Thank you all for the wonderful comments and reviews. It's been so exciting what with this being my first story and all.

I'm doing my best to be true to the characters' personalities but if you see that I'm veering off course please let me know. Sometimes I have an idea and it doesn't see the light of day on paper.

Thanks again for the wonderful comments!

"End this witch's life," Stoick yelled.

The executioner forced her to her knees in front of the tree stump and pushed her head down on the stump. Astrid was confused when she didn't see fear in her eyes. Instead it was…

Is she trying to silently trying to apologize to someone?

Astrid followed the witch's eyes and landed on Hiccup, who was standing next to the Larsons. He didn't even see her expression but the Larsons did and began to shake in fear for they saw her looking at them. Even Stoick saw it and turned to see who she was looking at. It's hard to distinguish in a crowd who someone is looking at. She could have been looking at anyone behind Stoick.

Hiccup was looking at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Astrid heard the axe being raised above the witch's head but she ignored it trying to figure out who the witch was looking at.

Hiccup tried to defend her, so she wouldn't punish him. She then looked at the Larsons. Could it be one of them? Their boy hasn't been feeling well lately. She looked at Stoick. He would be a good choice but I think she wants him to learn the lesson. She looked at Gobber who was next to him. Gobber maybe? He repairs all our weapons. He would hard to live without.

Astrid snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Hiccup flinched outwardly as the axe collided with the stump. He looked up and she saw horror in his eyes. She then saw that they began to water and his face go pale as he ran out of the crowd.

"Oh! Man! That's a lot of blood!" Ruff jabbed at Astrid, bringing her back to the center. Astrid turned to look but immediately looked somewhere else. Not that blood and gore made her queasy or anything, she just didn't like the still open blues eyes that seemed to be looking at her.

"Oooo! The body's still twitching!" Tuff exclaimed.

"Ha! Not so powerful now are ya," Snotlout teased.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Fishlegs stated quietly.

"Stop being a baby Fish," Camicazi said. "She's dead. She can't do any more harm."

As soon as everyone was satisfied that the witch was dead, the crowd began to disperse. Astrid followed her friends to the Mead Hall for breakfast. They were chatting about…well Astrid really didn't care. She was still thinking about the witch and what she said.

Why did she do that? To learn a lesson but what lesson? How can we learn without knowing what it will be about? Who was she starring at in the last moments of her life? Hiccup? The Larsons? Stoick? Gobber? Why wasn't she afraid to die? Did she want to die? Did she know she was going to die and was okay with that? Why was Hiccup trying to defend her? Was he right about there being no difference between him and her?

"Astrid!" Heather yelled and shoved her out of her thoughts.

Astrid reacted on instinct and punched Heather in the face and yelled, "What?"

"Heather," Ruff said. "You should know better than to startle Astrid."

"Be lucky she didn't break your neck," Tuff added. The twins high fived.

"What's wrong, babe," Snotlout asked trying to sound concerning but failing. In the 'trying to seduce' department, he was making bank. "You're haven't paid attention to me since the execution." He then put his arm around her shoulder.

Astrid pushed his arm off and rolled her eyes, "I've never paid attention to you." A collection of 'ohs' came from the twins and Camicazi. "I'm just thinking about what the witch said. Who do you think she was talking about?"

"What do you mean?" Heather asked holding a piece of cloth to her nose.

"Who do you think she meant when she said one of us would be gone?"

The teens suddenly went quiet and their faces went neutral. Astrid had just spoken the question that they didn't want to answer or even think about. They all heard and feared what the witch said. They feared that it might be one of them.

"I-I-I don't know Astrid," Fishlegs was the first to break the silence.

"It could be anyone," Camicazi said.

"But she did say something about Berk's salvation. Maybe it's the person who will most likely save Berk?" Heather suggested.

"Well that narrows it down," Ruff said as she rolled her eyes.

"Yep. Down to me," Tuff said trying to liven up the mood but failing. Ruff punched him in the gut in distaste.

"If she was talking about saving Berk, it would me."

