MalirBly and OechsnerC: Thank you for the reviews!

Shadow has to go up against Astrid in a duel. Everyone expects Astrid to win as she is the best warrior that generation has ever seen. But even with her new axe gifted to her, will it be enough to win the battle? Hiccup could barely hold a sword when he left Berk and now has to go up against Astrid. How will it turn out for him? Will Shadow and his riders be granted a meeting with the war council, or will they be left to defeat the Red Death on their own?

I am really enjoying writing this story. I have a few more chapters ready to go after this one and I cannot wait until everyone reads what happens. I am still surprised with how much this story seems to be taking off. As of today (April 4th 2021), the story has 17 reviews, 112 follows, 79 favourites, with over 9200 views!

The Warrior's Dance

I stood on the cliff edge watching the Killring below. Toothless was behind me, probably napping as he usually did when nothing interested him. I watched all the vikings filtering into the stands that hung around the ring. I took a look into the sky and noticed it was almost midday already, which means the main event was about to start.

I took a look back down at the Killring and noticed Astrid, Gobber, and Stoick all walking towards the entrance that led inside the ring. They paused just outside the ring and seemed to exchange a few words before Gobber hit her on the back and walked off. I could almost feel that encouraging smack on her back, as he had done to me so many times in the past. Stoick and Astrid stood there for a few moments more without exchanging words from what I could tell before Stoick let out a sigh and gave her a lighter pat on the back and walked off.

It was at that moment that the other dragon riders arrived. I took my eyes off of the scene below to find Camicazi, Thuggory, Heather, and Dogsbreath all land behind me. Those who were wearing masks took them off as they left their saddles and came up beside me. We all looked down for a few moments more. The whole village had shown up to the event, leaving only a few guards standing around the village itself.

"Are you sure you are going to be able to fight her?" I turned to find Heather looking at me with concern in her eyes. "You might have some practice under your belt now but she has been training her whole life as a shieldmaiden."

I let out a sigh and looked back down to the ring to exactly where Astrid was standing. From this distance, I couldn't tell if she had her old axe or the new one I gave her last night. Could I really fight Astrid? Hel, we used to do it all the time when we were kids and she would kick my butt every single time but times have changed, we've both matured and I have a ton more training now.

"I have too. Whatever happens down there will decide if we have help or not in defeating the Red Death, and while I think Astrid will help if we ask her, nobody else would be willing to listen to someone who hides behind a mask."

"Eh, you'll be fine." I looked over to find Camicazi almost bored. She had stopped looking at the Killring below and was lying against her dragon. "She's a Berk woman. If she was a Bog-Burglar, then I would be worried," she chuckled to herself.

I let out a sigh and looked into the sky once more. The sun had now risen to the midpoint in the sky, indicating that the fight would begin once I arrived. I turned around to Toothless who instantly sat up and waited for me to climb on.

"It's time."

I pulled up the hood to cover my head and pulled the mask up to cover my face. I looked back towards my riders and received a nod from each of them, except from Cami, she seemed to have fallen asleep but I knew better. I climbed into the saddle and stood atop the cliff that looked down on the Killring, and Toothless instantly shot off when I gave him the signal.

The glide down to the Kingring was short but the amount of heads that snapped up to us as we fell and the screams that followed was a fair amount. Under other circumstances, I would have thought it funny and would have laughed it off.

I had landed Toothless some distance behind Astrid, who's head snapped up with the rest but instead of screaming like the rest, she just watched with a blank expression on her face. When I came up to her, I instantly noticed the new axe on her back and figured that is what she was going to be using for our fight.

When I was close enough to find her eyes, it was the first thing I did. I used to get lost in her eyes when we were younger, them being as blue as sapphires, with much happiness behind them. Today I found a blank expression, one that I noticed instantly from when I had left. This wasn't the Astrid I knew when I was younger, this was the warrior Astrid that I had left behind so many months ago.

"Hofferson."

"Shadow."

