The rest of the week went by in a blur or excitement and anticipation, Snoggletog was nearly here, and everyone was starting to get excited. Hiccup and Stoick had later explained to Caverna that Snoggletog was an annual holiday where children, lovers, friends, parents and other family members gave gifts to each other. This had set Caverna's mind racing, she wondered what she would give her father on this occasion, since now Stoick had revealed that she was his biological daughter, she wanted to make it special, it was the same situation for Hiccup, and what could she get her now biological brother? It certainly was difficult, and then inspiration struck her as she was working late in the forge. The axe that she had been working on for weeks would be the perfect present for Stoick; he always talked about getting a new hammer. Then she remembered Hiccup's flight suit, she had finished making her own a few nights ago, and had started on cutting the leather to fight his exact measurements, if she finished it in time, it would be the perfect Snoggletog present. It hadn't taken long for her to almost finish Hiccup's suit, but she had to put it on hold as she needed to pack for the residential trip she, Astrid and Hiccup had organised. A she put some things into a sack, she looked up hearing a knock on the door.
"Come in." She called.
At her words, the door opened and a familiar studded skirt could be seen, and she immediately recognised it as Astrid. Who jumped up onto the bed and sat cross-legged in front of her, just waiting whilst she was packing.
When she was finished, Caverna put her bag down on the floor and only then did Astrid notice her leather suit was hung up and Caverna was wearing her tunic and a pair of leggings, her hair wasn't as windswept as it usually was, and she actually looked different.
"Whoa, Caverna, you look different." Astrid told her, causing Caverna to look at her.
"How?" She asked.
"Well, you're hair is actually tidy, and you're not in your suit." Astrid told her.
"Oh, yeah, I haven't been outside yet." Caverna told her. "I've spent all morning up here, getting my things ready." She nodded to the bag.
"Oh...Well, um, how are things with you and Hiccup, you know now you're both actually brother and sister?"
"Things are good, he's been pretty busy at the forge, making and designing stuff, and helping me makes dad's Snoggletog present."
"Oh right, speaking of Snoggletog gifts, what are you giving Hiccup?"
"I'm making him his flight suit, he was going to do it, but then we realised that I was the best at sewing, and I had already made many for myself." She shrugged. "What about you?"
"I have no idea...What does he like?"
"Drawing...Actually he's running out of ink, if you want, once this week is over, if your trading friend isn't here, then I will fly you out to where we can get some special squid ink." Caverna told her.
Astrid smiled. "That would be wonderful." The two stayed there throughout the rest of the day, talking and panning what they were going to get their loved ones for Snoggletog, and they both wound up being pretty excited by the time Hiccup and Stoick came back.
The next day, they all set out for their residential lesson, Hiccup and Caverna had spent most of the evening and night choosing what they felt was the perfect location. In the end, they settled on an island which was a few hours flight from Berk, it was rich in vegetation, water and rogue dragons. The perfect environment for their training, and when they landed they decided to split into groups.
"Alright, the rules are that you can only use your dragons as a defence against rogue dragons, but you need to get you supplies yourselves." Astrid explained.
"Now, we will all be going off in groups, Ruffnut and Tuffnut will go North, Astrid and I will go West and Snotlout, Fishlegs and Caverna will go East." Hiccup explained. "We will all meet up at the end of the week in the air back here."
At everyone's agreement, Astrid and Hiccup went their way accompanied by Stormfly and Toothless, Ruffnut and Tuffnut went their way accompanied by Barf and Belch and finally, Caverna, Fishlegs and Snotlout went in their direction, accompanied by their dragons: Meatlug, Snowcap and Hookfang. Trying to separate Toothless and Snowcap proved to be difficult for both Hiccup and Caverna, mainly because the dragons decided to almost stick themselves to each other, but eventually they were free. Snowcap stayed close to her rider as they walked, making sure that neither of the two males who accompanied them were able to get within a few feet of her, mainly because if they did then they risked standing on Snowcap's tail and that wouldn't have ended well for who did.
Meanwhile, Astrid and Hiccup were enjoying their time away with their dragons, and they built their shelter together. While they were being resourceful, Stormfly was trying, and failing to distract Toothless from missing his mate too much and after trying loads of little things to get his attention, she eventually simply pushed him over, causing Toothless to look at her as he lay where he had landed when she pushed him.
"What was that for?" He asked her.
"So you wouldn't act depressed, because you aren't able to see your mate." She squawked at him. "Come on Tooth, she's only going to be away for a week, you can last that long can't you?"
He sighed. "To be honest Storm, I don't think I can."
"What do you mean Toothless?"
"I mean that I worry for her, she could be making our nest soon, I don't want to miss it."
Stormfly was stunned into silence as she let what Toothless had said sink in, he and Snowcap could be parents any day now...That would mean that they had done the deed, they had truly become mates...She suddenly felt so happy for them, so happy that she suddenly tackled the smaller night fury to the floor.
