If someone had told Astrid when she first got here that in a few months time she would be having a girls day with Cami, Heather and Ruffnut she would have called them insane.

And yet, here she was. Doing just that.

Camicazi had strolled into the clubhouse confidently that morning stating only two words: "Girl time"

And naturally, despite the progress that had been made as of late, Astrid assumed she wasn't invited. She assumed wrong.

"Are you a girl?"

"Well... Yes but I didn't-"

"Then you're coming"

"So do you guys do this a lot?" Astrid asked, axe in hand. Camicazi had specifically requested she bring it.

"Girl time?" Heather asked, to which Astrid nodded in confirmation.

"We do it from time to time, not very often. Sometimes we do it to blow off steam, other times it's just for a bit of fun. Obviously we're always pretty busy so we don't have much spare time, but we do it when we can"

"So which is it for today?"

"Today's just for fun" Camicazi answered before glancing at Ruffnut "For the three of us anyways, Ruff has a bit of stuff to get off her chest"

"What kind of stuff?" Astrid asked concerned.

"We'll find out when we get there" Cami replied smoothly

"Um... Speaking of 'there', where exactly is 'there'?"

"There is just the forest" Heather sensed her friend's nerves "Nothing too ominous"

They arrived to the spot in the forest where the trees were marked with the targets. Astrid looked around before turning to Heather.

"You've brought me here before"

Camicazi blinked and also turned to her dark haired friend "You have?"

"Yup. When you guys were getting Macey back and I was helping Astrid settle in, we had some girl time of our own" She grinned in response.

Astrid's mind rewinded back to that moment, all those months ago. It felt as though it had happened years ago now. It hadn't even been half a year but Astrid felt as though she'd been at the edge a lifetime, though if this was good or bad she couldn't quite tell.

"Funny how times change, isn't it?" she remarked, casually looking at her axe.

"Definitely" Cami agreed "A year ago I didn't know you even existed"

"And I... Well I knew you existed. Dragon riders I mean, I didn't know that you specifically existed. I just never thought I'd get to meet you"

'Your lives would probably be better now if I hadn't'

Astrid was happy, and that was strange for her. Before this point in her life she couldn't say if she'd ever truly been happy or not. It wasn't that she'd never felt happiness whatsoever, but it was more superficial. Something always nagged at her that her happiness wouldn't last and that restricted her from feeling joy to it'a full extent. It was a trait that she'd carried away from her time with the hunters. Now she was learning to ignore that voice but there was some doubt left in her. The words Camicazi had spoken had left her wounded, deeper than she even acknowledged. But she pushed that down, for once she just wanted to feel happiness without fear.

"Well you're here now, and your not leaving anytime soon right?" Heather asked with a smile

Astrid laughed uneasily, not wanting to confirm or deny anything "Time will tell" she looked around and spoke again "So girl time is the same here too"

"What do you mean?" Ruffnut questioned curiously.

"I just don't know always know what's normal and what's not. I mean, like Heather said we did girl time when I got here but we also used to do it when we were with the hunters" Astrid explained "I didn't know if that was just an us thing or if that was how girl time was done everywhere else as well"

"I'm not sure if everywhere else does it like this" the other rambunctious blonde responded with a laugh "But it works for us here"

"It's quite the relief actually. It feels good to know that everything I've learnt hasn't made me that different"

After that Ruffnut hurled her axe in a particularly rough manner and the girls couldn't help but look at her concerned.

"Ruffnut" Heather began slowly "Is it time for you to get that stuff off your chest now?"

"I love my brother, okay? I do" She let out in a rush "But sometimes I wish... I wish we weren't twins"

That stunned the three girls into silence. Even Astrid, who hadn't known these people all that wrong knew how tight knit Ruff and Tuff were. Of course they were that way, they were siblings. In some ways she was envious, she had always wondered what it would be like to know there was always someone to be there for you; always wanted to know what it was like having family around. Astrid was finally seeing that in the twins, and of course she saw the petty squabbles, but she knew that they cared about each other more than anything in the world. It was such a wondedful privilege in her mind.

So she couldn't figure out why Ruffnut would want to give it up.

