only the first half of the day. They would definetely arrive there on time for supper, and with a bit of luck also in early enough to catch some lunch, since they hadn't brought anything with them. The last supplies had been eaten before they left, knowing that they'd have access to good supplies of food after the end of the morning.

Heather gently guided her dragon to fly next to Bolt, Ragnar calmly sitting on his back. She calmly flew closer, making sure there was enough space between them that the wings of their dragons wouldn't touch, since that could send both of them spiralling downwards. And would most definitely annoy both of the flying reptiles.

"Ragnar?" She shouted over the winds that blew between them, muffling her voice, which caused it to only be barely audible. She saw him turning his head towards her, a curious expression on his face.

"What's up?" He yelled back, knowing that the wind would make talking difficult. It didn't stop them from trying though.

Heather had wanted to talk about a lot more, but she knew that the wind made it difficult. "Can we talk?" She asked. "When we're back at Berk?"

Ragnar swallowed, guiding Bolt to fly a bit higher so that his wings overlapped Shimmers, which allowed his to get closer. "About the scars?"

"Yes." Heather answered calmly. "And not only the physical ones."

Ragnar was silent, looking at her with a thoughtful expression. "Sure." He said, just loud enough that she could hear it.

"Good." Heather said, turning her dragon off away from him, getting a safe distance between them again. "Perhaps I can help you."

They didn't take long, but it was still a relieve when Berk appeared on the horizon. It simply gave them the actual and physical goal instead of the point on the map. They could now see where they were heading and could see the island slowly growing as they approached it. This effect didn't exist when you travelled across the waters of the archipelago. The vast expanses of water meant that you wouldn't have any clear landmarks for days sometimes, and that it was difficult to tell if you were even going towards the right place. And even though they all trusted Hiccup's skill of navigating, they were all relieved by the sight of home.

They calmly landed in the calm village, most people working at home. The only places that were busy were the market, the field were the new crops were being sown and others being tended to. And the woods, where parties of hunters and groups of foresters were gathering the materials for the village.

A quick goodbye was all they said to each other. Snotlout and the Twins wanted to dive into their bed, sleeping off the long journey just because they could. Fishlegs wanted to properly document his findings, and immediately scurried off towards his home. Hiccup headed to the forge, Astrid heading to her own home, saying she needed to grab some things.

This left Ragnar and Heather alone, finally allowing the two to calmly talk about the events of the past few days.

"So." Ragnar softly began as he scratched the back of his neck nervously. He wasn't looking forward to this talk, and he was lucky that he didn't have to explain to Hiccup. But Heather deserved to know everything, every detail and every last part of it.

"Let's take it easy." Heather said with a smile, taking one of Ragnar's hands in her own. She knew that he didn't want to talk about it. And she knew that if she wanted to know it all she had to do the digging. Ragnar wouldn't lead in the conversation. "Let's start with the camp. What happened there?"

"I, I got angry." Ragnar said, ashamed of himself for lacking self-control. He had not only endangered himself, but also the rest of the group. "I got, well, I got angry and couldn't control myself. I saw him and I, I just, needed to, well, you know."

"I do." She said with a supportive and understanding smile. Resting one hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "Hiccup told me about it."

"Good." Ragnar said softly, his voice slowly getting dry and hoarse. "It isn't really my favourite subject."

"Understandable." Heather softly said, she thought about making a sarcastic remark for a second, but quickly decided against it. It was extremely inappropriate right now. She sat down and leaned her back against bolt, she patted the stone ground next to her, signalling him to join her. Ragnar calmly sat down on the cold rocks as Bolt shifted, making sure he and the riders were comfortable before curling around them protectively.

The dragons must have been able to sense the tense and sensitive environment, since shimmer lay down on the other side of them, shielding them from the outside world and creating their own private area for them to talk. Heather watched in amazement as the two dragons stretched their wings, covering the two. Enough sunlight passing through gaps to keep the inside illuminated. She shook herself out of her thoughts and turned back to Ragnar. "Is that the fuel for your nightmares?" She asked calmly.

