From up high, the Vikings of both tribes looked like insignificant gnats, swarming around the edge of the field. Metallic gnats, mostly, because the majority of them were wearing helmets, but still gnats.

It was comforting to see them like this, and to know that their opinions did not matter. Not to Astrid, anyway. She would not care if they despised her all the more for what she was about to show them, and she would not care if they applauded her in some freak miracle of circumstance. Both had to be equally unimportant.

Stoick had told her to come once the field had spectators, so whatever preparation he had done had already happened. He was ready. She was trusting him and Thunderguts to hold their people back.

She did not like putting her trust in Thunderguts. Even trusting Stoick to keep the Berk Vikings under control for this was a stretch. Last time she had relied upon shock and awe to keep them inactive for the brief time she needed. This time, the demonstration would be far longer and more complex. It had to be, as Stoick had requested not only flight, but more battle-ready skills. She and Toothless knew what to do, but their routine was not short by any means, and relied upon not being seriously interrupted.

Jeers they could ignore, but crazed Vikings attacking en masse would be a problem. Even more so, because she would be totally in charge of taking down any attackers. She could not and would not use Toothless against any Viking today. That would only make things worse, causing the very disaster they needed to avert.

Toothless rose above the trees, gaining height. They had launched from the clearing, so it would be a long glide. From here, they were probably just an ominous black dot in the sky.

Astrid carefully put on her helmet, flipping the facemask down. The slits offered a more than adequate range of vision for this, and she planned to flip up the mask portion of the helmet once they had made their entrance. There might have been some small benefit to not showing her face... But only if she intended to hide what she was from the Windy Isle Vikings. She did not, so she would show her face and flaunt all of this. She would not be shamed by this; there was nothing to be ashamed of, no matter what they might think.

Toothless flattened his wings for a moment, throwing them slightly off course, and Astrid belatedly remembered to switch the tailfin into gliding mode. That was really going to take a lot of practice in the future.

It would be another minute or so before they reached the field, gliding as they were. She savored one last moment of peace, glad the sun was not out, hidden behind one particularly dense cloud. Really, she was surprised Stoick hadn't wanted this done later in the day, at dusk or after nightfall. She and Toothless would be even more intimidating in the dark.

But maybe he just wanted to be sure their visitors got a good idea of what they were showing off. Broad daylight, however muted and diffused, meant everyone would get a good, long look at the dragon that would reveal itself to be a Night Fury.

That was something that would be a shock for everyone, not just the Windy Isle Vikings. Tuffnut had never even guessed as to Toothless's species, and aside from Stoick, only Fishlegs and her own parents knew. But the roar and blue blasts of fire would be pretty obvious hints to anyone who had ever cowered in fear at the cry of 'Night Fury, get down!' Not that she meant to give those hints away too quickly...

They were getting close now. Astrid carefully unhooked the safety lines, attaching them to the saddle on both ends to prevent them from dangling. She would not fall off in their simple descent, and having to unhook herself would not be at all impressive.

If she had been able to practice for a few days, she might have attempted to stand upright on the saddle as they descended, or maybe tried to somersault off as he landed. But she had no time to practice any of that, and the only thing worse than being seen to have safety precautions would be getting hurt in the process of showing off.

They soared over the field and Toothless hiked his wings up, preparing to descend. Astrid flipped the pedal one final time, letting them down. They touched down without a sound, the soft ground cushioning any force Toothless hadn't countered with one final flap just as they made contact. The grass rippled outward like a wave from where they landed.

Another ripple was spreading among the waiting crowd a few hundred paces away, one of a much less benign nature. Grey metal caught her eye as weapons were brought out, and faint exclamations were already reaching her ears. She was grateful for the distance; there would be time to react.

"Oy!" Thunderguts called out, his voice more than strong enough to reach her, though she could see he wasn't speaking to her at all, glaring at his own people. "Shu' up and let our 'osts explain!"

