"Hey, Astrid! You coming down to the docks?" Hiccup called.

"Yeah, I'll be down in a sec!" Astrid quickly began finishing brushing Stormfly's wings.

A small group of Vikings had headed out to Dragon Island on an expedition to discover new dragon types. It seemed every time they wen t out, they brought back new descriptions of dragons, previously unseen on Berk.

This time, the Thorston twins had gone out, and had been away the whole summer, and Astrid and her other friends were heading to the docks to welcome back their friends.

"Uh, hey Astrid!" The familiar swaggering voice of Snoutlout floated up. "Hey, I was wondering if you might wanna head down to the docks with me. Not-not that I don't think you could make the journey alone, of course, I mean, that would be stupid. But, you know, if you ever wanted company-"

"-then I would have asked Hiccup to stay." In a way, she felt bad for him. I mean, the guy had obviously been nuts for her since forever, but Astrid liked Hiccup. Still, who was Snoutlout supposed to fall for? Ruffnut? The other Viking girl was tall and pretty much flat where no girl wanted to be. Except Ruff, who didn't seem to care about her pointed features and lanky build.

She heard a sigh from Snoutlout, as she walked passed him. She sighed, relenting slightly. "Hey, I'm heading down now, you might as well tagalong." Astrid knew Hiccup wouldn't take it personally, he was well aware of Snout's obsession of her.

The two made their way to the docks, where the boat had already docked. It had been four months since she had seen her friends, and Astrid was anxious to hear about Ruffnut and Tuffnut's adventures.

First off the boat was the dragon keepers. These Vikings, often chosen for the amiable nature of their dragons, brought their dragons along, to keep the peace between the newly discovered dragons.

Next were the bookkeepers. These were the Vikings who documented the new dragons, drawing pictures and writing bios about them.

Last were the adventurers. Ruff and Tuff were part of this group. They were the ones who sought out new dragons, bringing word back to the whole group if they found an undocumented species.

Astrid craned her neck, looking for them. They were last off the boat. First came Tuffnut, shouting something at his sister. Then, she came out.

Astrid blinked, shocked.

"Ruffnut?"

.

"Well you'd break one if you ever looked in it!" Ruffnut shouted at her brother, storming off the boat.

She glanced around. Self-conscious was not a feeling Ruff felt much, but the blatant stares of the other Viking children weren't doing wonders.

She headed over to her friends. But even they were gawking at her like some kinda unheard of troll.

She sent them swift glares before storming off to the house.

Tuff ran after her. "In such a rush?" He asked, aiming a punch at her shoulder.

She socked him back, angrily.

"I just don't feel like hanging around them. Or you. Why don't you go off, then you'd kill two birds with one stone."

He snickered, causing Ruff to bristle.

How could stupid Tuff have been right?

He had been making fun of her the whole time they had been away. Mocking her about-about how she looked. Ruff hadn't asked to change, but still, apparently this happened.

And all summer, Tuffnut had jeered at her about needing to wear two helmets horizontally. He told her no one at home would recognize her.

And he was right. They all just stared at her.

They'll get over it, she thought; though a part of her mind just knew that they'd never let it go. If Tuff had been right about this, what else would he be right about?

Maybe, maybe they'll just act normal. After all, they're still my friends.

.

Tuffnut rolled his eyes as he headed over to where his friends were.

"Where'd Ruff go?" Fishlegs asked, craning to see if maybe she was hiding behind him.

Tuffnut snorted. "Hiding at home," he said, grinning.

Snoutlout's face fell, slightly. "Maybe I should go see how she's doing? You know, check her out. I mean, check out how she's doing."

Tuffnut blinked. Then he glared. What was that supposed to mean?

Fishlegs nodded. "Yeah. Hey, maybe I should go with you."

"Hey hey, no way," Tuff said, quickly. "If she wanted you all over her case, she'd come out here."

Hiccup had an odd, contemplative look on his face. "Well," he finally said, "she sure has… changed a lot over the summer."

Snoutlout grinned. "Yeah, she has."

Fishlegs nodded, emphatically.

Tuffnut hadn't expected this reaction. They were supposed to maybe laugh at her for a few minutes, then things would be back to normal. They weren't supposed to think… this.

"Know what, I think I will go over and see her," Snout said.

.

Snoutlout walked over, and knocked on Ruffnut's door. "So, uh, hey Ruff!" He called up to her window.

Ruffnut heard his voice.

"Go away, toad!" She hollered back

Snout frowned. "Come on, Ruffnut, don't be like that!" He called up.

She sighed, and stuck her head out the window.

Snoutlout grinned. "So, you've certainly, uh, changed, while you were gone," he started, raising an eyebrow.

Ruffnut whipped her head back in the window. She crossed her arms, self-consciously, hating how she looked. Why couldn't girls mature like boys? Boys got all strong, girls, well, girls had to put up with these embarrassing developments.