A/N: Like I said guys. I know you want me to update faster, but please understand that updates will be sporadic. That's all I ask. Also, sorry if this chapter is not up to par like my other chapters.

000

"Ow!" was what the forest heard for the probably the hundredth time that afternoon. If it could count, it would have lost track somewhere around fifty or so. Hiccup lay flat on his back, his torso, chest and face glistening in sweat, small burn marks and traces of dirt all over him. He let his body relax and released the wooden sword he had from his grip and proceeded to stare up into the bluish, orange sky.

"That means you've conceded to defeat. You know that right?" Toothless warbled.

"Yes I know that!" he yelled, burying his face in his hands. "You don't have to point out the obvious" he said in a muffled voice.

"You were the one who wanted to start their training early. I'm just trying to help you."

"I highly doubt that Snotlout will be shooting plasma blasts at me" Hiccup retorted, getting up and dusting his pants clear of dirt.

"Avoiding plasma blasts should help you on your reaction time, agility and control when jumping out of the way."

He grabbed the wooden sword and got back into a fighting stance. It had been two days since the trial and he hadn't seen Astrid since. He planned to keep himself busy in the forge; working on any project or task Gobber had him to do, or even helping out the villagers with daily tasks. They included replacing a few of the wooden beams on roofs, fixing doors, carrying heavy weight around; Toothless even helped in them. That allowed Hiccup to show them that dragons weren't vicious creatures they thought they were.

Surprisingly, the some of the people took quick liking to Toothless. After acting like a huge puppy in front of them, they couldn't get enough of him. There was one person who had taken a particular interest in him and Toothless. It was a little girl who went by the name of Addie. She was a girl of just four years and was learning to talk. She had wondered away from the careful watch of her parents and had run into one of Toothless' legs. She fell on her rear and with a shake of her head she looked up and met his green eyes that were staring down at her curiously.

He was helping Hiccup transport a few beams of wood to a house. Hiccup asked him why he stopped but when he saw his friend looking down to the right, he walked around him and was surprised, and frankly a bit terrified, to a see little girl on the ground looking up at Toothless. If there was one thing Hiccup learned during his time at Sharkslane, was that small children were unpredictable. Addie could have been curious and stand up and walk to Toothless, or she could have screamed, thereby alerting everyone around that Hiccup and Toothless might have done something to the child.

Thankfully, the Gods' luck was with him. She instead got up and walked closer to Toothless and reached out to touch his leg. While she was, he looked up to Hiccup, asking him what the young child was doing, but he replied in saying that she was curious about him and it was a good thing. So when Toothless made eye contact with her again, he gave her his gummy smile.

"Gummy!" she yelled instantly. Hiccup laughed at the scene taking place in front of him as she rubbed Toothless' legs and he eventually let her rub his chin.

"His name's Toothless, sweetie" Hiccup had said, bending down to one knee and laying his arm on her shoulder. She looked at him with big, beautiful and cute blue eyes, and then back at Toothless.

"But he has no teeth. So he's Gummy" she said with a smile before proceeding to pet him again. Hiccup found it fruitless to argue with the logic of a four year old. But, how could he when she did make some sense? Her parents showed up not long after, flushed with sweat from looking around for her, were at first dead terrified at seeing her at the feet of a dragon, but relaxed once they saw how relaxed she was; and at the fact that Toothless was being extra gentle with her. Seeing their daughter cuddle up to the dragon even encouraged them to ask a few questions about Toothless and other dragons, which Hiccup was glad to explain.

Addie asked her parents if she could see Toothless again, although she referred to him as Gummy. Her father said that he wouldn't want to trouble Hiccup too much, but he said he'd happy to show her a few tricks. And that all happened yesterday, which was actually his best day on Berk ... so far. The reason was solely because of Addie. She represented the future of Berk, and how she warmed up to Toothless gave him a feeling of security that Berk could be able to change.

"Now please take it easy, bud" Hiccup said, getting back into left battle stance.

"Taking it easy? Come on Hiccup ... I taught you better than that" the two heard a voice. Hiccup looked around quickly and saw Ripper leaning against a tree that the top of the cove with a smug smile plastered on his face.