"Partly." Ragnar answered calmly, although his voice was getting very hoarse by now. He surprised himself with how calm he could talk about the subject, especially since it was with someone else then Hiccup. "They're also about my village."

Heather released a soft sigh, she knew what it was like to see your own village in flames, to see the fire eat away at houses and ships like they are snacks. Burning through masts and beams like they are twigs on a bonfire. But different ages left different impressions. She had been a good 21 winters when the Templars attacked her village under the leadership of Dagur the Deranged. Luckily for her the assassins helped to fend them back, otherwise the rest of her old clan might have suffered the same fate as Ragnar's old home. It was sad when they realised that they didn't have enough food to survive through the winter, and the choice to set sail wasn't even considered until Johann came around. He led them to berk, where they were saved by the fair and helpful people. "How old were you?" Heather asked as she held of his hands with her own, her other twisting with her hair, for distraction.

"Fourteen winters." Ragnar said softly, thinking back about that faithful day when he lost everything he knew. "My memory is foggy, except for the nightmares, there everything is clear and very much real."

"Okay." Heather said. She still had the imaged of the attack on her village fresh in her memory, since although a winter had passed it still wasn't long ago. She also couldn't think about the idea of herself forgetting those horrible image, but realised that eight years is a lot of time, and although the attacks on their villages could be considered as comparable, they also had a lot of differences.

"Please, continue." Heather said softly, her eyes watery because of the memories.

"They all start the same." Ragnar explained calmly. "I'm in my old house, but I never realise it."

"You don't realise it's your own house?" Heather asked confused.

"Yes." Ragnar confirmed. "It feels familiar, but also strange and foreign, and in the dreams I'm never able to put my finger on it." He shifted his weight, turning towards Heather a bit. "It begins normal, but then, in just a moment, everything turns bad, fires erupt from the walls, flames climb up through the rafters. Everything is just, destroyed."

Heather listened carefully, not saying a word. Ragnar had probably experienced it extra badly because of his young age. The fires would look a lot bigger, a lot larger. "What happens then?" She asked, curiously.

"My dad sends me off, he sends me to the catacombs, to hide." Ragnar explains, but Heather can see how his face changes when he mentions his father.

"What does your father look like?" She asked, expecting to bring up some good memories of his childhood.

"Dirty hair, cuts everywhere, red soaked clothes, and grey and lifeless eyes." Ragnar summed up, which struck Heather off guard. "He usually looks like that in the dreams too."

"But then, still alive?" Heather asked carefully, resting an arm on his shoulder again, leaning in to offer support.

"Yes." Ragnar said. "He just stares while he's talking, like he's looking right through you."

Heather recognised the description of the dead stare, she had seen it a few times throughout the years. And it was indeed one of the most unsettling thing you could see, especially with people you knew.

Ragnar pushed himself up against Bolt, who gave a soft approving huff. "From there I just run, I run to the catacombs."

"Why?" Heather asked. When her village was attacked everyone was urged to head to the hall, since it was relatively easy to defend and it served as a good base to coordinate the defence.

"He must have realised that we weren't winning." Ragnar said softly. "Raiders often don't check burial sites. It was a good place to hide and wait during the attack."

"Were you the only one to hide there?" Heather asked, carefully reading Ragnar's body language to assess if he needed support.

"My mom hid there too." He explained calmly. "I don't think anyone else made it in."

"And what happens when you arrive?" Heather asked. "At the catacombs."

"I walk down the stairs." Ragnar said slowly. "But they never end."

"What do you mean?" Heather asked curiously.

"I become trapped." Ragnar explains. "I'm in the middle of an endless staircase. But then everything shifts, walls converge and the stairs disappear."

"What happens?" Heather asked as she scooted closer to him.

"I'm locked." Ragnar began, his breath becoming more and more ragged and uncontrolled. "Locked in a small cell. I can barely stand, let alone lie down."

Heather knew where this was going, and although she wanted to spare him from reliving the horrible memory and relieve herself of hearing the stories, she kept silent.

"It was in Roma, the town I told about." Ragnar explained. During the calm winter months he and Hiccup were often approached for their stories about the far south. And he had told many stories about the large city of Roma. "I was captured after an ambush."

