As Hiccup approaches the training arena, his hands feel clammy and his stomach feels uneasy. He is really doing this - he is going to study dragons with Fishlegs. Like most days, everyone else is already down in the arena, just waiting for Hiccup to arrive. When Fishlegs sees him, his eyes light up and he rocks forward onto the balls of his feet like he is going to literally start jumping in excitement. Snotlout and the twins don't notice his change in behavior, but Astrid sure does. She watches his change in body language with a furrowed brow, the same way she would watch a dragon she plans to take down.

Surprisingly, Fishlegs manages to reign in his excitement. Hiccup had said he'd tell Fishlegs his decision after training, and the larger boy is prepared to wait. In the meantime, they both need to survive whatever training Gobber has planned for the day.

The blacksmith strolls over to the cage Hiccup knows contains the Terrible Terror and grabs ahold of the lever for the door. "Today, you will get another chance to face off against the Terrible Terror! Your goal will be to trap it back in its cage without harmin' it."

"What!" Snotlout exclaims. "Where's the fun in that? I thought we were finally going to learn how to kill stuff."

"In due time, Snotlout. But ya must remember that sometimes trappin' a dragon is more valuable." Gobber taps his hook against his temple. "Just think about all the dragons trapped 'ere. We can study 'em and train against 'em. This trainin' arena wouldn't exist if we only focused on killin' dragons."

Though Hiccup doesn't like the idea of keeping dragons in cages, it is a relief to hear that their objective today won't be to maim and kill dragons.

"Now," Gobber continues, "you'll want to use more than just your bare hands to aid ya. A shield will come in handy, as well as a weapon. Though ya don't want to kill it, the weapons can be used to scare it in the direction ya want it to go."

Everyone grabs a shield and a weapon of their choice for the day. Astrid obviously keeps her own axe, Snotlout chooses a hammer, the twins both grab bludgeons (which they immediately begin bludgeoning each other with), and Fishlegs selects a spear. Hiccup, being the last to choose, can feel the others watching him, but tries to ignore the feeling of their stares. After surveying all of the weapons, Hiccup notices an old staff positioned near the bottom. It looks like at one point there may have been a metal tip on it that had fallen off, and lucky for him, no one replaced it. It is perfect.

Snotlout and the twins laugh at his choice. Gobber looks like he wants to object and suggest he choose a more deadly option, but says nothing since technically the goal today isn't to do any damage to the dragon. Fishlegs watches with wide eyes, like Hiccup is going to be performing magic with the staff. Astrid's gaze is the one that confuses Hiccup the most.

Things with Astrid have been… weird lately. When she first suggested they eat lunch together, he rationalized that she was just doing it because he was the chief's son and she wanted a little praise when his father returned. But it doesn't seem to be that way anymore, especially after last night. Instead of yelling at him for skipping lunch, she brought him food. Instead of getting mad at him for forgetting to meet her, she gave him a hug and said that other Vikings could stand to act a bit more like him. It is almost like Astrid is starting to care for him. Hiccup is scared to say it for certain, like if he does everything will go back to the way it was before. The way things are now- it almost seems too good to be true.

Hiccup pushes his thoughts of Astrid to the back of his mind as Gobber opens the door and releases the Terrible Terror. Ignoring the bruises he got from the Gronckle, nothing too bad has happened with any of the dragons so far. Fishlegs seems to think that makes Hiccup some kind of dragon wizard, but Hiccup knows better. With most of the dragons, Toothless' scent had done most of the work getting the dragons to trust him. With the Gronckle, he was lucky that he'd had the dragon nip in his pocket. But he can't rely on either of those things today. He needs to think - how is he supposed to get the Terror back in his cage?

Think Hiccup, think. What do I know about Terrible Terrors? He thinks back to the last time they encountered this particular dragon. He was sneaky, but playful - hopping around from person to person to tease them. Getting the dragon to start playing again seems like his best bet. He looks down at the staff in his hand. Maybe he can tap the staff on the ground? Create some kind of rhythm that the Terror will like? No, that is ridiculous. Dragons don't dance.

Dragging himself out of his thoughts, Hiccup begins to observe what the other teens are attempting to do. They surround the Terrible Terror in a half circle, leaving an opening towards the cage. Clanging their weapons and shields together, they are clearly intending for the noise would frighten the dragon back into containment. It is a decent plan, Hiccup can admit that, but after taking one look at the dragon, Hiccup can tell it is never going to work. The Terror doesn't give any indication he is going to move at all. The teens are hoping for a fear response, but all they are getting is irritation and annoyance.

"Hey guys," Hiccup calls out, but the racket they are making is much too loud to be heard over so easily. "Guys, I don't think it's working!" He calls out louder.

