000

"Where are you taking me?"

"You mean you haven't been to this part of your island?"

"I've passed by it sometimes. I recognize some of the area." They had been walking for a while now. Hiccup deduced that her own training spot was on the far west side of the island while the Cove was towards the east. He's a bit surprised he didn't notice the distance himself when hiked to the location earlier. "Yeah, see that?" She pointed to a clump of trees to their right which had a multitude of old scars along the trunks. "I used to practice here quite a lot during dragon training."

"Dragon training?" Hiccup gazed questionably at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Not the kind you're going to show me. The dragon training I learned detailed how to take down a dragon. You know? Go for its weak spots, tear off its wings so it can't get away, and finally slay the beast and mount its head in your trophy room, above the fireplace, or the arch above our houses."

"And you say we're monsters." Hiccup increased the distance between themselves, rightly unsure of whether this was a good idea. Astrid rolled her eyes again, this time at his antics.

"But hey, if your Night Fury doesn't stare at me with that killer look in its eye, I won't try and kill it."

"Oh that's reassuring. No, really. It is. Because the last thing I need is for a dragon to look at you the wrong way and decide if it gets to live or die." He heard her chuckle. The sound was almost soothing. Like an inviting evening breeze after a hot midsummer's day. But he could detect the condescending reason behind it.

"You'll never be able to understand, Hiccup. The hardships we and our ancestors had to face because of those dragons." He didn't reply. There was no point arguing with her about that. She was right. He wouldn't understand about their struggles. Yet. But in time, with more of their meetings and interactions, he was sure she'd open up more to him. After all, she used his name. That's always a sign that things will work out.

"We're nearly there." He said as they climbed up to the ridge overlooking the Cove. "You'll want to stay up here. Just until I fill Toothless in on what's happening."

"Toothless?"

"My best friend. The Night Fury who tried to blow your head off back on Changewing Isle." Hiccup smiled as he slid down, leaving Astrid to ponder how she should behave for the upcoming confrontation. However, Astrid had other things in mind. While Hiccup reached the bottom and marched on over to the sleeping, black lump on the flat stone at the far end of the pond, she analyzed her surroundings. Looking for possible areas of cover and escape in case things got dicey. Maybe she could use his tent for cover. If they were best friends, the dragon wouldn't dare destroy his living arrangements. Apart from that though, this location was well hidden. The reason she never came across this place was because of the dense treeline blocking sight of the ridge of it. It was safe to assume no one would be able to find this place unless they were really looking for it. So she didn't have to worry about anyone from Berk running into him here. She watched him reach the dragon, which appeared to be displeased with the interruption. She saw the dragon's head bobbing up and down, almost as if it and Hiccup were having an actual discussion. Whatever was taking place down there seemed to be getting tense as she noticed the dragon, if dragons could have any facial expressions at all, looked surprised. And that surprise immediately gave way to annoyance. Which was the exact moment it looked in her direction and made eye contact with her.

She wasn't going to lie. She was a bit scared when she chased that Whispering Death from the village a few years ago. But that didn't even come close to the growing uncertainty of what to do when a Night Fury was burning a hole through your soul. Her instincts screamed to reach for her ax. And she followed through, despite seeing the menacing growl from the dragon below.

"Astrid! You promised not to use your weapon!" Hiccup yelled. He wasn't even looking at her.

"How did you-"

"Cause I know that look on Toothless' face. Look, just put the ax away and come down here."

"No!" She could hear him groan.

"Astrid. As long as you put the ax away, Toothless won't do anything at all. And if he does, I'll put myself in between the two of you." She raised an eyebrow at that. "He wouldn't dare go through me." She watched the dragon growl at him and Hiccup sent him an annoyed glare and...it was smirking at him, clearly thinking otherwise. Yeah, there was no way she going to trust Hiccup with her life. "Just trust me, Astrid. Believe me when I say I won't let him hurt you. But you ought to know that that truce goes both ways."

She really shouldn't be doing this. Perhaps this is where that famous 'curiosity killed the cat' proverb comes from. She was a Viking for Thor's sake. They always bludgeoned first and asked questions later. Well, not really. It pretty much stopped at bludgeoning. Perhaps she should have done that to him and she wouldn't be in this situation facing down an annoyed Night Fury. She could always turn tail and run but-

"Why the fuck am I thinking about running?" She whispered to herself. She was a Hofferson. If this thing goes south she was gonna do her damn best to take those two with her. She sheathed her ax on her back. "Alright! I'm coming down!" She yelled, as she slid down the slope. Brushing off dirt from her rear and skirt as she stood up, Hiccup was there to greet her and beckoned her to come with him.

