Hi, guys! Sorry if this update took so long. Just to give you a heads up, Stryka swears a bit in this chapter. If you don't like swearing, leave the story or skip to the end.

NOTE: I DO NOT OWN HTTYD

Chapter 10: Hi, Astrid, NOW GO AWAY!

The next day, Hiccup and Zenna don't come in the morning. Toothless and I worry about them, wondering if they are in danger. What if they have been captured by ruffians? Or attacked by hostile dragons? Or worse?

"I'm getting worried, Toothless…What if something happened to them? I'm gonna go see if they're alright," I say and prepare to take flight. Toothless then stops me. "Stryka, I know you get all motherly towards Zenna but, remember, she's not a helpless hatchling. She can take care of herself," he reminds me. Then he looks worried and tries to climb out of the Cove. "It's Hiccup that I'm worried about. Curse these stupid wings! Why can't tail fins grow back?" he groans as he tries and fails to maintain a firm grip on the rocks surrounding our haven. I roll my eyes, pull him back down and tenderly lick his face.

We both decide to just stay in the Cove, fish for our breakfast, and wait for our younglings to come. The day seems to crawl like a slug until Toothless and I finally hear our Riders' voices. But what they have to say troubles us.

"…leaving! We're leaving!" Hiccup's voice declared, sounding defeated. "Leaving?!" Toothless and I growl in shock.

Suddenly we smell the scent of another human, one who does not smell like Hiccup or Zenna, and we quickly run and hide. From our hiding place, we see Hiccup and Zenna arrive at the Cove. Hiccup is carrying a basket while Zenna has a worried look on her face.

"Let's pack up! Looks like you and me are taking a little vacation. Forever," Hiccup calls out to Toothless. "Are you sure you're gonna be okay just by yourself with him? Stryka and I can always come with you," Zenna tells him and that's when I notice that she has also packed a few supplies herself. But Hiccup shakes his head and says, "No. If you disappear, there'll be more trouble. Just…come up with an alibi or something."

Zenna cocks her head to the side, kind of like how I would whenever I get curious. "You mean tell the Chief you were captured by pirates? Or Outcasts?" she asks him.

That's when Toothless and I spot this blonde girl with an axe. Maybe this is the Astrid girl Zenna keeps going on about being Hiccup's future girlfriend. She's sneaking up on our Riders with a weapon! Toothless and I growl and prepare to pounce. But then Hiccup and Zenna's constant reminders for us to stay hidden from other humans come back to us. If this Astrid girl spots us, she could go run to the village and have an entire army coming for us. Toothless and I decide to lie in wait. If Astrid attacks our Riders, we'll attack.

Hiccup and Zenna are oblivious to the fact that there is an intruder in the Cove and continue talking. "Whatever works fine, but the 'captured by Outcasts' story seems more believable," Hiccup says, checking on his stuff. Then he and Zenna look up…and see Astrid perched on the boulder, sharpening her axe!

Toothless and I inwardly groan, "Seriously, you two notice her just now? She's been here for almost five minutes!" when we see Hiccup and Zenna jump back in surprise. "Wh-what're you doing here?!" Hiccup stutters in shock. "How did you…? When did you…?" Zenna splutters, flabbergasted.

Astrid's tone is icy and harsh as she gets down from the boulder. "I wanna know what's going on. No one just gets as good as you do. Especially you," she says, pointing her axe at Hiccup who tries to get away but she blocks his path. "Start talking! Are you training with someone?" she starts interrogating Hiccup and he nervously replies, "Uh…training?" as Astrid grabs him by his riding vest.

"It better not involve this!" Astrid tightens her grip on him, making Hiccup flinch slightly. I hear Toothless growl, "You dare lay a hand on him?!" and, luckily, manage to keep him from charging. "I know this looks really bad, but you see…this is, uh…" Hiccup is trying to come up with an excuse and Zenna tries to defuse the situation. "Astrid, just leave him alone. And for the record, he has been training – with me," Zenna says to Astrid, looking annoyed.

'That is true. I have to agree with her on that. I've seen the boy collapse from exhaustion under Zen's exercises…' I think, remembering the daily exercises Zenna would do with Hiccup as well as the wrestling matches she makes him and Toothless partake in. According to her, it's a good way to build up muscle since wrestling with a dragon hundreds of pounds heavier than you can really make you toughen up.

My musings are interrupted when Hiccup finally comes up with an excuse to throw Astrid off our scent. Toothless and I must have made a sound while in hiding for Astrid looks in our direction. A little nervous, we both try to hide further in the vegetation while Hiccup says, "You're right! You're right. I'm through with the lies. Yep, I've been training with Zenna and I've been making…outfits," making Zenna look at him with her 'Really?!' face.