Hearing him that time, they pause their cacophonous attempt and turn to face him. Snotlout's displeasure at his interruption is evident.

"Hey," Snotlout shouts at him, "can't you see we're working here?"

"Except it's not working," Hiccup points out. "He hasn't moved at all, and I don't think he's planning to."

"Did you have another idea?" Astrid asks, shoulders back and arms lax at her sides. Her body language says she is willing to listen to what he has to say.

Too bad he doesn't actually have any ideas. The one time he has a chance to prove to Astrid he isn't useless in the arena, and his head is magically empty.

As the disappointment wells up within him, Hiccup sighs and let his shoulders drop. In doing so, his shield drops a few inches from where he's previously been holding it, causing the sun to gleam off of the metal boss in the center and shine onto the stone floor of the arena. The Terrible Terror unfurls slightly from his position and tilts his head curiously at the sun spot.

A concentrated furrow appears between Hiccup's brows. Dropping the staff onto the ground, he grips the edges of his shield with both hands. Changing the angle at which he holds the shield moves the sun spot around, which seems to pique the Terror's interest. The small green dragon completely uncurls and begins to slink after the glimmering light.

Gobber and the other teens fell silent, watching as Hiccup angles his shield to move the sun spot and lead the Terror back into his cage. Snotlout looks annoyed that Hiccup is succeeding. Fishlegs' mouth hangs open in awe. The twins look impressed and mildly disappointment that they now have no excuse to use their weapons. Astrid is surprised, not with Hiccup's intelligence (she is very aware of that already), but with his body language. The set of his shoulders shows focus, but also confidence. And the wide smile on his face when he spins back around to face them? She's never seen him smile like that before.

As soon as Hiccup remembers everyone is staring at him, his smile falls and tension reappears in his shoulders. "So, um… I guess Terrible Terrors like shiny things? Heh, who knew?"

"Well smack my yak an' call me stupid - I've never seen nothin' like that before in all my dragon huntin' days. You come up with tha' just now?" Gobber questions.

Hiccup nods and scuffs the toe of his boot against the stone floor. "I, uh - I mean, I didn't really come up with it? My shield caught the light and he seemed interested, so I just ran with it, I guess."

"That was amazing!" Fishlegs finally exclaims, no longer able to hold in his awestruck reaction.

"Amazing?" Snotlout scoffs. "He got lucky."

"Well, luck or not, he was the only one of us who managed to get the Terror back in its cage. Nice job Hiccup," Astrid says, offering him a small smile as she does so.

Hiccup allows himself to smile back. "Thanks, Astrid."

With the training objective for the day met, everyone is free to go once they hang their weapons and shields back on the rack. Hiccup is the last one out, and Fishlegs is waiting for him at the top of the ramp when he emerges. The heavier teen opens his mouth to speak, but Hiccup raises a hand to silence him.

"Not here. Follow me."

Hiccup leads Fishlegs near the patch of woods behind the hut he shares with the Chief. Curious ears are less likely to hear them up here.

"So? What did you decide?" Fishlegs twists his short fingers into the fur of his tunic, anxious for a response. The past twenty-four hours have been torture for him.

"I've decided to say yes."

Fishlegs' eyes go wide. "Really? That's so exciting!" He rushes forward and quickly wraps his arms around the smaller teen, lifting him off of the ground momentarily. Completely not expecting the embrace, Hiccup freezes. Fishlegs hurries to put him down. "Sorry! Sorry, I just - thank you so much! When do we start?"

Brushing his hands down the front of his tunic to straighten it out, Hiccup says, "Can you meet me back here in an hour? I've got some things I have to do, and we should probably eat lunch before we go."

"Of course! Lunch - I probably should have thought of that. See you back here in an hour!"

The two part ways - Fishlegs heading back to his house and Hiccup to the Great Hall where Astrid is surely waiting for him. Sure enough, when Hiccup reaches the front steps, Astrid is there. She smiles softly when she sees him, and Hiccup offers up a small smile in return. They enter, get their meals in silence, and sit at their usual table.

Though the young blacksmith has gotten more comfortable talking to Astrid, he can't bring himself to start up a conversation today - not after what happened at training that morning. It is Astrid, ever more courageous than him, who breaks the silence. "You were quite impressive again in training this morning."

"Oh, uh - thanks? But it was really just luck." Truthfully, he hadn't had a plan at all. If his shield hadn't caught the sunlight just right, he would have been powerless to do anything at all.

"Nuh-uh. I'm not letting you off the hook so easily. You see the dragons differently than the rest of us do. We're all on the offense, all so attack-minded. But you have a gentler, more patient approach - a more Hiccup approach. Which is exactly what I was talking about last night." She points her fork at him to emphasize her point.

