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"Is that everything for today?" Astrid asked, dusting off her hands.
Gobber looked around the smithy. "That's everything. Thanks for your help today, lassie."
"No problem," Astrid said, putting on a smile. "Glad to be of service. If that's it… We should get going then, Toothless." The Night Fury slowly got up from where he had been sleeping on the smithy floor. "And — you too." That comment was directed to her Deadly Nadder.
"See you tomorrow, then?" Gobber asked.
"See you tomorrow," Astrid confirmed. Yet another thing to add to the list. There wasn't much that could be done about it. Withholding a sigh, she turned to leave the smithy, dragons trailing behind her.
"Say, lass… have you named that dragon of yours yet?"
Astrid paused. Why's he asking that? "Uh… not yet. Still trying to find one that… suits her." She supposed the question wasn't a surprise. The others had already begun to name their dragons. Even some Berkians who had befriended the dragons a couple days ago had started to name them. Astrid… hadn't.
She left the smithy before Gobber could ask any more questions. The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon — Already? It was barely past lunch when I got to the smithy… — and there were dark clouds on the horizon. Astrid quickened her pace, not stopping for conversation as she walked through the village. A week ago, people would have let her be. Hiccup had been the star of dragon training, and Astrid was… not worth the attention, compared to his "raw talent". Now, everyone tried to get her attention — and her help — at every possible opportunity.
With Hiccup in a coma, and no idea of when he would wake up, people had started looking to her for advice on what to do. Had expected her to manage the gigantic problem of integrating dragons into Berkian society. Never mind the fact she had barely understood what Hiccup had been doing with dragons before the fight at the Nest. Or that she had only found out about Toothless the night before. No, everyone expected Astrid to have all the answers. To be able to resolve the disputes, and organize the reintegration, and teach everyone how to work peacefully with the dragons.
Astrid did her best, of course. It wasn't like she was going to not help the village. But more often than not, her best was a wild guess or idea she desperately hoped she could pull off. Her ideas didn't even work most of the time. She knew the village needed the assistance. Needed someone to take up the work.
It was still incredibly exhausting.
Her new projects hadn't helped. Toothless' tail fin had been destroyed in the battle, leaving the Night Fury unable to fly. Gobber had been working towards making a new one, and had asked her for help. Out of everyone in the village, Astrid — besides Hiccup — was the only person Toothless really trusted. That meant it had fallen to her to get the worried and often stubborn Night Fury to cooperate with Gobber. She loved Gobber's idea. Hiccup would be incredibly happy when he found out they had taken care of his dragon for him. Astrid was happy to help with this particular project. But it did mean that a large chunk of her day was spent wrangling Toothless and not tending to all the other issues in the village.
As if she could sense Astrid's frustration, her Deadly Nadder playfully nudged her, cooing reassuringly. Astrid smiled softly. "Thanks, girl," she said, scratching the dragon on the head. "I guess I'm probably stressing too much, aren't I?" The words felt like a lie. There was so much that needed doing and Astrid did not have nearly enough knowledge or skill to accomplish it all.
Her Deadly Nadder nudged her again, and Astrid saw she was holding a stick. "What do you want with this?" She takes the stick and tosses it to the side. To her astonishment, her Deadly Nadder darted after the stick, retrieving it and triumphantly showing it to Astrid. "You want me to throw this for you?" Astrid asked, laughing. I never thought dragons would want to play fetch. Apparently, this one did.
Smiling, Astrid tossed the stick again. "Go get it, girl!" Her Deadly Nadder bounded after it. "Do you want to play, Toothless?" She asked, looking at the Night Fury who was walking sullenly behind her. Astrid hadn't managed to get over the awkward feeling of asking questions directly to dragons — but they had proven to be plenty intelligent. In response to her inquiry, Toothless let out a grumble. Astrid didn't press the issue further, even though she was worried about the Night Fury. He's just worried about Hiccup. He'll be fine once Hiccup wakes up. If Hiccup woke up.
They passed the rest of the walk by playing fetch. Despite his apparent disinterest, Toothless started to join in, fighting with her Deadly Nadder over the stick. Their playing was incredibly entertaining, and by the time they arrived at the Chief's hut, Astrid's mood was better than it had been all day. She left the dragons to their game and knocked on the door. After a moment, Stoick opened it. He looked… tired. Worse than yesterday. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his beard looked messy and unkempt.