We stood there for a few moments, not speaking a word. The silence was killing me, it was almost exactly like I remembered it from before I had left. So instead of standing around in silence, I walked past her to the entrance of the Kingring and I could hear her soft footsteps behind me. I had stopped in the centre of the entrance, waiting for the gate to be raised so that we could enter, and I heard Astrid stop beside me.

"Thanks for the Axe."

"I figured it would give you a fair chance." I could almost hear her eyes roll in her head as I said the sarcastic comment.

"Doesn't mean I am going to let you win."

"I wasn't expecting you to. Besides,-" I turned to her, "-I want to see what the General of Defence of Berk has to offer." I held out my hand towards her, "Let the best fighter win." She turned as well and looked to the hand I had offered. She still had a blank face and expression in her eyes when she looked back up to me.

"And I will win," and with that, she turned back around to face the gate as I let my hand fall to my side.

"We'll see about that…"

I noticed the Chief was sitting in his chair, watching us have our little exchange. I could almost feel the anger in his eyes more than see it. He stood up and the whole ring fell quiet. The door was triggered open from above, letting us in the ring and in front of hundreds of Vikings.

Astrid walked towards the Chief and turned once she reached the other end of the ring. I walked the little distance forward and stood watching Astrid and the Chief above her. The gate crashed shut behind me, signaling me that there was no turning back.

"Today we gather in the Killring to witness a fight between Astrid Hofferson, General of Defence, and her challenger Shadow, rider of the infamous Night Fury!" Gobber started announcing beside Stoick, everyone cheered when Astrid was introduced, but I was booed in return. "Each fighter is allowed a choice of one weapon, and one weapon only! The fight will continue until one has forfeited! Does the challenger understand the conditions?"

I felt all eyes on me when he directed the question towards me. I nodded in response, not breaking the posture I was in. I knew the basic rules, I grew up watching almost every single fight that took place in the ring, it was part of the "Chief training" as my Father once put it.

"Astrid Hofferson, please choose your weapon!"

Astrid responded by pulling the axe from her back, the new blade and design shining in the sun. She twirled it around a few times getting a feel for it before she held it above her head, indicating that it was the weapon that she had chosen.

"Challenger, please choose your weapon!"

I pulled the gronckle iron sword out of my belt and flipped it around a few times, showing off while also gaining a feel for the sword itself. Inferno was back in the cove because I knew a flaming sword that spit zippleback gas and exploded it would be a fairly cheap tactic. I wanted a fair fight with Astrid, I wanted to see how I compared to her after all these years. I held the sword up, revealing that I had chosen this weapon.

"Let the fight begin!"

Astrid and I both lowered our weapons and went into a defensive position, ready for the other to attack. I looked up towards the cliff and found all four riders watching me. I looked back down towards my opponent and found myself in a flashback from the past.

Astrid and I were much younger, and we both stood across from each other holding a small wooden weapon, hers was an axe that her father had Gobber make for her so that she could train from a young age. I found myself holding the old wooden dagger that I still struggled to lift, it was made for me after it was determined that I couldn't hold a wooden sword.

Astrid lunged forward like she had always done, bringing the axe over her head and bringing it down to finish me in one hit like so many times before, but I was smarter this time, I dodged to the side and she ended up swiping through the air.

I flashed back into reality and found Astrid lunging forward, ready to end the fight before it barely began. I quickly dodged to the side and found her foot come towards my legs trying to trip me in the process. I rolled over her leg and turned around in a defensive position again, as she turned around and did the same.

She had learned over the years, perfecting her skills in the air of combat. I was bound to see some new moves from her. We slowly circled each other, letting everything else disappear around us before I lunged forward into an attack that was easily parried off with her axe. Before I knew it, the axe was coming up from the direction it was falling in, catching me off guard. I brought up my sword and blocked the attack, and we both broke apart once more.

"Is that all you got?" I teased her, like I used to do when we were kids. "You are gonna have to try harder than that to get me to surrender."