Heather calmly wrapped her arms around him, feeling like the support was very welcome.

"They got one other of us." Ragnar explained. "Some young kid, I don't remember his name." Ragnar closed his eyes, thinking back at the time he had spent in the cold and dark cells.

"What happened to him?" Heather asked carefully, fearing for the fate of the unknown assassin.

"I remember how they dragged his lifeless body past my cell." Ragnar explained. "Like they wanted me to know it."

"And the scars?" Heather asked. "Did you get them there?"

"A lot of them, yes." Ragnar answered. "The physical ones aren't too bad, it's the others which really get you."

"What else do you remember?" She asked, holding his hands with both of hers. He shot her a weak smile, thanking her for sparing him from reliving that memory. "From your village." She rested a hand on his back, and the head from the palm of her hand slowly flowed through the rest of his body, somehow relaxing him.

"These." Ragnar said as he grabbed a knife. It had a really short curved blade, which was about the length of a toothpick. It was used for carving wood, and belonged to Ragnar's father. He gave it to Heather, who carefully held it in her open hand, treating it like it was a delicate piece of artwork. He then reached in his robes, lifting a small shiny chain over his head and carefully laying it down in his hand.

It was a necklace, made of some kind of grey metal. On it hung a small locket, cast from beautiful silver with carefully made golden decorations on it. It was a beautiful piece of jewellery, and must have cost a fortune to make.

"That one's my father's." Ragnar said as he pointed at the plain and simple carving knife. "I always had been interested in his tools, but I was never allowed to touch them."

"And the locket?" Heather asked, carefully handing the carving knife back to allow Ragnar to hand the necklace to her. "Your mom's?"

"Indeed." Ragnar answered and he opened the locket as it lay in Heather's hands. Inside the piece of jewellery was a clear and perfectly cut emerald, which was safely embedded in a dark wooden base. "It has been in the family for quite some generations."

"It's beautiful." Heather muttered as she carefully handed it back to Ragnar, who calmly closed it before sliding it back around his neck. "Did you ever find your mom, in the catacombs?"

Ragnar seemed distracted, at first he reacted with a soft "Hmm?" But he quickly answered the question. "Yea, sure."

"What did she say?" Heather asked, feeling like she was threading on dangerous ground. She felt like she was walking on ice, and that a wrong step would cause the solid ground underneath her to shatter, sinking her into ice cold water.

"Not too much." Ragnar said softly, taking a deep breath before continuing. "She was dying."

"Oh," Heather said, shocked by the sudden turn. "I'm sorry."

"Doesn't matter." Ragnar reassured her, this time he was the one to wrap his arm around the other. "I'm glad I got to speak with her."

"What, erm, what did she say?" Heather carefully asked, still curious.

"She told me she was proud." Ragnar said, a sad smile appearing on his face. "She said she was proud of me, and that she knew that I would become a strong and good man."

"She didn't lie." Heather said softly. "She was right."

"She never lied." Ragnar said, a proud smile now forming on his face. "She'd always kept her word."

Heather could feel like there was more to that statement, so she decided to ask further. "What do you mean?"

"She always told me one thing." Ragnar began calmly. "That if she had to choose between living and breathing, she'd use her last breath to say 'I love you'."

"Aah," Heather softly said, it was a really cute thing to say. Only later did she realise that the message held the last words of Ragnar's mom, and that the 'cute' sentence held a deeper meaning to him than just sounding sweet.

"And so she did." Ragnar finished, staring at the sky in front of him. Heather sat silently next to him, not knowing what to say. So instead of saying anything, she gave him a gentle kiss on the side of his head while she gently patted his back. It wasn't passionate or filled with the usual amount of love. It was supportive. Showing him that she care for him, that she'd look after him, and most of all, that she supported him.

Ragnar however turned in, kissed her back, earning a happy moan from her. He was done talking, and now he was hoping to spend his time with her differently, and she was more than willing to accommodate. He held her hand tightly, wishing to never let it go again, his other hand wrapped around her possessively. They both closed their eyes in enjoyment as their lips glided against each other. Her hands went from his back to play with his hair. The dragons quickly took note of the changing situation, and they gave a warning rumble. They knew they were done talking, and they wouldn't serve as their personal privacy wall whenever they decided to have one of their little make-out sessions.