"You know ... for some reason, I'm not glad to hear you" he replied with a smile.

"But you are glad to see me ... and that's all that matters" he said, skillfully making his way down the narrow path in short time. "How have you been?" he asked, arms wide open as he came in for a hug.

"Things could be better" Hiccup replied, spreading his arms wide and welcoming his best friend. Ripper patted his back about three times and held him for a few more seconds before letting go. "So I'm taking you received my letter, huh?"

"Yeah ... I was hoping it would have been an invitation to your wedding, but I got a letter requiring duel lessons instead" he replied.

"I wish it was an invitation I was sending out. Did you fly here on Bladewing?" Hiccup asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah. He'll be patrolling the area, making sure Snorre and the others won't find us. Won't want them telling Snotlout what we're up to, eh?" he said, giving him a pat on the shoulder before walking a few paces ahead of him.

"You ran into them when you arrived?"

"Sort of. When Heather and I were leaving the Hall with Astrid and her mother, they called out to me specifically, while calling out crude jokes at Heather" he replied.

"That couldn't have been good" said Hiccup, knowing how protective Ripper can get over Heather.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, Bladewing beat me to the lesson. He grabbed Snorre by the leg with his tail and hung him over his mouth. You should have seen it. He was balling like a baby to put down" he laughed.

"I can imagine" Hiccup replied with an amused smile.

"Unfortunately, it was attracting attention, so I told Bladewing to put him down and he did ... right into a cart of fish. After that, I told Heather that I'd be heading over to Stoick's to discuss the future plans of our tribes ... which was a cover-up for me coming here" he finished.

"So my dad knows of this and agreed to cover for you with that story?"

"Him covering for me was his idea. He really wants to help you in any way that he can, Hiccup."

"I can see that, and honestly ... I want to be his son again" Hiccup replied with nostalgic smile this time.

"Alright, I came here to train you .. let's get to it then" Ripper said as he walked past Hiccup.

"Toothless, you don't mind helping Bladewing out, don't you?" Hiccup asked. He didn't want Snorre, his gang or any other person wondering into the cove or anywhere near it. This plan had to be kept on the downside. He didn't want Snotlout to prepare for the duel either. That's why he wanted Toothless out there to make sure that if Snorre or anyone from his gang tried to follow them, he didn't want them telling Snotlout.

"Not at all" and with that Toothless bounded to the only path that led out of the cove.

"So you flew here on Bladewing? Did they think it was a dragon attack?"

"Thankfully not. It turns out that Stoick had told the counsel and most of the men posted on watch today, that visiting dignitaries from Sharkslane would be arriving today for a few weeks. He told them that they don't have a dragon problem, and they have one 'domesticated' dragon which they would arrive on and said it was Whispering Death. So we didn't face any attack, thank the Gods. I don't know what I'd do if Heather or the baby were hurt."

"So, how's Heather doing? Mood swings acting up?" Hiccup asked as he went over to where he kept his leather armour, tunic and bag, and pulled out a flask of water.

"Yep. They started just about a week ago. Didn't know what to expect" said Ripper as he removed his leather armour and tunic. "The worst so far was when I came home late one night because I had been kept in the forge working on repairs. When I came in, I had to roll out of the way when a plate was thrown at my face" he said with a smile, as he kept his attire on the ground. "Apparently, she thought I was avoiding her on purpose. I told her that I was just finishing up some work so I wouldn't have to do them later. Then she began tearing up and apologized countless of times. I told her it was nothing but she felt incredibly bad ... I can't wait to see what her mood swings will be like when she's over five months pregnant" he laughed, picking up the two swords that he brought with him.

"I would really hate to be on the receiving end of that" Hiccup stated, putting down his flask.

"Oh ... I can imagine how Astrid will be when she's carrying your child" laughed Ripper. "If she takes after her mother, which she definitely does, one day you'll, literally, be flying through front door of your house."

"That's even if I win this fight. And what on Midgard are you talking about? Flying through the door?" Hiccup asked, waving his arms around, half terrified at that thought.