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet," and she lunged forward at a low angle, aiming for what looked like my legs. I jumped up and dodged her attack but received a blow to the side from her fist. I rolled to the side and landed in a crouch, holding the side she had actually hit. Even after all these years, she still hit harder than most people our age. I looked up to see a slight smile on her lips.

"Fighting dirty now?" I snickered, "Very well…"

She lunged forward again, bringing her axe along behind her, leaving her front completely exposed. When she was almost in front of me, she brought her axe around her, in an attempt to bring me down again, but this time, I was ready for her. I fell backwards almost completely onto the ground without losing my balance and the axe just swung right over me.

Astrid wasn't expecting me to disappear just like that and the axe kept swinging with the momentum, taking her off balance. I fell to the ground, leaving me exposed for an attack but I brought my foot up and caught hers. With her already off balance and the axe still swinging from the momentum, adding my foot in front of her foot bringing it to a complete stop, made her trip forward. The axe flew off into one direction and she landed in the other.

I twisted myself quickly, recovering from the fall and coming up to my feet again. I noticed Astrid getting back up to her feet and running towards her axe to gather it up from where it had fallen. I decided not to chase and just stood there with a smirk on my face. When Astrid turned around to protect herself in the coming blow she thought she would face, she was faced with nothing, instead finding me in the same spot that I was before.

"You see Hofferson," I stood up straight, letting my defensive posture leave me. I held the sword down towards the ground but made no move to do anything else. "I know all the dirty tricks in the book. I've been trained by the very best and went up against the very worse." I spun the sword around in an arch, almost teasing her to come and get me as I spoke. "This is almost child's play," I chuckled to myself, "Like I said, you are going to have to try harder than that.

"Tell you what Hofferson, I'll give you a chance," I flung the sword from my grip and embedded itself into the wooded gate that wasn't far from where I stood. I could hear the gasps from all the Vikings watching us, but I ignored them. I kept my eyes directly on Astrid, trying to determine what her next move was. She stood up straight and held her axe towards me, as if challenging me.

"You-" she laughed to herself, "-have just made the biggest mistake of your life," and with that, she lunged forward with her axe, ready to strike me down on the spot. She was fast with her movements and attacks, from years of practice no doubt, but she just wasn't quick enough for someone who has been dodging attacks his whole life. Again and again she swung her axe and sliced through air each and every time.

We went like this for what felt like hours but was really only a few moments. Her next attack brought the axe upwards in a strike that would slice me from my stomach to my head, and I fell slightly back but misjudged her stance. Astrid's foot came around and collided with my legs, making me fall onto my back. Astrid stood over me, with her axe in her hand tucked close to my neck. I was reminded of the last time she stood over me with an axe head to my head, so many years ago.

"Well Shadow, you have no dragon to save you now. Do you surrender?" I looked up into her eyes and saw that she was beyond pissed because it had taken this long. I couldn't stop myself and I just chuckled before I burst into a full on laugh. "What's so funny?" she asked once, "WHAT'S SO FUNNY?!" she yelled the second time.

"It's just-" and I chuckled to myself slightly again, "-the last time I was in this position was under other circumstances." It was almost as if a switch went off inside my head and the laughing instantly stopped and everything grew serious. "I chose my own side," answering a statement that Astrid had made so long ago.

I quickly reached up and grasped the handle of the axe and pulled slightly. Astrid would have just lost balance had it not been my foot in front of her foot, tripping her. She fell almost directly on top of me and I grabbed her by her shoulders and rolled us over with the axe between us, thankfully the flat side lying against our chests. I grasped the handle of the axe and ripped it out of her hands, tossing it to the side.

I recovered quickly after that. Astrid was still surprised from what I had done, and by the time she realized that she was defenseless, I was halfway across the Killring retrieving my sword from where it was embedded in the gate.

"Well, that was exciting." I called out to her as she picked up her axe. I returned back into my defensive state that we started out with and I waited for her to do the same.

