A/N: Here's an update! I've got a story fleshed out this time, so there will be more chapters to come. There's not much cutesy hiccstrid stuff in this chapter but the story needs an exposition. There will be more fluffy later, never you fear.

"Come on, Hiccup, just one more!"

Astrid's voice was grating to Hiccup's ear as he attempted to squeeze out one more push-up.

"Keep going!"

He injected the last dregs of strength he had left into his arms…which gave out, leaving him with a mouthful of dirt. It occurred to him his shirt would be particularly dirty now, with all the sweet drenched into it, but he was too exhausted for the thought to trigger a response in his brain.

"Come on, Hiccup, we don't quit! Just one more!"

That's what you said every other push-up, Hiccup thought bitterly. He couldn't tell which was worse at the moment: the sun beating down on him, or Astrid.

The latter eyed Hiccup's lack of response. "I guess we're done for the day, then," she remarked, plopping herself down next to his prone body.

Hiccup's back continued to rise and fall steadily as he drank in the warm afternoon's air. Warm for Berk, anyway. "How…did…I…do…this time?" He managed between breaths.

"You did 11. A few less than the goal we set, but it's not bad," Astrid answered shortly.

Hiccup grunted. He distinctly remembered telling her last week that he wouldn't be able to jump from 9 to 15 in one week. Nevertheless, she insisted, saying that, "you achieve high by aiming high."

Astrid's brow furrowed slightly, before she tugged a strained smile onto her face. She rubbed Hiccup on the back. "Don't worry, I didn't expect you to actually get to 15."

Hiccup frowned at her. "Then why set the bar there?"

"To make you work."

"I'm choosing to do this, of course I'm gonna work."

Astrid's smile faded a little. "Hiccup, this will get you results."

Hiccup opened his mouth to respond, but Astrid cut him off. "Why don't we grab a drink to cool off and you can show me more clever-boy stuff?" she said, grinning brightly at him.

Hiccup's expression softened. "Sounds good." He tried to push himself off the ground, before his arms reminded him how much he had taxed them that day. "So, Astrid, wanna pull me up?" he wheedled.

She sighed and shook her head, but acquiesced with a smile all the same.

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The candle on Hiccup's wooden desk in the forge was burning low now. Its light brushed the room with a soft, warm glow. The sun had long since set, and Astrid's frustrated growls echoed late into the night. Hiccup place his hands gently on her shoulders. "Hey, it's ok," he said gently, "we can take a break and keep going later. There's no rush."

Astrid said nothing. She glared hotly at the dried-up flower in front of her as she drew again.

If sheer willpower could print pictures…Hiccup shook his head. Not this time, he mused dryly. She would have to learn to take it slow.

"Gaah!" Astrid slammed her fist on the table, shaking everything on it.

Hiccup inspected her latest attempt. "Hey, Astrid, not bad. You've got the proportions down pretty good now," Hiccup said, smiling encouragingly at her.

"Please don't patronise me, I know it's garbage."

"No, really, you're improving pretty quickly, if I do say so myself."

"Just tell me what is wrong with it."

Hiccup eyed her warily. "It's just the lines, they're all too thick. If you just loosen your grip on the pencil – "

"Like this?" Astrid dropped the pencil on the desk.

"Astrid – "

She abruptly stood up. "Never mind, you're probably right," she said with a yawn, "we can do more later." She strode out of the forge, leaving Hiccup to fume, head in hands, in the light of the dying candle.

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The crisp morning air whipped past Hiccup's face as he lay on Toothless' back. It wasn't even close to midday yet, so Hiccup contented himself with gazing aimlessly at the gentle blue sky above. Though it was still relatively early, he could feel the unfettered warmth of the sun shining on the side of his face. The flight this morning hadn't been as adventurous as usual. For once Hiccup wanted to take a slow start to the day. Toothless, of course, took note of this difference. Up until now he had swallowed his curiosity and appeased Hiccup, hoping that whatever mood had passed over Hiccup would go away soon. But it had been too long now. It was high time Toothless caught wind of what was going on, so he turned his head and crooned a question.

"So you noticed, huh?" Hiccup said.

Toothless snorted derisively.

"Yeah, I didn't exactly hide it, did I?" Hiccup let silence leak back into their vicinity.

The night fury waited several moments for a response. When none was forthcoming, he grunted at Hiccup, who sighed.

"I don't know, bud."

Toothless groaned.

"Yeah, of course it's about Astrid," he chuckled wryly. "Training with her has been…difficult. And then when it's my turn to teach her, she gets so frustrated I don't know how to talk to her," Hiccup said, gesturing to the heavens above.

The dragon crooned, turning his head to eye Hiccup sympathetically.

"Yeah, I've said stuff to her, but she doesn't seem to hear me. Well she hears me, but she doesn't quite understand what I say. It's like she's got this one track mind that just…" Hiccup jabbed a hand into the sky and made a whooshing sound. He let the hand fall onto his stomach. He sighed. "Y'know, bud…"

Toothless perked his ears.