They couldn't help it, certain emotions lie close together. And it's easy for the brain to try to swap to something else when it doesn't want to continue. Heather felt a tingling feeling shoot through her body. It was these moments that she loved the most, when she was alone with her assassin. She closed her eyes, and softly let herself lean against him. She felt all the pain and other emotions leave her body, only leaving room for the joy and calmness that filled her whenever they had these moments. The moments where the whole world could crumble, fall into oblivion and be damned for all they cared.

Bolt was the second to stand up, which caused the two to fall over onto the warmed stones where the dragon lay. The two softly landed, but both erupted in a fit of giggles. They didn't last long enough for them to forget to continue their previous task though.

The forge was filled with sounds again, Gobber was calmly working on the blade of a scythe, which had broken when a farmer hadn't noticed the rock that lay in the field. The old blade had shattered, since it had endured the winter outside, and had suffered from the weather.

He had quickly made a new blade, but he still had to make it smooth and sturdy, and he also had to sharpen it. If he did his job well the job of a farmer would become easier, which meant that everyone was happy. So he always strived to make equipment as good as possible.

Except for Mildew's.

Hiccup was in his room, which was evident since Toothless tried to join him. The forge wasn't made for the Nightfury though, and Gobber would occasionally have to watch out for the large tail and body of the Nightfury that was occupying the inside of the forge, since only his head and a little bit of his body fitted into the small room.

He winced as he heard something break inside, Hiccup groaning loudly. He sighted and turned to the door through which the Nightfury was trying to go through, which was now struggling and panicking to go out, but stopped when he realised that it also didn't work. "I didn't keep that room safe and untouched for five years just so you could destroy it!" He yelled as he hung his hammer on the wall and took a pair of tongues.

"Sorry." Gobber heard from the small chamber in the back. The voice muffled, he heard the soft rumble of the dragon as it tried to push itself further into the room. "Toothless though he could use the table to pull himself in."

"The table is fixed to the wall." Gobber said confused. Scratching his head, trying to imagine how the dragon would try to grab the leg of the table with his paws and pull himself further.

"Not anymore." Hiccup said from inside, calmly picking up the stuff that was previously lying on the table. He was trying to put the second one of the new lenses into the dragon eye, but Toothless had interrupted him. The large beast had indeed seen the leg of the table as a good way to pull himself further into the room, since he was convinced that he could fit inside.

Hiccup sighed as he picked up the lens, checking if it was still in one piece. Luckily it was, so he carefully inserted it into the spherical container that was the dragon eye. Now it was good that Toothless was here, since he could provide the soft burning flame that allowed him to see the image that was created by the lenses.

He carefully rotated the lenses, trying to get the right combination. It only took a few tries to get it right, and it quickly produced a blurry and unclear image on the wooden wall next to him.

He squinted his eyes at it, blowing the candle next to him out to let the image be cleared. Toothless effectively sealed the door, so the only light in the room was the small bit that came through creaks in the wood. Apart from that, it was dark.

The image was still unusable. Since it was too unclear and parts of it were missing. They'd probably need a third lens, and he guessed it was somewhere near that last location. He quickly stuffed the dragon eye back into Toothless' satchel, the first one, since that was the only one that was accessible. It was only then that he heard someone calling his name from outside.

"Hiccup?" He heard a feminine voice ask, a voice he recognised anywhere. "Are you in there?"

"Yea, I'm here." Hiccup yelled from the room as he climbed on top of Toothless to peak through a small hole that he had left uncovered in the doorframe, the large beast grunting in disagreement.

Astrid had to keep a laugh back when she saw Hiccup's head appear in the corner of the doorframe. Toothless was actively trying to back up from the room, but without a proper sight behind him he was bumping into a pillar and wasn't able to navigate his way around it.

"Anyway." Astrid said as she saw the tail of the dragon sweep through the smithy, knocking a few handles of a table. "I came here to challenge you."

