A/N Hi! I'm back with a new chapter. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I still don't own How To Train Your Dragon :D


Chapter 7 - Boar-headed Haddocks

Astrid wasn't surprised entering the Arena and seeing the curious looks her friends gave her. They were all waiting for the news.

It had been almost a week since they arrived back from Dragon's Edge, but she hadn't expected that it would take so long for them to move out again.

For the past days Stoick had been relentlessly refusing to give them permission to fly out to the Black Pit. Astrid understood that it must be hard to put them clearly in danger's way, but she also wanted to make Stoick see how hard it was for the riders to stay on Berk as well. To every day receive the same news about Hiccup. To enter the house every morning with hopes only for them to be smashed yet again to bits upon seeing Hiccup lie eerie still in his cot exactly like the day before.

He hadn't moved since his suffocating fit and Astrid didn't know whether to be glad or worried. Even Stoick finally got used to the sleeping boy in his house. He went on his daily duties and didn't stay locked up in the house anymore.

There was always someone staying with Hiccup. It had become a daily routine for riders, Gobber and Stoick to spend at least an hour with him. Even Twins did it. They and Snotlout usually avoided going in alone, that way they avoided awkward silence and could spend their time talking or playing games. Toothless, who refused to leave Hiccup even for a second, took on a role of guard and protector. He growled at anyone who was too noisy, even the Vikings who walked passed the house.

Then there was Fishlegs, who after saving Hiccup's life Gothi had made her apprentice. Astrid envied him. He could stay with Hiccup and actually help him get better. Astrid was only able to watch over his breathing. On good days - when she was brave enough - she'd put her hand on Hiccup's wrist and look for a pulse. For that weak sign that - despite how pale he was or how unnoticeable his breathing was - was a proof that he was still alive.

Astrid wasn't blind. She saw how Hiccup's state slowly ate away at everyone around him. She noticed how she even stopped waiting for the good news. Stopped hoping. Because it was hard. It was hard to put your own heart back together piece by piece day after day.

So when Stoick finally agreed to have a meeting about them going to the Black Pit Astrid felt guilty at being so glad to leave Berk. Some small voice in her heart, which she associated from when she was a child and still believed everything in the fairy-tales, said that maybe when she'll return, when she'll win the battle Hiccup had fought, Hiccup would be awake. Would smile at her gently, tenderly cup her cheeks and she would taste fire on his lips.

She shushed that voice before she got too hung up on that thought.

"Astrid?" Fishlegs pulled her back from her dreamworld. "Well, what did he say?"

"Dear friend, our mighty Chief has once again said a no-no!" Tuffnut puffed out his chest and exclaimed in a foreign accent.

"Actually no," Astrid answered, "he agreed to listen to what we have to say."

"WHAT?" Snotlout lost balance and fell off Hookfang, where he was taking a nap. "He said yes? We can finally leave?"

"No, he said he'd hear us out. He didn't say anything about us leaving yet." Astrid corrected glaring at him for his excitement.

"Are you sure?" Ruff asked smugly. "Ears can play tricks on you. Maybe his 'no' is a 'yes'?"

Astrid sighed and squeezed the bridge of her nose between her fingers. A move she picked up from Hiccup.

"No, Ruff," She looked at the young woman sternly. "I'm pretty sure Chief's 'no' is a regular 'no'."

"If you say so!" The Twins didn't believe her, but she refused to get pulled in in their little mind games.

"So? When can we talk to him?" Fishlegs pried.

"Soon. He said to meet him in the Great Hall after dinner."

Fishlegs opened his mouth to speak when a loud sound shook the ground. It wasn't a foreign sound. On a village full of dragons it happened quite often.

Something had exploded.

It took them barely seconds to be up on their dragons and less than a minute to find the source of the commotion. A house not far from the harbor had a hole in its roof and it was starting to catch fire. They arrived on the scene almost on the same time as Stoick and Gobber with their dragons.

"What's happening?" Stoick bellowed at the closest Viking who jumped from the noise.

"Don't know! Birger's dragon went mad!" The Viking answered and jumped aside as a shot of Deadly Nadder's fire whizzed past him.

The mentioned Viking scrambled out of the house and collapsed at their feet.

