The Heir's Odyssey

by Fanfiction1190

Unable to kill the Night Fury he shot down, Hiccup frees the dragon, and, in time, becomes his friend. Their friendship leads Hiccup to leave Berk in favour of exploring the world with Toothless, in the hope that they may find a place for themselves in a dangerous world. Their journey is long, but, in the end, they cannot outrun destiny.

3. Chapter 3

August 29, 2020

So, I've been having some car trouble this past week, and that meant me going to the mechanic a few times, once to get the car looked at and another to get it repaired once a part arrived. That has led to me not being able to write for a few days. I'm going to need to delay its release by a few days. I know this is yet another delay, but, honestly, 2020 has just been one problem after another.

There is some good news I have for you, though. I'm not leaving you without anything to read. I'm posting an updated Chapter 3. I had originally planned to release it alongside Chapter 4, but, given the delay, I felt like you guys should have something to read. On the bright side, this new, updated Chapter 3 is more than twice as long as the old one, over 15,000 words. I also made sure that only a relatively small portion overlaps with the events in Chapter 1, so this means most of it is not covered by the two previous chapters. That being said, if you were to summarize this chapter, not much changed in terms of where the story goes, but, in my opinion, it's far more complete than the previous document.

I hope that you'll enjoy the new Chapter 3. Thank you for reading this story, and I hope that you are all staying safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

---

The Heir's Odyssey

Chapter 3 – In Search of Honour

Astrid Hofferson

After almost an hour of wrangling, Astrid had finally managed to get her little brother, Erik¹, to go to bed. It hadn't been easy, convincing the energetic ten-year-old to go to sleep. Like every small child on Berk, Erik yearned to make himself useful in their war against the dragons. To that end, her little brother had wanted to stay up tonight and help Astrid with her shift on the village fire brigade. While she had appreciated the enthusiasm shown by the brown-haired boy, she hadn't shared his opinion. Her little brother was still a bit too young to begin training with a weapon, and he was nearly half a decade away from being allowed to enrol in the training academy. As such, Astrid had thought it unwise to let him accompany her tonight, with the girl politely declining his request. While Erik had been a little upset by her decision, it had been nothing that a bedtime story hadn't fixed.

Pressing a gentle kiss to her sleeping brother's forehead, she blew out the candle on his bedside table and quietly left the room, heading downstairs. As she descended the staircase, Astrid made sure to tread lightly, lest she woke her tired, sleeping mother. The woman had just started working again after having stopped when Astrid was born, with her mother not yet used to the new routine. Her mom's new job, combined with the fact that she still had to cook and clean on the days Astrid's father couldn't help out, meant that, lately, her mother had arrived home weary and often went to bed early. Reaching the main room of the house, Astrid saw that Erik had forgotten to clean up after himself once he had finished playing during the day. Wooden toys and stuffed animals littered the main room, some on the furniture and others on the floor. Not wanting to leave the mess behind for her mother to clean in the morning, Astrid collected the toys in a wicker basket, placing the receptacle near the staircase.

Once done with her unexpected chore, the fifteen-year-old placed a few more logs into the hearth that sat in the middle of the main room and went to her bedroom. Bringing the candle that sat on her bedside table with her, she sat down at her desk, determined to finish reading the book that she had borrowed from the village blacksmith. The man in question, Gobber, who often doubled as the instructor at Berk's Warrior Training Academy, had lent her the Dragon Manual so that she could study its contents before the start of class. The borrowed book was an encyclopedia containing all of the knowledge her people had on their most hated enemy, written long ago by one of the blacksmith's ancestors. She had already managed to study most of it, but there was one section that she had been dreading to read. Setting the candle down on the desk, she opened the book, flipping the pages until she reached the part of the encyclopedia dedicated to the Fear class of dragons.

Astrid carefully read the words inscribed in the tome, absorbing all of the knowledge and insight they provided until she reached the page that she had been most apprehensive about reading. It was the page about the Flightmare dragon — the same kind of beast which, eight years ago, had killed her beloved uncle Finn and ruined her family's honour in one fell swoop. Shortly after his death, a rumour had spread through Berk claiming that her uncle, a man who the village had called Fearless Finn, had frozen in fear at the mere sight of the beast. Despite having been only seven years old at the time, Astrid had been crushed by her uncle's death and had been incensed by the subsequent onslaught of rumours. After his death, most of the villagers had lost all sense of respect for Finn and the rest of House Hofferson. Some of them had even begun whispering the name Frozen Finn Hofferson and claimed that her family's long history of being brave, dutiful warriors was over.