"That came out wrong, I didn't mean it like that" the aforementioned girl amended in a rush "Of course I want him as my brother, even if he smells like rotting fish sometimes... All the time. I mean, I do sometimes too, but not as much as him and the smell isn't always that bad but-"

"Ruffnut" Camicazi cut her friend off, seeing how she was stalling "What's going on?"

Ruffnut sighed in response "I don't want Tuffnut to be my personality"

The three riders looked at each other, unsure of what to say. They didn't fully follow what their friend was saying. Clearly that showed faces because Ruff quickly elaborated.

"Everything I do, I do it with him. Every plot, plan or prank I do them with him. If the gang need to split up on a mission, I'm paired with him. We do everything together, we live together, we even ride the same dragon! And I'm not saying that I hate it, but everyone associates me with him. It's always Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Never just Rufnut. It's like I'm half a person or something"

Astrid hesitantly stepped forward "I understand Ruff"

"Yeah right, you don't even have a brother" the rider replied with a scoff, carefully looking at another target.

"You're right, I don't have a brother, but I do understand" she repeated "It's not about having a brother, it's about being defined by him. Ruffnut, I do know what it's like to fear a label"

The other blonde only looked at her, clearly waiting for further explanation. Astrid took a deep breath, mentally steadying herself, and continued.

"My whole life I was with the hunters, I grew up around them. I was a different person with them" she explained, eyes downcast "I wasn't proud. I kind of hated myself when I was with hunters, not the whole time but certainly in the last few years. And that's why I left, but I was still scared people wouldn't be able to see past my time with them. I was always scared that Astrid would always be followed with 'the hunter', that no matter what people would only see me for my mistakes. It actually stopped me from leaving for a while"

"Why?" Ruff asked curiously, momentarily forgetting her own troubles

"Because I thought it might be true. I thought that maybe all I was was a dragon hunter, that I would never escape that name. And if that was the case, what was the point? Why go out and be rejected by everyone when people already accepted my name as it was?"

"You know when you put it like that, it does kinda sound like you had it better with the hunters" Ruffnut mused "Why didn't you just do that"

She knew there was were no ill intentions or hidden hurtful meanings behind her companion's words. Over the years Astrid had become very perceptive in hearing the more obscure messages in people's words. But that wasn't there with Ruffnut. Her words may have bordered being insensitive, but it only coming from a place of curiosity.

"I'd much rather be rejected for a name I'm proud of, than be accepted with a label that brings me nothing but shame" she answered plainly.

Her words brought a wistful silence upon the four girls. Astrid had never admitted to anyone how she felt about herself in the past. She'd never even really admitted to herself, let alone said the words aloud to herself. It was strange, being able to say it was actually quite freeing. She'd had her time to think about labels, it consumed a lot of her thoughts. The ideas she had about definitions were very clear in her mind, but things had become differently. The fact that someone else also had similar struggles was somewhat comforting, it made her feel less isolated. But she didn't want her friend to hurt over this the way she had, she wanted to help the way others had helped her.

"Ruffnut" Astrid began softly "Growing up, I was always taught that we're given labels that are inescapable, and that that was just a part of life. I accepted that, and I was wrong. I'm only now beginning to unlearn that lesson. Tuffnut is not your label, not if you don't want him to be. Your personality is created by you. The nice thing about the label, is that it is yours. You create it, you can change it, and you can control how you want people to perceive it. And if you're with the right people, they won't care when you change it, they'll just take you as you are"

"Thanks Astrid" Ruffnut said after a moment of contemplation. She swiftly wrapped her arms around her, an action that caused Astrid to tense up involuntarily.

"What is it with you people and hugging? My gods" she said exasperated, but not as much as usual.

"For the record" Her fellow rider said pulling away from the hug "I do like spending time with my brother, but-"

"Don't worry Ruff, I get it" Astrid flashed a friendly smile "You love your brother, but you spend enough time with anyone of course you'll be worried that they'll merge into your personality"

"You are your own person Ruff" Heather said.

"Definitely" Camicazi also interjected "Maybe we should make that a bit more clear from time to time"

"I wonder if Tuffnut ever feels this way" Heather pondered aloud.

"I doubt it" Came Ruff's instant reply "If it were up to him, we'd never leave each other's sides, even if one of us got married, or died, but even then..."

"Okay" Heather interrupted brightly "Maybe let's not talk about death for now?"

