Rise of the Dragon Master

Chapter Sixteen

A/N: This chapter starts in the third person point of view but ends in Hiccup's point of view.

Third Person:
It had been four weeks since the bathroom incident and the group of vikings had settled into a routine. The twins and Snotlout caused mischief around the island often angering the dragons despite that being against one of the two rules. Fishlegs wandered around the island studying the various dragons and taking notes to bring back to Berk. Astrid trained hard and often as her fight with Stryker had destroyed her confidence. The vikings had not seen much of Stryker since they had arrived as he kept to himself. Despite this Astrid was starting to figure him out. She had gathered that he was an excellent artist and as he spent much of his time sketching the dragons on his island. She also noted that he cared a great amount for his dragons and treated them as family. One day Astrid decided to go on a run around the island to keep herself fit. She then heard strange noises coming from from the trees in front of her. She slowed from her jog and slowly crept toward the trees and peeked through. Inside was a clearing and what she saw stunned her. Stryker was standing bare chested with his back to her and he wasn't wearing his helmet. But the strangest thing it seemed was that he was under attack... by dragons.

Hiccup's point of view:
I was standing in the middle of a clearing doing one of my favorite training exercises. I was surrounded by Toothless, a Deadly Nadder named Stormfly, a Monstrous Nightmare named HookFang, and a Zippleback named Barf and Belch. I stood there calmly until Stormfly fired some spines at me. I dodged them and then HookFang blasted fire at me. I jumped high into the air over the fire landing in front of Toothless who let out a low warble to cheer me on. Out of nowhere I heard a scream and saw Astrid burst into the clearing charging at Barf and Belch. "Astrid, Stop!" I yelled but it was too late Stormfly had fired some spines at her. I dove and tackled her to the ground but the back of my arm was grazed by one of the spines. I held my hand out flat palmed signaling for the dragons to stand down. "What are you doing?!" I screamed at her as I stood up. The look she gave me was not one I was expecting. She gave me a strange look of awe, confusion, and faint recognition. I realized then that she was staring at my face. I quickly raised my hands to my face expecting to feel cold metal but instead I felt the warm skin of my face. I had forgotten to wear my helmet. I quickly ducked my head and turned away from her hoping it hadn't been too late. "There's no way she could recognize me, I thought to myself, I look nothing like what I used to." Despite thinking this I kept my gaze down and allowed my auburn hair to block my face. "Why are you here?" I asked turning to Toothless and retrieving my helmet from his saddle. "I-I was only trying to help." She said as I walked back to stand over her with my face now hidden. "I thought they were trying to kill you." She said sounding like a scolded child. I let out a long sigh and offered to help her up. "Well thank you for trying to help." I responded as she took my hand and I pulled her to her feet. We stood there for a moment just inches away from each other. I was staring into her ocean blue eyes while she tried to see through the slits in my mask. Toothless broke the silence by nudging me and letting out a low pitched purr. I laughed and patted him on the head. I looked at Astrid who was staring at Toothless nervously. I grabbed her hand which earned me a shocked look from her. "It's okay." I reassured her as I set her hand on Toothless' head. "Woah." She said as she started to stroke Toothless' head. I walked over to Toothless and grabbed my tunic out of his bag and put it on. At this point Toothless let out a soft purr and nudged her. "He's beautiful." She said recognizing the natural beauty of Toothless for the first time. At this Toothless gave her a gummy smile and continuously looked between her and his back. At the confused look she gave me I filled her in. "He wants to take you for a ride." I said impressed. "What?" She asked softly. "Well, I asked, would you like to take a ride Milady?" I asked hopping onto Toothless' back and offering her my hand. She took it and sat on the saddle behind me. "Hold on." I told her as Toothless spread his wings and took off into the air.