Once Astrid was back into a defensive stance again, we circled each other once more. Even from the distance that I was at, I could see how red her face was and I could only imagine how angry she was behind the few bangs that fell into her face. I could tell that she had never been beaten from that stage before, people would always surrender at the end of her axe.

We circled each other around the ring, neither of us making a move forward. The vikings in the stands were all silent, seeing their General of Defence come close to victory and getting tricked once again, surprised them all.

"Having fun yet, Hofferson?" I started to tease her again, leaving my defensive posture, following my circle path, and twirling my sword in my hand. If she lunged forward right now, it would be difficult to block but I was confident that she was angry enough that she wouldn't realize my plan.

"I'm having a wonderful time!" and with that, she lunged forward with her axe trailing behind her. I turned my left foot to brace myself for the impact and brought up my sword. The axe collided with my sword, stopping Astrid dead in her tracks. She was panting hard, either from anger or because she was actually putting everything into this fight. "Getting tired yet?"

"Nah, I was just getting warmed up. I could use a cup of water though," I responded to her, shoving her axe back before going for a low blow that she easily jumped over. We both jumped back and landed a few feet apart and started to circle each other once more. "It's nice to have a challenge here and there."

I lunged forward with my sword right as soon as I finished talking, trying to surprise Astrid and go for a disarm but she was too quick and blocked the attack. I dropped into a crouch and swung my foot out trying to trip her, but she again predicted the movement and jumped over my leg, swinging her axe for my head in the process which I easily defended against.

We broke apart once more and started circling again. We both could easily swing out and hit the other without much effort, which is what Astrid did. The axe was swung across in front of me and I couldn't bring my sword up fast enough to block the attack. This resulted in the axe slicing the front of my armour and leaving a decent sized gash.

I jumped back from the attack and fell down to my knee, holding my sword with the tip towards the ground to prop me up, panting from all the attacks that I threw at her. I looked up from behind my mask to find that she still had an angered expression on her face still. She was willing to end this, once and for all.

Astrid took a step forward, looking me directly in the eyes as she did so. She held up her axe to my throat once more, but far enough away that I couldn't grab onto the handle again. She was so predictable when it came to how vikings fought, and even though Astrid was different, she was still trained by vikings.

"So that's it, huh?" We never broke eye contact as I spoke, "The old viking way of letting your opponent have the chance to surrender before striking them down if they don't?" I was curious if she would actually strike me down, I knew Astrid was a warrior before anything but would she strike someone down in front of the entire village?

"Well, do you surrender?" she asked firmly but calm. This wasn't just the warrior Astrid that I grew up with, this was the Chief in practice showing mercy to their enemy but not scared to strike them down if they refused.

"Never…"

The axe was brought back quickly and swung in an arch directly aimed for my head. I had mere moments before I would be struck down where I was. I predicted her signature attack and I moved slightly to the side, bringing up my sword from where the tip was stuck in the ground and put it on an angle to deflect the attack.

The axe came down and my movements happened so fast that Astrid couldn't stop the attack. The axe blade fell against my sword and the sound rang out throughout the ring. The axe didn't stop on my sword though. The angle I was holding the sword forced it away from me and threw Astrid off balance.

I saw my chance and I shot up from where I was still kneeling on the ground and hit her in the stomach with my shoulder. It would surprise her more than actually hurt her. The result was the axe was released from her grip and tumbled to the side while she was thrown onto her back.

I stood up and walked toward her and held my sword at my side. With the air knocked out of her, she was stunned on the ground looking up into the sky. I watched her for a second before she pushed herself up in a seating position, to which I reacted by bringing my sword forward and placing it directly in front of her face.

Astrid looked up to find my eyes and I could see fear behind them. She knew that with her axe being so far away, she had no chance to win now. Our gaze never broke from each other until I saw the fear disappear from her eyes and acceptance replace it. She lowered her head and let her shoulders slump.