Stoick stepped forward, out in front of the crowd. He gestured widely with his hands and said something long and clearly unsatisfactory to the majority of the visitors.

Toothless snorted worriedly as the crowd began to churn, men and women striking at each other.

"This is going well," Astrid observed as she dismounted, not as worried as her friend was. Toothless probably couldn't tell that the ones fighting were Berkians disarming Windy Isle Vikings, as he wouldn't recognize any of the former. She didn't know what had been said, but the way Thunderguts was glaring at the crowd, standing right beside Stoick, she knew it wasn't a real fight. They were just taking out the most malcontent now, before anything could happen. She had yet to see any major amount of blood spilled.

It was almost awkward, though, standing there just out of easy shouting distance, watching the unrest and not stepping in or trying to calm it. There were so many hateful glares cast her way, some staring past her and others landing firmly on her, including her in their murderous intent. That those glaring were all disarmed and sullen made them no less worrying.

"I'm going to have to watch my back after this," she admitted to Toothless. That was always going to be the case, but now it was extremely clear how careful she would need to be. The people of Berk hadn't taken it nearly so badly, possibly because they had weeks to grow accustomed to the idea before actually seeing it.

The disarming struggle was over quickly, especially once more obedient Windy Isle Vikings joined the Berkians in subduing the crowd. Soon, both Chieftains were turning to watch her and Toothless. Stoick waved his hand impatiently.

"Showtime," Astrid murmured, sliding down off the saddle, drawing her ax in the process. She flipped the faceplate of her helmet up and stared defiantly out at the crowd for a moment. Let them see who she was if they hadn't already been told. That information was never going to remain secret past this moment; it was too obvious, even for Vikings, to be missed.

But she really shouldn't be musing about her secrets right now. They had a job to do. Toothless rumbled calmly, clearly ready to get this over with.

First, they turned to face each other. She gestured for battle ready, and he hopped back, flaring his wings and snarling, teeth bared. She had decided against any sort of false commands or yelled orders, so they worked in silence. They were far enough away from the crowd that it didn't matter. Nobody could be sure she wasn't calling out commands too quietly for them to hear, and if that was what the average Viking needed to believe to accept this, she would let them.

Toothless flicked his front paws and nodded, signalling the same request at her in turn. She deliberately turned her back on him, holding her ax up in a ready position. The real importance of this was one no Viking could miss. She was putting her weakest point directly in front of a dragon who was by all appearances ready to kill, and remaining unharmed.

There was a ripple of shock through the watching Vikings, and a lot of uncertainty. Good. Any emotion other than rage or bloodlust was an improvement.

She put her other hand behind her back and gestured for Toothless to relax.

He warbled happily, padding up behind her to nuzzle her side. She put her unoccupied hand on top of his head, still staring out at that crowd. At Thunderguts, for a moment, making eye contact. He was watching with full attention, his hands empty, not even at the ready in case of an attack, his sword hilt unattended. He liked what he was seeing, for sure, which was good, as he was the person she most needed to gain the approval of. That took some of the pressure off.

On to more complicated things. She made the gestures without thought, and reacted almost as soon as Toothless made his. Really, at this point they could probably do it without any gestures, they had practiced often enough, but there was no need to add memory to the difficulty of this.

First, movement, the most basic of things. She put Toothless through his paces, showing running, sneaking, and walking, and he put her through hers afterward, though they disguised it as her moving to rejoin him. Fair, but there was no reason to ruin the image they were projecting. She did not look at all impressive sneaking in an open field. He did, by virtue of being a panther-like black dragon. She believed he could actually ambush someone in an open field if he had need. He was fast enough to stay in their blind spot if they were not alert.

