So first story, I'm just going to say characters will divert from their original personalities. I know this is another Hiccup leaves Berk .etc. but I felt like giving my own twist to it, in case you're wondering this is Hiccstrid. Again I've had my fair share of rude people, please if you don't have anything decent to say don't bother. Sorry to start off to a bit of a grim note but I hope you guys enjoy anyway :D.

Astrid ran hard and fast through the village, her eyes wild with desperation. Blood ran down the side of her face and her lungs were full of smoke. If she wasn't putting out house fires she was beating away dragons with wild waves of her axe. The raids had gotten a lot worse since he had left. A shudder ran down her spine when she remembered the cold eyes of the boy who had enough. The constant degradation and rejection had forced the ugly side of the coin to surface. Astrid leapt to the side narrowly avoiding the deadly Nadder's spikes, swinging her axe around she embedded the weapon in its neck a shrill squawk left the Nadder before it dropped to the floor dead. Her face was grim as the blood splattered across the ground. Yanking the axe out she ran towards Tuffnut who was swiftly filling buckets of water to aid in quenching the fires. Grabbing a bucket she headed to the nearest house and threw the water, but it did little to stop the flames.
"Astrid!" Gobber shouted, at his warning tone she threw herself to the ground narrowly avoiding a Monstrous Nightmare's claws. She lifted her head, her eyes catching onto the chief of the tribe who had become much more set in his hatred of dragons since his son had disappeared. He roared bitterly slicing his axe through the dragons with rapid succession. Astrid cried out in shock when she was pinned to the ground by a Zippleback the large claws digging into her. She struggled to move panic slowly beginning to set in. The dragon leaned down its mouths shaping into a grin; she closed her eyes her body shaking at the prospect of death. All of a sudden the weight was thrown of her, Astrid leapt to her feet turning to face her chief.
"Thank you" she whispered her voice hoarse. He merely nodded before turning to watch the dragons leave as dawn shattered the night sky. Astrid strapped her axe onto her back and groaned when she saw the number of ruined houses; this was going to be a very long day.


The hammer crashing down onto the wooden rooftops was a pleasant rhythm to Astrid's exhausted mind. Her Lithe body moved with speed and agility to finish the job quickly. Yet again she found her mind wandering to him, the anger in his eyes when he held Snotlout by the hair and pressed the dagger hard against his throat. The bitter laugh that left his lips was still ingrained into her memory. Snotlout was still obnoxious as ever, but she never missed the way he flinched when his father ruffled his hair or swung an arm around his shoulders brushing his neck. The chief had taken the disappearance even harder, he had become cold, his thoughts controlled by his blade. Berk was a complete and utter mess; they couldn't keep up with the dragon raids. Everyone was beginning to crumble under the pressure; even Gobber looked like he'd seen better days, what with the high demand in weaponry. A throbbing pain rushed Astrid out of her musings; she had unwittingly brought the hammer down on her hand. Cursing she slid off the roof and threw the hammer to the side. She was getting fed up; even a Viking could only take so much.
"Hey babe" a familiar voice echoed.
"Go away snot!" Astrid hissed.
"Hey calm down" he said putting his hands up in surrender "the chief is looking for you."
"Why?" She asked curiously.
"No idea, but you'd better hurry, I'll finish the roof for you" he said nervously. Astrid nodded muttering a quick thank you before making her way to the mead hall. She heaved the heavy doors open, at once the noise died down and all heads snapped to her. She stood straight and marched up to the chief ignoring the stares she was receiving.
"Astrid" he began "I will soon be heading out for Helheim's gate, you are our best warrior and in my absence I put you in charge of protecting the village" Astrid looked at her chief slack jawed her hands trembling slightly.
"I'd be honoured" she said her eyes glittering with pride. The chief nodded sending her a small smile before ordering his party to the docks. The mead hall was empty except for the twins and Fishlegs who was as usual buried in the book of dragons. She plopped down in the bench opposite him her finger picking gingerly at the chicken leg on her plate.
"You miss him don't you?" Fishlegs said quietly looking at her, Astrid's throat tightened and she nodded. "I'm sure he's okay, hiccup was nothing if not resourceful" he said closing the book.
"I just can't stop thinking about that day" she muttered.
"It shocked all of us" Fishlegs nodded "though it shouldn't have, considering all the stress he went through here."
"What do you mean?" Astrid asked curiously.
"What surprises me is that he didn't snap sooner, if it were any of us we would've lost our patience a long time ago" Fishlegs said bitterly. Astrid groaned pressing her fingers into her temples; she let out a louder groan when shouts of an oncoming raid echoed through the whole village.
"Why so soon?" She shouted while ordering everyone to battle stations.
"I don't know, but we're not ready!" Fishlegs replied hastily drawing his hammer. A familiar whistling cut through the air
"Nightfury!" Someone screamed "get down!" The blasts from the Nightfury were not aimed at the houses but the mead hall. Holes were torn through the wood and the building creaked dangerously. Astrid let out a war cry and threw her axe at the Nightfury, the weapon spun through the air and deflected off one of its wings. The dragon roared out in anger firing a purple blast at her, Astrid lifted up her shield and winced in pain when the strength of the blast nearly dislocated her arm. She pulled the Bolas from her belt, narrowly dodging another blast she threw it up successfully tangling the Nightfury's wings. The dragon fell to the ground and something rolled off its back leaping to its feet. Astrid lunged at the Male rider and swung a punch at his face, he staggered back before drawing his own blade. He brought the flaming blade down onto Astrid's shoulder slicing through her shoulder pads and into the soft flesh. She staggered attempting to stay on her feet, the last thing she saw was the hilt of his sword coming towards her.