"Now…" she twisted her eyes shut, ready for the inevitable, "Do you surrender?" I spoke quietly to her while every other viking in the stands sat on the edge of their seats but I paid no attention to them. I received a small nod in return, confirming that she was finished.

I pulled my sword away from her and sheathed it in my scarbard that hung on my hip, creating a sound that made Astrid swing her head up, curious as to why I didn't finish her. Her curiosity changed into surprise when I stuck my hand out instead. She looked from my hand to my eyes and back to my hand before the surprise disappeared and was replaced with respect as she reached out and grabbed my hand. I helped her to her feet and then retrieved her fallen axe for her, which she gratefully accepted and slung over her back.

I turned around and faced the Chief from where he was standing against the Killring's bars with his warhammer ready, looking as if he was about to interfere with the fight. Even from the distance that we stood, I could feel his angry eyes on me, but as I looked around, I found nothing but surprise and respect on everything else's face. I found more warriors standing against the bars with their weapons drawn, ready to interfere with their Chief's command.

"Now are you willing to listen?" I said as I caught eyes with the Chief's again. I held my hands out in a wide arch as if showing them that I had won the fight. "All of this-" I spun around in a little circle, catching eyes with more than a few vikings before landing back on the Chief's, "just so we can talk." I dropped my arms to my side.

I turned back towards Astrid, who was watching my every move and listening to everything that I was saying. "You did well Hofferson," she nodded her head as if in agreement, "come find me at the cove later," which resulted in her eyes changing from respect back into surprise before changing back to respect, all in a matter of mere seconds. Anybody looking would have noticed but nobody else would have. She just nodded in response, telling me that she would.

I looked back towards the Chief who was still watching my every movement inside the ring. He seemed even angrier than before, maybe because of how I treated Astrid, but I ignored it.

"Astrid Hofferson is a wonderful fighter, and the fight was a very exciting challenge! There is no wonder Astrid Hofferson is General of Defence for Berk." I looked in her direction for a quick glance, "There were many times when I thought I was defeated. I do admit that the only reason I won is because I caught her by surprise, otherwise she would have defeated me! I would love to challenge her again under different circumstances!"

The crowd of vikings started out whispering when I started my speech, but by the end of it, we had some even hollering in the background. I looked back towards the Chief and found that he was looking at his whole village around the ring and the reaction that I was getting from what I said. When his eyes finally landed back on mine, I could feel the anger still there, but on top of it was surprise at how I controlled the village.

A loud ringing went out when Stoick brought his warhammer down against the bars, silencing everyone instantly.

"For defeating my best warrior, under Viking law, you will be granted a meeting with the war council but they will be under my terms." I nodded in agreement.

"Name your terms!"

"The meeting will be held in the Great Hall this afternoon, you are to bring ALL your riders along with you. No dragons will be allowed in the Great Hall. Do you understand this?"

"I agree with your terms!" and with that, I turned on my heel and walked towards the gate. I stopped in the short tunnel that connected the outside world to the inside of the ring. Astrid was following closely and stopped when I did.

"You're very much welcome." I said without turning around.

"Excuse me?"

"For the axe. You're very much welcome."

"Oh, right…"

I was stopped in my tracks by a hand on my arm. I turned around to find Astrid looking towards the ground, who dropped her arm as soon as I stopped.

"Is something the matter Hofferson?"

"No…, well yes…," she let out a breath once and hung her shoulders before looking up. "This axe is very similarly crafted to my old axe," she swallowed before continuing, "Hiccup made it for me."

I could see where this was going. I should have realized that she would notice the similarities in both axes.

"Did… Umm, Hiccup make this one too?" I saw hope in her eyes when she asked, even though I had told her that Hiccup was gone, she still hoped that he would return.

"No. Hiccup didn't make that axe." I turned around and faced the exit, closing my eyes in the process. "Hiccup trained me in the forge in exchange for training him with a sword."

"Oh…" and the disappointment in her voice made me look towards her again. Astrid had her eyes closed and was facing the ground.

