"Hiccup's a strange name. But I like it." She grins.

"Yep. It was either him, Snotlout, Tuffnut, or Fishlegs, and they're all insane other than him!" She giggles, then extends her hand out to me. "I'm Astrid Hofferson." I smile, and shake it with the arm that's not bleeding.

"Ingrid Rabec." She grins, and I grin too. I like her.

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After meeting with his mother, avoiding telling her about Nightwing, she would go crazy, Hiccup flew off towards the edge, Nightwing and Sven riding Stormy close behind as the sky began to tint itself a dusty orange, the sun slowly sinking beneath the horizon. He turned to look at the young boy, who was laughing and pretending to ride the wind like waves. 

"Hey, Sven!" He had to yell over the winds, but the teen just smiled and nodded.

"Yea?"

"How would you like.." Hiccup took in a deep breath. "To be my temporary little cousin?" He watched as the boy's expression changed, from carefree to full of disbelief. Tears filled his eyes as he began to laugh again, hysterical.

"A- Are you serious?"

"Serious as I'll ever be." Hiccup smiled at him.

"YES!! I would love to be a part of your family Hiccup! You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, thank you, thank you, thank you so much!!" He laughed again, whooping and doing loops with Stormy. 

"Great!" Hiccup laughed among with him, swooping closer on Toothless to wrap him in his arms. "Astrid will love you, she's gonna be so excited to start training!" Sven smiled, then let a puzzled look cross his face.

"You talk about Astrid a lot. Is she your mom or something?" Hiccup laughed, patting Sven on the head. 

"No, we met her at Berk. Valka. Astrid.." Hiccup bit his lip. "I'm actually not sure what we are anymore. I mean, I love her more than anything, I would lay down my life for her, but..." He frowned. "I dunno. Things just feel weird." Sven flew close to Toothless, placing his hand on Hiccup's.

"Well, if you love her, I do too. She sounds great."

Hiccup grinned. The boy had more self confidence than ever, he wasn't stammering recently, hadn't cried in at least two or three days, and was becoming more and more used to Stormy.

Hiccup was proud of him, and he loved the boy. This struck him hard with realization, but the more he thought about it, the more he was sure. He loved Sven.  

And he would do whatever it took to keep him safe and happy, no matter the cost.

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As they landed, Fishlegs ran up to them, a huge smile on his face.

"Hey Fish!" Hiccup laughed, and threw his arms around Fishlegs. "I'm so glad to see you." He grinned, wiping his eye to get rid of the moisture from the harsh winds. The sun was setting, and Sven slid off the back of his dragon, giving him a hug before skipping up to Hiccup.

"Hi! I'm Sven!" He shot his hand out, excited to finally see the edge that Hiccup had been rambling about the whole trip. 

"I'm Fishlegs, it's good to have you here." Hiccup stepped back, letting the two converse for a few minutes before stepping in. Putting his arms around Sven, he looked down to Fishlegs. 

"I have something huge to show you." He nearly laughed at Fishlegs' puzzled face, who was quick to respond.

"Umm.. Alright?" He babbled as Hiccup dragged him to the stables, a sly grin spreading cross his face. As Fishlegs was finishing his little rant, they turned the corner to the stables. "...And, I mean honestly, what could be so important after you just got ho-" He stopped abruptly as the beautiful dragon turned her head to face him, caught with one paw slightly raised, looking up at the rafters before they walked in. 

"Is this important enough?" Hiccup grinned, patting him on the back. Fishlegs didn't answer, he simply circled the dragon wordlessly, staring in disbelief. For a few moments they just stood there, staring at each other just like they had when she and Hiccup had first met. Hiccup then broke the silence.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Fishlegs whispered softly in return,

"Gorgeous."

"We found her with Toothless, and got confirmation that they are the only two Night Furies still alive on this earth." Fishlegs remained silent, still gawking. "I'll leave you guys alone." Hiccup took Sven by the hand, and before stealing one last glance at the magnificent dragon, left them to show Sven the island.

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Snotlout's reaction was less toned down, but he was still amazed, and had forgiven Hiccup for the black eye.

Tuffnut wanted to introduce her to Chicken, of course, but Hiccup suggested they wait. Nightwing still wasn't exactly trained. 

Ruffnut had gotten super excited, and was still squealing about it 3 hours later, when Sven asked at dinner,

"So, where's Astrid?" Fishlegs gasped. 

"Oh Thor, we're so stupid! We forgot to tell you, Hiccup!" Hiccup's brow furrowed, sensing tension. 

"What? What did you forget to tell me, Fish?" Fishlegs' eyes watered, and Snotlout began to bite his lip and avoid eye contact with anyone. "What?! What is it guys, spit it out!"

"So, she's kinda, like, sorta, maybe, gone?" Snotlout gave an apologetic shrug, biting his lip again.

"What?! What do you mean, gone? That's a really vague word!" Hiccup rose, fists clenching, which Snotlout noticed and backed away. Hiccup put his head in his hands, mumbling. "Snot, I'm not gonna hit you again." Snotlout let out a relieved sigh, sitting down again and facing him.

"Bludvic took ahold of her while we came to search for you." Fishlegs frowned, looking genuinely sad. "He ambushed us, and we took off, but we thought we were all there." He looked downcast, facing Snotlout. "We weren't." Hiccup frowned, sighing before walking out.

"Hiccup?" He turned back to see Sven, wide eyes watching him. "Wh- Where are you going?" Muttering, Hiccup turned around again, and began to walk away.

"I need to be alone." As the boy sadly watched him walk off to his hut, he felt Fishlegs' hand on his shoulder and Snotlout behind him. 

"It's alright, Sven." He turned to look at Fishlegs, who was smiling softly at him. "He'll be fine, and we'll get Astrid back." Sven turned to look back at where Hiccup had just been.

"I've never even met Astrid, but he loves her so much, I really wanna help. He talks about her all the time, I feel like I've already met her. I love Astrid, just like I love him." Sven stood there for a few moments, then turned to run the opposite direction towards the stables, and Stormy.

The two older boys looked at each other in shock. Fishlegs had seen how Hiccup had acted around the boy, but he didn't realize how close they really were. Snotlout nodded understandingly, one of his rare, kind, moments.

"Looks like Hiccup's got a younger brother." Fishlegs smiled.

"Or a son."

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Alright, kept it under 2000 words, so its all good to make up for the past two days 😆

It was kinda a boring chapter, but I wanted just a chill chapter so, whatever, if you wanted something different, just wait another day, lol

Shoutout to @Meeschi694 and my best male friend @zayawagner for following!!

~Emmathepug

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