Then on to fighting. Toothless showed off just how fast and deadly he was, demonstrating biting, clawing and even a quick tail-whip, all on the open air. Astrid moved alongside him, attacking the empty space in tandem with her ax. This moment always gave her shivers, because it was so easy to imagine tearing some lesser foe apart like this, side by side. There was something about fighting alongside a natural predator that made her feel, if not inadequate, then thoroughly matched in skill and speed, at best. Even attacking nothing brought on the feeling that could best be described as 'I'm glad we're on the same side.'

There was more to physical attacking after that. She turned to face him and performed the gesture that, looking back, had been their first. A slapping motion in his direction.

Tuffnut had suggested this for the first demonstration, but there had been no time. Now she had time, the rapt and decidedly nonviolent attention of the crowd, and far more practice with their little pattern, which devolved into actual play-fighting past a certain point.

Slap, block, block, hop, a step back, a jab forward followed by leaning to one side. After that, nothing was the same.

Today, Toothless was not going all out, but he was making it look quite the opposite, using grand, sweeping strikes that gave her just enough room to react in time. When he was trying, she lost quickly. With this, she held on for a while, ducking, dodging, and occasionally lashing out.

If there was any point in the demonstration that signified trust on both sides, it was when Toothless finally caught her, biting down on her arm as she punched at his nose. They both froze.

Then she laughed, sliding her arm out of the now decidedly harmless grip he had placed it in. He could have taken the limb to the elbow, and the entire fight up to the point had been with bared teeth. What better way to show trust?

There was no applause. That was far too much to ask from Vikings. Cheering their natural enemy, no matter how unnatural it was acting, was beyond them. Astrid took the lack of angry shouts, insults, or sharp projectiles as applause enough.

But they were not yet done. Now came tactics, of which very little could actually be shown. She gestured for Toothless to circle around, sneaking, and they showed a play-by-play of how she and Toothless could circle around and attack from both sides, meeting in the middle of the invisible circle he had traced while she walked forward.

She hoped that would give some people pause about going after either of them in the future. Every Viking in the audience had to be imagining themselves either involved in the flanking maneuver, in which case good on them, or being the target of it. If they were imagining themselves as the target, there was no way they would ever go into the woods without plenty of backup… Which was exactly what Astrid wanted. Large groups of hunters clustered together would be easily avoided or taken out if that was necessary. Spreading out to systematically hunt through the forest would be the real threat, if things went bad, and this little trick was probably doing good work in preventing that very possibility. Vikings might like glory and death in battle, but there was little of either to be found in being torn apart from behind in a split second. Nobody would call that battle. That was a slaughter.

Of course, it was also dishonorable to attack from behind, but Toothless was a dragon, and thus had no consideration for honor, and Astrid was almost as ambivalent at this point. She would do whatever was best for herself and those she cared for. Honor played little to no part in that. Her own conscience was good enough at keeping her from doing truly bad things.

After the flanking maneuver and a few more simple demonstrations of tactical planning, they were pretty much done. Astrid scratched Toothless under the chin, avoiding the spot that for some reason knocked him out, and endured a lick to the face. They were done with the actual demonstration. Now came the hard part.

She gestured for Toothless to stay but remain alert, also conveying that he was to flee rather than attack if someone approached. That took a few seconds to get across, but he nodded and gestured acceptance once she was done.

That taken care of, she approached the crowd, walking into easy hearing distance, leaving Toothless in the field, a dark presence lurking behind her.

"So," she shouted, "any questions?"

It took a second for that offer to sink in, but the crowd quickly caught on, and people began yelling out anything they could think of, totally drowning each other out. There were slurs, insults, and angry accusations, but those were easy to tune out and quickly silenced by others in the crowd. That was unexpected, but extremely helpful. She probably had Stoick to thank for it.

She waited patiently until they all figured out she wasn't answering any of them. Once they had mostly shut up, which took a long time even by Viking standards, she continued. "One at a time." Serious, patient, but taking no nonsense. That was the impression she was hoping they were getting.