"Um. I brought Toothless back," Astrid said, a bit awkwardly. She never knew how to handle this visit, even though she knew she would keep making it until Hiccup woke up. If he wakes up. "Toothless!" She called. "Playtime's over!" Reluctantly, the Night Fury let her Deadly Nadder take the stick and came over. Astrid stood there for a few moments, not sure what else to say.
"He seems more energetic today," Stoick commented, breaking the silence.
Astrid nodded. "Yeah… maybe all he needed was some company. From other dragons," she added.
Silence again. "That's a fine dragon you have there," Stoick said, nodding towards her Deadly Nadder. Astrid nodded. "What's her name?"
She did her best to hold back a sigh. "I… haven't gotten around to naming her yet." Nothing she came up with seemed to suit the dragon.
"Tail coming along well?"
"Gobber says he should be finished in a few days."
"Glad to hear it." Stoick paused. "Doesn't seem right, having a dragon that can't fly."
"He'll still need Hiccup's help for that," Astrid added quietly. "The design for the tail needs a rider. Gobber hasn't said anything, but… he can't figure out how to make it work on its own."
"Ah. That is… something worth considering," Stoick eventually said.
"I'm sure Toothless will appreciate the tail. Hiccup too, once…" Astrid trailed off. Stoick knew what she meant. She swallowed, then asked the question that had been on her mind since she arrived. "Has anything… changed? With Hiccup?"
Stoick sighed. "No."
"I'm… sure he'll wake up soon." He has to. Astrid couldn't lead Berk into this new, dragon-friendly age alone.
"Yes… Yes, I'm sure he will," Stoick replied, echoing her words.
"Well. I'd best be going," Astrid said reluctantly, with a look towards the horizon. The storm clouds were rapidly approaching. "See you tomorrow?"
"See you tomorrow," Stoick replied with a nod. "Stay safe."
"I will."
With that, Astrid left, her Deadly Nadder falling into step beside her as they walked home at a brisk pace. Astrid did not want to be caught in the storm. "I suppose I should come up with a name for you," she said, almost to herself. "It's just… nothing seems to work." She had tried all kinds of names — names based off her dragon's color, her mood, her fire, everything. Nothing stuck.
A part of Astrid knew she was worrying about it too much, that compared to everything else she was responsible for, a name was unimportant. But it was hard to not feel like she was failing, like she wasn't qualified to do everything she was doing, when she couldn't even name her own dragon. All the others had had named their dragons. The names they had come up with — Hookfang, Barf and Belch — were typical Viking names, meant to frighten off trolls. But they were still names. "I just… all of this is too much," Astrid mumbled, sighing.
She felt something wet land on her, and looked up to see that it was raining. Storm clouds covered the sky. Great. Just great. A storm on top of everything else. At least I'm already home, she thought, pushing open the door to her house. Her Deadly Nadder tried to come inside with her — which was a very ridiculous sight, since the dragon was too big for the doorway — but Astrid laughed and patted her on the head. "You have to stay outside, girl. Sorry about the rain…"
The Deadly Nadder made a sound that seemed… excited? Can dragons even sound excited? "Well, I'm not one for storms, but if you like it… by all means, go have fun." Her dragon roared in a definitively excited manner and bounded off. Astrid shut the door behind her, calling out, "I'm home!"
Almost immediately, her mother emerged from the kitchen. "Astrid!" She exclaimed, smiling. "We were worried you were going to get caught in the storm. Come, we just started eating dinner…" She followed her mom to the table, where places had been set, and her dad was already eating a large chicken leg.
"Astrid!" He bellowed, mouth full of food. "Glad to see you. Everything went well today?"
"It did," she confirmed, taking a seat and hurriedly digging in to her dinner. Normally, she didn't mind the questions, but… the day had just been so exhausting. And she was starving, after all.
Despite her attempts to busy herself with dinner, her parents — well, mostly her mom — continued to bombard her with questions about her day and everything going on in the village. Astrid answered them as briefly as she could, and as soon as her dinner was finished, she made her excuses and headed off to her room. There, she collapsed onto her bed with a huge sigh. Maybe now she could finally get some rest.
