Chapter Text
Astrid, Hiccup, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins sat together at a round table with a large map of Outcast Island in the center. They were planning out their next attack on the Outcasts. They were ambushed a few days before, and they needed to do some repairs on the island, but most importantly was getting Garf back.
Garffiljorg was a Deathsong and an ally of the riders. They found him as an egg and he hatched on the island. They set him free in Melody Island, but he came to visit a few times a month. It seemed the Outcasts knew that, somehow, and kidnapped - or dragon-knapped - Garf.
Astrid was worried sick about him, and so was Stormfly. They'd become pretty good friends in Garf's time on the Edge. But Astrid knew worrying wasn't going to bring him back - being strategic was, and she was willing to do just about anything to help him. She had to focus.
Before Hiccup called a strategy meeting, Astrid was out in the woods, throwing her axe at a tree. It's always helped her get her anger out, she had done it since she was a hunter. Astrid shuddered at the thought and tried to bring herself back to focus. "We can't attack from there, they'll have guards set up. They'll be expecting us, Hiccup. We have to outsmart them." She said to the leader of the group, who was standing over the map, pointing out possible routes.
"You're probably right. Where do you think we should come from then?" Hiccup asked.
"If we come from behind we can surprise them," she traced the path to the Outcast base from the forest behind it.
"Only problem is Heather lives at the back of Outcast territory. We could avoid her if we come from above and fly over her before she can see us."
"Great idea! Do we have a plan?" Fishlegs said excitedly.
"I think so," Hiccup agreed, determined.
The next 3 days were spent doing repairs on the Edge. After the attack, there were still a few repairs that need to be done. They made sure to survey the damages from above on their dragons. Fishlegs was in charge of surveying the island, and Astrid was stopping the twins from burning everything down. It was a challenge but a welcome distraction from worrying.
They had planned to leave in 3 days since it would take such a long time to get there. Garf would be rescued in 5 days when the Outcasts would send him out as bait. It wasn't the first time that had happened, Death Songs are often used by hunters because their call attracts dragons. They knew about the Outcast's plans because of intel from Mildew. He wasn't the biggest fan of dragons but they got it out of him, mostly with gold.
"The chicken is not amused," Tuffnut said, holding Chicken up to Ruffnut as she instructed Barf to spray zippleback gas onto him.
"Ruffnut, stop that. And Tuff, that was funny the first time but it's getting old," Astrid said, getting a little frustrated that they were making things so much harder. But, to be fair, they weren't acting any different than usual.
Tuffnut shoved Chicken in Astrid's face. She pushed it out of the way gently and Tuffnut gasped, offended. Astrid rolled her eyes and walked over to Hiccup, who was talking to Fishlegs about Garf.
"Please give me something else to do, the twins are going to drive me insane."
"Sure, there's some burned shrubbery at the east side, if you could clear that away that'd be great. I asked Snotlout to do it but the guy with the stoker class dragon isn't doing the best job at stopping the fires." Hiccup gave her a sympathetic look.
Astrid agreed and got onto Stormfly, who made her way to the east side. The 2 of them spent a few hours there, clearing dead bushes and ash. By the time they were done, the sun was starting to set and everyone needed a good sleep.
Though Astrid knew that she needed some quality sleep for the first time in a while, she also knew she wouldn't get any at this rate. So, bags under her eyes from the night before, she got up and took a walk around the island.
She didn't want to go too deep into the forest, since it was pitch dark by this point, but she walked as far as the was willing to go. She took her axe with her, but she couldn't bring herself to let out any anger. Astrid knew it was because she didn't have much anger left inside of her. The 'what-ifs' overtook her brain before the 'I'm going to murder Alvin with my bare hands' could.
When Astrid got back to the base, it had been a few hours, but it wasn't quite morning.
She decided to check if Stormfly was up and wanted to take an early-morning flight. To her surprise, Stormfly was awake and came to greet her almost instantly. Astrid didn't need to ask, and when Stormfly was ready, they set off. The two of them just flew around for a while. Practicing Stormfly's speed a little (feeding her chicken had been improving it a lot), but mostly just flying and thinking.
"What are they doing with Garf? He's probably sad and lonely and scared. Behind dragonproof iron bars, barely enough food to last him the night, and chained up." Astrid said to Stormfly with tears in her eyes. She couldn't wait for tomorrow. She needed to at least try and rescue Garf.
Astrid and Stormfly travel back to Dragon's Edge to gather supplies. They're going to do this themselves.