Alright fine" she relented "Thank you Astrid, I actually feel better"

Astrid shrugged "Anytime"

"Hey Astrid, can you help me for a second?" Cami called.

"What's up?" she asked walking over.

"Do you have any tips about aim? I've been trying to hit this target and I keep missing"

"Maybe use my axe, a change might be a bit better" she said handing it over "Just focus, act like that target is the only thing in the world"

Camicazi did just that. The entire world faded away, everything but that target was a blur. She closed one eye, gripped her axe with extra determination and threw. She vaguely heard the sound of the hit but her eyes were fixated on the split target. She had done it.

"Finally!" she exclaimed, excitement thrumming in her blood "Thank you Astrid, that was driving me crazy"

"I said it to Ruffnut, I'll say it to you, anytime"

Cami walked over to the target and pulled the weapon out of the tree. As she was walking back over she inspected it "You know I really like your axe. It's so cool, where did you get it from?"

"Actually..."

xxxx

It was the day of her tenth birthday.

Well, not 'birthday' exactly...

"You've been with us for ten years now Astrid"

"Does that mean I'm ten?" she had asked curiously, aging didn't always connect with her properly.

"I suppose so, but you could be nine, or maybe even eleven"

"Viggo?"

"Yes Astrid?"

"Why don't I know my birthday? Everyone else knows their birthdays"

Vague irritation passed over his face "We've been over this Astrid. It wasn't in the note we found with you"

"Can I read the note?"

"You won't find any information-"

"I know, I know. I'd just... I'd really like to see something from my parents, anything at all"

"So you'd really like to read all the reasons your family didn't want you?"

She contemplated his words, and then felt herself deflate "I guess not"

"Poor girl, your naivety will get you in trouble one day, that's why I'm here"

"Well, why don't you buy me anything? I see dads buy stuff for their daughters at the Northern Markets all the time, birthday or not"

"There's a simple reason for that" he told her sharply "You are not my daughter, and I am not your father, nor will I ever be. You could never be my daughter"

She shrank even more "Of course"

"Don't look so sad Astrid. You should be happy. You should be thankful. Without us you would be nowhere. Instead wanting us to buy things for you, you should want please us. Who knows what family would have taken you in had it not been for us, if any families at all, you weren't a very cute baby"

"You're right, Viggo. I'm sorry"

"And?"

"Thank you for the life you've given me" the young girl murmured

"Again" he said to her immediate and harsh.

"Thank you for the life you've given me" she repeated with more clarity

"Better" Viggo told her, voice almost showing some form of happiness "But if you really want us to give you something, I supposed there is one thing..."

"Really?!" The juvenile Astrid beamed

"Allow me to make one thing clear, we would not give you this if it weren't for your parents" Ruthlessly, he made that fact clear "We did not buy this for you"

"I- it's from my parents?" hope sparkled and glimmered in her hollow eyes. That last part of spirit left in her sparked like a fire. Her parents. What a thought...

Viggo left the room, and when he returned it laid in his hands. A beautifully carved wooden handle with some sort of, equally beautiful, symbol on it. And attached, a real axe head. This was one of those weapons that Astrid saw the hunters carry around all the time. One of the ones she'd craved to own her whole childhood. Sure, she'd borrowed, but that wasn't tge same.

The metal caught some of the light in the room, resulting in an almost ethereaal like presence. It was beautiful, magnificent, it was... Hers.

"Well? You can touch it you know" He chuckled.

Eagerly, and maybe a little ungracefully, she grasped the precious weapon in her small hands. She looked carefully at the symbol carved on its handle in a blue colour. It almost looked like a dragon, but that couldn't be right.

"Thank you so much" she said gratefully, staring at her gift. She placed the weapon beside her and went to her somewhat father like figure with open arms.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, making her feel stupid

"I uh, I saw other girls doing it with their dads at the northern markets when they gave them things"

"And what would the problem with that be Astrid?"

"You're not my dad" she repeated the words, each one a small dagger to her fragile heart "I just thought..."

"You thought wrong. Only touch me if we are in combat"

"Yes Viggo, it won't happen again" she picked up the axe once more "Why are you giving me this?"

"In the note, it said whoever was to take you in was to hide this axe and give it to you when they felt the time was right and you've been doing well in training lately so Ryker and I thought now would be a good as time as ever"

"I've been doing well in training? Really?" The young blonde asked excitement laced in her voice. An axe and a compliment, what a day.