"Birger! What's the matter with ye dragon?" Gobber stepped back from scraps of wood flying as the Nadder let out another hot gush of fire. The way it was going there soon were bound to be more than one house on fire.

"I don't know!" The buff man gasped. "Everything was fine a moment ago! I swear!"

The gathering men were struggling to save the house from further damage, but the out of control dragon was still spinning around and randomly shooting out shots of unbearably hot fire.

"Stoick, what do we do?" Gobber tuned to his Chief. Stoick paused to think before turning to the dragon riders. Astrid waited for orders itching to do something.

"For now, distract the Nadder. Make it stop before it burns Berk to the ground." Stoick ordered and Astrid let out a huff. That was uncomfortably vague.

She took air with the rest of the riders. Their formations were faultless and Astrid smiled slightly at finally getting to do something she was good at. They tried to circle around the Nadder, cut off its way and get it in the air, but for some reason the Nadder refused to fly. Instead it started shooting its spines and riders were forced to land. They ducked for cover with the rest of the folks.

"It's not working!" Astrid shouted over to her teammates.

"We can see that!" Snotlout grumbled from behind Hookfang. She didn't miss how his words were laced with sarcasm. If she were closer, she would have smacked him. "You're the Nadder expert! Do something!"

"Yeah, Astrid!" The Twins agreed and Astrid groaned. There goes the teamwork. She got out from the cover Stormfly was providing her with and approached the out of control dragon.

"Okay, Astrid! You ride a Deadly Nadder. You're one of the best dragon riders in the whole damn Archipelago." She mumbled to herself as she closed in. "You can do this. Think of Stormfly."

It was easy to say, but she honestly had no idea what it was that made the Nadder so erratic. Stormfly never acted like it.

"Okay, girl! Work with me here." Astrid stretched out her hand. She noticed the fire blast and backed away retrieving her hand, but she knew it was too late. The fire zoomed past and she felt scalding pain against her palm.

"Damn!" Astrid jumped away cradling the burned hand close to her chest.

"His name is Spiker!" Birger shouted from behind and she rolled her eyes. Very helpful. Stormfly had had enough apparently because she jumped forth, covering Astrid and shooting an angry shot of fire at the threat.

"Girl, don't! You're gonna make it worse." She jumped in front of Stormfly's snout and ushered her back.

"Well?" Stoick asked once she was back safe in the confines of the improvised barricades.

"I...I don't know." She was forced to admit. She lowered her eyes in shame. She was a Deadly Nadder expert, but honestly she had never seen this kind of behavior before.

"What now?" Gobber asked but this time it seemed that Stoick didn't have a good answer either. Astrid saw the moment he made the cruel choice and felt her heart drop.

"Gods, I wish Hiccup was here. I'd be home eating dinner now!" Snotlout grumbled and Astrid froze along with everyone else in the room. That was not a theme people brought up lightly. Snotlout felt the tension and hunched his shoulders. "Sorry." She heard him mumble something along the lines of 'me and my big mouth', but didn't pay attention anymore.

"Then we have no choice," Stoick got back his composure and looked at the fire-spitting dragon, "we..."

"Chief, no!" Birger begged. "Spikey is a good dragon!" Astrid turned away from the man. She could imagine the pain of losing a dragon, of losing a best friend. Didn't wanna feel it, didn't want anyone to feel it.

Stoick was about to answer but they were all forced to duck as the Nadder shot fire above their heads.

"Odin's beard!" Tuffnut groaned. "Somebody give him a nose rag or something. Even I don't sneeze that much!"

"Yeah, and you sneeze a lot!" Ruffnut snickered at him before they bumped their fists together. Astrid was about to huff out a breath when Fishlegs gasped.

"That's it!" He practically trembled at the delight of having figured something out.

"Care to share?" Stoick asked after Fishlegs seemed to get lost in his own head.

"It's an allergy." Fishlegs threw up his arms. "Nadders usually shot long tunnels of fire. This one?" Fishlegs motioned to the dragon. "He's sneezing. His shots are short and abrupt."

"Birger, what did you do before...Spiker went out of control?" Stoick sharply turned to the Viking.

"I...I...We returned from a flight."

"Did you take a new route? Did anything unusual was in contact with Spiker?" Stoick pressed on. Astrid could see the Viking thinking and he was about to shake his head when he abruptly looked up.

