I'm so, SO sorry for the delay in this chapter. Life has been…. crazy. I finished my master's degree, started my career, moved to a different state, and had to restart my career. And I love my job, I do, but it is exhausting. Anyway, the story continues! I've got most of this story outlined, and it will be over 30 in length—maybe even over 40.

As Winter Turns to Spring

The next couple of months passed in a blur of more snow, training with Astrid, and helping Halla in the aftermath of a couple of dragon raids. Hiccup ended up not finishing the sheath for the knife until a couple of weeks after Snoggletog, after which time I started wearing it at my hip. Astrid had even started me training with it, having noticed it within minutes of meeting her the first time I wore it, and had nodded in approval after I had shown it to her.

If Snoggletog had been this world's equivalent of Christmas, then if I was keeping track right it was toward the end of February. Maybe. And if I was thinking correctly that I had arrived here in September or October (and I had no idea if that estimate was correct or not), then I had been in Berk around six months.

Six months since my car had a flat on my way home and I somehow ended up here. It seemed like forever and no time at all at the same time. Somehow in those months, I had come to know my way around Berk better than the high school I had navigated for four years. People still sometimes gave me a look when running in the mornings with Astrid or when delivering things for Halla, but they weren't as frequent as they used to be. Still, none trusted me enough to let me help them with minor injuries when Halla was busy.

It was toward the end of February, maybe even early March after most of the snow had melted, when the training routine Astrid and I had developed was disturbed. As we headed into the forest after our daily run, toward the clearing that we usually used, we found that we were not the only ones out training. First, it was Snotlout out with his father. I didn't think anything of it until the next day we passed the father and son duo and then happened across another pair out training.

Hiccup and Gobber. With a sheep.

I stopped walking and watched as Hiccup struggled to lift the sheep and put it on his shoulders. And then try to walk with it there. "Um, what is happening?"

Startled, Hiccup dropped the sheep, which quickly ran off.

"Thawfest training!" Gobber clapped Hiccup on the shoulder, which made him stumble. "Go catch that sheep before it gets too far, Hiccup."

"Right." He shot me a quick smile before taking off in the direction the sheep headed.

"Kendra," Astrid called, who was waiting on the edge of the clearing Hiccup and Gobber were using.

"See you later, Gobber." I waved and jogged off to catch up with Astrid. "So, what is Thawfest?"

"It's a competition every year to celebrate the coming of spring. There's the sheep lug, the log roll, and the ax throwing competition. See who the best Viking of our generation is," she explained as we continued toward the clearing we tended to use. I glanced over to see an annoyed look on her face. "The Jorgenson family has won the last three generations. They usually don't shut up about it for at least a month."

Jorgenson. I knew that name from Hiccup mentioning it in passing. Mentioning it usually when he mentioned his cousin. "Wait, Snotlout? How did he beat you at ax throwing? That's like…your thing."

She gave me a small, amused smile. "I appreciate the vote of confidence. I've gotten close a few times, but usually it's the twins or Fishlegs screwing me up."

"And Hiccup?" I had a feeling I already knew the answer to how he did every year.

"Last place every year. But he's always…. gracious about it. Never a sore loser," she replied. Yup, what I had expected. "He and Gobber always start-up training just after his birthday."

Wait, what? I stopped walking and looked over at her. "His birthday?"

Astrid stopped and looked back at me. "Two days ago. He didn't tell you?"

I shook my head. "No."

She looked surprised at that. "I figured he would have, seeing how close you two are."

"Me too," I said softly as we resumed walking.

I had spent part of the day with him two days ago after making a delivery for Halla. I'd helped a bit around the forge, and we worked a bit on my reading (I could now actually read what was essentially a short children's story), but he hadn't said a word about what the day was. Why hadn't he told me it was his birthday?

We stopped as we came into the clearing that she had been using the last few months to train me, which I had learned during that time was her normal training spot. I sighed, rolling my shoulders. I'd talk to Hiccup later and ask why he didn't say anything about his birthday. "Okay, what's up first for today?"

"Knife, ax, then hand to hand," she explained, going over to a tree and refreshing the mark that she wanted me to aim for.

I nodded, unsheathing the knife that Hiccup had made for me for Snoggletog. And unlike when I had started training months ago, I could now hit the mark with the knife almost every time.

I wasn't able to get to the forge and talk to Hiccup until a couple of days later between helping Halla and Hiccup training for Thawfest. Gobber was nowhere in sight when I arrived, but Hiccup was hard at work modifying the net thrower. The last couple of raids he hadn't been able to get out and test it and kept making tweaks to it whenever he had a free moment.

I leaned against a post at the entrance and watched him work for a moment, not wanting to startle him while he was concentrating.

Turns out, I didn't have to say anything. He noticed me a few minutes later when he looked up, searching for something. "Hey."

"Hey," I said, moving away from the post and looking at the net thrower. "Any progress?"

He nodded. "It should be quicker to set up now, but I won't really know until I get the chance to test it out."

"You could always test it on the sheep you've been training with," I suggested with a shrug.

He sighed and looked at me with a deadpan expression. "It's taken to running away as soon as it sees me."

I couldn't help it. Between the look on his face and his tone, I snorted. Hiccup rolled his eyes but was fighting down a smile as he turned back to the net thrower.

"Hiccup?"

He hummed but didn't look up from his work.

"Why didn't you tell me about your birthday?"

He stopped working and his head snapped up, his expression startled. He looked confused for a moment before he sighed, setting down his tools. "Astrid."

"Yeah," I replied. "But why did I hear about it from her? Two days later?"

Hiccup didn't say anything, just stared down at his tools. And stared. And stared.