"Oh Toothless, congratulations, I'm sorry happy for you and Snowcap, you'll both make great parents." She gushed.
"Thanks Storm...Now can you let me breathe?" Toothless got out as he struggled to breathe under the weight of the Deadly Nadder.
Hiccup and Astrid watched the two dragons and they both seemed pretty confused, but they let it drop, after all who was ever going to understand the friendship between those two.
Their night was mainly uneventful, with the dragons asleep outside, Hiccup and Astrid lay together in their shelter, his arms around her as her head on his chest.
"How have you been feeling?" Astrid asked him.
"I've been feeling fine Astrid." Hiccup told her and he watched her sit up and looked at him.
"Hiccup you know what I mean, how are you feeling about finding out you and Caverna share the same blood?" She asked again.
"Astrid, I feel fine, yeah I'm sad that mom left before she was born, but I've got her now, I can look after her now, I feel...Strangely older."
Astrid laughed. "That's because you're her big brother, you might only be a little under a year older, but you're still her big brother."
Hiccup smiled. "I know, Astrid, everything is perfect now. The village has accepted dragons and vice versa, whilst I'm actually noticed, and not because I have the best ever girlfriend, the best family, or the best friend..." He nodded outside to his dragon. "But because I actually helped to create the peace in Berk."
Astrid smiled, she always felt very proud of her boyfriend whenever he recognised all of his strengths and accomplishments and she let it show in her wide smile.
"Hiccup, this is all any of us wanted you to feel...When we were younger, I didn't want to treat you like I did, but I felt I had to, my reputation was everything to me." Astrid sighed, looking away from him.
Hiccup saw how upset her past attitude towards him had made her and he sat up, sliding his arms around her from behind, holding her close to him. "Astrid, it's alright, I forgave you and anyway, you're making up for it now." He told her, kissing her hair. "I love you Astrid Hofferson, and no matter what, they is going to stay."
She turned to look at him. "And I love you too, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III." She told him, before they sealed their love with a kiss.
Toothless had watched the whole exchange from where he lay outside of his rider and his mate's shelter, and he let off a sort of sigh and looked up to the sky. It was a clear night, so he was able to see the stars and the moon, and he started to make shapes of them. He worried for his mate and he tried to distract himself instead of going after her, but that provided to be very difficult to do. In the end, he got up and decided that he would just go and check on her, to make sure he wasn't missing anything. Meanwhile, back at the Thorston camp, the twins had built separate shelters with Barf and Belch lying between them at hearing Toothless walk past, the dragon lifted both of it's heads.
"Toothless, what are you doing here?" Barf asked.
"And where are you going?" Belch asked.
"Sshh you two, I'm going to check on Snowcap." Toothless told them.
"Awesome, can we come? We want to see if she's ripped Hookfang's head off yet?" Barf asked him.
Toothless just growled quietly and the Zippleback took this as permission, so they got up as quietly as they could and followed the Night Fury through the trees. Their walk went on forever, and they soon found themselves where the last group had set up camp. He found Caverna curled up under a tree in her leather suit, though she was obviously cold, whilst Fishlegs lay under another tree on one side of her, covered in a blanket and Snotlout was on the other side, covered in what Toothless could see as Caverna's blanket. He wondered why his rider's sibling would give up her blanket, before he decided that Hookfang's rider mustn't have paid attention when he was told to 'pack'. He then looked over to the other side and found the dragons; Meatlug was lying in between Hookfang and Snowcap, acting as a form of shield for Toothless' mate.
However at seeing his mate fast asleep next to the female Gronkle, he decided to walk over, yet he managed to make noise and Hookfang raised his head.
"What are you guys doing?" He asked, and his voice ended up waking Meatlug and Snowcap.
"I came to see Snow, and Barf and Belch simply followed me." Toothless shrugged.
"You know we aren't supposed to see each other until next week." Snowcap told him as she walked over and nuzzled him.
"I know, but I worry about you." Toothless told her as the group of dragons walked away to a lake, which they soon deemed to be safe.
"I know, but you don't have too." Snowcap told him. "If anything was going to happen, I'd make sure you didn't miss it." She promised him.
"What are you two on about?" Meatlug asked as she found some rocks to eat.
"Toothless and I will soon be building a nest." Snowcap told her, and she suddenly found herself pinned to the floor by a very heavy Meatlug and Barf and Belch.
"Ow, um help, I can't breathe." Snow managed to get out which instantly set Toothless into protection mode, and he pulled the dragons off of her.
"Whoa, easy Toothless, we're just having some fun, congratulations to the pair of you."Meatlug told them.
"Yeah, congratulations." Barf said.
"Yeah, you'll both actually be alright parents." Belch told them.
"Thanks." The two night furies chorused, before they nuzzled each other.
"You two had best get back, before our riders wake up." Snowcap told them.
