Hi guys! This is my first fanfic so thank you for giving it a shot! xD I had the idea in my head for a long time and finally got it down in words.

Disclaimer: Even though i really want to and it would be the best thing in the world, I don't own HTTYD.

Dragons don't like eel! Enjoy.

The Better Warrior

"The axe is a graceful yet destructive weapon, most require several years of training to ever come close to mastering the art," Astrid explained, "few ever do."

She studied the group of young Vikings standing before her, to think she was once one of them, a green Viking eager for some action, good times those were. Gobber had left her to supervise today's academy training as he and Hiccup had business off Berk, something about a disturbance in the northern waters. Astrid didn't mind, in fact, she was quite comfortable teaching them how to potentially dismember an opponent.

The Vikings looked at her strange, as far as they were concerned, "graceful" and "axe" weren't normally used in the same sentence. Astrid caught on and chuckled, "You'll understand".

It was a beautiful day, and a warm breeze tingled her skin, lifting strands of her gold locks.

She strolled over to the weapons rack and picked up one of the practice axes. After so many years, she still favoured the double edged weapon over all the others, promptly dismissing any new designs Hiccup came to her with, no matter how impressive they were. How his ingenious brain worked, even Odin had yet to understand.

Still, she preferred to keep it simple

"It's all about maintaining balance between you and your axe," she said, "once you've got that down, lopping someone's head off would be just as easy as throwing a stick."She twirled the axe in her right hand, assessing its weight and grip while eyeing the wooden targets across the room she set up earlier before.

One of the boys popped a question, "This applies to limbs too, right?" he asked. The others groaned. Puck wasn't the brightest of the bunch. Then again, Vikings weren't usually very smart either. Astrid considered his question, she had a tough time deciding whether or not he was being serious.

"No you idiot! You have to measure the wind speed and weather patterns to ever properly chop off an arm. Everyone knows that, bucket head." Willow snapped at him, not everyone could withstand Puck's annoyance. Anyone who didn't live under a Gronckle's belly would know that where Puck's pointless comments went, Willow's ruthless insults followed.

She was pretty certain she held Berk's record for most eye rolls in a day.

"What? How come no one told me?" He looked around incredulously. That earned him a long sigh from everyone.

Willow couldn't take it anymore. She straightened up, walked right up to him, and punched him in the gut. "ARGH!" He doubled over and stumbled backwards, and the group backed up to make room for the two. This wasn't uncommon. "What the-, hey I honestly didn't know!"Willow, with an exasperated expression on her face, was about to deliver another well-aimed blow to his head before Astrid cut in.

"Willow," she called sternly.

Willow froze. She turned back to her mentor, but kept her head high, she wasn't remorseful for what she did. He was asking for it. Everyone quieted down to let Astrid speak, though she kept silent for a moment, contemplating on what to do. She couldn't blame Willow: to be honest, she would've done the same.

Just then, Astrid noticed a mischievous glint in Puck's eyes. He now stood upright behind Willow, a tiny smirk playing on his lips. "He's doing this to get her attention," she realised. She looked at Willow again, "….and she doesn't even know it." Astrid found that quite surprising...impressive even.

If he wanted it so badly, then she had to make sure Willow delivered.

She walked up to Willow and leaned in close, whispering so no one else could hear, "Excellent punch, hit the face next time."

Taken aback, Willow stood stock still as Astrid shot her a knowing smirk before returning to the front of the group. She took a while to fully process what Astrid had said, then her lips curved up in a smile.

"Now, if I could have everyone's attention back on the lesson." Astrid spoke with her usual air of dignity. Scuffle all they want, she was still the one in charge.

She proceeded to show them the basics and fundamentals of axe-wielding, pouring everything she knew into her teachings. After familiarising themselves with the swing, Astrid allowed them to move on to target practice. She stood by the side, correcting and demonstrating whenever necessary.

The lesson went on smoothly, and it was pass noon when Astrid dismissed the group. Contented with herself, she stayed back to reorganise the equipment used for the day. Teaching was new to her, but it provided a sense of satisfaction and fulfilment, that she really enjoyed.

Astrid was about to put the last wooden target away when she decided to have a little bit of fun, just to relax. No one was around anyway.

