Yay! My FIRST update today on this story. Enjoy! Sequel to "Trapped", just so everyone knows. :)

"WE ARE GOING TO DIE!"

Life on Berk isn't the same as it once was...

"WHOOOO! THIS IS AWESOME!"

...mostly because we have learned to accept the dragons...

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

...not only that, but we've learned that we can live with them...

"THIS IS AMAAAAZING!"

...ride them...

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

...even train them.

"YEAH! WHOO!"

"HICCUP HADDOCK, YOU ARE GOING TO BE THE DEATH OF ME!" I screamed.

"Come on, Astrid!" shouted Hiccup back. "It's JUST snowboarding!"

"I DON'T CARE!" I shouted. "I AM GOING TO DIE!"

He laughed. I didn't see how he had mastered the art of snowboarding in what seemed like ten minutes. I steered the wrong way on my board and nearly crashed into a tree before regaining half my balance and a quarter of my wits.

"No, you're not going to die, Astrid," said Hiccup.

"It sure FEELS like it!" I shouted.

"Well, for one thing...what are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL!" I screamed. "HEEEEEELP!"

He grabbed my wrist and steadied me. Our snowboards were almost touching each other, so if I crashed, I'd probably crash Hiccup, too.

"Okay, first of all," said Hiccup, "panicking is the least productive thing to do."

"Dying isn't too productive either, Hiccup!" I shouted.

"You're not going to die."

"HOW DO I STEER THIS THING!?"

"Twist your front foot in the direction of the turn while pushing the rear foot away from the turn."

"WHY ARE YOU BEING SO CALM ABOUT IT!?"

"Astrid, I have been snowboarding longer than I have been dragon training," said Hiccup.

Oh, okay. I guess he didn't learn in just ten minutes.

"Why couldn't we have started on a less steep hill?" I asked, my snowboard shuddering uncontrollably as Hiccup guided me by my wrist.

"Because..." he paused as if really thinking why we didn't. "Well, when I first learned to snowboard, I just started with the biggest. If you get good on the big things, you don't have to practice so much on the little things. But if you want to move to a different hill, Astrid, we can."

"No thanks, I don't think we can," I said, shaking my head.

"Why not?" asked Hiccup.

"Because," I replied, "I don't know how to stop."

"Oh." Hiccup laughed and facepalmed with his free hand. "Okay, let me try to find out how to explain this...um...okay, Astrid, lift your heels slightly, and then slam down into the snow."

I looked at him and frowned.

"You mean like...this?" I asked, doing what he instructed.

"Exactly," said Hiccup, doing the same thing he told me to do. The boards slowed until eventually they stopped.

"See?" said Hiccup, getting off his board and picking it up with one hand. "That wasn't so hard."

"Ha," I laughed, picking my board up as well. "Next time, we might as well go jump off a cliff. It would be safer."

Hiccup laughed. "Actually, Astrid, snowboarding is safer," he said. "It just takes practice."

"Yeah," I rolled my eyes. "Practice. And now you're going to ask me if I want to go again."

"Do you want to go again?"

"No."

"Awww!" he put on a fake pouty face. I laughed and smacked him playfully. He laughed with me.

"Should we head back to Berk, then?" he offered.

"I am NOT snowboarding anymore," I said.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said. He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled for our dragons. They had been waiting for us at the bottom of the hill. In just a few moments, Toothless and Stormfly came bounding in the snow, Toothless running since he couldn't fly, and Stormfly running...maybe because she didn't want to fly? I didn't know.

"Hey, bud," said Hiccup, petting Toothless when the Night Fury covered the distance between the two of them. "Ready to go back?"

Toothless nodded eagerly, and Hiccup mounted. Stormfly came up to me afterwards, and I mounted.

"Ready?" Hiccup asked.

"Ready," I replied, and the two dragons took to the air, flying back towards the village.

"So...next lesson tomorrow?" Hiccup asked.

"Next lesson...never," I answered.

"Fine," said Hiccup, crossing his arms. "You're no fun."

We both broke out laughing, until Hiccup started coughing.

"Hiccup?" I asked. "Are you alright?"

He brushed it off. "I'm fine," he replied. "Probably just the wind."

I didn't argue. Sometimes the wind made me cough, too, but...still, it made me worried.

We landed in the village in front of the academy and dismounted our dragons. I kept an eye on Hiccup, just in case, but he seemed fine, so now it was my turn to brush it off.

But still...it made me concerned. I had been concerned every since Alvin stabbed him, but that was about six months ago. The wound was sealed now...nothing to worry about.

Right?

Right?

Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs were already there. It was snowing rather heavily. I brushed some flakes out of my bangs and braid, but they just came back.

"Looks like another blizzard," Hiccup observed, shaking snow out of his hair.

"Great," I said. "Because that's exactly what Berk needs. Another blizzard."

"Hey, there's not much we can do about it," said Hiccup, shrugging and turning his palms up.

"Does this mean we don't have to train?" asked Tuffnut, his voice sounding hopeful, which made me mad to an extent. The twins and Snotlout couldn't have cared less about training.

It made me upset. Not mad, per say. Just upset. REALLY REALLY upset.

Hiccup sighed. "I guess it does," He said.

"Yeah!" shouted Ruffnut and Tuffnut in unison, bashing their heads together as they did while celebrating. Hiccup rolled his eyes and looked at me like What did you expect?

Snotlout and the twins were out in another instant, their dragons with them. Fishlegs remained with Hiccup, me, and our dragons.

"Blizzards," said Fishlegs. "Remember that time a snowstorm completely snowed in the academy?"
Hiccup and I both nodded.

"Yeah, I remember," said Hiccup. "It took us how long to dig the snow out-?"

"About three weeks," I said. I shuddered in the memory. "It was freezing for what seemed like forever."

Hiccup shrugged. "We live on Berk," he said. "Everything is freezing."

Fishlegs and I nodded.

"I hope it doesn't last too long, though," said Fishlegs. "Meatlung hates being cooped up for long periods of time."

"All dragons do, Fishlegs," said Hiccup. "Nothing else to be said."

Again, we nodded.

"I don't like long storms," said Hiccup, "so hopefully, this one is short."

"Nothing's short on Berk when it comes to storms," I mumbled.

"I wish I could argue," said Hiccup. He shook his head. "But I can't."

I was about to say something out, when Hiccup broke off into another coughing fit. When it subsided, Fishlegs, Toothless Stormfly and I were each staring at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Are you okay, Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked.

"Of course I'm okay!" Hiccup answered. "Just probably the wind."
I frowned. The same thing he said earlier, but I didn't think it was the wind. Why? Because it wasn't windy.

I pressed my hand to his forehead, just to see. Hiccup jumped backwards, but I still felt it.

"You have a fever," I commented.

"No," said Hiccup. "Your hands are just freezing."

I ignored him, obviously. I grabbed his wrist and yanked him on Stormfly, jumping on in front of him.

"Is this really necessary?" Hiccup protested.

"Yes," I answered, and Stormfly took to the sky.