"Now's not the time for your ego, Snotlout," Camicazi hissed.

"Maybe, maybe she was just trying to scare us into not killing her," Fishlegs suggested hopefully. The others agreed wanting to forget the threat. Astrid wasn't so convinced.

Did no one else see how confident she was? She was immediately snapped out of her thoughts when a large clatter happened to her right.

"Watch where you're going, Useless," Snotlout sneered down at the person he just tripped. Astrid moved her body to see that Hiccup was lying on the floor soaked by his now empty mug. He got up, put the mug up, and walked out of the Hall. "And to think that that talking Fishbone is suppose to be the new chief."

Astrid rolled her eyes as she grabbed her dishes to put them in the washing tub.

"Hey, why you leaving so early?" Camicazi asked. The other teens looked at her confused. She was usually the last one of them to leave the Hall.

"I'm going to go practice throwing my axe," she stated. "The execution had thrown off my schedule." With that she turned, placed her dishes in the tub and ran out of the Hall.

As she walked through the village, she passed Chief Stoick and Gobber talking.

"I'm telling you Gobber, I will not take a witch's threat lightly. I want there to be three times the guards tonight on full alert. No one is to enter or leave Berk."

"So, should we set a curfew for tonight?" Gobber asked.

"Not a bad idea. Everyone needs to be in their houses by sundown. Spread the word."

Astrid started to run. Damn! I do my best practice at sunset. Well, if I want ample time to practice, I need to get there fast. She made it to her favorite spot and began to throw her axe at the tree that was now her target. For two hours she had practiced, all the while thinking about the witch. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't see Hiccup in front of her target till after she let go of the handle.

"Hiccup! Look out!" she screamed.

Hiccup looked up just in time to duck out of the way but the axe still nicked his shoulder.

Stupid witch. She's dead and she almost made me kill Hiccup. "What are you doing in my area?"

Hiccup looked around as if looking for something. "I don't see your name anywhere."

Astrid gapped at him. Is he making fun of me? She started to get angry and approach Hiccup. Hiccup saw how livid she was and started to back away but was stopped by the tree. "Are you making fun of me?" Astrid asked.

"I really need to keep my mouth shut," Hiccup mumbled to himself as he starred at the angry girl. "No, I wasn't making fun, I-I-I uh was just you know stating a fact."

Astrid softened when she realized he wasn't at fault here. Sort of. This was the forest. Anyone could be in it. "Fine. But what were you doing besides not paying attention and almost getting killed?"

"I-I-uh was um just thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing," Hiccup said as his eyes went distant with concern. Astrid saw this and backed off a bit. She bent down and picked up her axe.

"You're a terrible liar. What were you thinking about?" She then saw that he was holding his left arm. She looked closer and saw red seeping through his fingers. "I hit you? Let me see. Are you alright?"

"Why do you care?" Hiccup asked.

This took Astrid off guard. She wasn't expecting this answer. She wanted to be mad at him but couldn't. Why am I caring? He's the runt, an outcast. Why am I caring? Well, because you almost killed him that's why. She realized that this wasthe first time she actually was taking the time to be concerned with him let alone talk to him freely. "Because I want to know if you're hurt badly and if what you were thinking about was worth your life."

Hiccup's eyes went wide with shock. But very quickly that went away and his eyes radiated with fear and pain. Astrid, herself, began to feel her heart quicken due to the sudden change and power of it. I must have hit him good.

"I was-I was thinking about Gothel," Hiccup finally stuttered.

"Gothel? Who's Gothel?"

"The Outcast, the witch that was…" he trailed off.

"That was her name?" Hiccup nodded. "How do you know her name?"

"Because she told me." His face cringed in pain and let out a small gasp. He looked up to see Astrid giving him an unsure, worried and confused look.

"Sit down and let me look at it," she demanded. "And tell me about the witch."

"Gothel." She gave him a stern look. He sighed and sank down to the floor. "I found her before my dad did." Hiccup began. Astrid sat down next to him to hear his side of the story and to examine the wound.