"Well, not good. There is still much improvement needed" he told her automatically with an undefined edge in his tone.

"Of course" she hung her head, heart going down with it.

Still, her spirit was not entirely broken. She had just received an amazing gift. She had a link to her parents. This would help her feel more connected with others. This would help her feel more normal. This would help her kill dragons... Or maybe just injure them severely.

"I'm gonna use it right now!"

"Now now Astrid, have some patience'' Viggo reminded her "Wait until we're in the northern markets, we're going later today"

This was it. This was her chance. She was finally going to prove herself to Viggo and Ryker and everyone else. After all these years, she finally had an opportunity.

And she wasn't going to allow anything mess this up.

xxxx

"... So, yeah. That's how I got my axe" Astrid finished her story.

The other three girls were silent, staring at her mouths agape. Almost on instinct, Astrid began to feel self-conscious.

"What? What is it?"

"It's just... Did Viggo really say stuff like that to you?" Camicazi asked her.

"Stuff like what? What are you talking about?" she questioned in returned, still not following fully.

"Like reminding you about not being his daughter, and always making you apologize?"

"Well, yeah. That's just the way it was. What's wrong with that?" she said, genuinely curious.

"You don't know?" Ruffnut asked "Even I know, and I'm normally the last to know"

"I really don't see what you guys are saying. I mean, yeah he put me in my place a lot, and he never hugged me and he made feel thank him for everything and he never complimented me..." she trailed off "Okay saying it out loud, I'm hearing it"

"I'm surprised you didn't already see it, you don't exactly think they were good to you in the past" Heather said to her friend surprised.

"True. But I only started thinking badly of them as the people who raised me after that day. Later in the day they... Well, they punished me properly for the first time"

Camicazi couldn't help but note the way Astrid cautiously held her wrist. In reality, she was very subtle about it, but to her the action stuck out like a sore thumb. Another conversation ran across her mind.

"Astrid... Did you do this to yourself?"

"No."

She was ten.

She was a child.

Cami felt sick to her stomach.

"Before that happened, I didn't see anything wrong with how they treated me. I was used to it, I guess"

"That's..." she began, unable to find the words "That's awful"

"It's done now. And it won't happen again" Astrid said quickly to stop her from dwelling on it too long.

"So your axe... It's basically your Macey?"

"Um... I suppose so, yeah"

"Cool" Ruffnut said with a smirk "Do you really think it'll help you find your parents?"

"That's the bit I'm not sure about" Astrid replied "Maybe one day, but the archipelago is so big, I wouldn't even know how to start"

Cami brought her axe over to her "You know, that crest looks familiar to me, I just can't quite put my finger on as to why"

"Maybe you've seen it in passing, lots of people probably have"

Ruffnut inspected it "It kind of looks familiar to me too. I feel like I've seen that crest somewhere else before"

"That's okay you guys. I'm not sure I want to know"

"Wait, really?" Heather questioned "But Astrid, you've always thought about your parents."

"I know but there's so much else to consider outside of just finding my parents" She answered honestly "Like I've said to you before, my parents might be dead, I have to accept that possibility. They might have left the archipelago for all I know. Or maybe... Maybe they just didn't want me. I could find them and might still not want me, they left me behind for a reason after all." she looked down at her most treasured possession "Sometimes it scares me, the power it holds. This thing could complete or destroy me, and I don't want to know which it'll do"

After some silence, Ruffnut spoke up again "Parents are overrated"

"Yeah, mine nag me all the time" Cami agreed.

"My mum won't even chew my food for me anymore" Ruff grumbled.

Astrid, Heather and Camicazi looked at her, faces mixed with shock and slight repulsion "What?"

"... Doesn't matter" Heather responded eventually "It's not just parents that are overrated, knowing your family in general isn't all that great. Think about me, the only family I know is Dagur" she shivered in disgust.

"Guys, this is really sweet, but you don't have to do this" Astrid told them with gratitude "Honestly, I'm fine. I'll probably never know my parents, it's just a fact of life. There's no point in being upset about it, just have to accept it"

"You've had to just 'accept' a lot in life" Heather observed

"I have, but that's the way it works sometimes" she replied with a sad smile "I never really had much of a choice in the matter"

Something about her was refreshing to the other three riders. They'd never seen life the same way Astrid had. Even Heather, whose life had probably been somewhat similar to Astrid's in ways, had never been as rough as hers. She'd had her parents, though adoptive, with her for most of her life. She'd still had the privilege of being part of a family. Somehow, listening to how her companion had lived life gave everyone deeper understandings of the world around them.

