"Come on bud, you can do it," I urged Toothless, my Night Fury. I leaned to my right and his wings shifted with me, and we buzzed past a tree. I leaned to my left and another one came right by, just missing his stomach by a hair. He gurgled with happiness and I patted his neck as we evened out and glided above the forest floor.
"Good job, Toothless," I praised him. I smiled, he was such a good dragon. I looked behind me at the thick wooded area that we had bypassed. I felt so proud of him and I. "Wait'll I tell Astrid about this, she'll never believe me," I laughed.
The sound of wings flapping appeared behind me. "Speak of the devil," I said.
"HICCUP!" she shouted angrily over the wind. I shivered and looked behind me at her.
"Er... Hi Astrid," I replied weakly, slowing Toothless a bit so she could catch up to be beside me. She was surely going to kill me.
"Land!" she commanded, and I did as she said. She landed beside me and I finally looked at her and her Deadly Nadder, Stormfly. "Your father was looking for you, and you weren't there."
I sighed. "Dad's always looking for me, though," I said. I smiled and pointed at the woods. "But, I can go through that now, and that's good, right?"
Astrid's gaze instantly switched from angry to downright feral. She hopped off Stormfly and prowled up to me, her boots kicking up dust against the ground. Before I could get away she grabbed me by my shirt and threw me onto the ground.
"Hey-!" I said, before landing face-first into the dirt.
"This isn't funny, Hiccup!" she said as I struggled back onto my feet. I stood up and realized how close her face was. She had tears in her eyes. Astrid Hofferson, near crying. "He seemed angry and-a little worried. No, more like real worried. You have to get back to Berk, now."
I looked down and pondered returning. I didn't feel like getting yelled at, but even worse, I didn't like angering my father. That wouldn't lead to any good. "Alright," I said. I didn't like Astrid upset, either, it rarely happened. So, I hugged her quickly and let go. "It'll be okay," I said awkwardly.
I climbed on Toothless and waited for Astrid to get on Stormfly. Then, we rose in the air and set off towards Berk, my home.