I was given the idea for this chapter by 'Roses and Lilies' author 'P-Artsypants'.

Months had passed since the Blue Death joined them on Berk, and to be honest it wasn't as bad as everyone thought it was. She mainly stayed with Caverna and Snowcap, and Snowcap helped her to build her nest for her eggs. Sapphire and Snowcap had made a rather strong bond, much like Caverna and Astrid had, and it made everyone smile to watch a dragon almost as big as a house and a dragon that was smaller than a ship, mess around, pawing at each other and obviously trading secrets. However, once her babies had left the nest, it was time for Sapphire to leave, but she didn't go far, Caverna brought her to an island near Berk, where she was able to live with other dragons in peace and tranquillity. But Snowcap was still a frequent visitor. Soon the time came for Toothless and Snowcap to build their own nest, it was near the date for Snowcap to lay her own eggs and Toothless was being the overbearing protective mate and soon to be father. In fact that morning, Snowcap was almost going to strangle him. They were in the stables outside of the Haddock house, where they had built their nest out of any soft materials that they could find.

"Snowcap, are you alright?" Toothless asked her for what felt like the millionth time that morning as he brought her fish.

Snowcap looked at her mate from where she had been lying down next to their nest, cleaning her claws and she sighed. "Toothless, will you calm down, I'm fine." She didn't complain about the fish, she had understood what the smaller human with the staff had told her rider about keeping Snowcap's strength up.

"I'm just worried, this is our first time and I want to make sure that you're okay." He told her, walking over to lie beside her.

Snowcap sighed, she could never stay mad at Toothless for long, and she nuzzled him to try and put him at rest. "I'll, be, fine."

That seemed to put his mind at rest and he even went off on a flight with Hiccup after giving Caverna a long stare until she promised to look after his mate.

When he came back, there were a few noises from the stables, and Toothless recognised the squawk of encouragement that came from a certain Nadder and that was when he noticed Caverna and Astrid sat outside. At seeing them, he ran inside, so fast that Hiccup was thrown off and he landed on the ground to the laughter of his girlfriend and sister. When he got inside, he found Stormfly encouraging his mate as she started to lay her eggs.

"Is everything going okay?" Toothless asked Stormfly who looked down at her friend and noticed the worry in his eyes.

"Yes Toothy, everything's going fine." She pushed him over with her beak to his mate as she delivered all of their eggs and they shared a loving nuzzle.

"I'm so proud of you." Toothless told her, and she gave him a toothless smile, before the new parents looked proudly at their clutch of eggs. They seemed to be so mesmerised by the eggs, that neither of the Night Furies noticed Stormfly leave the stables.

Upon seeing Stormfly leave the stables, the humans stood, Astrid walking over to her dragon and rubbing her nose.

"Good girl Stormfly."

The dragon gave a happy squawk before she trotted away towards where there was a basket of fish waiting. At seeing that all the dragons were busy, Hiccup, Astrid and Caverna walked down into the village. They soon found themselves in the forge and they watched Hiccup start to work on some things that Gobber had left him, whilst Caverna and Astrid sat on top of a table on the far side of the forge. They stayed in silence for a while, Astrid and Hiccup sharing lustful glances at each other, though they tried not to make it noticeable to Caverna, she noticed.

"You know, you could cut the sexual tension between you two with a knife." Caverna spoke up as she ate an apple that had been in her bag. She noticed the blush that spread across both of their faces and she smiled in triumph.

"Well, you two are boring me, so I'm going to go and find Fishlegs." She told them, sliding off the table and walking out of the forge.

When she was gone, Hiccup looked at Astrid. "Well...Um..."

Astrid just simply started to laugh, before she walked over to him and she slid her arms around him, kissing him deeply. "She's right though."

He gave her a smile. "Yeah she is, but unfortunately we aren't as lucky as she is."

"What do you mean?" Astrid asked, looking at him.

"Well, we can't help our 'sexual tension' because we know what the consequences would be, and I personally don't feel ready to be a father." He told her. "But Caverna has been proven barren; she doesn't have to worry about the consequences."

"That's not her choice Hiccup." Astrid told him, she suddenly felt angry that anyone would consider her best friend lucky that she wasn't able to provide heirs.

"I know that." Hiccup told her.

"And anyway Hiccup, you of all people should know the shame that will come to her because of it." Astrid told him, hitting his chest. "She can never marry; she could possibly be disowned by your father." She hit him again. "I can't believe you think she's lucky, her life is ruined!" She suddenly shouted, before he turned on her heel and left him standing there, looking slightly dumbstruck at his girlfriend's sudden explosion of anger.

Meanwhile, Caverna wasn't even acknowledging the difficulties that she was going to have late on in life and she was happily walking through the village looking for any sign of Fishlegs. She eventually found him in the training arena and she smiled to herself before she went to join him.

"Hello."

At hearing her voice, Fishlegs almost jumped out of his skin and he spun around to look at her. "Oh my gods, Caverna, don't do that!"