"But Snow..."
"No buts Toothless, we don't need any of us being in trouble." She told him with as she nuzzled him. "So, go back to Hiccup and I'll see you in a week, if anything happens I'll send Meatlug to get you."
"Promise?" Toothless asked.
"I promise." She licked his cheek, and she watched him leave, his tail and ears low and she watched Barf and Belch go with him.
When he was fully out of sight, she move to lie down next to the fire pit the riders had made in order to keep warm, and she let out a soft sigh, lighting it again. At feeling the heat of the fire, Caverna stirred and she sat up looking at the very wide awake dragons.
"You three should be asleep, what's the matter?" She walked over to them, gently touching Snowcap and Meatlug on their heads.
Snowcap and Meatlug simply nuzzled her, or in Meatlug's case, licked her, and Caverna was suddenly pushed towards Fishlegs by Meatlug.
"No way Meatlug." She whispered, but Meatlug kept pushing her and she eventually walked over and nudged him with her foot.
At feeling her nudges, Fishlegs woke up pretty quickly and was surprised to find Caverna there and he sat up slightly. "Yeah?"
"Sorry, I shouldn't have woken you up, but could I possibly share your blanket with you?" She asked him, Snotlout is pretty much stuck in mine." She nodded over to their other friend, who had wrapped the blanket tightly round himself and was snoring loudly.
"Oh um..." Fishlegs suddenly gained a deep red blush to his cheeks.
"You know what, forget I said anything, it was a stupid request, I'm sorry to have mentioned it and woken you up, good night Fishlegs." She moved away from him, closer to the fire, tightening the clasps on her suit to try and keep herself warm.
Fishlegs watched her and his heart saddened, before he got up and caught her as she walked away, and to her surprise he pulled her back to him. "Come on, all we're doing is sharing body heat to keep warm." He told her, watching as she lay beside him and took off the top part of her suit, before she used it as her pillow and she closed her eyes, turned on her side and felt the blanket come over her.
"Thank you, Fishlegs." She mumbled as she quickly fell asleep, bathed in the warmth from him.
"You're welcome, good night Caverna." Fishlegs whispered.
Neither of them woke up until the next morning when Meatlug and Snowcap nuzzled their riders, and Caverna jolted awake at feeling Fishlegs' arm around her and she moved to sit up just as he did.
"Oh, um, sorry." He told her as he realised where his hand had moved to lie on her lap.
"It's um...Fine." She told him, and she saw the smug look on Snowcap's face. "Knock off the look you overgrown lizard, and go and wake Snotlout up, he said that he would get breakfast."
Snowcap nodded and she walked over to Snotlout, standing over him and she suddenly let out a night fury roar, causing the Viking to suddenly jump awake screaming. As Snotlout screamed, Caverna and Fishlegs laughed.
"It's not funny." Snotlout told them, but he ended up laughing too.
"It is." Caverna laughed.
When they had all recovered, Snotlout and Hookfang went to catch some fish for breakfast, whilst Caverna and Fishlegs found some fresh wood for the fire. They were both silent, not daring to speak a word to each other, until Fishlegs cracked under the silence.
"Caverna..."
"Yes Fishlegs?" She turned to look at him.
"I need to tell you something and please promise me that you'll listen." Fishlegs told her as he picked up the firewood that they had gathered.
Caverna hesitated for a few minutes before she looked at him. "Alright Fishlegs, what do you want to tell me?"
Fishlegs just looked at her, and as she turned around to look at him his breath caught in his throat and his mind went blank.
It took him a rather harsh nudge by Meatlug to break the spell that she had over him, and he shook his head to clear it, though by now he noticed that Caverna had gone back to gathering firewood, yet he didn't let that stop him.
"Caverna, I wanted to properly apologise for what I said, about my parents and about how I let their judgement affect our relationship." Fishlegs told her and he noticed that she had frozen and looked at him, so since she wasn't speaking, he decided to continue with his little speech. "I was stupid, to say it, to let it happen and to just let you walk away like that, I should have fought for you, and I will..." He sighed. "But I really do still love you, and you being barren never had an effect on me." He looked at her. "I can understand if you don't feel anything for me, and if you tell me that right now, I will forget this conversation ever happened."
Caverna just looked at him and he suddenly feared that she was going to tell him exactly that, but what she did came at a shock to him. Caverna was known for her forwardness about everything, so really, he shouldn't have been so shocked when she suddenly walked over and kissed him, moving her arms around his neck as she felt his arms encircle her waist. The one who was more surprised was Snotlout, who had come back with a basket full of fish, and ended dropping most of them as he came across the couple.
"Um...Yeah...Um..." Snotlout started but he suddenly felt jealous of Fishlegs. "If he wants to fight for her, then we will." Snotlout thought to himself, before the dragons let out a large roar which made all of the teens look to the sky and what they saw made their hearts hammer in their chests.