"Astrid," Stoic growled. She could feel his gaze burning a hole in her back. "Where are you taking me?"
"I'm sorry chief," Astrid apologized the tenth time. "But I have to show you this. It is the only way we can defeat the Dragon nest-queen."
She gulped as they arrived at her and Stormfly's meeting spot. She remembered when she had told herself she would never reveal Stormfly to Berk. But now she had too. For the sake of her entire village. And Stormfly's too. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out in the clearing, and put her fingers to her lips to emit a loud whistle.
It was only moments before she heard the flapping of Stormfly's wings. She turned to see Stoick tensing. He was grabbing his hammer tightly.
"Is that a dragon, Astrid?" Stoick said. Astrid grew pale, as his voice had zero emotion in it. She could see the fire in his eyes.
"Stoick wait. I can explain," Astrid started, but she was cut off from a squawk. She felt the wind blow against her and she knew Stormfly had landed behind her.
There was not a second to pass before Stoick let loose a yell, and went charging toward Stormfly. At once, Astrid reacted quickly. She leaped into the saddle and Stormfly took off, hovering safely above Stoick.
Stoick just stared, his eyes looking like they were going to pop out of his head. Then the anger flashed back, and he gave her a glare that made her blood turn to ice. "You… befriended a dragon," Stoick spat out each word.
"Yes but…" Astrid stuttered. But she couldn't get out the words.
"If you were nearly anyone else Astrid I would kill you and that demon both," He snarled and Astrid flinched, while Stormfly just growled protectively. "You had such promise. I am very disappointed in you," Stoick sighed, shaking his head. He waved his hammer, motioning to the sky. "Take your vermin and leave. I do not want to see your treacherous face again or I will not hesitate to kill you."
"I-"
"GO!" Stoick roared, and Astrid gasped, on the verge of tears.
And that was Stormfly's breaking point. With a blood curdling screech, Stormfly dove, claws extended. Astrid realized Stormfly was poised to kill. Stoick rolled to the side as she descended upon him. Stormfly quickly flew up, and veered around to dive again. But she saw Stoick getting poised to swing his hammer, so she flared her wings and swung her tail. This action let loose a volley of poisonous spines heading straight for Stoick.
The viking chief managed to evade them though. Stormfly recovered quickly, flapping upward to gain altitude, before flipping upside down and falling into a dive. Astrid gripped the saddle tightly as they descended. At the last second, Stormfly flared her wings and extended her talons to slash at Stoick, but the viking chief was prepared this time. He quickly swung his hammer, hitting Stormfly square in the jaw. The impact of the blow sent Stormfly flying across the clearing and into the bushes at the treeline. And the sudden jerk had jolted Astrid from the saddle, sending her crashing into a tree in the opposite direction Stormfly had gone. Astrid blacked out for a moment, but she regained consciousness within a few moments. She couldn't think clearly, as her head was ringing. Her entire body hurt like hell. Her vision was blurry. She knew she would most likely pass out at any moment. But one thought rang clear in her head.
STORMFLY! Her mind shouted. She looked across the clearing through the leaves and saw half of Stormfly's limp body sticking out from the bushes. Her head was not visible, but from the red on the bushes, Astrid knew she was hurt.
Setting aside her own pain, she shimmed her body off the branch where she lay and let herself fall to the ground. Her legs couldn't support her drop, and collapsed to the ground weakly.
No! She yelled at herself. Get up and go to Stormfly. You cannot die here. Save Stormfly!
She forced herself to her feet, staggering a few steps before falling over again.She saw Stoick punch Stormfly's flank. She could just barely hear Stormfly groan.
"So the demon is still alive," Stoick spat, rolling back his shoulders. "Annoying shit."
As Stoick raised his hammer to bring it down on Stormfly's chest, Astrid mustered the strength to stagger-lunge the last feet, and throw herself between the vengeful chief and her beloved friend.
"STOP!" She screamed with all her strength, and rolled over to lay with back propped up against the fainted nadder's belly.
Stoick froze, and he stared at Astrid in horror. His arms fell down. His palm slowly opened, and the hammer slipped from his hand and made a thud against the grass next to him. Astrid looked up at him with a fierce look of protectiveness and determination. She hadn't seen the extent of her wounds yet, but she must look rough considering Stoick's guilty look.