Placing the target a good twenty metres away from her, she stood with her back towards it. Her trusty axe in hand, she inhaled slowly, and in one fluid movement, she spun around and flung the blade straight towards the red bulls-eye in the centre of the target. The moment her axe left her hand, she knew it was a direct hit. Without fail, it sunk into the bulls-eye with a loud thud.

A smile of satisfaction broke out on her face.

Suddenly, she heard a low whistle coming from the entrance to the grounds.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side again," Hiccup said with a smile while walking up to his girlfriend.

Astrid only smirked back at him, "Unless you want to be on the receiving end of that axe," she pointed with her thumb, "I suggest you make it a point to remember yourself."

"I can already see it going down in the books: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the chief who was axed down by his girlfriend because he forgot not to get on her bad side."

They were in arm's length now, and Astrid only responded with a light punch to his arm. Unfazed, Hiccup snaked his arm around her little waist and pulled her in close for a kiss on her forehead. A warm smile spread out on her features as his soft lips touched her skin.

Unable to keep up her stubbornness under his charm, she let herself lean against him, taking in the distinct whiff of the ocean that still lingered on his armour.

"Are you hungry?" Hiccup asked. "I thought we could squeeze in lunch before I go for that afternoon meeting."

Astrid tilted her head upwards to look at his smooth features. "I'd like that." She said, smiling at him. Astrid unravelled herself from his arms to put way the wooden target with her axe still embedded in it. "So, how was everything?"

"Well it turns out a giant eel found its way into our waters, and it's been driving the Tidal dragons nuts." Hiccup said. "It was hard to get anything done, really, I even had to promise Toothless an extra basket of fish for dinner to get him in action. Luckily for us, there was enough brains and brawn to put it down."

"Yeah? Toothless did a great job then."

Hiccup looked at her expectantly.

Astrid caught on. "Oh, I'm sure you helped too, babe."

He only gave a half smile.

"Maybe you should've brought me along," she said while pulling out her axe. "My axe doesn't mind eel." She smirked at Hiccup who was trailing behind her.

"Probably not a good idea, I mean, that thing was huge." Hiccup spread his arms wide open in exaggeration.

Astrid raised a questioning eyebrow, "Are you saying I couldn't have handled it?"

"Astrid, that thing was five dragons large. I'm saying, that maybe taking it on with just an axe isn't the best idea in the world." Hiccup suggested lightly, "Although if you used the shock needle I designed with Skrill spines and maybe my newly forged light armour with greater damage capacity then-Astrid, where are you going?" She was already pass him, strolling her way towards the exit.

"To have my lunch!" She called back to him with an amused grin. As much as she loved his intelligence, it didn't always work in his favour.

Hiccup had a feeling he might have just pushed a button. He jogged up to her and pulled her back to look at him.

"Come on, Astrid! Don't be like that."He pouted.

She thinned her lips."Well you won't believe me."

"I was just thinking about your safety," Hiccup tried, but Astrid remained unimpressed.

"The next time a giant something comes by I'll let you have it, how about that?"

"So you're "letting me have it" now? No thanks." She replied.

Hiccup was out of ideas at this point, but then it came to him and he snapped his fingers. "A bet then, to see whose strategy works the best." Hiccup held out his hand.

Astrid considered his proposition for a while, "No dragons?"

"Fine, no dragons."

And with a mischievous smirk, she took his hand. "You're on."

They grinned in unison as they made their way to the dining hall.

"I'll win though." Hiccup whispered.

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Oh really, you spend more time tinkering with that new light armour of yours than you do wielding a weapon."

"Wha-hey! I do not!" Hiccup exclaimed.

Astrid raised an eyebrow.

Hiccup scratched his head and thought about it, "Okay, maybe I do, but have you seen the material I'm working on? I'm thinking of adding softer elements to the metal and see where that goes, I mean, Gronkle Iron is great and all but I think this might be a new breakthrough-"

He was cut short when Astrid pulled him down for a kiss. It was the only way to shut him up sometimes. When Astrid finally let go, Hiccup was too dazed to remember what he was talking about. She had that effect on him and was glad to use it whenever she could.

"So what's for lunch?" Astrid asked with a sweet smile.

"Giant eel."

So what do you think? Please send me a review, I love to get feedback no matter how brutal :)