At first, her family had tried to fight the malicious rumours. Her parents, and even Astrid herself, had implored the village to see reason, to trust their word over that of the anonymous gossips. They had reminded their neighbours of the many times that the Hoffersons had proven themselves in service to Berk. Unfortunately, their appeals had been in vain, and the only response the Hoffersons had received from the village were looks of pity. When it became clear that the gossips had prevailed, the Hoffersons had decided to focus on restoring their honour. To this day, she still felt angry about what had happened to her uncle and his reputation. Years ago, Astrid had made a promise to herself that, one day, she would find a Flightmare and slay it, showing the village that the Hoffersons had never stopped being fearless.

Unfortunately for Astrid, it seemed that the Dragon Manual lacked any useful information regarding the dragon in question. Unlike the pages on most other kinds of dragons, there was no information regarding this particular beast's size or speed, only speculation that its appearance was so terrifying that it caused even the bravest of Vikings to freeze at the mere sight of it. All that was known about the beast was that its appearance was heralded by the seas lighting up with a mysterious blue flame, an event that occurred in the waters around Berk approximately every ten years. As she read the entry on the Flightmare, she bristled at the sentence claiming that even the bravest of Vikings would freeze at the sight of it. The fifteen-year-old didn't know if the entry had been edited after the death of her uncle to reflect the village gossip, but a part of her felt like it had been. It seemed like even Berk's books hadn't been spared from the rumours of her uncle being paralyzed by fear when he tried to fight off the Flightmare.

The fifteen-year-old was frustrated that she hadn't found any useful information about the monster that had killed her uncle and ruined her family's reputation. The tragic death of her uncle, and the subsequent fallout from the rumours, weighed heavily on her. Astrid felt guilty about the fact that she now slept in her uncle Finn's old bedroom. It was an arrangement that she and her parents had come to, five years after Finn's death, when Astrid had started maturing into a young woman. Moving into her uncle Finn's old room had given the girl her own space, and some much-needed privacy, while also providing her little brother with a space to call his own. However, regardless of the reason why she ended up there, it made her slightly uneasy to sleep in her late uncle's room. Even though it had been three years since Astrid moved into the room, she always felt a little bit like an intruder there. Her melancholy thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the door.

"Come in." Astrid said, putting the book down.

The door to her bedroom opened to reveal her father, Egill Hofferson. Standing at six-foot-one, with short, brown hair, a neat beard, and blue eyes, her father was the picture of a Viking warrior. Astrid hadn't been expecting him home since he was supposed to be out leading the night patrol. He wore a slightly concerned look on his face, which made her tense slightly.

"Sorry to bother you, Astrid." her father said, entering her bedroom. "I saw the light from the candle through the cracks in the doorframe, and I thought I should knock and see if you were awake."

"I was just reading the Dragon Manual to prepare for the start of class." she said, gesturing to the book on her desk.

"Always prepared, that's my girl!" he said, smiling. "I can't wait until training starts at the academy. You'll be the best warrior to ever graduate!"

"Thanks, dad." she replied, a small smile appearing on her face in response to his praise. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but aren't you supposed to be out on night patrol?"

Astrid hoped that her father hadn't somehow been forced off of the night patrol. After the rumours that had spread about her late uncle, some of the Vikings in the village had started objecting to working with anyone from House Hofferson. Although the villagers' reticence to working alongside her family had greatly diminished over the eight years since Finn's death, there were still a few that refused to work with them.

"I am," her father replied, his smile still present. "I just came from a meeting with the other leaders of tonight's patrol. The chief gave everyone some time to say goodnight to their families, so I thought I should make use of the opportunity."

The young Viking was relieved to hear that, tired of her family having to defend their honour. She didn't know what she would do if someone had forced her father off of a patrol just because of some unfounded claims about her uncle's bravery.