"Shut it!" Thunderguts yelled, punctuating his helpful intervention with a not-so-helpful belch. Great. She had been hoping to avoid all proof of the origin of the name 'Windy Isle', and had been doing well so far.

No matter. "Actually, Chief Thunderguts, if you have anything to ask, you may as well go first," she offered. Hopefully his question would be helpful in conveying his evident approval a little more openly.

"Aye, sure. Ye didn't fly much. Why?" It seemed like a serious question and not a taunt, and better still, he wasn't asking anything like 'how can ye betray yer tribe like this?'

"That takes practice and time, and I've had little of either," she answered candidly. "We can fly, but it requires more from my side of things than you might expect."

"I've got one," Stoick boomed. "I requested a demonstration of fire, too."

"Oh, that? I was waiting until someone asked the most obvious question of all."

"Which is?" Stoick prompted.

Astrid turned to the crowd. "Anyone want to guess? It's a really simple question that I'm sure is bothering plenty of you." She knew she probably sounded condescending, but nobody would care in a few moments.

"How are ye so calm with the beast?" someone ventured.

"No, fire won't help answer that," Astrid deflected, not sure what she would have actually said in response to that. There was not hiding herself, and then there was openly flaunting the Viking way. She didn't want to do the latter if she could avoid it.

"What is it?" Fishlegs asked, his voice recognizable.

Astrid nodded in his direction, thankful he had decided to move things along, especially as they both knew he already knew the answer. "Exactly. None of you know what kind of dragon this is, do you?"

There was an uneasy muttering at that question. Maybe most of them hadn't thought to wonder after all. Sloppy. She would at least have expected those who were against all of this to ask in preparation for hopefully fighting and killing him at some point.

"Fire will answer that question," she announced, turning her back on the crowd. She caught Toothless's eye and gestured for up and fire. Best not to risk him setting anything ablaze.

He nodded agreeably and inhaled, his mouth glowing a faint blue. This part definitely would have been more impressive at night.

There was no whining shriek of doom. That must not come from firing on the ground, because she had heard a short, quiet version of the signature sound on their near-disastrous attempt at fishing earlier.

But the blue bolt that detonated high in the air above him was more than enough on its own. True, pure silence fell over the crowd, devoid of even the usual muttering and whispering any gathering seemed to have.

Astrid decided to take advantage of that. "Yes," she said loudly and clearly, her voice ringing out unmuddled by any other sounds, "he is a Night Fury." She shrugged, acting as if it did not matter, which it really didn't. At least, not to her.

"The same one that attacks our villages?" someone called out angrily.

"I do not know if he is the same one," she replied calmly. She hadn't seen any others in the nest, but that wasn't proof of anything. "But I do know he has not been involved in the raids for at least two months. So, was there a Night Fury in the last raid?" She knew Windy Isle had taken on the raid that Berk had not gotten, and she was genuinely curious.

"No, no Furies," a bitter old man gritted. "So this one's the one who blows up all of our ballistae!"

Not good, but she had an answer. "No longer. His days of raiding to feed what resides at the nest are over, and something tells me he's happy with that." That was a hook, one she wasn't sure would work. It all depended on what Stoick had told them all of the nest, if anything.

Nobody caught her reference, or maybe they just had more pressing concerns. A young woman near the front of the crowd almost fearfully raised her hand, a silent request to be heard.

Astrid pointed to her. "You, with the manners." Maybe if she praised that, others would do it. A small chance, given the temperament of those all around her, but still.

"How did you do it?" the woman asked, her voice growing clearer as she continued, gaining confidence. "We fight them, not… this. What did you do?"

So what, exactly, had Stoick told this tribe? Nothing but 'we have something cool to show you, don't attack it?' She had assumed he would tell the story of her and Hiccup's disappearance, and what followed, and lead from there. She was going to have to find out from someone after all of this, if only to know whether her Chief had set her up for failure.