"You've never heard? Apparently Mr. Hofferson was thrown from his house through the door three times by his wife when she was pregnant" Ripper clarified. "And Hiccup ... stop being such a pessimist! You'll win this fight since I'm here. What do you have, three weeks until the wedding date?"

"About one and a half to two" Hiccup corrected.

"Shit ... okay, we don't have time to waste" he said, unsheathing his Gronckle Iron sword.

"Ahem!" Hiccup coughed really loudly. He gestured between Ripper's metal sword and his wooden sword. "I can't fight you when you have that!"

"Oh .. okay, then hand me that for a second" Ripper asked, gesturing to the wooden sword. Hiccup walked up to him and handed his friend the sword, only to see him raise his leg and break the sword in half across his quad.

"Wha..."

"Snotlout will not be taking it easy on you" said Ripper as he pushed the hilt of one of the swords into Hiccup's grasp and walked back to get the other one. "He'll be coming at you with full force and a huge, metal ... hammer. So I'm going to train you the right way and what to expect. Plus since he now knows that Astrid prefers you over him, he'll be filled with pure rage towards you. That could work in your advantage, though" he said.

Hiccup knew what he was talking about. If Snotlout let his rage control him, then he would most definitely make mistakes. However with that rage, his strength would be significantly more than without it. "So we're going to train with actual swords that could stab flesh and cut bones?" Hiccup asked, performing a few wrist movements with the sword in hand. He didn't like the idea of being stabbed or mutilated before his actual fight.

"It's the only way to prepare you, Hiccup. Plus I'll be going through other fighting techniques in case the worst happens so that you can survive the match" Ripper said, getting into a battle stance. Hiccup copied his movements, getting into his own battle stance and taking a few deep breaths to focus. In the next four seconds all that could be heard from the cove was the sound of pure Gronckle Iron clashing against each other.

000

"So how does it feel?" Astrid asked as she and Heather through the streets of the village. She had heard the commotion of people rushing to the docks and when she went to one of the cliffs that overlooked them with her mother, she saw a Whispering Death landing with two people getting off of it. She only knew two other people outside of Berk who rode a Whispering Death ... or a dragon at that. She asked her mother if she could go down and say hello. She even then noticed the effect the restrictions that were forced on her. It was making her sound like a little girl again ... when she was twenty and technically controlled her own life.

Of course her mother agreed and went down with her, again obeying the terms of the sentence. It also gave her a chance to be introduced to the heirs of Sharkslane whom she never met before ... except for Ripper. Heather and Ripper had to attend to a small meeting at the Great Hall to discuss a few issues, but she thought that wasn't the case.

Ripper and Heather showing up two days after the trial? She knew Hiccup stepped up the schedule for training, and with Ripper as his mentor, there was no way he could lose this fight. In the meantime, she found it worthwhile to spend time with Heather and build up their growing friendship.

"My pregnancy is really starting to take effect" she said, laying her hand unconsciously on her stomach as they walked. Ingrid trailed behind them by a few steps, within earshot of their conversation. "I'm beginning to get these famous 'mood swings'. I really feel bad because I take out most of my anger on Ripper when he's trying to help. It makes me sound and feel like a selfish brat."

"Welcome to pregnancy Mrs. Bonemould" Ingrid said as she closed the distance between them. "You will be going through some wave swirling mood swings, odd cravings, a greater need to go to the outhouse and let's not forget the weight you'll have to carry around" she spoke.

"Well ... I wasn't scared before. Can't say much about that now" Heather said with a nervous laugh.

"You'll do fine, dear. The first pregnancy is always challenging, but if you and Ripper decide on more little feet, you'll know what to expect next time" Ingrid said in a motherly tone. Heather smiled in reply. She was really liking it here in Berk. The people seemed nice and respectful, they were all asking her on how she's doing, if she was alright and some of the women she met told her about giving birth to the baby. Granted she grew paler by the second the longer she heard about how painful and life-endangering it would be for her and the baby. Which is why Astrid had pulled her away from the Hall, after she and Ripper were properly introduced to the whole village.

