TEN UPDATES TODAY, WOW. :D I BEAT MY NEW RECORD! THIS IS MY NINTH UPDATE TODAY, and I REALLY HOPE I AM NOT ANNOYING ANYONE WITH ALL THIS UPDATING. IF I AM...I'M SORRY! I JUST CAN'T STOP MYSELF! I SEE A STORY, AND I JUST GOTTA...UPDATE IT! YOU KNOW! IT'S...WHO I AM! XD!

What would Hiccup say?

Instantly, Astrid knew he would say something really flattering, like Oh, I don't know. You tell me, Alvin. What do you have here? or Your doom, or NOTHING IMPORTANT.

She couldn't bring herself to say any of those things. She didn't know why.

"What do we have here?" Snotlout repeated. Funny, he was the last person Astrid had expected to speak up. "Oh you know. Admiring the view. You know what Hiccup says. Outcast island is beautiful this time of year!"

That's exactly what Hiccup would have said, Astrid realized.

Alvin laughed, if you could call it that at all. It was a harsh, barking, almost coughing sound that made Astrid freeze for a second.

"Well," said Alvin, "speaking of 'iccup...where is he?"

"What?" said Astrid. "Hiccup? Do we know him?"

She winked at the others in a play along type manner.

"Of course we-oww!" Ruffnut started, stopping when Snotlout elbowed her. "Ooh, yeah! I have no idea what you are talking about, Alvin."

"Stop playing dumb," said Alvin. "Where's the boy?"

"Which one?" Astrid asked. "There's three of them here."

"You know what I mean," said Alvin.

"I do?" Astrid frowned. "I guess whatever you say goes, Al."

"NEVER call me that," said Alvin. "I get called that too much by Hiccup. Now, where is he?"

"Why would I know?" said Astrid.

Alvin "laughed" again. "The boy taught you well," he said. "Taught you how to outsmart old Alvin. Bah! Like you could ever outsmart me."

"Outsmart you?" said Astrid. "Why...why would we want to outsmart you?"

"You sound just like yer leader," said Alvin.

"I will take that as a compliment," said Astrid.

"Now, Astrid," said Alvin, "tell me where Hiccup is, and I will take it easy of you and your friends."

As if on cue, Outcasts emerged from all directions, surrounding Astrid and the others, still mounted on their dragons.

"Should we go for it?" Snotlout asked.

"Yeah, I think we should," said Astrid. "Anyways, thank you, Alvin, for your generous hospitality-" she spat each word out as if it were toxic, "-but we will be going now. NOW!"

Stormfly reared and blasted fire straight at Alvin. Alvin jumped out of the way just before getting scorched. The other dragons followed in rapid fire, spitting lava and using each and every one of their abilities against the horrible Outcasts.

Stormfly shot spines, knocking crossbows out of the Outcasts' hands. They dropped what was left of them and then ran away, mostly screaming and crying.

"Fools!" Alvin shouted. "They're just dragons!"

"Let's get out of this death trap," said Astrid.

"I couldn't agree with you more," said Snotlout. They turned, and took off. But at the last second, Alvin grabbed a bola and threw it straight at Stormfly. It wrapped around the Nadder's wings, and she fell towards the ocean below.

"HELP!" Astrid screamed. She fell off Stormfly's back, just barely managing to wrap her arms around the dragon's neck. Now, she was dangling from her dragon's throat, hoping she wouldn't let go. Great, she thought. Just what a real warrior would do. Cry for help.

She drew her axe, which was harder than it sounded, since her dragon was plummeting to the ground unceremoniously, spinning all the while. Astrid finally managed to get her weapon, and when she did, she gripped it as if it were a lifeline.

As careful as eve, she held the axe out towards the ropes wrapped around Stormfly's wings. Then, she sliced her axe upwards, just barely grazing the fabric.

The ocean was coming up on them fast. Moreover, they were coming up on it. It was now or never. Astrid was either going to live, or die.

LIVE, she told herself firmly, as if ordering herself. Hiccup needed her alive. The others did, too. She sliced her axe upwards again, slicing one of the ropes. With renewed anger towards the Outcasts, she hacked at another of the ropes. Stormfly was pushing up against it with her wings. More of the ropes snapper like rubber bands until finally the dragon spread its wings.

Astrid sheathed her axe and swung herself back onto her dragon's back. She had just enough times to yank on Stormfly's horns (something she normally didn't do, but she was desperate right now) and then steer upwards before smacking into the ocean.

One more second, and they would have been a flapjack for the ocean to devour.

Bleh, Astrid thought. I really shouldn't have thought that.

Then, they headed away from Outcast island. No way they could go back. Not when the Outcasts knew they were there. It was practically suicide doing that.

"Are we all here?" Astrid asked once she and the others were away from Outcast territory.

"Yeah," Snotlout answered. "Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, you, me...we're all here. And alive, which is good, because dying's no fun."

She instantly thought of Hiccup, and her smile vanished. Hiccup was dying, on Berk, and here they were wasting their time on small conversations.

Poor HIccup. She instantly wished he were there to cheer them on; to say something encouraging. Normally, she really didn't like his sarcasm, but now, she missed it. She missed hearing his witty remarks against Alvin and the other Outcast.

She found herself missing his leadership skills. Normally, she thought Hiccup was always bossy, but she now realized how hard it was to be the leader. Everyone looks up to you; you're responsible for everything.

Astrid hadn't exactly been made the leader, but she was really Hiccup's second in command. If something happened to him, she was in charge, normally. That's what they did. Usually, she would love being in charge. But now...knowing that she might be permanently in charge if they didn't find the flower...it just made her feel terrible.

They had to find that flower. But where to look? At first, Astrid didn't know. They had really went across all known islands that could home the flower that would supposedly save Hiccup's life. But then she remembered one she had completely forgotten.

"Come on," said Astrid firmly. "I think I might know of an island we haven't tried yet."

"What?" said Snotlout.

"You're not going to like it," Astrid promised.

"Come on, Astrid," said Snotlout. "How bad can it be?"

"Okay, if you really insist," said Astrid. "The island...is Berserk."