She had taken off her shoulder pads and tucked her ax under her pillow, and was just about to extinguish her lantern when her mother appeared in the doorway. "Astrid?"
"What is it, Mom?"
"It's just… we want to make sure you're doing okay." Do I really seem that out of it?
"I'm fine," Astrid quickly replied. "Just tired. It's a lot of work, having to manage dragons all day." She smiled half-heartedly.
"Well… alright then," her mom said, reluctantly. "Get some good rest. Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Astrid replied, blowing out the lantern and laying down, in hopes of falling asleep quickly.
Astrid closed her eyes and attempted to will her mind into silence. That quickly proved to be impossible. Her thoughts and worries from the day swirled around in her mind, refusing to go away. Trying to avoid focusing on her problems, she took slow, deep breaths and listened to the sounds of her room. It was a trick her Uncle Finn had taught her. It was meant to be a grounding technique used before a battle, but Astrid had used it to fall asleep many times before.
This night, her awareness of her surroundings only made it harder for her to fall asleep. Outside, the storm still raged. The sharp cracks of lightning and booming thunder sent spikes of fear down her spine. The howling wind and crashing rain buffeting the house made Astrid grow tense. She felt as if she might jump out of bed due to stress any moment.
Astrid had never liked storms. When she was a little girl, she had learned a lightning storm was the reason Bucket had… well, a bucket on his head. Ever since, she had been terrified of storms. The fear had never subsided as she got older. It simply joined Astrid's ever-growing list of fears, that seemed to get bigger with every dragon attack. There aren't going to be any more dragon attacks, she thought.
That brought all the problems of the day — everything Astrid had yet to accomplish, everything she needed to accomplish, everything she couldn't do — crashing back.
"Oh, for Thor's sake," she muttered. "This is hopeless." I'm never going to get any sleep at this rate. So… maybe I can try to accomplish something.
Astrid got out of bed, determination rising to the surface. But… where do I start? She wondered, beginning to pace around her room. There was so much to do, and not nearly enough time in her days. Well… what would Hiccup do? It seemed like Hiccup always had a plan. Some fiendishly clever solution to whatever problem they were dealing with. So… I should make a plan? Of how to deal with — everything?
That… seemed like a good start. Never mind the fact that there was so much to accomplish, Astrid didn't know where to begin. (She hadn't known where to begin ever since Hiccup had taken down the Red Death). She still had to try, somehow. "Okay…" She said to herself. "I should start by figuring out what I'm dealing with. Then I can figure out how to handle it." Astrid's main problem was facilitating dragons moving into Berk. There were still tensions between Vikings and dragons, and fights broke out often. Most times, there were too many for Astrid to deal with, which led to damages, which was another thing Astrid had to take care of. "So… tensions between Vikings and dragons is one thing, and damage repair is another."
The other big thing Astrid was working on was helping Gobber design Toothless a new tail fin — a surprise for Hiccup when he woke up. (If he woke up). That was one of the main things preventing Astrid from doing work around the village, because Toothless wouldn't cooperate with Gobber unless she was there. "Toothless' tail fin is thing number three," Astrid muttered. "And… I should probably do something about people wanting to befriend the dragons." A lot of Vikings were trying to embrace the idea of being on the same side as the dragons, but didn't know how to actually approach the creatures. I don't really know how, either… Astrid's advice had been mostly improvised.
"Okay," Astrid declared. "I have all my problems, so now I need to figure out how — What are you doing here?!" The comment was directed at the Deadly Nadder — her Deadly Nadder — that had suddenly appeared outside her window. The dragon stuck its head into the room, dripping water all over Astrid's floor. "Were you… outside?" Astrid had assumed the dragon had gone to sleep already. The Nadder made an eager cawing sound that she interpreted as 'yes'. But why… "You were in the storm, weren't you!" That would explain why the dragon was still up and why it was so wet. I guess she likes to play in the storms.
"What are you doing here?" Astrid asked the dragon, before realizing the answer was somewhat obvious. She wants to play with me. "I'm sorry, girl, but I can't play right now. I'm doing something important." That… wasn't entirely true. Astrid didn't think pacing around her room counted as important, but it was late and she really didn't want to go out in the storm. The dragon's head drooped, and Astrid suddenly felt bad for the Nadder. "The storm's not going away any time soon — you can go have fun!" She added, in hopes of improving the dragon's mood.