Except for the small confrontation she had with a group of Vikings. She couldn't recall all of their names but she remembered the leader; a young man called Snorre. She could immediately tell that they weren't people to be messed with ... and that Ripper and Hiccup must have had some history with them. If Bladewing had the need to threaten them without Ripper's consent, then they were people that definitely needed to be avoided at all costs. They might want to get at back at Ripper by harming her, and with the announcement of the baby, that just doubled the people at harm.

Apart from the small scuffle, she was greeted with utmost enthusiasm and hospitality. When Stoick even announced that she was with child, with her consent of course, the crowd erupted into even more cheer. Ripper on the other hand ... Astrid see that, just as Hiccup, they were speculative at first about welcoming him since he was the second traitor of Berk ... or the second 'Dragon Rider', the Aid in Treason or Corruption; the names went on. But she could also tell that he was enjoying every moment of it. In the small time that she knew him before they left, he wasn't one to brag, but he did let his cocky side take over him on more than a few occasions. He simply stood, with his arms folded across his chest and a smug smile when Stoick introduced him as the future Chief of Sharkslane and father of the heir.

There was silence at first, but gradually, there was clapping, started by Astrid and her mother. Bladewing had been waiting outside the Hall the entire time. Even though Berk might be changing from a dragon war era to a peaceful one, most were still weary of them; and who wouldn't be weary of a Whispering Death, one of the most vicious and largest dragons out there.

He wanted to come inside and be with them; he'd been more protective of Heather ever since it was confirmed that she was with child. He knew before they confirmed it, but it was torture for him to wait outside and not protect his rider's mate. Toothless told him of the hurt and suffering Hiccup went through; when he had confided in him when he couldn't understand him. And because he knew Ripper didn't leave on good terms with this tribe either, he didn't know how they would treat Heather.

His answer was confirmed when both Ripper and Heather came out with the blonde girl he'd seen before tugging on Heather's arm, trying to get her away from the attention. However, he did see a threat when a group of four young Vikings confronted them; taunting and making remarks at his rider and Heather. Just as a friendly warning, he dangled one of them over his open mouth to make sure they don't try it again ... or what would happen if they did try and do something. He wasn't really going to eat them.

"My mother told me what to expect. It's just that it happens when I'm least expecting it" said Heather.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. So, as your personal guide, where on Berk would you like to see first?" asked Astrid.

"How about the place where you keep all your dragons? Hiccup mentioned, something called a Kill Ring, I believe."

"Not anymore. Some of us are starting to learn how to tame dragons there now. So, it's close to a kind of an Academy now" Astrid explained. "Hey, maybe we should get you your own dragon?" she suggested.

"Uh ... n-no. That wouldn't be necessary. I already have Bladewing" Heather said. Astrid immediately noticed the stutter and the hesitation in her voice.

"But Bladewing is technically Ripper's dragon, and I hate to point it out but he can't be there to protect you all the time, Heather. You'll need your own full time dragon" she explained.

"I know that ... it's just, I'm not completely sure of bonding with a new dragon. And how do you think Bladewing will react to it?" she asked.

"I'm sure he'll understand. Besides, since you have sufficient knowledge about dragons, you should be able to bond with any dragon, no problem at all" Astrid exclaimed as they entered the Ring. Fishlegs and the Twins were already waiting with their dragons, ready for the day's lesson.

"Alright guys, this is Heather - future Chieftess of Sharkslane and mother to the future heir. She'll be our student for a while" Astrid introduced her. Heather waved at them all in response, shooting a small smile.

"Welcome to Berk, Heather" Fishlegs greeted, walking up to them, followed by the twins.

"You're gonna love it here. We're the reason behind the villages' fun" Tuffnut proudly proclaimed.

"What kind of fun?" Heather asked out of true curiosity.

"Not exactly the villages' fun ... more like chaos and destruction. In fact, if the dragons are not attacking, meet Berk's number one source of destruction" Astrid gestured towards the twins.

"And don't you forget it!" Tuff yelled.

"So they keep things interesting?" asked Heather.

"That's a ... 'nice' word for it" answered Fishlegs. "Their 'fun' ranges from tipping yaks to breaking fences to setting fires to barns to sabotaging fishing nets and finally stealing items from the forge in the hopes of creating an explosion if mixed together."

