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Hiccup

Like most of his life, there was nothing that Hiccup could do but watch.

He stood on Berk's highest cliff, watching the battle ships sail away. His father's ship lead the charge, with Toothless chained to the deck to be used as a compass. Hiccup had been barred from the docks; villagers had worried that he would try to free Toothless and escape.

Hiccup stared down at his father, who suddenly looked up towards his disowned son. Hiccup held Stoick's gaze and recognized hints of hurt and regret in his father's eyes.

Hiccup wasn't going to buy it.

Slowly shaking his head in warning, Hiccup prayed for his father to turn around. If not for Toothless' sake, but for the warriors' sakes. They stood no chance against that monster that he, Astrid, and Skadi had seen.

Just thinking about the Celt-Viking made his heart twist in his chest.

The gangly Viking stood on the cliff, frozen as the ships slowly drifted out past the horizon. He hadn't heard Astrid come to stand behind him, but he felt her strong and calming presence the moment she stood at his side.

"It's a mess." Astrid said, her usual blunt self.

Hiccup didn't respond. He felt like he didn't need to.

"You must feel horrible. You've lost everything: your father, your tribe, your best friend, your girl." Astrid said calmly, without a speck of pity. Hiccup sighed, shaking his head in exhaustion. Sometimes Astrid's bluntness was a blessing, but it was just painful right now.

"And what makes it worse: the one person…the one person that had your back…was your friend… loved you; even when the rest of us, myself included, were treating you like garbage. You can't even forgive her for doing the same thing you did; keeping the same secret you kept from all of us." Astrid said, looking out to the sea.

"Thank you for summing that up." Hiccup grouched, not seeing Astrid's small smile. He didn't deny that Skadi was 'his girl', after all, which Astrid smirked at.

"Why couldn't I have killed that dragon when I found him in the woods? It would have been better for everyone." Hiccup said softly, pained green orbs looking out to sea.

"Yep." Astrid said plainly, nodding her head. "The rest of us would have done it."

The two Vikings were quiet for a moment.

"So why didn't you?" Astrid asked softly. Hiccup shook his head. He didn't know. He just couldn't look into that dragon's eyes and watch the life drain out of them because of him.

"Why didn't you?" Astrid asked again.

"I don't know." Hiccup said softly, desperately. "I couldn't."

"That's not an answer." Astrid said, not letting Hiccup get away.

"Why is this so important to you all of the sudden!?" Hiccup shouted, completely irate.

"Because I want to remember what you say…right now." Astrid said softly. Hiccup growled, raking his fingers angrily through his hair.

"Oh for the love of- I was a coward! I was weak! I wouldn't kill a dragon!" Hiccup shouted, aggravated with all the questions. Why couldn't Astrid leave him alone to suffer? He deserved to be alone.

"You said 'wouldn't' that time." Astrid said, rocking on her feet. She was getting closer to the truth. She wanted Hiccup to explode in truth. For him to realize the unconscious meanings behind his actions.

"Whatever!" Hiccup screamed, exploding just the way Astrid wanted him to. "I wouldn't! Three hundred years and I'm the first and only Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon!"

"First to ride one, though." Astrid said quietly. "And not the only one."

Hiccup blinked. He never thought of it that way before. He was the first to do something. Something cool. Something life changing! And he wasn't alone. He had Astrid, Toothless, Piper, and Skadi.

Well…he had Skadi and Piper.

"So…" Astrid hummed, seeing Hiccup deflate at the thought of the small Celt-Viking.

"I wouldn't kill him because he looked as frightened as I was." Hiccup said softly, looking down at his hands, dirty and worn. "I looked at him and I saw myself."

"I bet he's really frightened now. What are you going to do about it?" Astrid asked, provoking Hiccup into making up his mind.

"Probably something stupid." Hiccup groaned, rubbing his forehead with his hand.

"Something stupid? Not without us, you aren't."

Shocked, Hiccup and Astrid spun around to see Piper and Skadi standing behind them. The dragon and girl were smiling, their hair and fur windblown and unruly. Skadi wrung her hands together, stepping away from the safety of her dragon.

"I shouldn't have run off like that. And I'm sorry. I should have told you about Piper, Hiccup. I was just looking out for his best interests because…I've never trusted someone outside my family before. I wasn't sure how to confide in you." Skadi said, standing a few feet away from the gangly Viking.

Hiccup stood before Skadi in shock, his mouth hanging open. He was sure that he'd never see the courier again. But here she was: windblown, bright-eyed, red-cheeked, and beautiful.

Astrid jabbed her elbow into Hiccup's ribs, making the boy remember how to talk. "I'm sorry, too."

"And?" Astrid asked, rolling her eyes.

"I should have ne-never yelled at you."

"Aaaaaand?" Astrid scoffed, becoming annoyed by her friend's shyness.