The Nadder squawked sadly and attempted to shove its head further in the window. Sighing, Astrid waked over, intending to scratch the dragon. Instead, the Nadder grabbed her arm as soon as she was near enough — Astrid winced at the sharpness of its teeth — and tried to drag her out of the window. "What are you doing?!" Astrid exclaimed, struggling and trying to yank her arm free. "Hey! Put me down, you—!" She let out a yelp of surprise as the Nadder suddenly let go of her arm, dropping her. Rubbing her arm where the dragon had grabbed her — it didn't look like she was injured, thank Thor — she turned to glare at the dragon. "That was not nice," Astrid said, sternly. "Not nice at all. Why did you even do that, anyway…?"
Astrid trailed off as the answer became apparent. She wants me to go out with her. In the storm. That was… not ideal. Astrid wasn't opposed to playing with the Deadly Nadder — would likely have gone out with her, even though it was late — but she did not want to go out in the storm. That high up, Astrid could easily get struck by lightning, or tossed from the dragon's back by the winds. If any of that happened, she would plummet and crash land in the village or the ocean, both of which led to instant death. There was no surviving a fall from a dragon's back if you hit the ground.
"I'm sorry," Astrid said again. "But I'm not going out in that storm. It might be fine for a dragon like you, but it's definitely not fine for a Viking like me." The dragon tilted her head — the movement seemed oddly curious — and then tried to nuzzle Astrid while making a cooing sound. What in the name of Thor is she doing? Astrid hadn't seen any dragons act like this. Not even Toothless, and he was the most familiar with Vikings out of all the dragons on Berk! Confused, Astrid took a few steps back so she was a bit further away from the window. A few strands of hair fell into her face. Absentmindedly, she tried to shove them back into her braid, growing annoyed when they didn't immediately stay put. Her Nadder hung its head.
Astrid sighed. "I'm sorry, but I told you already, I can't go out in the storm! It's too dangerous for me…" She trailed off as a thought occurred to her. Was it… trying to comfort me? "Is that what you're trying to tell me? That the storm is safe?" The Nadder squawked excitedly. "Are you sure?" She asked, hesitantly. The dragon knew what the storm was like better than she did — but that didn't mean it knew what was safe for a human. The Nadder squawked again, making it sound more definitive. Astrid sighed and threw her hands up in the air. "Fine, fine, I'll come with you." It's not like I'm being productive right now, anyway. "But not for long, and we're not doing anything dangerous."
The Nadder — I really need to come up with a name for her — made excited noises from the window as Astrid removed her shoulder pads and studded skirt. Wearing metal into a storm would be completely mad. Once she had tucked them away safely, she climbed out of the window and landed neatly on the grass next to her dragon. Immediately, she was hit by the forceful winds, blowing rain in her face and making her completely drenched in a matter of seconds. The rain was so strong it was almost impossible to see. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Astrid muttered, as she attempted to climb onto the dragon's back. The Nadder's scales were covered with water, making it difficult for Astrid to climb up. Eventually, she managed, but it was still far too slippery for her liking.
How am I going to keep myself from falling? When she'd flown to fight the Red Death — which was really the only time she'd flown on her own — Hiccup had rigged up an impromptu handle made from rope. Astrid didn't have that right now. Maybe I can— The Deadly Nadder launched herself into the air, heading for the storm clouds at a frightening speed. Astrid screamed, flailing about as she tried to get her grip. I'm going to fall I'm going to fall oh Thor this was such a bad idea. She felt herself sliding backwards, a spike of panic rushing through her, before she threw her arms around the dragon's neck. Please don't kill me please don't kill me, she thought, squeezing her eyes shut as the dragon spiraled higher and higher, thunder booming all around them. Oh Thor I don't want to die…
After what felt like an eternity, the Nadder leveled out. They stopped going up at terrifying speeds, and began flying… not smoothly, but not turbulently, either. Somewhere in-between. The rain and winds buffeting Astrid had ceased — the rain was no longer soaking her, the wind had died down significantly. Slowly, hesitantly, afraid doing anything else would make the flight terrible again, Astrid opened her eyes. She loosened her grip slightly, shifted into a more upright position upon her Nadder's back. What should I hold on to…? Astrid reached for the dragon's crown of spikes and found they made a relatively good handle. "Hope you don't mind, but I don't feel like falling off…" She muttered to the dragon.