"We haven't burned a barn down since two months ago" Ruff said, looking at her brother.

"Note to self, burn down another barn. Yep, we'll do that sometime this week" he said, giving his sister a high-five.

"All of a sudden, I'm glad our town is a bit boring" Heather stated with a laugh.

"Come on guys, let's help Heather find what kind of dragon she'd like" Astrid said. The others ran back to their dragons, determined to show off their best skills and reasons as to why she should choose one of them.

000 (Three Hours Later)

"Come on Hiccup, get up" Ripper gestured with his sword. He had landed a strong, round-house kick to Hiccup's stomach that sent him flying back six feet, landing with a back-breaking fall. His request was met with a groan of complaint. He watched Hiccup get off his back and support himself on his elbows and knees, taking deep breaths to recover from his exhaustion and the fall. "I'm barely giving it my all, Hiccup."

"Really?" he replied annoyance, getting back up, slowly. "Because ...(cough)... it seems that you've given me everything ...(cough)... you taught me over two years ago!" His stomach, arms, chest and back displayed bruises, a few cuts where Ripper grazed him with his sword and dirt mixed with the blood that bled from the wounds.

"Then you should know how to counter my attacks, Hiccup. Or should we move back to basics?" Ripper replied, loosening the grip he had on the hilt and resting his hand against his side.

"We should have started with basics!"

"If we did, then you wouldn't have had any time to get ready for the duel, which by your schedule should be in just under two weeks" replied Ripper. "I'm not taking it easy on you for a reason, you know? Snotlout will be coming at you much harder than I am right now. He wouldn't be letting you take a break. As a fighter, the moment you let your guard down, he'll notice ... and before you know it, your head will look like a splattered dragon egg" Ripper stated. His talk did get through to Hiccup as his eyes did widen a bit, before he shook his head to get rid of the image. "I am trying to give you a crash course for the next eleven to twelve days so that you can be ready to challenge Snotlout."

Hiccup managed to stand back up straight on his two feet. He was listening to every word Ripper was saying. "With my training course over the next twelve days, Snotlout shouldn't be able to injure you severely. Actually, he shouldn't be able to land a hit on you. But that's only if you stop bitching about the pain and man up; otherwise, in all honesty, you don't deserve Astrid."

Ripper was meant with a blank and unamused stare from Hiccup, to which he smiled in return. "Good. You didn't get mad at that and let your anger control you. At least we know you're immune to his taunts" he stated.

"Still ... that was really harsh, even for you" Hiccup shot back.

"No it wasn't. Now, get back in your left fighting stance" Ripper said, as he himself got in position. Hiccup took a deep breath in, bringing both his hands to hold the hilt. He closed his eyes while exhaling. He had to stay calm. He had to focus on his target. That was the first lesson Ripper taught him. He blocked out thoughts of what would happen if he fell, if he got grazed by the sword ... and the thought of if he lost. He opened his eyes and made eye contact with his sparring partner. Ripper bore a neutral face as well, not giving away any emotions. Hiccup twisted his right foot inwards. For the briefest of seconds, Ripper glanced at it, and that's when he charged. Hiccup brought his sword down hard, but Ripper blocked it easily.

That's when Hiccup noticed him moving his foot, trying to get behind his right ankle; the technique to disrupt his balance. He pushed away before Ripper's foot found its ground behind his ankle. He regained his battle stance just as Ripper launched his counter attack. He brought his sword from the right, aimed at his abdomen this time. Hiccup managed to parry it away but with a quick turn around, Ripper brought it from up this time. With a quick push of his feet, Hiccup jumped to his right, doing a roll on the ground just as he heard the familiar sound of metal meeting the hard earth. Hiccup took this brief opening and charged him, knowing it would take him at least two seconds to bring his sword back up into a fighting position.

But then Ripper swiped his foot along the ground, kicking up dust towards Hiccup's direction. He could feel the sting in his eyes as the dirt particles caused him to shut his eyes close and stop his charge. In instinct, he retreated a few steps back, rubbing his eyes vigorously to get rid of the dirt. Despite his temporary blindness, Hiccup heard his footsteps get closer, and by judging from the sound, he knew which direction as well.