"Now, he was a little pissed at this situation but he's agreed to be the test subject for all dragon related questions you have." He said, but she wasn't listening. She was still having her stare contest with the dragon. "Okay, since we all got off on the wrong foot on Changewing Isle, let's start over. Astrid, Toothless. Toothless...Astrid." The two still didn't break eye contact. "Okay, Astrid. Do you have any questions? You must be wondering why he isn't attacking you, right?"

"Is it because you're in front of me?"

"Yes and no. It's also because you haven't unsheathed your ax, so he doesn't perceive you as a threat." Hiccup felt an annoyed puff of air behind him. He ignored it for the moment. After all, Toothless could be temperamental. "That's unless you give him a reason to. Although he would have preferred if you didn't have it on you."

"Is it because he knows I could kill him with it?"

"If that's what you keep telling yourself to help sleep better at night, sure.

"So, why Toothless? Of all the names to give the embodiment of lightning and death itself, you name it Toothless."

"Him."

"What?"

"Toothless is a 'he', Astrid. How would you feel if I started calling you 'it' instead 'she' or 'her'? I know it's hard to believe but dragons do have feelings."

She sighed. "Okay." She drawled out. "Why give him a name like Toothless?"

"Now we're getting somewhere. Well, it's because Night Furies have retractable teeth. Show her bud." The Night Fury let out a dramatic huff and looked away. Pointedly determined not to cooperate. "Oh come on! We were just starting to make progress?"

"No way. I don't trust her."

"You're showing her your teeth. Not letting her fly on you."

"And why would I want to fly on that flying death trap?"

"Death trap?!"

"Okay, let's just calm down." Hiccup stood in between the two, at the ready in case things got dicey. Which with a Night Fury and hot tempered Viking, was bound to happen. "You know, haven't you been thinking that your prior assumptions that dragons attack on sight have been slightly misguided?" What he said was true. But she'd sooner wait for Loki to take an honest path in life than admit that fact now.

"Maybe because you're here? That's probably what's keeping him at bay."

"And I thought Night Furies were stubborn." Hiccup mumbled, but just loud enough to remind how unreasonable Astrid was being right now. She didn't find that comment amusing though, and was about to voice her opinion before he interrupted her again. "Okay! Forget the teeth. How about we start with trust? The both of you." He made an emphasis on the word 'both' as he looked between the two of them multiple times. Both dragon and Viking were staring daggers at each other. It was almost amusing. But then Hiccup remembered Astrid's words did have a bit of truth to it. Toothless had the same level of animosity towards her as she did for him. The outcome of what would happen if he left them alone now would not be pretty for anyone.

"Come on Toothless. Just this once. I'll put in an extra basket of cod if you do it?" If reasoning failed, there was always food to bargain with.

"Fine." Toothless grumbled. He wasn't one to pass up an extra basket of fish.

"Trust with what?" Astrid asked. She watched Hiccup walk towards his tent, opening up a basket and pulling out a cod.

"Food." He tossed it to Astrid who was taken by surprise, fumbling when the slippery fish fell out of her hands and onto the ground in front of her. "You're going to feed that to Toothless, and don't worry, he won't bite your hands off." He spoke as she picked the fish up.

"Why fish? I thought dragons ate bigger game, like the yak they steal from us."

"Most dragons only eat fish. There are a few who go after the occasional yak or boar. Truth be told, I was quite surprised when I saw the dragons raiding your farms and carrying off your livestock. I can do a bit of investigating the next time a raid comes around? If you'd like me to, that is."

"You won't be hearing any requests from me." She quipped as she stood in front of Toothless, who was looking down at her with a scrutinizing stare. "So what do I do?"

"Just hold the fish out and he'll reach for it."

"And you're sure he won't take my hands off with it?" She had a right to be skeptical after all. He should count his lucky gods that she's gone along with him this far. She didn't hear him respond as the dragon in front of her lowered his head in front of hers, eyes slowly shifting from slits to rounding pupils. He sniffed the fish and opened his mouth. "Huh?" The first thing she noticed were the pink, toothless gums. She clearly remembered from all their, limited interactions, he had teeth. Teeth he tried to kill her with. Was she imagining it all or-

Those very same teeth popped out right before he snatched the fish out of her hands into his mouth before it disappeared down his gullet. The Night Fury simply looked at her, a mischievous gleam in its eyes as he licked his lips. She pulled her hands up to her chest, grasping them as she stared with wide eyes, uncertain of what he'd plan to do next.

"See? You still have both your hands. And you were worried." Hiccup chuckled as he walked to his dragon and started petting him.

She had to admit. That was exhilarating. Not in the dragon-killing kind but a more different, pleasant kind. She suppressed the urge to curve her lips into a smile. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction that maybe he did have a point about dragons after all.