"Challenge?" Hiccup asked confused, trying to get a good look at Astrid. "I'm kind of busy."

"Do you forfeit the challenge?" Astrid asked with a teasing tone, knowing that even Hiccup liked winning. Especially since he had beaten her at everything so far. "Easy win for me."

"I didn't say that." Hiccup yelled from inside the room. "I'm just a bit trapped."

"I noticed." Astrid said. An idea popping into her head. "He did get chubby."

"I never said that!" Hiccup wanted to cry out, but the dragon had heard it too. At first it had raided his head in surprise to the statement, which made him hit his head on the ceiling. This wouldn't be anyone's problem as long as Hiccup wasn't also on top of him.

Astrid was unable to supress her laughs as she started to hear the chaos that ensued inside the room. It was a mixture of annoyed and angry growls and soft pats, which were probably Toothless swatting Hiccup across the back of his head. It was mixed with the pleading sound of Hiccup convincing Toothless that he never said that.

After a while it grew silent again, but it was broken by the soft sound of Toothless licking something, accompanied by Hiccup's sighs. Astrid walked towards the dragon, gently guiding the back past the thick wooden pillar and allowing the dragon to leave the room. Overjoyed that it had been freed, the dragon quickly jumped around the roomy interior of the forge, jumping on the rafters and on a few tables before disappearing outside. Astrid calmly watched him run out.

"Mature." She heard an annoyed voice behind her, and she quickly turned around to face Hiccup. His chest was covered in a slimy, shiny liquid, probably dragon saliva. She managed to suppress another laugh when he calmly walked towards a piece of cloth and whipped the substance from his armour. "Never do that again." He said sternly. "He's very sensitive about his body."

"Sure he is." Astrid said, remembering how the dragon had once eaten the entire feeding bowl empty, before dragging every nearby town member towards it to show them that it needed to be filled.

"Who am I kidding?" Hiccup sighs as he removed the last of the saliva, the dirty piece of cloth was tossed underneath a table, Gobber would clean it someday. "He's just looking for excuses to annoy me."

"Looks like you trained the wrong dragon." Astrid said jokingly.

"Yea." Hiccup responded as he watched out of the window. His fearsome dragon was being scratched by some children, and he was lying on the ground in a state of ecstasy. He turned back to Astrid. "So, a challenge?"

"We're sparring again." Astrid stated matter-of-factly. "Whether you like it or not."

"And what it I refuse?" Hiccup asked calmly, not really feeling in for a spar, but already realising that there wasn't an easy way out of this.

"Then I win now instead of later today." Astrid said with a smile, as she headed towards the door.

"We'll see about that." Hiccup said as he grabbed his sword from a table and headed towards the door, following Astrid to the arena.

Several people had come to watch the fight, they hadn't had a competition or a friendly spar since the end of the winter, and they were interested in a rematch between the assassin and Berk's finest warrior. It wasn't much, mainly the riders, some friends and family, and a few random villagers who had nothing better to do. The crowd didn't even cover the entire rim of the arena, but that didn't matter.

Gobber was there as judge, and would say what was allowed and what wasn't. It was a pretty straight forward fight. No bows or other ranged weapons, which would be stupid anyway given the small confinement of the arena. The contestants weren't allowed to leave the arena while the fight was still going and the crowd wasn't allowed to enter. He finished with telling the two young adults not to hurt each other too bad, before wishing both of them good luck.

They stood on either side of the arena. Astrid holding her axe in one hand, flexing the fingers of her other hand, her palm leaning on the hilt of a sword that she had strapped to her side. She usually didn't take a sword with her, since she preferred her axe. But her axe wouldn't do any good in blocking or parrying the quick strikes that Hiccup was capable of delivering. She had a grin on her face, knowing that she had a secret weapon, but she'd have to find a good moment to use it.

Hiccup stood in front of her, calmly checking the straps on his armour. He wanted to make sure that everything was still in perfect working order, since a fault in one's attire could ruin a fight. If a strap was able to get caught by a blade or something like that it could get loose, which would not only ruin its protection but also make it difficult to move in. After he was content with his armour he took a confident but relaxed stance. He had a small grin on his face, he loved battle, and sparring had the advantage that he wouldn't have to kill anyone. It was a relaxed and fun way to practice and match skills with other people.