"I hope you didn't wake up mom," Astrid said, thinking of how tired her mother had been after a long workday. "She's had a long day at work and has already gone to bed."

"Oh, please, I'm not an idiot. I know better than to disturb your mother when she's trying to rest." he replied, smiling. "That woman would swing an axe at your head if you ever woke her up for no reason. It's one of the many reasons why I love her."

Astrid's mother, Brunhilda Hofferson², was not someone to be trifled with. Once, her mother had been one of the most feared warriors in the village, lauded by the village for her skill on the battlefield. Brunhilda had only stopped fighting after the birth of her eldest child. Although the woman was no longer a warrior and was now often tired from her work as a part-time brewer at one of the village's ale breweries, it didn't mean that you could get away with crossing her. It may have been fifteen years since her mother had left her old job as a warrior, but she had never forgotten the warrior mindset. Brunhilda Hofferson was a strong, independent, and intelligent woman who did not hold back from speaking her mind. She also didn't shy away from physical confrontation, especially if someone did not heed her words and kept bothering her. These were all qualities that her mother had instilled in both Astrid and her brother.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that's how she reacted." the girl said, smiling at the mental image of her mother swinging an axe at the poor soul who roused her from her much-needed rest.

Her dad momentarily chuckled at her words before his face became more serious.

"As much as I'm enjoying spending some time with you, I need to get going if I don't want to be late." her father said, coming closer to press a kiss on her forehead. "I just have to kiss your brother goodnight, and then I'll be heading back out to the Great Hall."

"Try not to wake him up," Astrid pleaded. "It took me forever to get him to go to bed."

"I'll make sure not to do that." he replied, making his way back to the doorway. "I hope that you won't be staying up too late tonight."

"I have to stay up," the fifteen-year-old told him. "I have a shift on the fire brigade tonight."

"I didn't realize that you signed up for another shift on the fire brigade." her father said, frowning slightly. "Isn't it a bit too close to the start of training for you to be volunteering?"

Her father was likely worried about how the sleepless night she would be spending as part of the fire brigade would affect her performance at the academy. Although Astrid understood his concern, she did not share it. It was important that the young Viking helped out in the village, that she kept volunteering as part of the fire brigade, even if it would be slightly inconvenient for her. Her service to Berk was one of the many ways that Astrid showed the village that her family was still worthy of respect.

"I'm sure that some of the others enrolled at the academy are also volunteering tonight. If they're going to be out working a shift on the fire brigade tonight, so will I." she replied firmly. "Besides, you've always told me that a Hofferson always puts the village first. This is me doing that, dad."

"Alright, I'm sorry I asked." her father said, sighing. "It looks like both of us won't be getting any sleep tonight then. Just promise me that you won't wear yourself out too much tonight. Training starts in two days, after all."

"That's not really up to me, dad." Astrid replied, tone softening at his apology. "But, I'm hoping that it'll be a quiet night given how close to winter it is."

Her father nodded in agreement. "Goodnight, my little valkyrie." he said.

"Goodnight, dad." she replied, smiling fondly at the nickname her father used.

With a final look back towards Astrid, her father left her bedroom, closing the door behind him. The fifteen-year-old was once again alone, her thoughts now drifting to what would happen when training would start at the academy. In order to be prepared for any training fight, Astrid had been practicing with her axe whenever she wasn't otherwise occupied. She had done so in the hopes that she would be the first in her class. It would do wonders for her family's honour if Astrid managed to graduate top of the academy. Traditionally, the entire village would be present at the graduation ceremony, and a special distinction was always given to whoever graduated top of their class. The young Viking was so engrossed in her thoughts about how performing well in the academy could redeem her family's name that she didn't even notice how late it was getting. At some point during the night, her drowsiness had gotten the better of her, and Astrid fell asleep at her desk.

---

Astrid startled awake to the sound of a horn blowing loudly and repetitively. Everyone on the island knew what that sound meant — the dragons were attacking. Shaking away any residual drowsiness, Astrid quickly put on her brown, leather boots, and ran out of her room. The fifteen-year-old immediately ascended the stairs and went to her brother's room, intent getting him to a safe place. Like many adults on Berk, her mother would be joining the fight against the beasts, and therefore wouldn't be able to look after Erik. Astrid needed to get her little brother to the village elder's house, where the elder and her team of healers would watch over the younger children for the duration of the raid. Bursting into Erik's room, she ran to his bed and shook the young boy awake. At first, the sleepy, brown-haired boy seemed confused at her appearance, but he soon seemed to realize what was happening.