"Hiccup told me that I would find a Valkyrie if I went North, and said I would know when I saw her. He told me that it was about time she got herself a new axe, said something along the lines of always taking care of his Valkyrie."

I heard a sob come from her before she ran out the exit. I didn't see where she went but I didn't want to follow her. I knew that I had hit a soft spot, but it needed to be done. I needed Astrid on her best game if she was to be trained as a dragon rider and help in defeating the Red Death. I sighed and shook my head, bringing a hand up to cover my eyes. Every time I lied to her, I broke her heart more and more, which completely crushed mine tenfold.

I removed my hand and opened my eyes once more. I walked out of the exit to find Toothless sitting still, watching everything going on around him as many Vikings passed him with nervousness in their step. I walked up to him and gave him a scratch under the chin and everyone around us seemed to take a breath as I did so. It was so strange to see people who spent their lives fighting dragons so scared around a Night Fury.

I climbed into the saddle on his back and shot directly into the sky. I noticed the other riders were still in the same position, watching my every move. I needed to tell them about the meeting and what my plan was, so we had time to prepare. Even though I won the fight and Viking law allows the meeting, I have a bad feeling it's going to go bad, and quickly.

The meeting seemed to have already started when my riders and I entered the Great Hall. As promised, I made sure no dragons would follow us but that didn't mean they weren't close by. As soon as we entered, the chatter that was happening between the war council suddenly went quiet.

We all approached the war council very slowly before Stoick gestured to the seat across from him. I slowly took a seat as my eyes went from council member to council member, recognizing all of them from when I was allowed into the war council meetings. Behind Stoick stood Gobber to his sudden right, and Spitelout to his sudden left, as they have always been. Beside Gobber stood Astrid, her new axe still slung along her back, her facial expression completely blank. Gothi sat beside Stoick as many of the elders did, directly in front of Gobber. Standing beside Spitelout was Phlegma "the Fierce".

Spitelout and Phlegma were always the hard ones, and would always give the death glare to whoever opposed them. It was meant to scare some sense into people before a decision was made. Unfortunately for them, I knew exactly who they were and knew that it was just a front. Gobber had his deciding face on, where he wouldn't make a decision without considering it first, like most things he took into consideration. Gothi just looked directly at me, as if peering right into my soul, if anything, the look Gothi was given me was the scariest of them all. Astrid had a blank expression on, trying not to show anything to the opposing side, which mirrored Stoick's expression.

Behind me directly to my right, stood Thuggory, and beside him, Dogsbreath, mirroring Spitelout and Phlegma. Directly to my left stood Camicazi, and beside her, Heather. We all wore our armor which showed nothing but our eyes to the war council.

I heard a small creek, as if wood was getting stressed beyond what it should have been. I knew exactly what it was but nobody else seemed to notice it beside Astrid. She suddenly looked up and her mouth opened slightly before her eyes landed on mine. As she met my eyes, I noticed the surprise in them from what she had seen, and I just responded in a slight nod before she recomposed herself. Sitting on a wooden beam, high above us and out of sight, was Toothless overlooking the meeting. Anybody else who would have looked up would have noticed nothing but darkness, as he was completely hidden.

"Alright, now that you got us exactly where you want us, how do you plan on stopping the dragon raids?" Stoick started out, getting straight to the point.

"Well, like I said yesterday, I have a solution to stopping the raids from happening, but I need more riders." I saw Stoick's eyes harden and turn cold as I mentioned more riders. He didn't dare react any further, but I could tell he was using most of his strength from lashing out. "The raids are caused by one dragon, a Chief or Alpha of dragons to put it simply. For ease of understanding, I have named her 'Red Death'.

"And why does this 'Red Death' decide to raid us?" Gobber was the one to speak up, asking the question they all were thinking.

