A/N: I'm back, y'all! This is the last chapter (two-shot, lol) for this story. So, basically this is where the movie selves go through all the horrible things the book selves had gone through (kind of like an AU, I guess?) HOWEVER, if there are some good responses about this "Wilderwest" AU, I might actually continue it, and who knows, develop it in a more complex story. But for now: One last time.
Also thank you for all the favorites and follows! It means a lot. Oh, and disclaimer: HTTYD belongs to the great Cressida Cowell, O Hear her Name and Tremble, Ugh Ugh.
Anyway, guest reply and shout outs:
Flopy: Oohh, hello! Thanks so much for reviewing! Well, what can I say, really? We all love that brown-haired Viking of ours, and his cat-like dragon. (HONESTLY, WHO COULDN'T LOVE THAT DRAGON? HE'S ADORABLE!) I do hope you enjoy the rest of the story!

FloofyFox: *screams in delight* oh gods! Someone who finally understands! XD. Thanks so much for your incredible support. As much as I love the complexity of the Movie Universe, I also fell in love with the books' overall plot (cuz it's epic!) and so this came out!

Emachinescat: *finger guns* Eyy! A book fan, I see! Lol, seriously thank you for reviewing. Here's the last one eyyy!

The Testing of a Hero
How to Train Your Dragon two-shot by: M.J. Joyce-Crowling

Warning: Mild to moderate violence; curse words.

As his eyes adjusted to the blinding light, Hiccup realized that he must be in the Great Hall of the war bunker. Its paneled walls were made up of broken, rickety wood and remnants of the upturned hulls of huge ancient Viking ships. It was a cool and damp place, surrounded by cages full of dragons and captured Warriors.

The Dragon Trappers stood in the middle of the hall. They were a ghastly, murderous lot, clutching different weapons of war, and it was they who had laughed cruelly when Hiccup had stumbled into the room.

Drago now turned to the gathered assembly, his eyes glinting with malice.

"This," he gloated, shaking the fist that's still gripping Hiccup's hair, so that he staggered. "This is the Chief whom you've offered your lives to? This one-legged fool who so obliviously caught the bait, and into the trap I've set? How pathetic."

Hiccup snarled, struggling to push Bludvist from him. "At least I don't howl like lunatic every now and then."

In a swift, sudden movement, Drago throw him away from his grasp, where he slammed hard on the floor, as Drago's henchmen exploded with callous laughter. Blood boiling, Hiccup stood up, his head spinning horribly.

The two men glared at each other, their eyes spewing fire, hatred pulsating off both of them in overwhelming waves.

And then a terrible cry of fury shattered the silence. It was coming from inside a large box at the corner of the room.

"BLUDVIST! I SWEAR TO THE GODS, WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, I'LL BE FEEDING YOUR BITS AND PIECES TO STORMFLY!"

"ASTRID!" Hiccup yelled, to his profound relief, and he scrambled towards her, only to be restrained by two burly henchmen. "Astrid, are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" The box shouted back. "I'm absolutely okay, Hiccup. It's that madman who should be afraid when I get out of this stupid box!"

The DragonMarkers who were imprisoned in their cages took up her cause, and they began shouting abuse and screaming insults at the trappers.

"Yeh should be ashamed of yerself, yeh power-hungry bastard!" Gobber roared, clanging his hook on the solid steel metal.

"I'll muddy your face in Berk's bogs when I'm done with you!" yelled Tuffnut.

"Yeah!" Ruffnut screeched. "You'll pay for this, Bloody Fist!"

They continued screaming, until -

"SILENCE!" Drago bellowed, and in response his Bull Guards, with their mouths aflame, growled a warning directed at the prisoners, who quieted at once.

"I am through with games," Drago said quietly. He was fiddling with his spear, as though itching to throw it directly at Hiccup's heart. Hiccup stood there with his head held proud, ragged and helpless, and he hysterically wondered how silly he must look, without anything to defend himself….

"Sir!"

A trapper pushed his way up to the front, bowing low. Bludvist narrowed his eyes. "What is it?"

"We couldn't find the Night Fury, sir," the trapper said, his voice trembling. "We've searched everywhere, but it seemed to have vanished."