"Gobber brought me a new saddle strap. Old one snapped."

"Gobber, what was the strap made of?" Stoick looked at his friend who shrugged in response.

"Old stuff – same ol' leather and same wax."

"Then it's something else." Stoick sighted.

"Oh but I did put on new rings. Gronckle Iron." Gobber interfered clearly proud of his work.

"That's it! He's sneezing from the Gronckle Iron!" Fishlegs beamed and made eye contact with Astrid. She felt a rush of adrenaline strike through her.

"On it!" She knew what to do. Picking up the axe in the left hand – right one wouldn't hold an axe for a few days – she once again approached the dragon.

"Okay, Spikey!" She avoided a blast and rolled into the Nadder's blind spot. "I'm gonna make you feel a lot better now."

One jump sideways and she swung her axe over the leather, cutting it in half and letting the saddle stumble to the ground. The Nadder immediately stopped fidgeting around and looked at her. It eyed the fallen saddle and then her again.

"You're welcome!" She smiled at the beast noticing everyone emerging from their cover.

"Spikey!" Birger came running and soon the dragon was nuzzling his head in the Vikings arms.

"I think that'll do!" Fishlegs announced the joyful Viking. "You'll need a new strap though!"

"Doesn't matter." He answered fondly rubbing the dragons head.

"Come by the forge later." Gobber patted the man. "I'll give Spikey here an ointment for the rash and a new strap. Without the Gronckle Iron, hm?"

"Yeah, thanks!"

"Well, now that that's over," Stoick assessed the situation and the gathering Vikings. "how about we get this mess in order before dinner?"

Astrid didn't loiter around much. As men and women started to clean the mess up she snuck out. The rest of the riders stayed back to help, but she wanted to ask Gothi something for the palm. Normally she would have treated it herself but it was her right hand and she needed it back in order as soon as possible. Astrid knew - or at least hoped - a fight was coming her way.

The old healer took one look at her hand, scowled at her and hit the back of her head – her way of saying 'stupid'. She did, however, return with an ointment for her palm and, after cleaning it with water, she carefully put it on before wrapping gauze over it.

"Thank you!" She said politely but it still earned her a scowl. Stormfly was already waiting for her outside and sniffed her hand as she stepped closer.

"A tiny burn." She assured the dragon. "It'll be as good as new in a few days."

She hopped on and didn't even bother giving a direction. Stormfly knew. She always knew.

Few minutes later she was already opening doors to Hiccup's house letting the daylight wash in. It was dim inside. The only source of light was the fire, who was kept burning at all times. Toothless raised his head and, seeing it's her, put it back on his paws without making any noise.

"Hi, Toothless!" She still greeted and took the stool next to Hiccup's bed. "Hi, you too, Hiccup!" She added a lot less cheerful.

He didn't answer. Astrid sighed. Of course he didn't, she just kept hoping he would.

"So...we had...a dragon problem today." She smiled sadly at him. She doubted he could hear her but still continued. "It was a Nadder, who had an allergy from Gronckle Iron. We figured it out, but...you know...would have been easier with you there." She drew a shaking breath. It wasn't the first time she spoke with him, but it was still hard for her.

Astrid took a moment to will back the tears that had started to gather at the corners of her eyes, so, instead of speaking, she looked him over. She tried to find a change in him, but he was all bandaged up so she couldn't see a lot. The little bruise on his chin had started to fade away and she dwelled on that. It was probably the smallest and most insignificant injury of all, but it still made her feel better. Even if it was just a little bit, it was a proof that Hiccup was slowly healing.

Astrid stayed like that for a while; watching over the sleeping man and occasionally glancing at Toothless, who had improved a lot since their arrival. Gobber had said he was good enough to try flying, though Astrid knew there was now way of getting dragon to leave Hiccup's side.

A creak form the doors got her attention and Toothless raised his head to look.

"Astrid?" Fishlegs head came through the gap.

"Hmm?" Astrid turned around.

"The meeting. Remember?" Fishlegs gaze landed on Hiccup and quickly diverted. "He wants us in the hall. Now."

"This soon?" She reluctantly got up and, trying to make as little noise as possible, stepped outside. "I thought we'll meet after dinner?"

