A/N: Hello there! This update took longer than expected, not because the chapter was not complete but because I am writing exams now and am hell busy with revision! I'm so sorry! Cannot wait to finally have holidays, even though I am moving into a new apartment and have to buy furniture and yeah...a bit stressed~ But I want to update more regularly!

So thank you very, very much for the reviews, alerts and favourites since the last update, it honours me so much, every word you write makes me smile and I am very proud about how far I have come! So hence, here is the next chapter with some action! The Toothless Dictionary is at the end of this chapter, as per usual. Enjoy~ And don't forget to review at the end, please!

Loss and Gain

He did not know what he would have to expect when they trudged back, rather rushed, to the village's centre and from there on to the beach. He had never attended a mourning before; only viewed a few farewells of soldiers as they left on their trip to Valhalla, rather dryly and done without emotion, on the island of Looting Liars. Seeing as they were a mostly grim set of people who barely had any compassion, these ceremonies, which Hiccup watched, if at all, from a distance, were done hastily and often enough with no tear being shed; not even by a newly-become widow.

Hiccup was glad that up until then he had never been forced to participate much; and even more so, never had to see the loss of his own family occur, for he knew he would never be able to attend it so hard-heartedly. But his only family; at least, the only he had known about until recently, really, was his mother. He doubted anyone would join him for a mourning of a woman that no one believed to exist anymore, anyway; so he could cry on his own, in the company of his dragons. But with the incredible survival skills she possessed, he knew it would never come so far; but here he was, attending the mourning of said woman.

And even more bizarre than watching the chief of Berk hold a traditional speech about Valkyries, Valhalla and Asgard in order to pay respect towards Hiccup's supposedly lost mother, was hearing how he mourned for Hiccup, too. It felt most weird, most inaccurate, hearing a grand, powerful man and his entire folk lament the death of two very alive human beings.

He felt the sudden urge to step forward and tell the truth; that Valka had, by no means, perished yet, and nor had he, as everyone would then see, but of course did he not follow his impulse. It would only end in more tears, and blood, probably.

He listened intently to the most touching speech, observing as all Vikings stood respectfully at a distance to a grand bonfire in the middle of the beach, smoke billowing to the endless sky and drenching the air in a smell of burning wood. It took several moments before the act was to be completed and the people of Berk turned towards the shore, the rush of incoming waves drowning out their sniffling – which mainly came from the elder citizens, for the young knew not whom they were mourning for, as five Vikings, amongst which stood the chief and Gobber, prepared flaming arrows whilst other Vikings prepared fisher boats to be pushed into the waning waters, covered with various sacrifices and goods to be taken along to the afterworld. It was then that Hiccup finally got to understand why many of Berk's carpenters had been too busy these past few weeks as they crafted one specially engraved boat after the other, busy wives collecting various goods and harvest whilst Hiccup had been ordered by Gobber to smith this and that sword, and this and that axe without knowing why, only hearing him blabber something about "a great honour" and so on.

What Hiccup was to discover later, as he watched the boats slowly fluctuating above the ocean, travelling towards the further darkening horizon, was that every harvest season Berk would always hold this mourning, which had up until now happened a total of twenty times, and that Stoick the Vast would always make sure to have returned from whatever journey by then. It was his family, after all, that he was commemorating then.

Hiccup got to see, with great curiosity, as the blistering projectiles were knocked onto bows, a special select of Vikings standing in a row by the water, waiting for the signal as Stoick decided to return to the crowd to fetch a specific someone.

This person turned out to be none other than Astrid. To his, and her, great surprise Stoick had requested her firing one of the arrows meant to set alight the boats. It was a great honour, especially seeing as she had known neither the lost mother nor son, even though, according to her claim, she had been engaged to the latter. Stoick's eyes briefly fell upon Hiccup's visage, who had his heart palpitating in his throat all of a sudden as large green eyes stared back at large green eyes. Yet Stoick said nothing to him; neither did his face change in any form of recognition or the likes. Instead, the chief's tender voice continued to exchange words with Astrid, who, respectfully, agreed to take a bow and shoot, more than touched by this act of trust.