Despite the dire situation that he was currently entangled with, Hiccup could feel his soul leaping with elation and relief. He's gone. He escaped.

Drago glanced at him, and he saw the malevolent smirk plastered upon that scarred face.

"It doesn't matter," he said, dismissing the servant. He approached Hiccup, who was still held by two men. Drago grabbed his jaw and forced his head upward. "We have our bait, right here. In time, the dragon will come to me."

"He wouldn't," said Hiccup fiercely. "He knows better than to bow down to your whims, Bludvist. And so it is with me."

"And leave his dear Rider stranded here, at the mercy of his enemies?" He shook his head in mock disappointment. "I always thought you were a smart boy, Hiccup."

Hiccup's eyes widened. Drago grinned sadistically.

"H-he… he wouldn't come back," Hiccup whispered, trying and failing to believe his own words. "He wouldn't…."

"No need to worry, Dragon Master," Drago nodded to the men still restraining Hiccup; they began to take off what little armor he had, leaving his threadbare clothes and tunic, before quickly and efficiently tying his wrists at his back with thick ropes. Hiccup struggled, but it was all in vain. "There would only be one thing I'd ask from you, and then you could join your father in Valhalla."

Hiccup flushed red with anger. He was about to open his mouth in fury when -

"Not so fast, Bludvist."

Drago turned, letting go of Hiccup's jaw. Hiccup saw Snotlout standing in front of them, his face pale but determined, clutching his sword tightly.

"I had b-brought you Hiccup," Snotlout said clearly; his voice rang all across the room. "Now fulfill your side of the bargain and give me the reward you had promised me."

"Reward?"

"M-my f-father's freedom," said Snotlout, backing away, as the trappers began to circle him like birds of prey. "M-my dragon and…."

"My boy," said Drago, watching with twisted amusement. There was a cry of shock as the trappers caught Snotlout from behind the back, and wrested his sword away from him. "You couldn't have possibly believed every word, could you?"

"But you-"

"Fool," Drago spat; the leering henchmen now forced Snotlout inside another cage. "How naïve of you to believe that I shall spare mercy to those who think they can defy me…"

"Your cause is hopeless!" screamed Drago, brandishing his spear in the air. "The Dragon Jewel is in my hands, and once I would be made King and be told of its Secret, the whole world would bend its knees to me! It isn't too late to repent and beg for forgiveness!"

Cries of "Never!" and "We stand by Hiccup!" echoed from the DragonMarkers, reverberating loudly around the room.

"You will fail, Bludvist!" the box yelled. "Hiccup will succeed in the end, just like how he kicked your ass in Berk!"

The prisoners cheered at Astrid's words.

Drago chuckled darkly.

"Do you hear them, Dragon Master?" he taunted. "Ironic, is it not, to put their trusts on their disgraced Chieftain, and his Night Fury which was robbed of its power over the dragons as the Alpha, thereby starting the Dragon Rebellion in the first place? Ironic, is it not, for them to put their trust on you, when you keep failing them just as much as you failed your father? Just look at you…"

He wasn't completely wrong: Hiccup was a particularly pathetic sight at the moment, his tattered clothes hanging loosely to his bedraggled frame, torn and ripped by claws and talons. His prosthetic foot was fastened limply on his left leg, and there were cuts and bruises all over his body, as his empty scabbard swung dismally on his side.

"Don't listen to him, Hiccup!" Astrid yelled. "We would never turn our backs on you!"

The DragonMarkers hesitated for just a fraction of a heartbeat, before they cried their defiance yet again.

"LONG LIVE THE CHIEF!"

"WE STAND BY HICCUP!"

"HICCUP! HICCUP!"

Drago smiled nastily. "Ah, loyalty. Such a noble thing. Very loyal of you indeed to stand by Hiccup. The question is, will the runt stand by you?" And then he turned to his men. "CHAIN THE BOY UP!"

Rough hands seized and wound chains around Hiccup, till he was so securely tied and trussed up, he couldn't move an inch.

"OPEN THE TRAPDOOR!" Drago ordered, and his men did his bidding at once, opening a huge trapdoor in the middle of the Hall directly into the icy, turbulent sea below.

"See how much loyalty you could stand when the fool betrays all of you and tells us the rest of the Riders' nest!"