"Hiccup?" I asked softly, slowly moving towards him. This silence from him was starting to get unnerving. It wasn't like him.

"They never say anything." His voice was so soft, I barely heard him at all.

I stopped arm's length away from him. "Who doesn't?"

He scoffed, shaking his head as he continued staring down at his tools. "Everyone, except Gobber and my dad. They know, and just ignore it."

Oh, lord. This poor kid. Isolated. Put down. Ignored, on a day when he should be celebrated for existing. As much as I liked Astrid and had started to think of her as a friend and not just my trainer, she had a long way to go. To grow. It would happen, one of these days, but until then…

Hiccup yelped as I pulled him into a hug. It took him a moment before I felt him hug me back, his face pressed into my shoulder. "I'm sorry they don't see the amazing person that I see. They are missing out."

Hiccup didn't say anything, but he sniffed and his hold on me tightened. I rested my chin lightly on top of his head. "Happy belated birthday, Hiccup."

The next week of training with Astrid was frosty, with me barely talking to her at all. I followed her instructions and answered any questions, but never engaged in any conversation with her like I normally would during our run around the village or breaks during training. She never asked or confronted me about it, and I never explained why, but I had a feeling that she knew why.

Training with Astrid was then paused for two days for Thawfest. Even though the games themselves would only take a day, the second day was apparently for the celebration of the winner.

The roof was lifted from the area that would be used for dragon training one day soon (which I did not even know was possible until Astrid pointed it out to me the last morning before the games were to start) and stands for the audience moved in around it to be able to watch the games. The entire village crowded into the stands to watch the youngest generation complete.

I followed Halla into the stands just to the left of where Stoick was seated, where she took a seat next to Gothi.

The kids were already down in the arena, getting ready to start. Astrid was stretching, the twins were fighting (as usual), Snotlout was flexing his muscles at the crowd, while Fishlegs and Hiccup both looked like they'd rather be anywhere but in that arena. Gobber was down there as well to oversee the events.

"SNOTLOUT! SNOTLOUT! OI! OI! OI!"

The booming voice behind me made me jump, making Halla and Gothi chuckle. Okay, I could see how hearing that for a month for years could get old in a hurry. And why did his voice sound like David Tennant?

"Welcome! Welcome, to this year's Thawfest games!"

I glanced in the direction I heard the voice and saw the man with a bucket on his head, the same one that could predict bad storms with said bucket, on a bench on the other side of Stoick close to the edge of the arena. Next to him sat the man who had helped him off the boat that day. "Halla?" She hummed and leaned closer to me to hear over the roar of the crowd. "Who is that next to Bucket?"

"Oh, that's Mulch. He and Bucket have announced the games for years," she replied as they explained that the sheep lug would be the first event.

I blinked. Bucket and Mulch. I really hoped those were nicknames because who on Earth would name their kid Bucket?

When the first event started, I could quickly see why Astrid said she'd come close to winning only to be screwed up by Fishlegs or the twins. Hiccup stumbled and lost his sheep first, which fell and tripped Fishlegs, who fell into the twins and his sheep went flying, right into Astrid.

I sat there gaping at the arena as Snotlout was declared the winner of the event. It was like a damn comedy of errors. What were the odds of all that happening? And from what Astrid said, this was a regular occurrence during Thawfest. What the actual hell?

Snotlout's dad was so loud I covered my ears as the kids moved off to the side and Gobber set up for the next event, the log roll.

The log roll went pretty much the same way. Fishlegs went down first. Hiccup just after him. Tuffnut went down, tripping his sister, who in turn tripped Astrid. I covered my ears again as Snotlout was declared the winner. This…was absolutely ridiculous.

There was more of a break between the log roll and the ax throwing, during which families went down to visit their children. Within moments I could hear SNOTLOUT! SNOTLOUT! OI! OI! OI! coming from the entrance of the arena.

"I'll be right back," I told Halla, not waiting for her response before slipping out of my seat and heading for the entrance of the arena.

One day soon, another event would be happening in this arena and Hiccup alone would be preparing to enter. Today, everyone was there with their families. Astrid with her parents. Fishlegs with what I assumed was his mom, who was even taller than he was. The twins were being chewed out by their parents for being more focused on fighting each other than the games. Snotlout and his dad were the loudest of the bunch and could not be missed.

I arrived just in time to see Stoick giving Hiccup's shoulder a squeeze before he left, nodding at me as he passed. Hiccup saw me and I could immediately see him perk up as I walked over to him. "Hey."

"Hey," I replied, putting my arm over his shoulders as we moved off to the side, putting more distance between us and Snotlout and his father. "Are the games always this…"

"Pathetic?"

"I was going to say ridiculous," I replied. He gave me a confused look. "Someone falls, who falls into someone else, who in turn knocks everyone down except Snotlout? It's so ridiculous that if I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't believe it."

Hiccup looked thoughtful for a moment and opened his mouth to say something but said nothing, instead just letting out, "Huh."

I frowned at him. "What?"

He shrugged. "It does sound ridiculous when you put it like that."

A moment later Gobber called them back into the arena. Hiccup sighed. "At least this will be over soon."

I gave his shoulders a squeeze before removing my arm. "Hey, you got a growth spurt coming one of these days. You'll get them that year."

Hiccup looked skeptical, but the corners of his mouth were turned upward so I took that as a win as he headed back into the arena. I returned to my seat, hoping maybe the ax-throwing event might go a little better since it was where Astrid excelled.

I was wrong. So wrong. Tripping. Flying axes going everywhere except the targets, with Snotlout coming out as the winner.

And Astrid had not been kidding. The Jorgenson's were extremely annoying for the next month.