Fishlegs gave her a weird look and quirked an eyebrow. "You do realize it's past dinner, don't you?"

Astrid staggered and looked up. Fishlegs was right. The sky was tinted pink with the evening light. "Huh!" She smiled apologetically. "I guess I forgot about the time."

"I guess you did." Fishlegs agreed and since he still kept looking at her like an alien she threw him a defiant look, to which he immediately backed off.

Astrid was well aware how confused the teem had been over the last half year. Odin's underpants! She was confused. Ever since she stopped lying to herself about Hiccup and how she felt about him, she started to re-explore her feminine side. She was still the same shield-maiden Astrid, but she had found a gentler side to herself. One which only Hiccup seemed to be able to bring out in her. She would smile more often, be kinder or more patient. The last one maybe not, but she was trying at least. There was always a limit to how patient you can be with Snotlout and the Twins before you start bashing heads in.

They entered the hall with their dragons in tow. The rest was already waiting for them and from Stoick's understanding look she knew Stoick was well aware where she had spent her time.

"Let's start shall we?" Gobber brought a mug of mead down on the table startling the Twins awake.

"Wasn't sleeping!" Tuffnut yelled out jumping in his seat.

"Yeah!" Ruffnut elbowed brother in the ribs and gave a wink. "We were just resting our eyes."

Astrid sighted and together with Snotlout and Fishlegs turned to the Chief, who eyed them carefully before asking a very simple question.

"So? What's your plan?"

"We go packing." Snotlout snickered and Astrid silently winced. She was sure Stoick didn't need to hear THAT answer. "Whoever's there better be scared because Hookfang and I ain't holdin' back."

There was a brief pause interrupted only by Twins already planing their part in Snotlout's adventure.

"And why would I allow that?" For some reason Stoick pointedly look at her.

Astrid awkwardly smiled back but before she could open her mouth Fishlegs interrupted.

"We will stake out the place. Maybe locate the dragon the note mentioned. If there are witnesses we'll have to get someone to talk to us, so we understand what happened there."

Astrid blinked. It wasn't often when Fishlegs took lead like that. She saw determination in his eyes though it didn't slip her how strung up his body actually was. She was so awed it took a moment for it register when Stoick spoke up again.

"And what if there are armed forces?"

"Stoick's right!" Gobber nodded. "It takes more than a few men to take down a Night Fury. There must have been an army, lad!"

"But we also owe it to Hiccup to go and investigate." Astrid said. Well...almost whispered, but it was enough for the air in the room to go ice cold. Astrid knew it was a low blow, but she also knew that they just had to go. No matter what.

She did her best to hold Stoick's stern gaze and tried to mask the shivers that went down her spine the moment the Chief looked away.

"Fine." Stoick sighted tiredly. " It's what Hiccup would do."

"Thank you." Astrid let the tension, that had been there since she entered the room, roll off her shoulders.

"But I'm coming with."

"WHAT?" Snotlout jumped to his feet.

Stoick fixed him a stern look.

"I don't think that's wise, friend." Gobber pointedly looked at Jorgenson and he sat down. "What about Berk and Hiccup?"

"Berk will be fine and Hiccup will have you."

"Eh?" Gobber's jaw dropped open.

"You're staying." Stoick explained and all Astrid could do was watch as the two old friends stared at each other. It looked like a challenge was being passed from one to the other. Back and forth.

Finally Gobber gave in and grumpy stood to his feet.

"Fine. But I ain't saving your lazy asses." Gobber walked out of the hall muttering something about boar-headed Haddocks, insane chiefs and setting the Berk on fire.

"Uh? Chief?" Astrid asked as Gobber left the hall. "I don't think that was a wise decision."

"Me too." Fishlegs squeaked out, all his previous bravado gone like snow in the spring.

"Yeah!" Snotlout agreed. "Last time Gobber was left in charge we found Berk flooded."

"My decision is final." Stoick slammed down his fist like proving his point and Astrid gave up. With that Stoick left the hall. Astrid foresaw the future with lots of glum Gobber, annoyed Chief and overall tension. Their job just got so much harder.

"Stubborn Haddocks..." She huffed out.


A/N So? How was it?

By the way thank you so much! I am truthfully amazed at how many of you like this story. Really, I feel honored.

See you next time...^^