"I wouldn't!" Hiccup yelled, trying to keep his voice from trembling. "Y-you couldn't force it out of me, Bludvist!"

"Then we shall have a test," said Drago maliciously. "You will tell me where that bitch and the other DragonMarkers are hiding, or I'll lower you down to this freezing water and leave you down there, till you see sense, or you drown, I couldn't really care less."

The men pushed and shoved Hiccup, so that he lost his balance and smacked hard into the deck, landing right at Bludvist's feet.

"How fitting," Drago mocked, crouching down, so that he was level with his captive. "So what will it be, boy? Will you tell me where they are, or will you freeze to death?"

"S-save your breath," Hiccup snarled, raising his shoulders to glower at Drago. "I would never betray them."

Drago gazed at him. Suddenly, he grabbed Hiccup's shoulders and yanked him upward, dragging him to the trapdoor. Hiccup clenched his fists, bracing himself for the numbing cold when they stopped quite abruptly.

"Look at the waters, boy," Drago sneered. "Look at it, O great Chief, and tell me what do see. You are the master of dragons, after all."

Hiccup looked at the water. His heart sank.

"Well, boy," said Drago. "What do you see?"

His voice was barely above a whisper. "Winterfleshers."

"Oh, Thor!" Fishlegs, from his cage, gasped loudly. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Winterfleshers!" Drago said triumphantly. "Small dragons that could tear a deer to strips of flesh when they attack in packs! Let's see if you could train them while drowning, Dragon Master!"

There was a horrible silence as the truth sank in.

"NO!" Astrid screamed. "NO, HICCUP, NO!"

The DragonMarkers howled their disapproval and horror.

Hiccup was breathing fast. He knew how mind-numbingly cold the Winter Ocean could be, so cold that it could seep through the very bones and render the soul dead… a cold that seemed to attack and burn like fire… a cold no man could ever survive from…

But then, from strength even he didn't know he had, he looked up at those pitiless eyes, his will resolved.

"A chief protects his own," said Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. "I would never tell you where they are."

Drago looked momentarily stunned, before smiling horribly. "Death, it is."

And with a roaring command to the trappers who manned the chains, they lowered Hiccup to soulless waters.

Every particle of him screamed in protest as he was submerged unto the sea, holding his breath that had seemed to have frozen solid in his lungs. Oh, it was agony, burning him raw, chilling him to the very bone as he fought not to breathe. It might be his frozen mind playing tricks on him - dark shadows seemed to move everywhere….

It seemed to have been forever when he could feel himself being pulled upward; bright lights burst on his eyes, along with an explosion of noise. Confused and disoriented, he lay on the wooden floor, gasping and shaking in his chains.

Drago's burly figure swam into focus, as he was forced to get up to his feet. Hiccup swayed, his vision reeling, the Trappers' laughter ringing in his ears.

"A minute," said Drago, and it was clear that he was enjoying every second of it. "That was just a minute, boy…."

And then Drago fell into a puzzled silence.

"I don't understand," he muttered. "No marks on him at all…" He stepped in front of Hiccup, who was shivering feverishly. "Well, would you tell us where your companions are?"

Without opening his mouth, Hiccup shook his head.

"A death wish is it?" said Drago Bludvist nastily. "Put him back there once more."

Twice he was lowered in the churning and unforgiving waters of the Winter Ocean, in periods longer than the first, and twice he refused to betray his friends.

Drago felt the impatience and the outrage that was bubbling up inside him as they hauled the boy yet again. Hiccup was coughing and retching, his body trembling violently. He was soaked and drenched to the skin. But still there was no mark on him, as if the Winterfleshers singled him out on purpose. And very much alive.

"For the last time, runt," Drago thundered, "Tell me where the DragonMarkers are!"

Hiccup could barely stand at all, but still he shook his head, to the astonishment of everyone in the Great Hall.

The captured DragonMarkers had already erupted into wild cheers, but they hadn't seen what Drago saw. There was fear in the boy's eyes. He felt the savage pleasure as he watched the boy break right before him, despite all his pathetic attempts to hide it from everybody else….

"Leave him in the water again!" he yelled to his henchmen. "And even longer this time!"