Just as he opened his eyes, he saw a silver object coming right at him. In less than a second, he brought his sword up to block the attack, but was knocked back a bit by the force of the strike. Ripper, didn't let up. He moved towards him. His feet were quick and nimble along the ground, conducting what direction and stance would bare the most force in a strike; as well as what would be the most safe path to retreat if Hiccup made a counter-attack.

Ripper pulled back his sword for another strike. He brought the sword down but Hiccup managed to parry it away, before giving a swift punch to Ripper's right jaw. As expected, Ripper pulled back, holding his jaw. Due to the surprise attack, Ripper lowered his sword; attention on the pain in his jaw. This was his opening. Hiccup side-stepped away from a weak strike from Ripper and intended to bring the sword right to his neck. But he didn't anticipate Ripper to recover so quickly because right when he was about to stop at his neck, he ducked and did a ground swipe kick, knocking Hiccup off his feet completely, and landing with loud thud, stirring up some dirt.

When he opened his eyes, recovered from the few seconds daze, Hiccup saw the tip of a blade right in between his eyes and a smug Ripper looking down upon him.

"I thought I had you for a second there" he said, pushing the blade away from his face.

"The punch was a surprise. Wasn't expecting that, but it was good. You caught me by surprise ... and I thought for sure I had you when I kicked some dirt into your eyes" he said, extending his hand out to him, a gesture to help him get up, which Hiccup gladly accepted.

"That was such a cheap move" said Hiccup.

"And the punch wasn't? It's supposed to be sword to sword duel."

"But then again, it's not like Snotlout will follow that rule will he?"

"That's it. Now you're really getting it, Hiccup" Ripper said, a smile on his face. "I wanted to see how you would counter to a cheap move such as that. You didn't complain. You prepared the best way you could have; which was moving away and using your other senses in place for your temporary loss. Text book dueling. The punch was a nice touch. Caught me off guard" he said as he helped Hiccup to his feet.

"Well I learned from the best, didn't I?" he asked rhetorically. The rest of the evening consisted of Ripper filling Hiccup in on what he should expect in the next one and a half weeks for his training regiment. He was going to be given a quick and painful crash course into the art of dueling. They would meet up every single day in the Cove to work on battle techniques, fighting tactics, defense movements, and he said that he would prepare him for every worst possible case scenario - such as being weaponless while your opponent charges you with a sword or hammer; or if one of your hands, feet or body area is pinned by your opponent, and how to react if you receive a cut or slash during the fight. Ripper wasn't going to demonstrate it. That was just one of the few days where Hiccup would have to listen and take down notes to remember on how to react mentally to a serious injury in the middle of a battle.

"So, aren't you supposed to be back with your wife at the Great Hall for dinner?" asked Hiccup. The moon could just be seen over the trees, rising into the darkening sky. The two young men had been relaxing by the side of the pond for the past hour so, track of time lost a while ago.

"Yeah. That would be the right thing to do. But it wouldn't be any fun if you aren't there" he said, casting him a knowing glance.

"I know ... it's just that-"

"If Heather's there, then Astrid is bound to be there too, and it is against the terms of the sentence for you two to even lay eyes on each other; even for a few seconds" Ripper cut him off.

"So I'll be heading back to my comfy, little prison cell. Gotta get enough sleep for tomorrow's lesson right?" Hiccup attempted to say in a positive attitude, but Ripper wasn't having any of it. He laid his hand on Hiccup's back.

"Just keep up the work like you did today, and you should be good for the rest our training program. Just remember these key points - Analyze. Anticipate. Prepare. And most importantly; Never. Give. Up" he said, before getting up, collecting his belongings and climbing out of the Cove. Hiccup watched him climb out until he was out of sight and turned back to gaze upon the pond, watching the night's stars begin to reflect upon its surface.

"How was training?" he heard Toothless ask as the dragon sat down beside him.

"Painful. Tiring. Left about ten or fifteen marks on me today, but ... it was a good starter" he replied, looking to his dragon.

"So you believe that you have a shot of winning the duel?"

"I don't believe I do, Toothless ... I know I do."