As to the answer... she decided on the truth, but in a way that would hopefully prevent pointless deaths. "I don't know. I was not the one to tame him. I'm just the one he chose to trust after his original trainer died." She didn't know if Stoick wanted his son kept out of this, but tough luck if so. He should have told her beforehand if so. "Hiccup, the late heir, would be able to answer that. But he told no one and left no notes on whatever happened between the two of them, so all we have is the result."

She specifically did not mention the tailfin, and would not reveal the full truth even if asked. The blue fin could probably be mistaken for dye, like Viking war paint, at least from this distance, and the rest was subtle. She would not reveal Toothless's greatest weakness if she could avoid it.

Toothless had been waiting patiently long enough. Astrid turned to him once more and conveyed her thanks, along with requesting he go back into the woods.

Toothless nodded and darted away, quickly disappearing entirely.

"And that," Astrid announced, "is why nobody goes into the woods for the time being. Best to avoid any accidents, from either party." She phrased it neutrally enough that nobody would take offense. "I can take more questions later, but that's all for the moment." She hadn't eaten yet today, though Toothless had gotten a small sow in their hunt. She still planned to take him a big fish anyway.

With that, she began to make her way into the crowd, headed for the Great Hall and food, ignoring the danger all around her. She had to know what to expect, and forcing her way through a crowd of people was safer than being ambushed. If anyone was going to attack her, they would do it here, where everyone else could intervene.

The feeling of moving through potentially hostile territory, aware that she was in danger but unsure of how those around her would act, was surprisingly familiar. The entire ordeal on the nest was just a long, drawn-out version of this. The same feeling of waiting to see whether she would be attacked or ignored. The same familiarity and unpredictability mixed together.

Several boots were stuck in her way, trying to trip her up. She ignored them. Glares and muttered insults could also be ignored. If that was all that would be done, she could count herself lucky-

Even as she thought that, a shove from the side knocked her into a fat woman to her left. She kept to her feet more out of luck than skill, and turned to face the woman who had pushed her.

Dark brown eyes lurked deep in a flabby face contorted by rage. The woman didn't say anything, raising a fist to strike again.

A hand caught that fist and pulled it back. "I though' my word as Chief meant somethin'," Thunderguts drawled. "I say nobody touches 'er or the dragon. Ye wanna argue?"

"No, Chief," the woman conceded, stepping back, though there was nowhere for her to go. She had to shove a few slimmer Vikings aside to make room.

"Ye wanna dishonor our tribe by strikin' an ally for nothin'?" he continued.

"That cursed dragon killed our people!" the woman complained, glaring at Astrid.

"Doesn' matter," Thunderguts retorted loudly. "We'll be 'avin' words later." He looked over at Astrid. "Any o' mine bother you, come to me. I'll set 'em straight."

Astrid nodded, not all that reassured, and resumed her walk. She was glad the foreign Chief seemed to be taking it all so well, but something told her not to trust his reassurance.

His intimidating words did seem to dissuade anyone else from attacking her, though. She made it through the rest of the crowd without so much as being bumped by accident, the Windy Isle Vikings backing up out of her way.

Thunderguts certainly had a reputation for disciplining his people, she mused, if this reaction was any indication. He was smart, too. She had no doubt he had followed behind and waited for the first person to act; the timing was too perfect for it to be coincidence.

The Great Hall was almost empty when Astrid arrived, which made sense as most of the village and their visitors had been out watching her demonstration. She picked up a mug of watered-down ale and a slab of mutton from Mulch, who was manning the back of the Hall.

"Did it go well?" Mulch asked curiously. "You look ready for a fight."

"It went fine," she said, gesturing to her armor. "This protected me from the cold more than anything else." Really, it had gone fine, relatively speaking. She hadn't been hurt, Toothless was safe, and the other tribe had been handled by their Chief, who seemed very supportive.

She returned to near the front of the Hall, not wanting to be too far from the exit, and sat down, thankful the twins had cleaned up the disgusting buildup from under the tables. She would not have wanted to eat here if she had known of it before it was removed.