"Both of you ready?" Gobber asked calmly, looking down on the two with a grin, he was getting a show, that was for sure.

Hiccup took a firm stance, the calm grin on his face turning to a more confident one, almost cocky. He slowly pulled his hood over his head, the shadow that it created masking most of his face, only the lowest part of his chin visible in the shadows of the arena. The crowd had fallen silent. It was a scary sight. The boy suddenly transformed into a totally different person. He wasn't the Hiccup they knew and loved, now he was a deadly Assassin. "Ready." He said softly, loud enough for the crowd and Gobber to just hear it.

Astrid swallowed softly, she had to admit that the sight of Hiccup in his full armour both amazed her and startled her, since it truly matched his way of fighting. It was foreign and complex. She felt like she could match him though, and with a little trick, even beat him. "I'm ready." She said confident, grabbing her axe with two hands. With a bit of luck she'd be able to make a quick first strike and afterwards start playing defensive.

Fighting was a very interesting thing to observe, it could be compared to meeting someone and having them in your life, but in a shorter and more action packed moment. It all starts with a first impression, does someone attack powerfully, which forced you to block with all your might. Or will someone use quick and small attacks that require deep concentration and quick thinking to parry. Astrid knew this, and she also knew how to use this in her own favour. They first calmly circled, but she quickly attacked, her axe held back and running at Hiccup, shouting a powerful war-cry.

It was futile, she knew that. The simple and straight-forward attack was easily blocked by Hiccup. However, because of the sheer power of Astrid's attack he did stumble back a bit. Luckily he quickly regained himself in time for Astrid's second attack. It was another powerful but expectable attack.

He extended Inferno, hooking it behind the head of the axe, giving it just a little bit of extra pull to successfully pull the weapon out of Astrid's grasp. Exactly as expected by the blond warrior.

Hiccup stayed calm as Astrid quickly rolled away from one of his attacks. He had disarmed her of her main weapon, the one with which she was most skilled. This was an advantage on one hand, but a disadvantage on the other. He knew Astrid was also skilled with a sword, and basically every other weapon that she could find. And the axe was a lot heavier and easier to predict and defend against.

However, he still made sure that he was between her axe and her. He had seen the way she looked at it as it lay behind him on the ground, and he was certain that she was going to try to grab her weapon again. The crowd was cheering heavily in the meanwhile. Some cheered for Hiccup, while others cheered for Astrid, giving her useless advice and dumb hints.

Astrid almost had trouble hiding her smirk, everything went as planned. Hiccup had staggered during his first block, which meant that her attack had definitely left an impression. This had left a though, an expectation. Usually, the first impression dictated further battle, if you knew that your attacked only blocked, waiting for a perfect parry, than you could use that against him or her. And if you knew that your attacker was used to striking with power with a heavy weapon, you could guess that they would try to regain the heavy weapon they usually carry if they lost it.

This was Hiccup's guess for the fight. Astrid was bound to try to grab her axe again, it would be the perfect weapon to perform attacks which were powerful enough to force him to dodge, since blocked would be difficult. Especially since inferno didn't consist of one blade, instead multiple sliding parts, which meant that it could shatter if it received a wrong hit.

He saw Astrid standing with her sword, holding it with both hands to have more control of the weapons. Her stance was defensive, which wasn't surprising. A sword enough to block most of his attacks, and he'd probably have to wait for a good parry if he wanted to strike. But since it wasn't her weapon of choice she'd play more defensively.

It all made so much sense, almost too much. Astrid would be defending, trying to find an opening to make a run for her axe. This left Hiccup in a position that he didn't like, but also didn't mind. He'd be the one to attack, forcing her back with his attacks. Although a sword wasn't bad for that, it wasn't perfect. He'd be best if he could attack with his hidden blades, but those only worked properly if he was able to parry an attack and create an opening in an enemies defence to attack or if the enemy wasn't expecting an attack.

