Hiccup was strapping Toothless' new saddle on- this one was made especially for Hiccup's new prosthetic, which he'd had a tinker with. There was an olive tree providing some shade from the hot mid-day sun. he was waiting for Aeliana and Charlotte to finish up the meeting with some legionnaires- the soldiers who'd been promoted to lead cohorts of the legion. He was just outside the praetorium, which was what they called the planning or meeting or war or whatever-you-wanted-to-call-it room.

He'd spent the past week running around teaching people about dragons. It was strange, all these people looking to him as an authority on something. Even though he'd proven himself time and time again on Berk as a well-practiced inventor and smith no one had ever taken his talents seriously. They went to Gobber for information in those areas, even if it's be easier to just pull Hiccup aside and ask something. It didn't bother him before, it did now.

Why was it that these people he'd never met treated him with more respect than the Vikings he'd grown up around?

Today, however, he and the two Praetors he'd managed to get into the good graces of were going to travel further into Rome to The Capitol where he'd be spending a good while training people how to befriend and fly dragons while also being trained himself. Aeliana and Charlotte had promised they would spend their time in the capitol getting clearance from the senate to fight against the dragon trafficking systems throughout Rome and surrounding it, once they had that clearance they could order and move their soldiers as they wished.

But Hiccup wanted to help. So he would join the fourth legion and fight alongside them to protect dragons. However, Aeliana refused to let him do so without at least some training. Four months minimum which required continued learning while fighting. Atticus- the blondie whose smile reflected bright enough to rival the goddess Sif's hair- said a good soldier never stopped training.

Sometimes Hiccup paused to be bewildered over the fact that two people within only a year older than him were leading military legions. His father wouldn't trust him to walk around at night on his own.

Toothless made a low rhythmic grumbling sound and Hiccup realised he'd been worrying at the edges of some of the leather straps.

"just a bit spaced out, bud," Hiccup sighed, "this still seems too much like a daydream."

They didn't have to wait much longer, Aeliana and Charlotte rounded the corner and stretched out the kinks in their backs, "I still think these weekly meetings are unnecessary." Charlotte muttered, her back popping three times.

"how are we getting to the capitol exactly?" Hiccup asked, "you two don't have dragons."

"unfortunately," Aeliana started, "there are rules about Praetors traveling long distances when not on quests. There's a whole lot of if-buts-and-maybes with this stuff. We have to travel with a few other people as guards, they'll have dragons. We'll just be riding with them."

Which meant they had to wait another few minutes for several legionnaires to land, with them was Atticus, Jael and Verlin who'd decided they were going to try and find themselves a dragon while traveling.

And then they were finally off, a couple days journey south ahead of them.

Hiccup had decided he'd do whatever it took to never sit through another senatorial meeting.

He'd be the most outstanding, law abiding citizen just so he never had to sit through those stuffy old senators and their minions going through as many rules and regulations as possible. Half of them had beards that covered their mouths so well barely any one could actually hear what they were saying and the other half were young upstarts with rich families who thought they deserved everything in the world. Realistically, they reminded him of Mildew and Snotlout back on Berk.

By the end of it they hadn't even come to an official decision about whether they'd accept a non-Roman into their military, which Hiccup found ridiculous. It wasn't like it was a particularly hard decision to make.

Either way at least he didn't have to stay for the whole thing. Aeliana was stuck there for the whole thing, representing the fourth and fifth.

Hiccup took the chance to finally go for a decent flight. Rome was warmer than Berk but even still the air chilled him down to his bones. Toothless's higher temperature kept the chill away enough for him to get by but even still, if he was going to keep up the thrill rides and long-distance flights he'd have to come up with something that kept him warm while flying.

He filed that idea away as he landed outside the visitors barracks. The mess hall would be open soon and he'd rather get in early before all the good food was gone.

He stepped out of Toothless's saddle and saw Charlotte sharpening a dagger on the step of the barracks patio as he walked up to hang his extra coat. The sun had dipped low in the horizon and the whole sky was awash with pink and orange.

"sit with me Hiccup, I'd like to chat." Charlotte said before he could crash on his bunk for a breather.

He sat on the step next to her, Toothless curled up down one end of the patio, and she slipped her sharpening stone into a drawstring pouch then sheathed her dagger. It's bronze hilt reflected the last sunlight with a vengeance. The scabbard was leather with SPQR embossed along it. SPQR- it meant 'The senate of the people of Rome' Hiccup had been informed. Most military issued gear usually had it written somewhere, except for your armour.

"this was my brother's," she said, holding the blade between her finger tips, one elbow rested on her knee, "it was his when he was Praetor of the Fifth legion."

"I'm sorry," Hiccup mumbled, not quite knowing what else to say. The way she said it clearly meant he'd died, Hiccup wasn't surprised. The way this army seemed either you stayed till you died or you were promoted into higher or different roles. But he didn't know how to console her, he'd known her a bit over a week, and although he very much intended to get to know her, and the others who saw potential in him, he was still in the early moments.

"it was a year ago, I've dealt with it," she said this with the emotive tremor of someone who had most definitely not gotten over it, "I bring this up because you remind me very much of him."

"oh?" Hiccup shifted, scratching the back of his head.

"he always wanted to do the right thing. He wanted to protect, serve and save. That's why he joined the army, that's why I joined the army." She sighed and sat the dagger down next to her and stretched her legs down the steps, "but I worry that you may not have thought about it as much as you should."