"I still think you're giving me too much credit," Hiccup insists.

"Maybe," Astrid shrugs, pushing her food around a bit on her plate, "But I wasn't the only one impressed this morning. Did you see Fishlegs? He looked at you like you could walk on water."

"Oh, you know Fishlegs. He loves learning new things about dragons. He can spit out facts on their abilities faster than you can say dragon attack." Hiccup is desperately trying to convince her that Fishlegs' behavior is normal. The last thing he needs was her getting curious about Fishlegs' sudden interest in him. Astrid is observant and clever - if she has even the slightest inkling that something weird is going on, she won't give up on it until she figures it out.

"Yeah, I suppose," Astrid agrees. Attention shifts from the conversation to the food in front of them. But as Hiccup focuses on his meal, he can periodically feel Astrid's gaze roaming over the planes of his face like she is searching for something.

Not enjoying the scrutiny, Hiccup eats fast and excuses himself as soon as he is finished. Before meeting up with Fishlegs, he makes a brief stop back at his house. Grabbing his satchel, he stuffs his journal, some charcoal pencils, and a full waterskin inside.

Fishlegs is already standing at the edge of the woods when Hiccup arrives. The sunlight filters through the leaves, falling in a dappled pattern on his broad shoulders. Together, the two Vikings turn and enter the cover of the trees. The peacefulness of the leaves rustling in the breeze and the birds singing melodically is broken when Hiccup hiccups - loudly.

The boy drops his head back and groans. Hiccup hates having hiccups. He'd rather come down with a case of eel pox than have hiccups. As much as Hiccup hates the pitying looks that come with any illness he contracts, the utter mortification of being made fun of mercilessly for having the hiccups will always be worse. After getting made fun of by Snotlout for it on numerous occasions, he now forces himself to eat slower when in the presence of others. Not a perfect solution - but it does help.

Fishlegs notices his distress. "Eat too fast?" He asks, twiddling his thumbs together as they walked.

"Yeah, I was eager to - hic - get out here. There's a - hic - lot to learn."

"I get that, but… well I would have thought you'd want to drag lunch out for as long as possible."

"Why?" Hiccup frowns, his brows drawing together. "The Great Hall has way too many people – hic – present at lunchtime for me to want to be in there for long."

"Yeah, but I figured since you're eating lunch with Astrid, you might not mind everyone else."

Hiccup stops abruptly, almost tripping over his own two feet. "You know about that?"

"Um, doesn't everybody?" Fishlegs asks. "I mean, plenty of people are talking about it. People were more than a little surprised when you guys started eating together."

"Great," Hiccup says, resuming his steps, "wonderful, I just love being gossiped about."

"It could be worse?" Fishlegs points out as he struggles to climb over a fallen tree limb in their path.

"I know, but it's not like I – hic – asked for this." Astrid is practically babysitting him at lunch to make sure he eats. If everyone knows about it the way Fishlegs claims they do, he'll no doubt be getting mocked for it soon.

"You didn't?"

"No, she asked me!" When the teasing and bullying inevitably starts, Hiccup wonders if Astrid will stop eating with him. Will that make the situation better or worse - he wonders.

"Oh, wow. I don't think anybody had guessed that. I mean, everyone thought you would be too chicken, but they figured that made more sense than her asking you out."

Fishlegs' words bring him up short. So short in fact, that he trips over his next step and falls flat on his face.

"Oh my gosh Hiccup! Are you alright?" Fishlegs questions as he quickly hurried over to where the smaller Viking now lies on the ground.

"No, I'm not okay! I'm a dead man walking. Astrid is going to kill me!" Hiccup shouts as he sits up.

Fishlegs frowns. "Why would your girlfriend kill you?"

"Because she's not my girlfriend!" Hiccup buries his face in his hands.

"…oh." Fishlegs freezes as the realization clicks. "Yeah, I suppose she won't be too happy then. But I doubt she'll kill you."

Last year Snotlout bragged to a trader that had come to their shores that he was dating Astrid Hofferson, the coolest and most beautiful shieldmaiden on Berk. One of the other villagers heard the exchange while he was perusing the trader's wares. That villager told someone else who told someone else… and by the end of the day it was common knowledge that Snotlout and Astrid were a couple. When Astrid found out, it wasn't pretty. No one saw the altercation, but Snotlout's bruises spoke volumes, especially since his swollen lip and bruised jaw made it difficult for him to actually say what happened.

"No, I'll just be so maimed I'll wish I was dead." Hiccup flops back to the ground dramatically. Minutes ago, he was worried Astrid would stop eating lunch with him because people would surely be talking about how he was so useless he needed Astrid to remind him to eat. Now, he knows there is no chance they'll continue their arrangement – not after something like this.