"The Red Death is not like a normal dragon. This dragon is the size of a mountain and has control over the dragons that raid your island using fear. You see, I have faced this dragon in the past before I met any of my other riders behind me. She is the reason I wear this mask and this armor made out of dragon scales."

"So you have been to the island? How did you get to it?"

"That's a secret that I am unwilling to share."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ARE UNWILLING TO SHARE?" Stoick suddenly burst out and slammed his hands against the table that separated us. His blank expression completely gone, replaced with one of anger and fury. "WE'VE BEEN FIGHTING THEM FOR 300 YEARS, WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW!"

"And that right there is why I won't share it with you." I kept my eyes blank, not showing the emotions that I was feeling on the inside. I have always been on the worse end of the stick of Stoick's anger, but nothing like this. My heart was beating up in my ears as I watched him give me the death glare that mimicked Spitelout and Phlegma. "I will not allow you or your people to sail to your death."

"That is not for you to decide boy-o." Spitelout spoke up as he placed a hand on Stoick's shoulder, trying to calm down their Chief.

"It is if you want to stop the raids."

There was nothing but silence between the two sides. The Chief started taking deep breaths before he pushed Spitelout's hand off his shoulder and took a seat again. The silence was deafening, and I could see the war council shift their weight multiple times, waiting for the Chief to continue.

"Alright, I'm listening."

"So you have been to the nest?" It was Astrid who spoke up first.

I caught her gaze and held it as I spoke. "Yes, I have been to the nest. It was the worst experience of my life. If I wasn't riding the fastest dragon that we know of, in existence, I probably wouldn't be sitting here talking to you today." I turned my head and faced the Chief directly. "The Red Death is bigger than your mountain here on Berk, no amount of men, women, weapons, or catapults will be able to defeat this dragon."

"So what is your solution then?"

I turned back to face Astrid, as it was so much easier to talk to her than it was to a Chief that was threatening to snap your neck right in front of you. "That is where Berk comes into the plan. See, I have a crew of dragon riders that are well experienced, I would trust each and every one of them in battle and beyond. But five dragon riders versus a mountain of a dragon like that is walking directly to your death.

"I came to Berk to request your help because I know that Berk has some of the best warriors in the Archipelago and are the ones who suffer the worst from the dragon raids. With a few of Berk's greatest warriors on the backs of dragons, we would have a better chance at defeating the Red Death and stopping the raids once and for all."

"And what would you gain out of all of this?" Spitelout spoke up which caused me to drop Astrid's gaze once more and look towards him.

"The only thing I ask for, is that you stop killing dragons."

"There has to be more," Phlegma stated, "There is no way you come to us, prepared to lay your life on the line, and request that we just stop killing dragons. You have got to want something more than just that."

"What else would I really want? I have everything that I would ever need. I have a dragon, I have good friends, and I can survive by myself."

"What about money? Supplies? Somewhere to stay?" Gobber was the next one to ask.

"I've never needed money before, and supplies are never hard to come by when you create solutions to people's problems. I never stay in one place long enough to need somewhere to stay. I live on the back of a dragon and I explore the world."

"So why come and help Berk at all? You could have just flown away to somewhere that doesn't have these issues." Astrid was the next to speak. I turned back to her and caught her gaze again.

"Because I was asked to come help, and I cannot just deny a request for help." Astrid's hand came up to cover her mouth, luckily unnoticed by anybody else at the council meeting except for my riders.

"And how do we know you are telling the truth?" Stoick caught my attention after being silent for so long. "How do we know we can trust you? You seem to know everything about us but we know nothing about you."

I stayed silent, thinking about what I could say without revealing who I was. My last trick up my sleeve was to reveal who the other riders were and they knew it, but if Stoick or any of the other council members disagreed, it would be us and us alone when it came to defeating the Red Death.

I turned my attention back to the Chief, "You won't know if I am telling the truth or not, but I can tell by the looks on each and every one of your faces that my stories make more sense than anything you could have thought up." I stood up from where I was sitting, placing my hands on the table and getting on eye level with Stoick. "Berk is known Archipelago wide for having the strongest warriors and the worst raids. The stories of Berk's Lost Heir have spread far and wide, making you vulnerable compared to every other tribe. You are just lucky you haven't been attacked yet because of it.