And so he observed, keenly, as she stood there, beautifully pulling the string back and letting the arrow fly in a high arch above the sky, together with the others, hitting the boats which were set aflame immediately and burned their way towards Valhalla in silence.

It was Stoick's final words before the end of the mourning that got Hiccup the most, however. He stood high on the beach, glanced at every man and woman as his voice boomed across the sand, "What does one do when yer can't be with yer loved ones? Yuh celebrate them. Yuh give them tha knowledge that yer thinkin' of them, and fightin' fa their sake."

His tone seemed tear-struck as he stuttered those words with strength and pride. After he had finished, everyone cheered and a party was to be held at the fireplace. Food was grilled, people danced, talked and ate as they drank, telling stories about lost ones or crazy fights they had just about survived. Some, of course, insane as they liked to pretend to be, claimed to have made their way to Valhalla and back again. One of them was Snotlout's father Spitelout, which surprised Hiccup only little.

A punch to his left arm got his attention; and some pain, "Hey," it was Astrid, seating herself down beside him on some rocks in front of the curdling fire, "Want a bite?" She held a grilled fish pierced on some wood towards him, but he kindly declined.

"So, what's up?" she questioned as she bit off a chunk from her food.

After she had shot the arrow he had seen Stoick proudly patting her shoulder, smiling down at her, "Nothing, just...my first mourning." He wasn't lying.

"Oh...but you must've seen some on the island of Looting Liars, and other places you've been at."

He watched, from the peripherals of his eyes, as some of his supposedly fellow citizens cheered with a tank of mead together with the chief, having equally attended the mourning as Hiccup had, "Only from a distance."

"Ah...well. It's not really normal for Vikings to mourn over the death of the same people repeatedly, but Stoick has made it a tradition on Berk with his family, seeing as he lost them both and has no one left. And he is the chief."

"So...would the next chief do the same thing?" Hiccup suddenly wondered.

"No...well, for his own family, maybe, but not for Stoick's, I believe. But it is most tragic, having to lose both your wife and son in one single night."

"That's how it tends to happen." Hiccup felt terrible for the lack of sentiments he was displaying, but the entire event had taken its toll on him. It felt so surreal.

"I guess...what's with those harsh words, Toothpick? You should eat something." Once more did she hold food towards him, and despite his most inner wish to just push it away and be done with the conversation, Hiccup took the stick.

He hoped that, by eating some, he would not have to answer any more inquiries, and would not have Astrid any more worried than she already was. He just hoped the chief would not come walking towards them again.

"Follow me," she whispered as they rushed in between leaves and branches whacking his face, scratching his skin. He felt itchy all over, yet complied, "nearly there."

They reached a bay; a beautiful one at that. Rocky pathways led down to a thin strip of sand and the clearest seawater Hiccup had ever seen. There were a few trees at one corner and a tiny waterfall sprinkling in between cracks in the rock, pouring into the ocean.

"Wow..." Hiccup raised an eyebrow at the scene.

"I like to train here," Astrid stated as she trudged towards the beach, jolting down the rocks as easily as a goat would.

"Train?" Carefully, minding his prosthetic most attentively, he scrambled his way down towards her.

"Yeah."

"Throwing axes?" It sounded ridiculous; the only tree about was a palm tree of small stature which appeared absolutely untouched by any sharp blade.

"Of course not, stupid!" She rolled her eyes with a smile, "I did muscle training a lot down here, preparing myself for battle and shooing away any too curious Scauldrons that liked to head my way."

"Wait, you fight Scauldrons all on your own?" He was most sceptical of her claim.

"Nah...I rather hid and observed. They never came close enough, anyway, seeing as the water is too shallow for them here." Her eyes wandered towards the horizon, observing the swerving blues and greens of the crystal clear water.

Hiccup nodded in understanding, coming to stand next to her, finally, as he glanced about. This place, just like the small plateau she had taken him to a few days ago, was also hidden from sight in case anyone stood on top of the cliff. The bay was concave with a rocky, jagged wall. From up on the protrusion one would have to bend over and glance down diagonally whilst risking a fall into the depths; otherwise, the beach would remain undiscovered. And even the stone pathway leading down seemed anything but evident.