"No!" the girl screamed, pounding inside the box for all her worth. "LEAVE HIM ALONE! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

When the Trappers drew Hiccup for the third time, Drago knew, to his fury, that the boy was much stronger than he gave him credit for. He was barely conscious, shuddering in the cold, his limbs stiff and frozen, but he was breathing. Moving, when he should've drowned. Alive.

And unharmed.

"Are there no Winterfleshers on that wretched sea?" Drago howled, but the sea was so boiling with Winterfleshers, one actually jumped out from the waters, and lay flapping on the wooden floor. Drago kicked the monster back to the waters, his temper rising.

The chorus of cries from the DragonMarkers was in jubilation:

"HA! Take THAT, you steaming pile of dragon droppings!"

"A chief protects his own! We stand by Hiccup!"

"HICCUP! HICCUP! HICCUP!"

"SHUT UP!" Drago screeched; he looked like a madman about to explode. The cheering was stifled at once.

He didn't understand; how was the boy breathing underwater? Underwater! In the coldest and unforgiving of seasons, the boy managed to survive with those thin rags, and was able to fend off those awful pests, just to make a fool out of him.

Drago's wrath was uncontrollable; in blind fury he strode and grabbed the boy's collar, yanking him upwards, and in his rage, he shook him furiously, as if that would make the boy see sense.

"Who do you think you are, you son of a whore?" he said through grinded teeth. "Who do you think you are to defy me? ME! THE DRAGON GOD! NEXT TO ME, YOU ARE NOTHING! NOTHING!"

And he hurled Hiccup to the floor.

Hiccup barely felt the pain that exploded at the back of his head as it made contact on wood; his mind was a muddled mess of thoughts and emotions, so confusing and disorienting it made him nauseous. He was shivering, colder than he had ever been in his life. Hiccup's bones were burning like it was on fire, from the chill or something else, he didn't know. The warmth was spreading in his insides, seemingly eating him up, telling him that it would be all over soon, that he could now rest as long as he want…

The world around him seemed to be in shambles, a roar of noise and a whirl of colors, so that it took him a moment to recognize the thumping sounds to be footsteps.

And then, out of nowhere, as his vision cleared, he saw the disfigured face of Drago Bludvist inches from his.

Hiccup flinched, vainly trying to wriggle away, panic taking over his senses. He didn't want to go back there…. Oh gods don't let me go back there….please not in there again….

He heard Drago's snicker. It was alarming how he could have wild mood swings and become a totally different person when he wanted to. He was now bent over Hiccup, sneering.

"A pity that you should have challenged me, great Chief," he mocked. "We could've been invincible. We could've been powerful. We're the same, you and I. This world must be purged of those who don't understand our power. Our gift."

"W-we a-are not the s-same," Hiccup croaked, his voice cracking. He hated how he must have sounded – weak and vulnerable. He did not want to meet the madman's eyes, to see the ruthless pleasure that was alit in it. "W-we w-would never be the s-same, B-Bludvist."

"No," said Drago. "You're right. See, I am not a coward, like you are. In your hearts of hearts, you do not want to be King, Haddock. You know the burden of he who carries the Dragon Jewel. In your weakness and cowardice, you don't want to carry the guilt of ending the dragons' for good…."

His words hit home. Hiccup didn't want to kill the dragons… How could he? How could he ever say… ever say… goodbye to… to—?

His heart filled with emotion, and he looked away.

"You see?" said Bludvist softly. "However, a king can grant leniency whenever he wishes. We will let you and your friends live peacefully in my reign. Wherever you wish. You could go back home, Hiccup…"

Home.

Oh, the word was bliss, and even then Hiccup could see Berk, his home, lost in happy, long-ago summers and memories, before the whole world collapsed… back to the time when everything was happy, normal, before this madness…

"T-the dragons?" Hiccup stammered. "What will happen to the dragons?"

Drago's voice hardened. "Nothing could be done with those beasts. They need to die, in order for us to live. You, on the other hand, you have the choice to save the lives of everyone you know. See my generosity, O Chief? I have given you this chance. Don't let your father die in vain…."

This… this was the greatest trial of all.

Every emotion that he held at the back of his mind flooded his being. He clenched his jaw and shut his eyes tight; he could barely hear the cheering and yelling of both allies and foes, wanting him to do well, or wishing him death.