"And how can you trust me? Well, you can't. You don't know who I am, and you never will"

I took my hands off the table and stood straight up, peering from every council member before resting my eyes back on the Chief. "But I know you are willing to do anything to stop the raids, to prevent another wife or child being carried off by one of them again." I could see the anger building as I hit a soft spot.

"We can't trust you if we don't know who you are," Phlegma finally spoke up once more, causing me to look towards her, "based on what we know, you could be trying to take over Berk from the inside."

"Do you really think I couldn't have just taken it by force if I wanted to? Ask Hofferson or the wooden legged fellow over there. If I wanted to take over Berk, I would have before everyone returned from the Thing."

Phlegma and Spitelout both looked behind the Chief to find Astrid and Gobber both nodding their heads in response, as if agreeing with me.

"It's true, if he wanted the village, he could have taken it before you guys returned, it wouldn't have been very hard with only a few warriors on the island." Astrid recalled the thought from the other day, "So why didn't you take over Berk? It would have been a lot easier to force people to help you?"

"What would I gain if I took over Berk? A bunch of stubborn Vikings that don't want change because it scares them? No, I am not someone to force people into doing what I want. These riders behind me? They follow me because they have all been affected by dragons one way or another and want to prevent their family, loved ones, or people from getting hurt again."

"So what if we were to agree to help you defeat this Red Death, what would you expect from us?" Gobber asked, trying to get all the information before he came to a decision.

"I'm glad you asked. I would need full use of the forge, full access to the Killring for training of the new recruits, and some of the best warriors that Berk would trust to help defeat the Red Death on the back of dragons. If required, I would request that Astrid Hofferson-" I looked towards her to find confusion spread all over her face and I gave a smirk behind my mask, "-watch my every move if any of you have any doubts about trusting me, she is your best warrior after all and the closest that anybody came to defeating me in a long time." Astrid's face went from confusion to surprise back to a blank expression once I had finished talking.

"And what about your dragons?"

"They will be hidden most of the time unless training in the arena except for the night fury. He goes where I go and won't leave my side. He won't hurt anybody unless he feels threatened or I command him to."

"No, I won't allow any dragons in my village." Stoick finally spoke up, slamming his hands back on the table once more, startling everyone except for myself. I was all too used to his outburst when I did something wrong in the village that nothing surprises me when it comes to Stoick.

"Chief-" Gobber moved forward, putting a hand on his friend's arm, "-I have seen first hand how that night fury listens to his rider. He only reacted when Shadow over here was threatened by Astrid's axe."

"That still doesn't tell me that damned night fury won't attack people for no reason. All the other dragons do it during the raids, what difference is the night fury?"

"I see that you are all feeling differently about my offer. I will let you converse between yourselves before coming to a final decision, and when you do, Hofferson will know where to find me." I turned around on my heel and walked towards the Great Hall doors, hearing footsteps behind me of the other riders. All the conversation was quiet behind us, nobody dared to speak while we left the Great Hall.

Once we were outside, we were met by our dragons waiting patiently for our return. I had advised them to wait above the Great Hall, hidden from the rest of the world, but once Toothless had come out from his hiding spot inside the rafters of the Great Hall, the other dragons followed his lead and met us outside.

"What's your plan now, Shadow?" It was Camicazi who asked, "That didn't exactly go as planned."

"The plan is to fly back to the cove and wait for a response. It won't take them long, I already saw a few of them come to a decision before I left. Stoick's decision will be the hardest to change in all of this."

We all mounted our dragons and headed back to the cove. I knew that Astrid would be coming along not too long after we landed, she had already made up her mind before we had even left, maybe even before the meeting had even started.

Well, there you have it. The fight between our favourite couple. Let me know what you think!