She gave him a heavy stare, filled with an emotional intelligence much to old and burdened for someone not even sixteen yet. Her braid rocked in front of her face and framed the steely eyes that pinned Hiccup down.

"I- I have," Hiccup stuttered, "trust me it's not- it's not something I take lightly."

"once you join the legion there's no opt-out when it gets too hard. You're in and that's final."

"I know," Hiccup said, "I understand. Even if I didn't join I'd still be going out there to protect the dragons. I can't just ignore it all. Not when I have the ability to help. I can either go out there and be some kind of vigilante dragon person or I can fight alongside fellow people who cherish dragons and the freedom they bring." Hiccup looked out to the clouds, he'd been flying among them minutes ago, "at least by joining the legion I can be trained, I can learn and I can have access to information and supplies that will help me. I'll have a hell of a lot more of a chance."

"aye, that is true," Charlotte muttered, staring out at the sky herself, "I trust you. You've been given warning and I believe you've listened." She clapped a hand on his shoulder, "and if the senate will not let you become one of us in ceremony then there is nothing stopping us from keeping a few secrets and working with you in an undisclosed fashion. Either way my legion will be fighting these dragon trappers and I will appreciate you as an ally, and, I hope, a friend."

Hiccup gave her a small smile, "well, if friendship is the way it's going let's play a game."

"a game?" she arched an eyebrow.

"yeah, it's called two truths and a lie. You tell me a lie and two truths and I have to guess which is which. And we take turns." He said, leaning against the railing of the stairs and propping his feet up.

"is there a reward or a punishment for winning or losing?" she asked, leaning against the top stair on an elbow.

"not really," Hiccup looked over to Toothless, "I'll go first, we'll start easy. My dad popped the head of a dragon clean off it's shoulders when he was young, I fell into a creek on my first flight with Toothless, I hate fire. Now you guess what's what."

"hmmm," Charlotte assessed Toothless like she was trying to determine if he was the type to throw someone in a creek- short answer; yes. "how young was your dad?"

"rumour has it in my village that he could barely be considered a child yet," Hiccup said nonchalantly.

"oh, well that ones the lie then. No way could he do that." Charlotte said, smiling "too easy."

"no the lie was the fire part," Hiccup grinned, "I used to work in the blacksmith all the time on Berk. I spent more time with the Smithy, Gobber, than I did my dad."

"oh," Charlotte blinked, "huh. The more you know. okay, my turn. Uh, my parents wanted me to be a professional portrait artist, my brother once threw me off our three-storey-house's roof, I have been arrested. Go."

"Hey, I said easy not obvious," Hiccup chuckled, "no way have you been arrested, that's the lie."

"nope," Charlotte giggled slightly, "it was the windowsill, not the roof."

Hiccup's jaw hit the floor, "what were you arrested for?"

"I 'stole' a horse from one of the farmers in my hometown. What really happened was I thought it was the new stallion my dad had purchased, but it turned out to be a newly broken-in thoroughbred." She shrugged, "I was twelve, it was an accident, my dad had it all fixed up."

"portraiture though?" Hiccup asked after he'd sobered from the thought of Charlotte arrested.

She shrugged, "I've been painting since I was little. Albeit I wasn't good till recently but what can one expect."

"huh,"

"my parents are always sending me letters begging me to desert and come home, live quietly as a painter." She stared at the clouds a moment like she could imagine her parents reflections in them, "they know it's not possible, but they dream it is. They don't want what happened to my brother to happen to me."

Hiccup's face fell, he sighed and fidgeted with the edge of his shirt.

Charlotte gave him a small grim smile, "I prefer working here anyway. My painting can remain a hobby, a release from the job. It's best that way, and I want it that way."

Hiccup nodded a little, "yeah I get what you mean." At her look he elaborated, "I... draw. A little. I'm not great but... I started so I could sketch ideas for inventions, I've just... branched out I guess."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow and sat up, "should have kept that one for your turn."

Hiccup laughed and took his turn. This time sticking to something more obscure. Charlotte did the same. They went back and forth till eventually Charlotte stopped before she had her turn, having noticed the fading light. the mess hall would be open in minutes and if they wanted to be getting there without stumbling in the dark of fresh night they would have to hurry it up.

At the table Aeliana, Atticus, Jael and Verlin joined them. Aeliana caught them up on the senate meeting's breakthroughs- spoiler, there were none- and Jael rambled for a while about the book she read that morning before going to the nearby forest to search for dragons.

Atticus explained to her that she might want to actually learn how to train a dragon before she found one and Jael merely stated that she'd probably figure it out on the spot. Hiccup huffed a laugh while he slipped his small book from his vest, having already finished eating.

"oh hey, that looks cool," Verlin said, looking over his shoulder at a sketch of toothless he'd drawn, "you should draw me something to get tattooed." He joked.

"what?" Hiccup asked, "why do you want a tattoo?"

"why not?" Verlin looked to the others on the table, "we should all get tattoos together, that'd be wicked."

"how about we don't," Aeliana said, giving Hiccup a look, "don't indulge him."

"oh come on! Have a little fun, Lia! Make some memories!"

"most times you plan an event to 'make memories' it involves enough drinking that none of it will be remembered." Charlotte said drily, shooting Hiccup a small smirk.

"you guys are no fun at all," Verlin grumbled.