"You like such inconspicuous places, don't you?" Hiccup chuckled some, glancing around more.

"Yeah, I just prefer to be alone sometimes."

"Then why are you showing all of this to me?" He was confused by the innermost trust towards him.

Sure, by now they knew each other for several weeks; months, even, but their friendship had only just started to develop properly. Before, they had been something akin to rivals, if at all.

"Because you're different; you like to see more than what others see, have more guts and brains than most Vikings, and aren't as intent as Snotlout on doing me."

"Is he really that desperate?" He watched her hand being placed on her hip as she raised an eyebrow, questioning the seriousness of his inquiry.

"Anyway, it's a great place for training, and I thought you might teach me the one or other trick." Astrid grinned towards him.

Hiccup, on the other hand, felt nervousness seep into his system, "T-Teach you?"

"Yes, on how to defeat those dragons more easily. You know your way with them, after all, it's amazing." She was proud.

"Well, yeah...but...w-we don't even have any dragons here." He believed his excuse to be more than plausible and begun to question how come Astrid had not considered this situation, ready to call it a day when he saw her roll her eyes.

"You can just explain, Toothpick. Come on, you are a smith, I'm sure you are creative enough to pretend a dragon is standing in front of you and you'd know what to do."

Oh, this was not going too well, "Well, it's something else entirely when it stands in front of you, you know..."

"Hiccup..." not wanting to end up in an argument with Astrid, Hiccup complied.

"Well..." he stood next to Astrid, pretending that, in front of him, there was a Gronckle, but it appeared most difficult in explaining to her his tricks when what he did never included physically hurting those beasts. Would she think less of him once she knew?

"Well...?" she waited expectantly.

Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut briefly, trying to concentrate before he decided to just get on with it; he could teach her some basics here and there, on how to subdue them in order to afterwards capture or slay them. It was still a very much Viking thing to do, but the lying that was involved hurt him badly. He wanted to be honest with her, tell her he never slaughtered these animals and that her suspicions from only days ago had not been too wrong. Yet he had to be patient.

"So...there are several things one should consider when interacting with a Gronckle." He begun with explaining anatomy; the texture of their skin, the meaning behind this, their strengths and weaknesses and what points irritated them and which calmed, or rather subdued, them.

Astrid frowned all the while, concentrating on his words and trying to imagine a live dragon in front of her to better understand what he was explaining. But indeed was it most strenuous to do so, for there were so many minuscule details worth memorizing that she felt overwhelmed by it all.

"Wait wait, so, you're telling me their preferred diet is rocks, not fish?" She was going back to the basics, just to make sure.

"Yeah, but they eat fish if need be, in order to survive."

"So...you've observed them for some time, or how do you know?" She sounded suspicious, but it might just be his imagination.

"Well, you have to, don't you? How are you gonna fight something you know nothing about?"

He had a strong point; it would be ridiculous heading into a fight without a strategy, and that was only possible if further details about the enemy were collected. And with capturing and caging dragons up in the academy, Astrid had little chance of observing the natural behaviour of these beasts; only their enraged, dangerous side.

"You need to know about them during calmness and anger," Hiccup explained, once more gesturing with his fingers towards anatomical parts in the air, "That way you get out safer from a fight."

"So, with all the dragons from before; during training, during that challenge with Snotlout, you simply knew where to touch them?" Did it sound as nonsensical as she made it out to be?

"Well...yeah..."

He observed as she slowly nodded, seemingly understanding, "So, that's more or less your secret. You know a lot."

"I know a lot."

"Could be useful for the Book of Dragons," she exclaimed, considering some possibilities he most likely wanted to know nothing about.

"The Book of Dragons?"

"Yeah, we keep all our knowledge about dragons summarised in there."

Ah, yes, had he not heard Fishlegs talk about said book before, all proud and knowledgeable?

"Fishlegs pretty much devoured the content; he's really nerdy when it is about dragons, even though he has claimed to want to know more and observe them himself in nature. But he'd be too frightened when one would attack."

"Not the bravest Viking, ey," Hiccup chuckled. He somehow found Fishlegs to be quite the okay guy.