She stared into his eyes, watching him think as she slowly tried to make her way to the axe. She didn't need it for her plan to work, but she needed to keep up the act. Hiccup saw her step, and quickly reacted. A quick swipe with inferno, which forced Astrid to take a quick jump backwards.

This way the fight would last for ever, and Hiccup knew it. He wasn't looking forward to a fight that would consume his entire evening. He carefully observed Astrid, having trouble keeping focussed on the actual fight. It was a lot easier when an opponent didn't look so, interesting, during a fight.

He'd have to disarm her, since it was difficult to force her to surrender under other circumstances, and he knew Astrid would only give up if she really had no other choice. One way to ensure that was to rid her of any means of fighting and defending herself. Her axe wasn't the best at defending, but she was able to keep opponents at a distance and attack herself. The sword was good defence, but wasn't her preferred weapon. She probably also had a dagger with her somewhere, but that wouldn't be able to defend against Hiccup's sword, and she wouldn't have the reach to attack him.

So it was settled, he only needed to take the sword away from her and he'd be golden. But that would prove tricky. A sword didn't have many areas where he would be able to take it without possibly injuring Astrid. He could hook his sword behind the head of the axe, which kept her safely away from the sharp edge that it had. But the only area he could hook behind now was the guard from her hand, and that was just too close.

He'd have to do it himself, get in close, grab the handle, and rip it out of her grasp. But that would only work if he managed to surprise her, otherwise her grip would be too strong. He'd have to make her feel like she was winning again, like she had the upper hand. That would allow her to relax, and would allow him to safely grab the sword.

A parry would do that, but not one of his, one of hers. The parry would be dangerous though, since he'd have to allow her to parry without arousing any suspicion. She'd have to take the bait, trying to strike against him, which was definitely dangerous with a skilled and experienced opponent like Astrid. The opportunity had to be too good to let go though, since she would have to be tempted to take it instead of making a run for her axe.

It was a dangerous gamble, but he had to act fast. Astrid's defence was strong and she was slowly but surely driving him closer and closer to the place where her axe lay, just a few steps behind him. He'd have to make a move before she did, since that would probably lead to her getting her axe back, which would start the battle all over again.

He attacked, a quick strike from above. As expected, Astrid didn't block the attack, instead parrying to be able to strike back. She intercepted his blade with her own, the sparks that care from the metal hitting metal igniting Inferno, but she didn't let that distract her. She used the momentum from Hiccup's attack to guide the blade off its meant trajectory, sending it downwards to her right. This left Hiccup defenceless, and she knew that he wouldn't do this unless he had something planned. However, she didn't doubt, not even for a second. She acted fast, but instead of attacking with her sword, like Hiccup had expected. She quickly stepped in. The boy, surprised by the unexpected movement stepped back, but Astrid's warrior reflexes were too fast.

She quickly wrapped one arm around his back, her other dropping the sword and grabbing the strap that went from his left shoulder across his chest. The crowd was shocked, this was a bold thing to do and it could end very badly for her.

Hiccup however, was shocked. He had a lot of experience with fighting, but he couldn't anticipate what Astrid was planning, he tried to push her back, hoping to regain his stance and continue the fight. However, his arms felt lifeless and limb when she did something that he would never expect nor dare to dream about.

She leaned in, standing on her toes to reach the taller assassin, and she kissed him.

AN:

HAHHAHAHHAA

Honestly waiting for someone to throw a brick through my window with a note on it stating that I need to stop pulling these stunts. Or finding a note stapled to my front door with a knife.

Anyway, that's stuff for another day. It's currently midnight and I need to start tomorrow early.

Like really early.

Really really early.

I shouldn't be awake right now.

So I'll make this quick. Don't forget to vote for the next story that will arrive once I finally finish TTTS. If anyone is willing to help by the way, please do, kind of stuck on that one. Review if you want to, it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

It's actually really awesome, and I don't thank you guys and girls enough for it.

So yea, thank you!

I'll try to update next week, so you don't have to chew on the cliffy for two full weeks, but I don't think I'll be able to make that.

Sorry that it's a bit short, I wanted to get it out somewhere around last weekend, but I have a busy schedule.

Anyway! Take Care!

- R4y