"We don't deserve you."
"Dragons? HA. Meat with shiny scales, that's all they are. This here is just a selection, got plenty more where dis came from"
Astrid slammed her fist into the Viking's face.
The red-faced man bellowed and staggered back, furious eyes glazed in a drunken stupor. The contents of his pint dripped through his beard as he glared at her, his fists tightening over the hammer at his belt. The rest of the barroom went silent as they turned to see the chieftess of Berk glowering in rage. She stiffly pointed towards the door "Get out."
"Big mistake, girl." He emphasized the last word and tossed his mug aside. He advanced, towering heads above her. "Where I come from, darlings like yourself keep their mouths shut and let the men conduct business." Three more men of similar stature rose from their stools, surrounding her.
"Excuse me?" Astrid ignored the henchmen and glowered back at the man. "Conduct "business"? Not sure if you've noticed, but we don't allow the selling of dragonskin on Berk." Astrid was trying to keep herself under control, with her fists shaking at her sides.
The men chuckled around her, and the red-faced man joined them. "Hey, lookie here boys, another dragon lover!" He crouched down and put his face in front of hers. "Girl. Dragons are worth nothing, ye hear? But them pelts sell for a shiny penny, 'specially now that most of them died off last year. So how about you make the smart decision. Go back home to your knitting." The other men roared with laughter and made motions of knitting with their hands.
Astrid had promised Hiccup to use her words more than her fists, but when the first man shoved her, she was done. She let her hands take over. She threw the shover over her back and the other men were on her in an instant. The second man took an elbow to the stomach and tumbled into a table as she blocked a clumsy cross from the man with the skins.
The last man turned tail and ran for the door when the fierce valkyrie crashed a chair over her current victim. The fourth man had the door open when he got nailed in the back by a hammer. Astrid turned around and snatched the dragonskins from the belt of the man currently moaning on the ground, and looked up. The villagers in the tavern were all gawking at her.
She looked at the men, then at the pelts in her hands and thought of what Hiccup had said.
"We don't deserve you."
Astrid grabbed her ax and stepped over the man in the doorway. As she walked towards her home, she was surprised to find herself in tears.