As she ate, people began filing into the Hall, seeking food. Many stared at her as they passed. Whether the stare was disbelieving, curious, or disgusted depended on the Viking, though disbelieving seemed to be the majority, followed by disgusted. Curious was an outlier, one she mostly saw on children whose mothers or fathers kept them from approaching her.

She did not like being considered a bad influence or danger to children, but it was inevitable for the time being. Maybe once the shock had worn off...

No, she would be realistic. The days of children looking up to her were gone, never to return. She would just have to get used to that.

Then one mother-daughter pair Astrid had forgotten about entered the Great Hall. Astrid had never actually seen Vanna wide awake, so seeing the little girl pulling at her mother's hand and hopping excitedly was new. The girl was pointing, too, just like all of the other children.

Helga looked over at Astrid, and indecision was clearly visible in the way she hesitated.

Astrid wasn't sure what Helga would decide. She wouldn't really be able to avoid Astrid in any case, given they shared a small hut, and Vanna was going to get to her sooner or later...

It wasn't a big surprise when Helga sighed and let Vanna run over, but it was a welcome one. Here, at the very least, was one mother who would let her child come near.

Vanna plopped herself onto the bench directly opposite Astrid, staring with wide eyes. Blue eyes, Astrid was now able to determine. Again, common enough, though brown was even more common among the Windy Isle Vikings, from what she had seen. "You're Astrid," she asserted.

At least Vanna knew her name. "And you're Vanna. You're sharing my room." Astrid looked to the side and saw Helga standing in a short line, waiting for food. She would be a moment.

"You have a dragon," Vanna stated, her voice admiring. "Mom says they're dangerous."

"They are, but mine's different," Astrid admitted. "He's nice if you're nice to him." Telling any older Viking that would not go over well, but Vanna was still young and did not have any fears or prejudices ingrained yet.

"Does he have a name?" Vanna asked curiously.

"Don't tell anyone, but yes." Astrid made a show of looking around to be sure they were alone. "He's called Toothless."

"Toothless," Vanna shrieked, almost falling off the bench, laughing hysterically.

It wasn't that funny... but apparently it was to her. Astrid waited until the laughter had died away. "He can pull his teeth in, so it fit, I think." She assumed that was how he had been named. It was possible, if unlikely, that Hiccup had called him Toothless in reference to his lack of violent inclinations, but the literal interpretation seemed more likely.

"What's so funny, Vanna?" Helga asked, sliding over to sit by her daughter, having just come from the front of the line, two plates of fish in hand.

"The dragon's name," Vanna giggled, ignoring the food. "It's so silly."

Helga cast Astrid an indecipherable look, now addressing her. "It has a name?"

"Yes, though I was not the one to give the name," Astrid said. "And now I'm thinking..."

"A lot of what I saw last night makes far more sense," Helga continued, clearly understanding. "You have a dangerous common interest."

"That interest has saved my life multiple times, so maybe not as dangerous as you think," Astrid countered. "That reminds me. How did my Chief set up the demonstration?" Helga was as good a person to ask as any.

"Everyone gathered in the Great Hall, and your Chief announced that Berk had a new innovation in the war against dragons, something strange but powerful. He told us to follow him out to the field to see it... and that was pretty much it." Helga shrugged. "I would have liked a little more warning. If I was not stuck in the crowd, I would have taken Vanna and ran when you and the dragon arrived."

"Would you run now?" Astrid asked, surprised by her candor. "Knowing what you do?"

"Maybe I would not run," Helga admitted, "but I would not be comfortable anywhere near it. I do not see how you do it."

"Trust," Astrid explained. "Before any of this, I spent weeks alone with him, stuck on a raft no bigger than absolutely necessary to carry a tiny sail, me, a container of water, and his head. We were marooned together, and we had to work together to survive. Fear came and went on that raft, for both of us." And a new fear, the fear of deep water, had sunk into her so deep she thought she would never be rid of it. That was not important to the story, so she did not mention it.