She giggled, walking to him and wrapping her arms around as much of him as she could as Dragons that was on his lap.

"I'm just writing up some more notes on the eating habits of Gronkles and Zipplebacks, nothing that would really interest you." Fishlegs told her.

"Sure it would." She told him, moving to sit beside him, but she took she book from him and put it to the side, before she moved to kneel in front of him. "I've got something to ask you."

"What is it?" He asked her, suddenly blushing furiously as he knelt in front of him, not quite but almost straddling his waist.

"When do I get to meet your parents?" She asked him.

"Oh...Um...Whenever you want to." Fishlegs told her.

"Well, can we go now?" She asked him. "You know, get it over and done with?"

Fishlegs thought about it before he nodded. "Alright, let's go." He let her stand first and when she held out her hand, he took it, pulling himself to his feet.

They started the walk back towards Fishleg's home together, since it was only a short distance, Fishlegs didn't want to bother Meatlug too much. They walked in a comfortable silence, holding hands with Meatlug nudging both of them in turn as they walked.

Caverna smiled at the dragon, using her free hand to rub her head as they walked, and they eventually made it to Fishleg's house, she suddenly became nervous.

"You don't have to meet them today you know." Fishlegs told her.

"If I don't do it now, I never will." She told him.

Fishlegs nodded in understanding and he pushed the door to his home open, walking inside with her.

The inside of the Ingerman house was warm and inviting, with a large wooden fire and large chairs surrounding it. There was a stair case to her left, and a fireplace with a pot hanging above it to her right and a table and chairs behind it.

"Wow, Fishlegs your house looks amazing." Caverna told him.

"Thanks." He told her with a blush as he looked at her. "Mom, dad, I've got someone that I want you to meet." He called into the house and there was a noise upstairs before a woman came down them. She was blonde like Fishlegs and also carried the body of a Viking warrior woman big and fearless, yet her face was soft as she saw Caverna and her son, and she noticed how they held hands with each other.

"There you are darling; I was beginning to wonder where you had gone." The woman smiled. "Hello Caverna, dear." She bowed her head in respect to the chief's daughter.

"Hello Mrs Ingerman." Caverna smiled, bowing her own head in respect to the woman.

"What can I do for you?" Mrs Ingerman asked her son.

"Well...Um...I came to introduce Caverna to you..."

"I already know her Fishlegs, what's different now?" She pretended that she hadn't notice them holding hands.

"Well, Caverna is my girlfriend now mom, and I thought you might want to know her as more than the Chief's daughter."

The woman smiled. "Excellent, well congratulations the pair of you." She smiled. "So, I assume that we will have the chief over to our home soon enough to arrange the marriage contract?"

"No." Caverna suddenly spoke, suddenly realising that no one knew the trouble she would have with marriage and she calmed herself quickly. "Sorry, um, no, the relationship is in its early days yet, it's best to wait."

The woman didn't think anything of it and they remained at the house for a bit longer, during this time, Caverna ate with Fishlegs and his family and got to meet his father, who admired her many weapons.

When it eventually grew dark, Caverna was stood outside of Fishlegs' home and she was almost done convincing him that she could walk home alone.

"Fishlegs, I will be fine, it's not that far, and anyway the lanterns are still lit."

Fishlegs eventually relented, her knew how much of a fighter she was and between her and Astrid, they were the safest women to be walking around Berk in the dark.

"Alright, but be careful."

"I will be." She told him, kissing his lips before she started to walk away, but she turned to look at him. "Don't forget dragon training tomorrow morning, don't be late...I love you."

With that as her farewell, she headed out into the darkness. Her walk home was quiet and uneventful, everyone was asleep, or so she thought. Upon reaching the front door of her home, she found Astrid sat on the step, she was almost statue still, staring into space and Caverna noticed bruising on her face and arms, she was also shivering.

"Astrid?"

At hearing her name, Astrid looked up and Caverna noticed how pale and distant she still looked.

"I came to you, because you would know what to do." She told her quietly.

Caverna raised an eyebrow, before she brushed her brunette hair out of her face and sat next to her. "Astrid, what's happened?"

Astrid looked at her and suddenly started sobbing, and she tensed at feeling Caverna pull her close and Astrid rested her head on her best friend's lap. As Astrid cried, she heard the faint recognition of a lullaby, and she realised that Caverna was doing it to soothe her. After a while, the never ending lullaby helped and Astrid began to tell her story.

After walking out on Hiccup, Astrid went home to fetch her axe, a few good axe throws always calmed her down when she was in a mood like this. And that was exactly what happened. She grew tired as it became dark and she found herself sitting on a fallen down tree, and she thought back to why she and Hiccup had been arguing. She immediately felt guilty, after all she had just bitten her boyfriend's head off for sharing his opinion on his sister's condition, and she didn't know why. It wasn't the time of the month for her, but she put it down to the stress that her parents had put her under with asking her to find a husband. Of course, she hadn't told Hiccup about that. She sighed to herself as she looked up towards the setting sun.

"I'm going to go and apologise to him." She told herself, and she pushed herself up to stand, and gripped her axe, starting the walk home.