"I think that's enough of that for today" Astrid said to the group "What else do you do as part of girls day?"

"Um... Oh I know! Beat the dome!" Cami exclaimed with cheer.

"Beat the what?"

"I mentioned it to you the other night, it's a game we play here on the edge, you'll love it"

"Still would like to know what it is...?"

"Let's head back and we can explain there" Ruffnut suggested as they all nodded.

As they walked back, Cami walked next to Astrid and felt a primal urge to tell her about some guilt she had been feeling since the woods. It was gnawing at her constantly and she really felt like she might burst if she didn't at least say it aloud

"Can I tell you something?"

"Sure"

"It's just... That stuff you said about not being able to escape being seen as a hunter, I'm sorry about that" Camicazi confessed, feeling a weight being lifted off of her shoulders as the words were in the open.

Astrid's eyebrows furrowed together "Why are you sorry?"

"Because I probably didn't help you in getting rid of that image, what with my accusations and all" she admitted uneasily

"That was before Camicazi. I try not hold onto the past, life only moves forward, whether we like it or not. You're changing now, and that's more than I could ever ask for" she told her fellow dragon rider gently "And besides that genuinely wasn't directed at you, a lot of it was actually an internal thing"

"I'm glad I said it though, it was driving me crazy'' she chuckled

Astrid laughed alongside her "Fair enough''

Before they knew it, they were back at the edge. Just as the girls were about to explain Beat the Dome to Astrid, Hiccup approached them.

"Hey sorry, I don't mean to interrupt your girl day or anything" he apologized automatically "But we just came up with a plan that you should probably know about"

"It's fine, we hadn't started this activity yet anyways" Cami dismissed "What's the plan?"

"Well Fishlegs was talking about some island that he'd read about in his books. We were thinking that tomorrow we could go try find and explore them a little a bit. We figured we go into teams as well so it would be Heather and Fishlegs" he pointed at the aforementioned woman "Ruff and Tuff obviously and then you and m-"

"Actually Hiccup" Astrid interrupted "I'd quite like to team up with Ruffnut, I'm sure Tuff can go with someone else"

Ruffnut beamed at her and the two shared a smile.

Hiccup, meanwhile, blinked in surprise "Uh yeah that's fine, I'll just have to readjust the teams slightly"

"Camicazi could go with you" Astrid suggested, making her smile as well "You hadn't mentioned her yet. If I went with Ruff, you and Cami could go together, Heather and Fish would stay the same and Tuffnut could work it out there"

"Yeah, I guess that works. Glad that's sorted then" Hiccup said "Sorry, I'll let you get back to your girls day"

As he walked away both girls turned to Astrid.

"Thanks Astrid! It'll be nice to finally team up with someone other than my stinky brother" Ruff wrinkled her nose slightly

"And thank you for letting me team up with Hiccup" Cami added.

"It's no big deal, you both are my friends"

The three shared a warm embrace; something Astrid to adjust to, despite her small amount of discomfort. Heather promptly shouted before ambushing the hug."Hey! I want in on this!"

So the four girls hugged in the middle of the arena, all plans for games slipping their minds. It was a nice moment. As Astrid looked upon her friends that were wrapping their arms around her, she couldn't help but mentally roll her eyes.

'So much hugging'

Just a heads up, the next chapter won't be them exploring that island, it'll probably be a different island. I'll leave that up to your imaginations.

For the record, this book has not been abandoned and will not be abandoned. Life has been crazy, between exams, Christmas and an injured mum that I've had to look after, writing kinda slipped my mind. Oops!

Not a great reason I know, but humour me.

Don't worry though, writing should probably be more consistent in the new year. I was also trying to get a clearer idea of where the story is heading (as in on a chapter to chapter basis) and I finally have that now.

Next chapter includes an appearance from Dagur so that should be interesting to write.

See y'all in the next decade.

Quote from next chapter: "I know you're mind won't let you right now, but please try and think about what you're doing"

Shohini :)