"Well…" Fishlegs starts, "look on the bright side. At least the shock seems to have gotten rid of your hiccups!"

Hiccup closes his eye with a groan. He takes a moment to wallow, to mourn the not-really-but-kind-of friendship that he'd started to develop with Astrid. Then he takes a deep breath, sits up, and decides it will be okay. Astrid is nice, but if she is going to beat him up over an accident like this (and she most surely will) then it is better that their weird relationship end before it can turn into a true friendship. He'll be better off once it is over. He's done alright before Astrid, and he'll do okay after. In fact, he'll do better than okay. He has Toothless, the best friend he could possibly ask for. He doesn't really need anyone else.

Rising to his feet, Hiccup brushes the dirt off his clothing and begins walking again. Fishlegs, who had been anxiously watching his mental breakdown just seconds ago, starts to trail after him hesitantly.

"Um, Hiccup… are you alright?"

Hiccup nods. "I'm fine. It'll all work itself out. And besides, we have dragons to study."

When they reach their destination, Hiccup is slightly winded and Fishlegs is completely out of breath. They pause at the edge of the woods and find a fallen tree to sit on. Hiccup takes a long drink from his waterskin while Fishlegs wipes the sweat beading on his forehead. Past the edge of the trees is a large field filled with tall grass that ripples in the afternoon breeze – dragon nip. And just as Hiccup suspected, he can see some Terrible Terrors flying about.

As Hiccup pulls out his journal and charcoal pencil, Fishlegs frowns in confusion before he too spots the Terrors and his jaw drops. "Those are real wild dragons! Oh my gosh, this is really happening," he whispers loudly. "Have you come to this spot before?" He asks Hiccup, still keeping his voice relatively low.

"Yeah, but I didn't have my journal last time. I wanted to come back and take some notes, maybe do a few sketches." Hiccup obviously neglects to mention that he hadn't grabbed his journal because he was flying with his best friend, or that he'd only come here on accident when they crash-landed.

With Fishlegs' eyes fixed firmly on the Terrible Terrors, Hiccup begins to sketch. He draws the terrors flying, chasing one another, and stretching lazily in the sunshine. Their proportions are a bit difficult to get right at first, with their heads looking a bit too large for their bodies, but eventually he figures it out. Once he finishes with the sketches, he transitions to taking notes. He jots down the way some travel individually while others arrive to the grassy field in groups. Next comes notes on their playful behavior and the way the wrestle each other in the grass. In one spot, several of the terrors are simply laying on top of one another in a pile, napping contentedly, so he pens down that behavior as well.

When Fishlegs realizes that Hiccup has switched from drawing to notetaking, he chimes in. He mentions some of the more analytical things Hiccup didn't think to write down: their average size, the different color variations, the way their feet seem to turn inwards as they walk. Hiccup writes it all down eagerly, thanking Fishlegs for the input. With the sketches drawn and notes taken, Hiccup closes his journal, getting ready to head back to the village. But before they begin the trek back, Hiccup wants to collect another sample of the dragon nip. He'd like to have more on hand for dragon training, or maybe for Toothless. It honestly just seems like a good thing to keep around.

When Hiccup starts taking steps towards the field, Fishlegs shifts nervously. "Where are you going?"

"Do worry," Hiccup reassures, "I just want to get a sample of the grass."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Fishlegs asks. "I mean, there are a lot of Terrible Terrors over there."

Hiccup brushes off the concern. "It'll be fine. They're all too busy relaxing or having fun to worry about me." And, Hiccup thinks, I know I still have Toothless' scent on me. Not that he can tell Fishlegs that.

Hiccup leaves his things with Fishlegs at the fallen tree they've been sitting on and approaches the grassy field calmly. Some of the closest dragons back up slightly at his arrival, but once they realize he is interested in the grass and not them, they resume their previous behavior. One of the dragons decides to be brave enough to approach Hiccup as he gathers up a handful of grass and stores it in his inner vest pocket. Hiccup kneels down and lets the dragon sniff his hand before petting it. The terror rolls onto its back, asking for belly rubs. Seeing the pampering the one terror is receiving leads several of the other dragons to approach Hiccup for pets as well. He is happy to oblige them for a moment before finally bidding them goodbye and returning to Fishlegs.

The larger boy stands there with his mouth hanging open in shock. Hiccup smiles sheepishly and gathers his things before the two of them begin heading back to the village. All during the walk, Fishlegs gushes about how much of an amazing experience it was to witness dragons behaving like that. Listening to the eager ramblings, Hiccup thinks to himself that if he can get one Viking this amazed about dragons, then maybe (just maybe) he can eventually get others on board as well.