"Outfits…?" Toothless rumbles, confused. "Way to make an alibi, Hiccup…" I sigh, shaking my head.

"So, you got me. It's time everyone knew. Drag me back. Go ahead. Here we go," Hiccup then grabs Astrid's hand and places it on his vest. Suddenly Astrid grabs Hiccup's hand and twists his arm behind him, forcing him to the ground!

I gulp as Toothless unsheathes his teeth from his gums and a low growl emits from his throat.

"OW! Why would you do that?!" Hiccup cries out, clearly in pain. "That's for the lies!" Astrid tells him, kicking him in the shin! "She dares…" Toothless growls, readying himself into an attack position. "And that's for everything else!" Astrid then bounces the handle of her axe onto Hiccup's stomach – hard.

"That's it! She dies, now!" Toothless gets ready to leap but I stop him. "Toothless, no!" I yelp frantically before I hear Zenna shout, "For crying out loud, Astrid, just leave him alone!"

I turn my head and see my youngling try to shove Astrid off of Hiccup when that blonde heathen suddenly jabs her axe's handle into Zenna's stomach!

"OUCH! Mother of Thor, that hurt!"

My eyes widen to the size of plates the minute I see the atrocity committed towards my brave, sweet youngling.

Astrid just jabbed her axe handle into Zenna.

She had hurt Zenna.

My Zenna!

All thoughts of sparing Astrid's life are thrown into the metaphorical fire as I growl alongside Toothless and we leave the safety of the surrounding greenery. "Alright, blondie, now you've done it!" I growl, making Astrid turn in our direction. Her blue eyes widen in fear once she sees us, the unholy offspring of Lightning and Death themselves.

"Get down!" she yelps, pushing Hiccup to the ground just when he had finally staggered to his feet. "Leave them alone!" Toothless and I roar, charging towards the human who had dared attack our little ones. "Run! Run!" Astrid yells, raising her axe.

"A puny axe will not save your life, bitch! You'll pay for what you did to my youngling!" I roar at her. That's when Hiccup and Zenna both tackle Astrid to the ground while yelling, "No!"

Hiccup tries to calm me and Toothless down while Zenna wrestles the axe away from Astrid, flinging it to the side, before helping Hiccup. "Whoa there! Easy, you two! Easy!" she waves her arms at my mate and I. Toothless and I calm down slightly and drop our attack stance. "No. It's okay! It's okay…she's a friend," Hiccup tells us. I am shocked. That Astrid girl just hurt them and Hiccup and Zenna see her as a friend?!

'You've got to be joking, Hiccup. That blonde heathen just hurt you and Zen!' I think in disbelief. And I'm pretty sure Toothless is thinking the same thing as well. "It's alright. I disarmed her. She won't be able to harm you," Zenna says to us calmly. Ha! She won't be able to harm us? I think the better question would be if Toothless and I won't maul her!

Hiccup and Zenna then face, Astrid who is gaping at them like a dead fish. "It's okay. You just scared them," our Riders tell her and she yells, "I scared them?!"

"Scare us? You threatened us!" Toothless growls warningly as Astrid asks, "Who is them?" cautiously taking a step back. "Astrid, Toothless and Stryka. Toothless and Stryka, Astrid," Hiccup and Zenna make the introductions. But Toothless and I are not in the mood for befriending the person who had attacked out Riders earlier.

"Hi, Astrid, NOW GO AWAY!"

Once Toothless and I greet her, Astrid makes a run for it.

'Good riddance! That'll teach her not to hurt Zenna with that axe of hers…' I think triumphantly while Hiccup deadpans, "Da, da, da! We're dead!" and Zenna sighs, "Like really dead-dead!"

"Eh, better than seeing that axe-wielding brat any day!" "Works for me!" Toothless and I both say, shrugging our wings, and turning around. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Where do you think you're going?!" Hiccup hollers to Toothless. "To have a last meal if we really are going to be dead!" Toothless hollers back, even though Hiccup couldn't understand him. "Stryka, if we don't get to Astrid before she reaches the village, we'll all be in big trouble!" Zenna tells me. "But she hurt you! Why should we even bother with her?" I warble at her, stopping in my tracks and turning to face her.

Zenna's worried and desperate look tells me everything.

Sighing, Toothless and I let Hiccup and Zenna mount us and we head off to find ourselves a Viking.

Me: Read and review. Those two things make me very happy!

Zenna: I can't believe Stryka just called Astrid that…

Stryka: *grins a gummy grin proudly as if to say, "Believe it!"*

-GuardianDragon98