"…there might be something else going on. I mean, she expects a lot from herself and the people around her, but something about this just doesn't feel…right. Training started okay, but now she's just so wound up, even for her."

Another croon.

"Yeah, I'll just ask an angry and irate Astrid what her problem is, that'll go wonderfully," Hiccup drolled. He slowly pulled himself upright in his saddle; his eyes focused with purpose. "Alright, bud, let's go find her."

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Twigs and leaves crunched under her boot as she strode haughtily through the woods. The smell of bark and nature pervaded the air, and the high noon sun cast her hair in a brilliant light speckled by the trees above. Her cheeks were flushed crimson, but not entirely from the sweat-inducing hike in the midday sun. Her teeth were clenched and her shoulders heaved. Her hand gripped her axe like a vice. Now normally she'd throw her axe until she felt better. Normally she'd rip and splinter the innocent bark, expelling her frustration until her mind was clear again. But today was different. She had tried her usual venting, and it worked temporarily, but the effect faded. Quickly. There was a knot in her stomach that she couldn't unwring no matter how hard she worked. She was a warrior, a Viking. She never liked to show it, but she was worried. And now it was worse than that, because her tensions was leaking out when she trained Hiccup or practiced her drawing with him. Compounding on that was a gnawing frustration at herself; because she was incapable of controlling her outbursts, and Hiccup least of all deserved to be on the receiving end of her emotions.

Astrid heard a squawk from behind her. She turned around just in time to see Stormfly alight before her. The dragon nuzzled her, squawking reproachfully.

Astrid laughed softly, rubbing Stormfly's snout. "Sorry we didn't go for our morning flight, girl. I…I just wanted to be alone for a little while."

Stormfly squawked again, turning her head to eye her rider with concern.

"Yeah, I'm alright, I guess. Maybe…ok, not really," Astrid sighed. A few moments passed and then, "but I'm glad you're here, Stormfly." She smiled at her dragon, who nuzzled her again. Astrid hugged Stormfly tightly. The knot in her stomach loosened a little, and her breathing began to level out. She shook her head. "It's just the not knowing, Stormfly…it's starting to get to me. I think it's time I – "

Suddenly she heard a whistle. The whistle of a Night Fury slicing through the air.

"No, no, no, not now," Astrid muttered. She slammed on a mask of cheery nonchalance. She heard Toothless' paws lightly pad onto the ground as he landed. And then she heard the squeak of Hiccup's prosthetic leg as it hit the ground.

Astrid turned to face him.

"Hello, Hiccup," she said.

"Hello, Astrid," Hiccup said, raising an eyebrow.

"What brings you out here?"

"Oh, this and that. Just wanted to see how you were doing," Hiccup said, shrugging.

"I'm fine," Astrid replied shortly, still smiling.

"Really…"

"Yeah, of course."

Hiccup scratched his head. "Uh huh, well, if you ever want to share what's going on, I'm here," he said. He moved to mount Toothless, but the dragon huffed and shrugged him off, nudging him back towards Astrid.

She narrowed her eyes. What was going on?

Hiccup inhaled and exhaled deeply, and squared his shoulders. "Astrid, it's…it's okay to…" He gestured with his hands.

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "To…?" she trailed.

Hiccup sighed, pinching his brow. "I know something's bothering you. You've been acting out in our lessons, you're avoiding every issue I bring up with your training sessions. You're not normally like this. What's happening?" Hiccup wasn't frowning, but he looked stern. Less like the gentle Hiccup she was used to.

"Nothing is – "

"Astrid," Hiccup growled.

Several moments passed.

Astrid's mask fell, her fear now plain on her face for Hiccup to see. And then her anger followed, attempting to burn the fear from her heart. It was too much for her. She flung her axe at a defenceless tree next to Hiccup, who yelped.

"Whoa, Astrid..." Hiccup said, raising his hands to her and crouched a little.

Astrid sighed. "I'm not a dragon, Hiccup, you don't have to do the hand thing."

"I wasn't, uh… " he trailed awkwardly.

"It's my little brother."

Hiccup remained silent, looking at her with concern.

"He, uh, he…" Astrid sighed.

"It's ok, take your time," Hiccup said gently.

She took a steadying breath. "My brother, he was on that fishing boat."

"Ahh…the one that went out a couple weeks back?"

"Yeah. One week wouldn't be so bad, but he should be back by now. I think they ran into that storm, the massive one that passed by Berk. I was actually going to go looking for his boat today."

"Why didn't you tell me, or any of the others? You know all of us would be glad to help."

"I was going to eventually, I suppose," Astrid shrugged.

Hiccup gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "I reckon we should get the dragon academy in on this one. We can cover a lot more ground if we work together."

Astrid returned his smile. "Yeah, you're right."

Hiccup moved to mount Toothless.

"And, Hiccup?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry for…for being difficult in our training and lessons," Astrid said, rubbing her upper arms.

"It's ok, Astrid. Just be sure to tell me next time, ok? They say a problem shared is a problem halved, after all," Hiccup chuckled.

Astrid smiled at him. "Yeah, I'll try."