Feeling mostly situated and not close to death at that very moment, Astrid took a moment to take in her surroundings. They were flying above the storm now, a star-speckled sky above her and the storm clouds below. As she watched, the clouds flashed with lightning and rumbled with thunder. From far away, where she wasn't in danger of being struck by lightning, it seemed oddly… intriguing. Enticing, almost. Astrid felt the unnatural urge to get closer, to observe the storm when it wasn't trying to kill her.
Gently, she nudged her Nadder down towards the clouds, until they were so close they were skimming just above them. They flew like that for a while, Astrid watching the clouds and listening to the sounds of the storm — the wind, rain, and thunder. Slowly, she began to relax, the tension leaving her shoulders. She stopped gripping her Deadly Nadder's spikes as tightly. Up above the clouds, the storm — above everything, really — it was oddly peaceful. It was a place so distant, so foreign to Astrid, that her problems couldn't find her. It was just her, her dragon, and the storm below.
Astrid leaned over the side of her dragon's back to run her hand through the clouds, before snatching back at the last moment. She didn't want to be electrocuted. Still, her dragon seemed to sense her fear had gone away, and circled the clouds a couple of times before abruptly diving in. She let out a scream of surprise as they dove through the sky, practically plummeting through the clouds until they were right in the middle of the storm. The clouds around them crackled with lightning, occasional lightning flashes illuminating the darkness with a bright white-purple glow.
A blast of lightning came striking down from the clouds above them. Astrid's grip on her Nadder's spikes tightened, and it took all her effort not to close her eyes again. Then her dragon was swerving out of the way and speeding through the clouds. They dove up, and down, and flew in spirals that made Astrid dizzy. They wove through the lightning, her dragon seemingly chasing after it, navigating the fine line between chasing the lightning and not getting struck. This dragon is crazy, Astrid thought, as they got so close to the lightning it almost grazed the dragon's wing. She's going to get us killed…
Yet even as the thought occurred to her, the danger of the storm was rapidly turning into something exciting instead of something frightening. Astrid grinned as they dove through the clouds, wind and rain battering her and making it hard to see. When the next bolt of lightning came, Astrid took control, nudging her dragon out of the way and into a downward spiral. They fell through the sky, her Nadder leveling out just before they exited the clouds, then spinning around and flying back up.
Excitement rose within her, the thrill of the storm giving her a rush of adrenaline as they flew. The crashing of thunder still sent a rush of fear down her spine, but it was tinged with a fiery sense of excitement. As they flew, Astrid guided her dragon more and more, movements that had simply been reactions to the environment turning into something more. Something instinctual, a deeper understanding between her and her dragon. They dove in and out of the storm, alternating between weaving through the lightning and the sea stacks surrounding Berk.
Astrid shouted with excitement as they came out of a steep dive, leveling out just before they hit the ocean and skimming above the waves. Her Nadder slowed down, and Astrid leaned over to run her hands through the waves, finding that she didn't mind the biting shock of the cold water. This must be how Hiccup feels. The thought came to her suddenly, but it made perfect sense. Hiccup had been so steadfast, so loyal to his dragon, something Astrid hadn't been able to fathom. Not when they'd first taken her flying, and not when they'd fought the Red Death. She hadn't been able to understand why Hiccup would risk so much just to protect a dragon.
But now.
Now she knew.
Flying through the storm had helped her connect with her dragon on some fundamental, primal level. Astrid felt closer to her Deadly Nadder than she ever had before — a kind of connection she had before, with… anyone, really. She had shared a moment with her dragon, a kind of moment that she couldn't have with anyone else. Something that went beyond the the danger of the storm and the thrill of flying. It was something special. Something important.
Astrid sat up straighter on her dragon's back, and guided her back towards Berk. "You know, I think I've finally thought of a name for you," she said, as they flew home. "How does Stormfly sound?"