"Why did he hide his teeth? Because that's a very misleading stunt he just pulled."

"Well he doesn't really get the chance to surprise people with that, so you should feel special. You're the second person he's done that to."

"Who was the first?"

"Yours truly." Of course it was going to be him. Why did she even ask?

"So where do we go from here?" She noticed the Night Fury begin to circle them, doing a round before stopping at her back and edging closer to sniff her. When she turned to make sure he didn't get too close, she felt a weight disappear off her back. He didn't... She reached back for her ax only to confirm her suspicions. She should have suspected something was up when the dragon was circling her. "What do you think you're doing?!" She reeled back on him, just catching him tossing her ax away from them.

"Relax, he just wants to get to know you a little bit more. Just stay calm and talk to me if it'll take your mind off a dragon at your back." He even had the gall to chuckle as he said it, clearly taking pleasure in her discomfort.

"And smelling me is going to improve our camaraderie?" She said, feeling the large of puffs of air all over her back. Even his nudges at her braid. The scrutiny wasn't so bad until her nudged her rear, getting a slight shriek from her and an embarrassed look on Hiccup.

"Well she's not in heat, if you were wondering."

"I would know Toothless. I'd be able to smell it." He inwardly cringed as he the words left his mouth. Astrid slowly turned her head to him, cheeks becoming redder by the second. He couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment, rage or a mixture of both, and suddenly, he was extremely thankful for taking her ax and tossing it away. However, his dragon instincts were warning him to turn tail and run.

"You'd be able to smell what exactly?" She hissed, crossing her arms and glaring at him. He didn't know why but it felt like Fafnir himself was staring through his soul.

He quickly composed himself. "Nothing. Nothing at all. Anyway, does she pass your approval, Toothless?"

"Yeah. For now." He walked back to his rider's side, completely oblivious to the situation.

Hiccup forced a few coughs through, as he glanced at Astrid, who still had her glare directed at him. "Well good news is that Toothless accepts you. So you'll be able to carry your weapons on you around him in the foreseeable future." He sighed inwardly as Astrid lost the reddish tint in her cheeks and walked over to retrieve her ax.

"I'll ask again, where do we go from here?" She asked as she holstered her ax.

"Well, since I taught you about dragons today, why don't you teach me about your culture and history next time?"

"Okay." She turned to exit from the way she came, completely ignoring them as she did so, even though they trailed her with as she climbed up and disappeared from their view.

"Well, that went better than I expected."

Few Days Later

Heather walked through the streets of her village. Despite her people's warring tendencies, things were usually calm and festive in the village. Especially tonight. The night marked the two hundredth year anniversary of when their founding Chief first captured a Skrill. The streets were filled with lanterns and torches ablaze. Food stalls already in full swing, with barrels of mead being handed out left and right. Little children running by her in groups, some pretending to be dragons while the rest took the parts of brave Berserkers. Groups of men and women dancing, singing, swapping stories and speaking about conquers, whether it was a business, hunt or bed matter. She really did enjoy times like these. Everything was just...peaceful.

"Sister!" She chuckled when she reached the center of the village square, seeing her brother and his closest friends and advisers gathered around him.

"Dagur." She smiled bowed ever so slightly, earning groans from him, chuckling at how that annoyed him.

"Haven't I told you already? No formalities between us! Especially during celebrations!" He closed the distance between them, wrapping an arm around her and handing her a tankard.

"You know me, can't miss a chance to annoy you." She clanked tankards with him, downing it in one swig before he could even get his to his lips, earning laughs and cheers from the crowd.

"That's Heather for ya'. She could drink everyone here under the table!" One man yelled, followed by shouts of agreement, while others issued challenges.

"Come on Heather, it's a fun night! We've got a few dragon hunters here who've just unloaded a new shipment today! And man have they got news on the Jormung."

"Brother, not this again." She rolled her eyes. She could understand why her brother was seeking vengeance on the Jormung who sunk his fleet. But was it really smart sending hordes of dragon hunters after him? He wasn't the only one who heard the news. She heard them herself. How none ever returned alive. She was just worried that this would start to consume him, because she knew better than anyone how one-track minded her brother could get.

"I'll join you in a bit. I just have to make a stop by the house to get something for the children." She waved him goodbye, making her way through the crowd as Dagur returned to the table. Her house was the far east side of the village, away from the celebrations. Jostling through the crowds was no easy task either but she managed to turn off onto one of the less lit paths, glancing back behind her and smiling at the scene.

Only to bump into someone as she turned to continue on.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was-" The apology froze in her throat as she gazed up at the figure, who's hood barely covered his eyes from the angle she was at. She was right up against his chest after all.

And all she could see were the dragon eyes glittering against the lights from the main street behind her.