"Astrid…" Stoick finally gasped. "You would die for a dragon."
Astrid waved her hand limply, and gave a slight nod. "Without a doubt, yes. I have only known Stormfly for a few weeks, but…" She paused to cough. "I would give my life for her. And I know she would do the same for me. She trusts me with her life. Once you show you aren't a threat, dragons can warm up to you quite quickly."
"I…" Stoick tried to speak up, but trailed off.
Astrid held her firm gaze on him, and Stoick looked away. She just stared, but could feel her consciousness slipping as her adrenaline left her.
"I'm sorry," Stoick started, turning back after a couple moments, and Astrid only nodded back.
"I am as well," Astrid replied. "I just knew how everyone hates dragons, and I just couldn't stand for the people of Berk to kill Stormfly. She is my friend."
"Yes…" Stoick paused, then pulled a small pack from his belt. "I normally keep these just in case of emergencies," he started, and opened the pack to reveal a roll of bandages. "Let me patch you up."
"No," Astrid said, her hand drifting to her bloody forehead. "Help Stormfly first."
"R-right," He said, as though shocked to be complying to this.
But he obediently moved to help Stormfly. Astrid couldn't see what he was doing, as he had left her line of vision. She could hear the rustling of bushes, and also the sounds of Stoick grunting in annoyance. She tried to relax, but found herself not being able to do so. As she was propped up against Stormfly's left hind leg, She could just barely feel the labored breathing of her partner. It freaked her out and she scolded herself for not being able to do anything. She could only sit there helplessly, trusting that Stoick of all people would help her dragon. She knew Stoick trusted her, so would at least tolerate her dragon, but how could she convince the other Berkians? She and Stormfly would need their help to kill the queen.
As she pondered what to do, She could see Stoick move back into her field of vision. "Let me wrap your head Astrid," Stoick gently said, kneeling down in front of her.
Astrid moved her hands, and let them fall limply to her side as Stoick worked to wrap her head. The bandages were tight, but snug. She was still in extreme pain but at least her sight was a little less blurry.
"Alright Astrid I will carry you back," Stoick said, extending his arms to pick her up.
"Hold on chief, where exactly?" Astrid eyed him wearily.
"Berk, of course," He answered. "Gothi needs to check you out right away."
"No," Astrid hissed. "You will bring Gothi here. You injured Stormfly as well, so she will get as much attention as I do. Understand?"
"Astrid I can't do that and you know it…"
"I am not joking," Astrid narrowed her eyes.
Stoic shook his head. "Leaving you here isn't an option. Your wound is too severe. I will have to take both of you back. We will have to take it at least to the ring. I will make sure Gothi sees to it there."
"She…" Astrid spoke up.
"Huh?" Stoick gave the girl a confused look.
"Stormfly is a girl…" Astrid managed to rasp our with a following cough.
She could see Stoick grimace at her reply. "Alright," he replied softly. "I will make sure she is checked out by Gothi. I promise."
That was good enough for Astrid. She allowed Stoick to take her shaking body in his arms, and lifted her up. Astrid reached out with one arm towards Stormfly, And Stoick immediately knelt down so she could rest her palm against her dragon's hind leg. She gently gave the scales leg a nudge.
"Girl?" Astrid whispered, giving a more vigorous but still gentle nudge.
There was a couple moments of silence before Stormfly stirred. She gently lifted her head up from around the bushes and gave a loving squawk towards Astrid. She shifted her wings and with a following series and pained growls and grunts, used her wings to turn herself around so she was properly facing them. Stormfly's eyes narrowed as she glowered at Stoick. Not with a savage, blood-thirsty gaze, but with fierce protectiveness and determination. She was not looking at him with 'I will rip your guts open' expression, rather a 'You will not see the light of day again if you cause so much a scratch on my rider's body' type look. Astrid could just about imagine Stoick's mind pacing, his thoughts racing. She could see that the facts of dragons that had were so ironclad, so rooted to his very being, were being shattered. He was seeing that dragons are not so much mindless predators, as opposed to intelligent hunters. But even if that were changing, she knew he still hated dragons with a burning passion. But he could at least acknowledge their intellect. And that was a very good start.