A raging battle was going on in his thoughts. A battle that he had avoided for so long, but now needed to conquer….

Drago was right. Hiccup didn't want to be the King. He wasn't meant to be like his father, who could lead his people with ease, make them follow to any war. He wasn't like Stoick the Vast. He couldn't bear the responsibility of his mistakes when things go wrong.

But then, if he wouldn't become King, then Drago would. He knew what that meant, knew of the horrors they would soon be facing under Bludvist's tyranny; the extinction of dragons, oppression, slavery, not only for them, but for all generations to come.

He couldn't let that happen. And he won't.

If not me, then who? If not now, when?

He raised his drooping head, so that they were eye to eye with Bludvist.

"I will never give up fighting you even though it's too late… even though all is lost… even though it is impossible! Never!" Hiccup cried.

The DragonMarkers burst into a thundering applause, screaming and shrieking for their Hero, their Chief… their King.

Drago however, threw his head and roared with laughter.

"That was touching," he sneered, pointing his spear at Hiccup's throat, "but entirely unnecessary." Hiccup hear the malice in his voice as he said, "there are other ways to make you talk, boy. Ways you wouldn't even dream of."

"Then d-do it," Hiccup panted. "Y-you couldn't d-do a-anything to m-me that will make me c-change my mind."

"True," said Drago nastily, "it's what I'm going to do to someone else that will make you change your mind…" He turned to his cronies. "Tie a rope to the box and throw it in the water."

"What… NO!" Hiccup screamed, trying to break free from his restraints, which, from his weakened state, didn't do much good. "DON'T DRAG HER INTO THIS, BLUDVIST!"

"This is why you'll always be weaker!" Bludvist gloated. "You care more for others than you care for yourself! Tell me where Valka is hiding, and she might be spared!"

"I-I can't… I w-won't—"

"Lower it down!" Drago screeched, and the box splashed unceremoniously to the sea, with Astrid shouting "Stay strong, Hiccup! Don't betray everyone in my expense! Stay strong!"

"N-no!" he gasped. "No, Astrid! ASTRID!"

"She will be spared, Haddock," repeated Drago, "if you tell me where the Riders' nest is. Or will you be responsible for the death of someone you love yet again?"

Hiccup vaguely saw the DragonMarkers straining forward, waiting for his response. He was staring desperately at the trapdoor, as white-hot guilt gnawed his insides. His fault… His entire fault….

He hung his head in order to hide his shame. Yes, he would tell Drago where they were.

A disappointed groan from the crowds.

"Such a disgrace," Drago goaded. "YOU SEE?" he yelled to the gathered prisoners. "He's nothing but human, weak, despicable, ignorant! And you really thought he'd be King?!"

"Now, talk boy!" he barked. "Where are they? Where could we find them?"

Hiccup seemed to be shaking more horribly than he was before. He opened his mouth, but the effort of using his voice had waned, leaving his throat raw and dry. The delusional warmth was still creeping up in his skin….

"Show me on the map!" Drago commanded. "Show me on the map where the hideout is!"

Hiccup tried to indicate the place with his head, before he went into a coughing fit.

"Can't you see?" Gobber yelled furiously. "Yeh made the boy hypothermic, yeh big stupid lump! He's too exhausted to talk!"

Drago was running out of patience. "Untie him so that he could point! Leave the chain on his right ankle! Now show me where they are!"

"Sir, I don't think-"

"Just do it!"

Hiccup was untied. He staggered upward, body swaying, still shivering slightly.

And then he sprang.

To everyone's absolute amazement, Hiccup leaped to life with strength they didn't even know he was capable of, dodging and knocking out two Trappers as they tried to intercept him. He then went straight through the trapdoor and dived headfirst into the ocean, to the deafening cheers and stampings of the DragonMarkers.

Drago was crazed with rage.

"GET HIM!" he shrieked, diving for the chain that was still wounded around Hiccup's ankle, bawling for help. Two trappers went to assist him at once. Beside were three more men hauling Astrid's box. The chains were coming in easily, for it had to be said that Hiccup was scrawny and thin.

But it was Astrid's box that came up first, and there was a collective gasp.