Halfway through the forest, she suddenly stopped, she heard heavy footsteps behind her and she brandished her sword with two hands, but that did no good when it was suddenly thrown from her hands and strong hands grabbed her, pinning her to a nearby tree. Astrid struggled to no end, but this person was strong, she tried screaming but they covered her mouth pretty quickly. She kept struggling as she felt her attacker start to remove her skirt and pull down her leggings and panties. Her heart hammered in her chest as she realised what was going to happen and she closed her eyes, trying to block out the sudden pain as her attacker pushed himself inside her. When it was over, he let her fall to the floor, a sobbing mess as he fixed his clothes and walked away, yet she managed to get a close look at his face and she recognised him in the moonlight – Eridor!

When she finished describing what happened, Astrid tensed as she felt Caverna go silent and just as still as she was. Despite how still she was on the outside, inside Caverna was furious. Eridor used to be her brother, he was there for her when she went through it and now here he was, doing the same thing to other people, people who Caverna thought of as family, and the mere thought of it made her want to scream and rip Eridor into tiny pieces and bury him in all four corners of the world. Yet, one look of the fear in Astrid's eyes, she pushed her anger away, only wanting to comfort her best friend. Almost immediately after she calmed down, Caverna was on her feet, gently helping Astrid to hers.

"Where are we going?" Astrid asked confused.

"We are going to see Gothi to get you checked out." Caverna told her.

Astrid simply froze and gave her a worried look, effusing to even budge an inch now that Caverna mentioned letting people know. Caverna just sighed and decided to give her a simple truth.

"Astrid, if you don't get checked out now, and he's damaged you, then you could end up like me." She told her.

Astrid looked torn, Caverna could see it, she was ashamed and scared by what had happened, and Caverna herself knew full well what would happen now that she was seen as 'damaged goods'. She would have to talk t her father about this and it would have to be soon she promised herself as she led the other Viking round to the stables where she put the top of her flight suit over Astrid's shoulders to keep out the nightly chill and she walked inside the stable to get Snowcap.

She found her dragon curled up around one side of her nest, with Toothless on the other side; they were both sleeping peacefully until they heard the door open and they saw Caverna walk towards them.

"Sorry to wake you two, but I need to borrow Snowcap for a few minutes, it's urgent." She whispered.

Both of the dragons noticed the tight tone in her voice, and they nuzzled her hoping she would tell them what happened, but she didn't and they resigned themselves to waiting as Snowcap got up. Before she left, she walked to Toothless and nuzzled him.

"Look after them; I'll be back in a few." She told him.

"We'll all be fine, hurry back, but be careful." He told her as he watched her leave with her rider.

Snowcap looked at Astrid as Caverna walked over to her, and she sensed something different about the female Viking, and it didn't take long to recognise her strange scent. Her rider bore the same scent, the day she was attacked and had carried part of it with her ever since this caused Snowcap to rub her head against the blonde rider in sorrow and hopefully comfort to her; she knew she was scared her rider had been the same. She noticed how the blonde shirked away, or at least tried to, but this just made her even more determined to soothe her and it did after a few minutes, then her rider got onto her back and the blonde got on behind her. At hearing her rider's whistle, she shot into the air, heading towards the house that stood away from the village.

When they landed, Caverna told Snowcap to wait outside and the dragon nodded, lying down, her paws folded in front of her. Caverna all but hammered on the door of the small hut, and after a few minutes a very irritated looking Gothi was stood there, yet when Caverna showed her Astrid, Gothi brought them inside at once. Having them sit down, she listened as Astrid told her what had happened to her, and Caverna stayed silent, observing one of her knives as Gothi gave Astrid some tea to stop her from getting pregnant and examined her to make sure that she wouldn't end up like Caverna had. After being told that she wasn't damaged, Astrid burst into tears again; though this time they were out of relief. Yet when he eventually stopped crying, she found Caverna standing there awkwardly with Gothi, and it dawned on Astrid that Caverna never cried, never severely lost it or even let on any emotion, and that in itself make Astrid promise herself that he was going to give Cavern some time to actually e emotional, and not hide anything, they were equal now though not fully, but they were equal. The two girls eventually headed back to Caverna's house and they got into her room through her bedroom window but it made Astrid freeze as she realised that her attacker was down the hall, since s a guest was here, Hiccup had been forced to give up his bed.

"Relax Astrid, he won't hurt you, tomorrow we will get him back and we will make him pay."

She looked over at Caverna who had lit a candle and was pulling out some clothes that Astrid could change into for the night, and Caverna sat on the edge of the bed as Astrid changed clothes. When she was fully changed, Caverna pulled back he blankets and tucked Astrid in, acting like a mother hen as well as her best friend now.

"Get some rest Astrid; I'll see you in the morning."

Astrid nodded, wishing her good night before she closed her eyes and heard Caverna blow out the candle, she knew her friend was thinking things over and she knew that she was going to do something, but Astrid only hoped that she wouldn't regret it.