I hereby disclaim all ownership of How To Train Your Dragon
Astrid lifted her shield and charged forward.
The dragon had much more mass, so she tried to make up for it with speed. Unfortunately, the dragon was also fast.
Fast but predictable. Astrid knew exactly how it would move, so even before seeing it she could throw her shield arm out to intercept it head. The hard wood hit the dragon's snout with a satisfying noise, checking the beast's progress.
Astrid jumped forward, forcing her arms around the dragon's neck. She quickly started scratching it in an attempt to force it into sleep. Most dragons would be finished here.
Unfortunately, this dragon was smarter than most. It rolled, forcing her to dodge lest she be pinned. She was back on her feet momentarily, but so was the dragon, now. Wings spread, neck stretched, the hind legs shuffling it into position. They were back where they started.
The dragon made the first move this time, starting off with a wing-assisted leap. Up in the air, it folded its wings again to come down at Astrid like a catapult-stone. She rolled away and tried to get up, only to find the dragon's maw opening up right in front of her face.
In a desperate move, Astrid decided to use her ace-in-the-hole. She ripped a pouch from her belt and stuffed its contents up the dragon's nostril.
To her satisfaction, it seemed to work. The dragon lost balance and determination. Its eyes narrowed, as if it were trying to see through fog. Astrid prepared to pounce…
"Toothless! Astrid! Is anyone there?"
And just like that, the battle was over. Astrid extracted the special grass Hiccup showed her from Toothless's nose and hid it behind her back, and then quickly stepped away. By the time Hiccup emerged, the girl and the dragon had assumed positions of perfect innocence – or as close as they could manage, anyway.
"There you guys are!" Hiccup said happily "I've been looking all over for you."
"Oh. Well, we've just been…here," Astrid tried her best to give a nonchalant smile. She wasn't very good at it. Toothless tried too, and he was worse.
"Doing what?"
"Nothing much. Just…bonding, I guess," when Hiccup looked away for a moment, Astrid hastily snatched a stray piece of grass from Toothless's nose.
"Well, now that we're all here, want to go for a flight?"
"Sure. Yes. Absolutely. Anything you say."
Astrid had no fear getting up on the dragon's back. Hiccup's arrival meant an automatic truce. Still, they'd have their rematch another time. And then they'd be able to settle once and for all who really was tougher.