The chest was opened wide, its wood splintered to pieces, the locks and chains broken, as though a great force has smashed it to smithereens.

And there was certainly no Astrid.

The chains that Drago and his men were reeling suddenly jerked once… twice…

The onlookers looked on with awestruck wonder as the burly, muscular men tried to heave the chains onto the deck, as though a giant sea monster had taken the other side. The chain was yanked violently by the unknown, and the Trappers were dragged all across the floor, heaving with all their might, as the unseen force towed them nearer and nearer to the trapdoor...

CLANG!

All the Warriors went falling flat on the wooden decks of the Great Hall, as the chain swished out of sight, like a merry snake craving for freedom, onto the cold waters below.

There was one quivering second of silence.

And then the whole room exploded into wild celebration and hearty disbelief.

"He's done it! The boy has done it again!"

"I knew there was something in him! YOU GO GET HIM, CHIEF!"

"HICCUP! HICCUP! HICCUP!"

The Trappers were mute with terror as Drago got to his feet. His wrath broke.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" He roared vehemently. "FIND THE BOY AND KILL HIM! KILL HIM!"

The Trappers scurried away in fear, but even they were slightly impressed by the Hiccup boy, whose resilience could match the Winter Ocean itself.

Astrid Hofferson was sputtering and shaking, laying face down on a wooden surface, drenched to the bone. She was utterly confused at what had just transpired, and for one wild moment she thought she was back inside the suffocating confines of that horrible chest Bludvist had contained her, when something large nudged at her side. She gasped.

"Toothless?"

Toothless gave an unhappy whine, nuzzling closer to her. On closer inspection, she seemed to be on the hull of an upturned boat, just underneath the floorboards of Drago's city. How she got there, though, was another question that she had no answer to.

The dragon was giving off rather pleasant warmth from his body, so that for one dazed second Astrid laid her head on Toothless' back, wanting to sleep through this nightmare….

But as Toothless whimpered again, she remembered the dreadful and horrifying events that had occurred right above these very floorboards, and she sat up, dread creeping in her stomach.

"Toothless," she whispered, "Toothless, we have to save Hiccup... We have to go back and save him… or Drago… or Drago would… would…."

Her voice filled with emotion and broke; pushing away the heinous things a merciless man like Drago was capable of.

"We need to get up there," she said passionately, brushing at her eyes rather impatiently. "Come on, boy, saddle up and - Argh!"

She had to clap her hands to her mouth to stop herself from screaming and giving away her position. She stared, frightened, at the scaly heads breaking from the water's surface.

They were dragons, she was sure of it, but she had never seen anything like them ever before. Their thick scales were a shade of turquoise blue to lake green, shimmering and giving off an iridescent glow. Their necks were long and slender, and at the side of those heads she could just make out flaps that might have been gills when underwater. Astrid could make out their spread-out wings, flapping underneath the ocean. She could see their fins right above their claws.

She had never seen anything like them.

But what shocked her the most, made her cry out so loud that she brought her hand to her mouth for the second time, was the fact that dangling from one of the beasts' jaw by his collar, limp, unconscious and blue from the cold, was the only person on her mind after she was shut inside that prison box of hers.

"Hiccup!" she said hoarsely, crawling over to the edge, while the beasts deposited Hiccup on top of the boat, their necks rising and swaying imperiously. Toothless was by his friend's side at once, nuzzling his nose at Hiccup's cheek, clearly worried.

"He's freezing," Astrid muttered anxiously, fighting the urge to break down as she checked him over. He looked so much more horrible up close: there were dark shadows underneath his eyes, and a cut on his temple was bleeding profusely. He was breathing, but barely, and she turned to Toothless, who snuggled even closer to Hiccup, his steamy breath furling into wisps of smoke, heating and warming their frozen and shaking limbs.

And then slowly, Hiccup's eyes flickered open.

"Hiccup!" Astrid cried out with relief, and she flung herself to Hiccup's chest. "Oh thank the gods….Thank the gods…. I thought I lost you… Oh gods…"

Hiccup started, but he embraced her back, pulling her even closer. Words failed them, and they stayed like that for a while, clutching each other a little desperately, both never wanting to let go. Never again.

