Meet Me At the Halfway Point

End of Spring

(Year one, end of spring, Day 7)

A few months passed before Hiccup and Merida were to meet up again towards the end of spring, then it was decided to meet again the moment summer was in bloom. For this visit alone there was no horse riding or any other type of training, most of the time was done inside the cottage. With a sea of papers and books laid open on the floor, and scrolls out in front of them on them table. Hiccup was showing Merida pages from the Book of Dragons the Stoker Class, and she was showing him maps of the different clans.

"So," Hiccup began, "The basic key to remember about the Stoker Class is that they are fire-breathers and two most popular dragons are the Terror and Monstrous Nightmare, which I should tell ya, training that dragon is a real nightmare."

Hiccup laughed at his own joke, while Merida looked at him with dagger eyes. "...get out o' my cottage." She said seriously pointing towards the door.

"What?-why? It's funny" said Hiccup trying to hide his chuckles.

"Fur some...just not for others" Merida said smirking, looking over to Toothless who also wasn't laughing.

"I told that one to Fishlegs and Gobber and they got a good kick out of it."

"Maybe they need a different kind o' kick if ye ask me," she whispered softly.

"What was that?"

Giving a wide fake smile, "Nothing, nothing, soooo let's go over it again," she said.

"Alight, alright," said Hiccup, "Give me the Stoker Class."

"Terror or th' terrible Terror are small dragons 'n' are social creatures as in they hunt in packs."

"And how do you get there attention?" he asked.

"By using very shiny objects, if they see it, they will follow." she answered.

"Great! Now Monstrous Nightmare?"

"Well, with th' picture you showed me from th' book-it has large horns 'n' can set itself on fire...but are gentle dragons when approached carefully- to show respect place hand on snort."

Hiccup looking down at his book and smiled, "Correct and correct, amazing Merida your picking this up quick."

"Well, I have a good teacher" Merida said referring to him.

Hiccups cheeks flushed in embarrassment but coughed and changed the subject, "ah-well, wha-what about your maps Merida- quiz me?"

"Alright," she said picked her stuff from the stack of paper that laid before them. "Lets start off easy -name th' four clans?"

"DunBroch, that's you, then there's Macintosh, MacGuffin, and Dingwall."

"And who owns what?"

"Ahh, trick question," answered Hiccup, "Macintosh is located west closes to DunBroch, MacGuffin is the further south and Dingwall is located east."

"But?" she questioned.

"But...but because your dad is the king, DunBroch owns the whole land, and the leader clans live off the nearby islands."

"Ding ding ding, correct," Merida smiled and nudging Hiccups hair.

"Don't you mean ding ding ding-Wall," Hiccup said shorting.

Merida's eyes rolled and threw her arms up above her head, "Mor'du take him now."

"Mor'du more like mor'dont," he continued.

Merida grab the Book of Dragons and tried to smack him, Hiccup jumped to his feet and ran outside and Merida followed laughing and trying too caught up.Toothless could hear the princess and the viking running outside around and laughing. The dragon closed his eyes while resting his head, Toothless felt safe here- despite the horror that lurked in the ground below.