"Hence the name."

They continued to talk about various tactics that could be used whilst dragon fighting, but the 'imagining a dragon in front of you' technique did not work so well, which was why Hiccup ultimately decided to pretend Astrid was a dragon, for the sake of teaching, and showed her what exactly to do. In order to internalise that knowledge, Astrid would reciprocate his actions on him, sometimes even hurting him involuntarily.

"Sorry!" She held a hand to her lips, suppressing a giggle.

"Is okay..." he muttered as he righted himself.

"So...what would you do if...say...you were to fight a Night Fury?"

Finally, her ultimate goal had been revealed; she wanted to hunt down her nemesis and believed Hiccup to be of valuable help.

"A Night Fury? Haven't I told you it's silly to go after such a dragon?" He felt bitterness arise; somehow, it was as if Astrid was merely using him.

"I know, I know...but...it's my life's mission."

"Is that the reason you called me out here?" He glanced most accusingly at her.

"No, no! I actually wanted to spend time with you, Hiccup." She grabbed his arm, stopping him from turning away from her as she gazed earnestly into his eyes, "Please do believe me when I say that I have begun to treasure your company and friendship. But I also have a goal."

"It's silly, Astrid."

"You would not know how to fight one, right? I mean, the last Night Fury to have been seen was one from five years ago. Or six..." she attempted to count on her fingers.

"Astrid, seriously," his voice was rising in volume in the hopes of catching her attention, "leave the Night Fury; if he is still out there, that is."

"Oh I am sure he is."

"Astrid-"

Before another word could be exchanged, a deep roar emanated from the distance as a sparkling presence placed itself between the red-haired Viking and his blonde counterpart.

It was Sharpclaw, having observed his master for several hours now and having decided to descend to the rescue.

He heard the roar. It was the weird, wet dragon, the one that jumped into the open when the dark Wet Softs gathered in the sky, threatening to extinguish every fire around. He knew him from the sanctuary; there were many like that one around, but Wispy Wingless seemed to have taken an especial liking towards the glittery-scaled dragon. He seemed to have known him from before.

And now there was that specific, anxious cry he tended to let out every now and then when he knew Wispy Wingless was getting himself into a precarious situation. And after what had happened not many nights ago; with all the dragons attacking that little piece of rock where all the Winglesses gathered, Toothless was more than agitated when he did not know where his master was.

Wispy Wingless had not appeared for a while; so where was he? Once more in danger? If that roar was of any indication then yes, indeed, he was, and this time Toothless would not sit here, next to the Wet and just wait. His patience ran thin, his anger rose, he gathered all his energy and bolted towards the edge of the cove.

With a good jolt, he should be capable of getting out. As he ran, he observed, with a twist of his head to the back, that his fin was indeed attached (in case of an emergency, Wispy Wingless had said) but that it flapped lifelessly in the wind. But if he jumped upwards and pawed his way past the hard rocks, maybe it would spread out, if only for a moment, so that he could exit from his dilemma?

He hoped it would work, scratching his claws against grey matter as he rose into the air, wings spread wide to catch a gust underneath, but he did not come up high enough. Toothless lost balance, feeling his back falling down, tail helpless, wings flapping without any success before he plummeted into the Wet.

Drenched, but quickly shaking off the droplets and shooing away poor Soggy Scales, Toothless attempted another round; this time, he would run faster, accelerating in the last moment before he pushed his wings out full force. Maybe if he shook his tale a little he could stretch out that floppy fin.

Once more he scooted up the rocks, desperate, crying out, scratching and scathing but he lost his balance too quickly, his tail helplessly wiggling about in a feverish manner that bought, however, no success, before he was diving with Soggy Scales that looked more than disturbed to see his sooty face next to them. Frustrated, Toothless clambered out of the Wet, shooting blazing hot fire at a Tall Green in the corner in order to let out some anger. It worked somewhat before he turned back to the slabbed rocks, glaring at them in offence.

Once more. He attempted it once more. He put the last of his strength into his legs and wings and leaped up the rocks, rapidly shaking his tail and quickly moving it back again to make wind tear at the end, of which the constructed fin finally decided to budge and spread wide, allowing Toothless to gain a little more altitude.