"Maybe I can see that working, if it did not kill you immediately," Helga admitted. "And your Chief let you keep it?"

"With a lot of conditions, yes." She had always suspected it was partially out of grief and affection for anything of Hiccup's, but now he definitely let her continue what she did on its own merits.

"It stays out in the woods, right?" Helga asked, sounding nervous.

"Of course." In an ideal world maybe she would have him living near her hut, but definitely not with the way things were. "He would not attack as long as you do not wield a weapon or threaten me. And even if you did, he would just disarm you... and depending on what you were doing, possibly teach you a lesson." She could not lie and say he was harmless. Snotlout was the perfect proof to the contrary.

"I wanna pet him," Vanna announced, done with her fish and ready to continue talking. "Can I?"

Helga flinched at that request. "That doesn't sound safe, Vanna."

"Daddy would have let me," Vanna objected sadly. "He would make it safe."

Helga didn't seem to know how to respond to that. After a moment, she settled for pulling her daughter close, hugging her. "Maybe he would have."

Astrid did not have a lot of experience comforting people with lost loved ones. That was her mother's area of experience. But she could help Helga out here. "I can assure you, it would be safe, but I don't think I want to take any chances." She was totally confident Toothless would behave, but bringing a little kid into contact with a dragon was just asking for trouble. Vanna would of course talk about it, and if word got around... she didn't want to think of how badly people could misinterpret that.

"Of course." Helga began to pick at her food, not really eating it.

Astrid saw movement towards them over Helga's shoulder. Her immediate thought was that it had better not be Snotlout. He was not the kind of person who should spend any time around impressionable little kids.

But it actually turned out to be her parents, who had spotted her and Helga. Neither had food, so they either weren't here for that or hadn't gone to get it yet.

"Nice work today, Astrid," her father praised.

"Sorry for keeping you in the dark, Helga," her mother added. "We were all under orders not to talk about it."

"I can see why," Helga reassured her. "It is an interesting thing that your daughter does."

"That it is," Astrid's mother agreed neutrally. "It is good to see you taking it so well. Do you happen to know if any other Windy Isle families might not mind it? The fact that Astrid has trained dragons, not the dragon itself."

Well, that was pretty obvious. Asa was fishing for leads on which families she should check for eligible men. Hopefully, Helga wouldn't have anything to give her.

Helga clearly didn't understand the significance of the question. "Possibly. I do not know most of them well enough to be able to say for sure. I can find out?"

"If you would." Asa smiled thankfully. "That would be helpful." She and Sighvat left to go get food.

Astrid finished her mutton, not feeling all that hungry. She hoped the search would be entirely fruitless. It was out of her hands, though.

All of this was, now. She had to wait and find out whether or not they would be assaulting the nest, she had to wait and hope her parents found no willing matches for her... and she had to wait for everything that would follow. Her part in all of this had been more or less played out.

Was there anything more she could do to affect events? Not that she knew of. All she could do was train with Toothless, getting used to real flight in preparation for the attack on the nest...

Or...

Hiccup had spoken of taking a vacation, a permanent one. Developing her skills in the air could make that a final possibility for her, too.

Would she really do that? Just fly away with Toothless, to avoid marriage?

Well... she wouldn't have to leave permanently, but her parents would not be happy with her, so returning to visit would be difficult. She had nowhere to go, but Toothless could probably provide for the both of them if needed.

She did not want to abandon Berk. That was the biggest problem. She could come back to her parents, however displeased they might be, but once she left Berk, there was no fixing that. Not if she really left with no excuse. The Chief would not permit her to leave if he knew. No sane Viking would. So, leaving would break her from her home.

No, she wasn't going to leave. But having that last resort made her wonder, made her think. She was not, in the end, stuck here. It was something to at least consider.