"I should have asked you why you didn't tell me about Piper, instead of assuming you did it to be a jerk. I shouldn't have pushed you away because of the new attention I was getting. I should have listened to you when…when you talked about my dad, be-because you were right." Hiccup said, looking into the courier's blue and teal orbs.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaand?" Astrid said, knowing that Hiccup had more to say. Skadi watched the two interact, amused. Now that she wasn't hurting so badly, it was easy to see that the two Vikings held a very friendly platonic relationship.

"I…I really like spending time with you. And…I really like you, Skadi." Hiccup said softly, taking a step forward. Skadi flushed pink, taking a cautious step towards Hiccup.

"I really like you, too." Skadi whispered, her cheeks burning.

"That's more like it!" Astrid said, Piper grunting in agreement.

"So, what's this stupid plan of yours, Chief?" Skadi asked, a wicked spark in her orbs. Hiccup blushed, a smirk slowly unwinding on his freckled face. The three huddled up to brain storm. Piper curled up in a ball beside the trio, happy that his girl was happy.

Skadi

"Here!" Skadi said, tossing Hiccup a hammer and bolt cutters. Hiccup used to tools to release the dragons from the training grounds. Fishlegs, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, Snotlout, Astrid, and Skadi stood in the arena with Hiccup, watching the dragons in awe.

"If you're planning on getting eaten, I'd definitely go with the Gronckle." Fishlegs said, making Hiccup jump. Hiccup had no clue that anyone other than Skadi was with him. How did the other trainees even know where they were?

"You were wise to seek help from the world's most deadly weapon…me." Tuffnut said, puffing his chest out.

"Uhhh…" Hiccup said, looking towards and amused looking Skadi.

"I love this plan." Snotlout said, surprising his cousin.

"I didn't…" Hiccup said, looking towards Astrid and Skadi, who both smiled and batted their lashes. Someone had blabbed.

"You're crazy." Ruffnut said, slouching over to Hiccup with a sly smile. "I like that."

Skadi stepped forward, coming to stand in between Hiccup and Ruffnut. The Viking girl stood heads taller than the small courier, but Ruffnut backed off with a small scoff. Skadi snorted, blushing when her eyes caught Hiccup's amused grin.

"So, what is the plan?" Astrid asked rhetorically, hoping Hiccup would explain the plan to the entire group. Hiccup smiled, one hand coming up to rest on Skadi's shoulder.

"Here's what we're going to do…"

Skadi

The plan was to place each of the trainees on a dragon and hope that they would fly. There wasn't enough time for Hiccup to teach them how to fly, but he had told them the basics. Skadi had given a quick demo, but that was all the time that the group had.

The special saddle that Hiccup had would take too long to craft, and none of the trainees would be able to ride the beasts without a saddle like Skadi. Hiccup decided that the best plan would be to lash ropes around the dragons as makeshift grips.

"Piper, do you think that the other dragons understand that they're going to be ridden?" Skadi whispered to Piper, who nodded his head. Skadi was unsure about this. None of these dragons had ever been ridden. What if someone fell off?

"Hey."

Skadi faced Astrid, who was tying the final knots on a makeshift harness on the Zippleback. When Skadi was once jealous, she now found Astrid a comfort. Astrid had pressed Hiccup to admit his feelings and true potential as a leader. Skadi was confident in the bond of platonic friendship between Astrid and Hiccup.

"You ready for this?" Skadi asked, running her fingers through Piper's fur.

"As ready as I can be." Astrid smirked, her chest puffed out. "There's not enough dragons, so I'll have to ride with Hiccup. I'm not making a move on your man-"

"Astrid." Skadi cut her off grimly. Internally, Astrid frowned. Did Skadi still believe that she was going to try and steal Hiccup. The two girls stared at each other for a moment.

"There is no one else I'd rather Hiccup ride into battle with." Skadi said with a proud smile. Astrid smiled back, turning her attention back to her knotting.

Hiccup went around double checking the ropes and riders. Once his rounds were done, he stopped by with Piper and Skadi.

"Skadi." Hiccup said, looking down at the smaller Celt-Viking. "You have to help me lead the charge."

"We'll be right beside you." Skadi smiled, reaching out to grasp Hiccup's shoulder. She didn't want to do much else. While she did like him, they needed to be focused. They couldn't let their blossoming feelings throw them off the plan. Hiccup reached out and grasped Skadi's upper arm tightly.

"If this goes wrong…I need you to lead the others away."

"I will." Skadi promised. "But once the others are safe, I'll come back to you. Right beside you."

Hiccup wanted to tell her no. He wanted her safe, but he was selfish. He wanted her near him, no matter what the circumstance. The two held onto each other for a moment before all the riders were forced to begin the plan and mount their dragons.