It was all that he needed, his claw digging into fresh, moist green as he pulled himself up with a few powerful flaps. He had managed to exit the cove; now, now he would find Wispy Wingless and save him this time.

His turquoise scales glittered in the fading sun, the creature licking its maw more in preparation to fire at Astrid rather than anything else. Hiccup had to bite back calling his name, or otherwise Astrid would ask some questions afterwards. But how was he to pacify an aggravated dragon without directly calling his attention? He had to be clever.

"Where the hell did this guy come from!?" Astrid screeched, pulling her axe out in preparation.

Seeing the glistening blade he himself had sharpened made bile rise to his throat; no! He could not endanger Sharpclaw's life! He had to think fast and pacify both the dragon and the woman.

"Well, they like humid territory, so maybe it came here to cool down." He hoped his excuse clicked.

Astrid did not appear to be convinced, "Maybe we should subdue it the way you taught me, and then finish it off."

"No!" He cried out, "look, let's just let him off."

"He's the one who picked the fight."

"I know, I know..." Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut in desperation. He needed a plan, now, "Look just...let me subdue this one, the tricks I taught you will not quite work on him."

"But-"

"Please Astrid." She saw the seriousness with which he stared at her, strong emerald eyes determined and, unnoticed by her, worried for the safety of this dragon.

Said beast was hissing Astrid's way, shielding Hiccup from her body in an attempt to protect him from further harm. She had touched him funnily earlier; a few times he had cried out evidently in pain, so it was Sharpclaw's duty, as a loyal dragon, to stand by his rider's side and protect him from further harm.

Hiccup felt touched by this act, but his interpretation was, of course, very much formed by misunderstanding, and that at the worst of timings. Hiccup leapt forwards after taking a few steps backwards in the sand. He had to be careful not to let too much sand cover his metal leg, otherwise he would misjudge his weight and possibly triple over, scaring Sharpclaw in the process and leaving Astrid to assume her fighting pose anew.

With elegance did he land on the Raincutter's left wind, climbing up to the long neck and stroking him carefully from behind; Astrid would not see said action from her angle. Sharpclaw's tension seemed to fade as he lowered his body, and Hiccup used that opportunity to whisper a command into the dragon's ear before he poked his finger into a spot between spine and jaw that he knew Sharpclaw hated.

This caused the dragon to shake and throw Hiccup off his back, flapping his wings upon remembering the command and sailing off into the sky. Gradually getting up from his rather harsh land – albeit him having falling unceremoniously to the ground on purpose, to make the entire act seem believable, Hiccup dusted himself and groaned.

"Did it wrong..." he elaborated, scratching the back of his head, "Doesn't always work as easily with them, y'see. But he fled."

"Crazy..." Astrid panted, eyes wide with shock as she gazed towards the segment in the sky to which Sharpclaw had left off. Hiccup knew they had only little time left before the dragon would return, out of boldness, just to make sure his rider was okay.

"Come on, how about we head back to the village?" he proposed, to which the blonde Viking did not protest.

A/N: Here we go! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Some serious action - Stoick is back, Hiccup saw him face to face, Toothless escaped, Hiccup's secret nearly found out. The tension is rising, and stuff is getting real from the next chapter onwards! Some revelations are following soon...I should be able to update from March onwards - I know, it's like, a month until then. But I am writing exams non-stop this month, and an essay,...so...please be merciful! And thank you for your continued support, you are great guys! Please leave a word or two in form of a review, all of those of you who pipe up get a beautiful Toothless cookie from me!

Toothless Dictionary:

Tall Green – Trees

Vast Sparkle – Ocean

Wispy Wingless – Hiccup

She Wingless – Astrid

Mother Wingless – Valka

Black Scales – Night Fury

Big Soft – Yak

Little Soft – Sheep

Wingless – Human

Sharp Shiny – Dagger

Twisted Tails – Bolas

Wet – Pond

Endless Shifter – Sky

Large Hot – Sun

Soggy Scale – Fish

Large Cold – Moon

Sparks - Stars

Wet Soft – Cloud

Bright Fire – Lightning