Toothless suddenly purred, and the two broke apart, as the dragon bounded in all fours and began licking Hiccup's face.

"H-hey there, bud," Hiccup said softly, his voice hoarse and weak, scratching the spot behind Toothless' ears. "I suppose y-you did it again, h-huh, bud? Saved my neck more times than I could even count…"

Toothless nodded vigorously, before twisting his head. Astrid saw Hiccup follow the dragon's gaze, his jaw dropping as he took in the gentle beasts in front of them, floating magnificently over the waters.

"I… d-did you-?" He asked weakly. Toothless nodded yet again.

The two dragons merely stared at Hiccup with their hypnotic gaze. Hiccup blinked in astonishment.

"W-what was that about?" Astrid inquired. Hiccup shook his head, trying to get up.

"T-they could talk to me…" he mumbled. "In my head… said they stayed loyal to Toothless." He gave a wry smile that was more like a grimace. "They chased the Winterfleshers away, and kept me breathing and warm so that I don't drown and die. Oh, and they said they destroyed that box and let you out... and uh, helped me escape too, by the looks of it." He shook his head again, a little unnerved. "I knew that some dragons could communicate telepathically… just didn't think that it would be so disquieting… like intruding into your own-"

"SEARCH FAR AND WIDE, YOU HEAR ME! DON'T REST TILL YOU FIND THE BOY!"

Muffled footsteps rumbled past on top of them, the floorboards creaking and giving off dust. Astrid glanced at Hiccup, who nodded, and they crouched down, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"What now?" she breathed, as the patter of feet died away. Hiccup looked up, and she knew he was thinking hard, trying to find a way.

"I need to get to the Jewel," he said at last. "It's only one day left till the Doomsday of Yule… and I think I know where it might be hidden."

"Great!" Astrid said. "I'll come with you then and-"

"No." He could sound pretty firm when he wanted. "You must fly to Coral's Beach at once. Mom would take care of you along with the others… keep you-"

"Are we really going to have this argument?!" she exclaimed exasperatedly. "How many times do I have to say this, Hiccup?! It's not your choice, but mine!"

"I just don't want you to get hurt! Drago would do anything… anything at all to get what he wants, Astrid! He had used you as leverage against me, and he wouldn't hesitate to do it again!"

"And leave you here all alone, weak as first-born? By the gods, Hiccup, I swear your pride would ruin-"

"It was my mistake, okay? If I just listened to you, Drago might not have caught you. None of this would have happened!" He sounded bitter. "You're not safe with me!"

"Thor almighty, you bloated toerag! You're bringing this up now? I can't believe you, you one-legged son of a-"

She couldn't finish: Hiccup pulled her closer and, eyes blazing, and kissed her with such fervor it made her ache with longing. She immediately wound her arms around his neck as she responded just as fiercely, and for a moment both were lost, basking in sweet blissful oblivion.

They disentangled themselves from each other. He pressed his forehead on hers, slightly breathless.

"You're stupid," Astrid whispered; there was a burning feeling at the corner of her eyes. "You're stupid, Haddock."

"I know."

"And I'm scared."

Hiccup swallowed. "I know."

She let out a shaky breath. "And you can't do anything to stop me."

Her hand had crept to his bruised wrists where the ropes had bound and cut him. Hiccup winced at her touch, as she intertwined her fingers with his. "You can't stop me, Hiccup." She was on the verge of tears.

"I know," he murmured, and before he knew it he was kissing her once more. Woden, it was beautiful. Astrid ran her fingers through his damp hair, reveling on the feel of his skin against hers, on those strong arms that held her close….

If only it could last forever….

"So," Astrid said when they had come up for air. She felt a little abashed, which was ridiculous. "Tell me what you want to do, Chief."

His lips tugged upward as he mounted Toothless, a mere ghost of his mischievous grin when he thought of his craziest plans. He held out his hand.

"Save the dragons and kick Drago's ass."

A/N: This took even longer than I ever imagined! Good lord! XD Also, I shit you not when Hiccup said those dragons were communicating telepathically to him, or that they're helping him breathe underwater as a dragon aqualung. It says so in the books that dragons HAVE those abilities, lol. Save the Dragons! Speak Dragonese! Read a book!