"Put on your boots and follow me!" She ordered, grabbing a pair of boots from near the door and throwing them to him. "We need to get you to the elder's house."

She braced herself for an objection, and perhaps even another plea to let him accompany her to her shift on the fire brigade, but, thankfully, her little brother didn't take issue with her command. Instead, Erik obediently put on his boots, following her as she left his bedroom and went down the stairs to the main room of the house. Reaching the bottom of the staircase, Astrid saw that mother was already awake, with the woman's blonde hair in a messy braid and her blue eyes alert. In no time at all, Brunhilda was ready to fight, having already finished putting on her armour and grabbing a battle-axe that was hanging from a wall, turning to face the two siblings.

"Astrid, get your brother to the elder's house and get to your shift on the fire brigade." her mother ordered. "I'm heading out of the village to help the farmers protect the fields and livestock."

"I'm already on it, mom." replied Astrid.

Nodding in acknowledgement, her mother kissed the fifteen-year-old and her brother on the forehead before heading out of the house and into the battle raging outside. Astrid was just about to follow her mom outside when she quickly changed course, momentarily leaving her brother alone to run back to her bedroom and grab her axe. It was an old weapon, passed down to the girl from her mother when Astrid had turned twelve. Though it may not have been new, its double-bladed design and her family's meticulous maintenance over the years, meant that it was still quite a deadly weapon. The young Viking didn't expect to have much use for it this morning, but she thought it wise to bring it along with her. One could never be too careful with the dragons. Now armed with a weapon, Astrid quickly headed back to the main room and knelt before her little brother, looking straight into his worried blue eyes.

"When we go out there, do not let go of my hand until we reach the elder's house." she instructed. "Follow all the instructions the elder and her healers give you. When the raid is over, either mom, dad, or I will come to get you. Okay, little guy?"

"Yes, Astrid." Erik replied, nodding his head.

Satisfied with his response, the young Viking stood back up, grabbed her little brother's hand, and headed out the door. The minute they left Hofferson Hall, the two siblings found themselves surrounded by chaos as dragons flew overhead, occasionally diving down to breathe fire over the houses, and Vikings engaged in heated battles, trying to repel the beasts. Astrid only spent a few moments examining the situation before she gave her brother's hand a tug and started running to the west side of the village, towards the elder's home. As her little brother had shorter legs, the fifteen-year-old made sure to decrease her stride so that Erik could follow without tripping. The pair weaved between busy Vikings as they moved away from the centre of the village, occasionally even having to dodge oncoming attacks from the dragons. More than once, when the fifteen-year-old looked over her shoulder, she found herself seeing orange flashes lighting up the skies above Berk, each one representing an attack on her people.

Racing west along Berk's paths, the two siblings soon found themselves on the outskirts of the village, where the buildings and people were few. It seemed like the further away they got from the village centre, the more the mayhem around them diminished. As the two neared the elder's home, the very atmosphere around them seemed to change, the skies overhead now devoid of dragons. One could easily conclude that the dragons avoided that area simply because there was nothing there for them to steal, but that couldn't be the reason, because while the village didn't hold much for the beasts to take, they still attacked it regularly. No, Astrid thought there was an altogether different reason why the monsters had never dared attack this part of Berk. Although she wasn't a particularly religious or superstitious person, Astrid, like many in the village, believed that it had something to do with the mysterious, mute woman who was the village elder, priestess, and healer. The elder, Gothi Heilsdóttir, was rumoured to possess a special connection to the gods, with some even claiming that she could see the future. While Astrid couldn't definitively say whether these claims were true, she, like many others, thanked the gods that there was at least one place on Berk that was safe from the dragons.

Astrid and Erik soon reached the cliffs beyond the western edge of the village, where a small, wooden bridge linked the island to the sea stack upon which the elder's house sat. The home in question was a relatively small, wooden hall, its exterior well-lit by the gentle light of torches placed around the structure's perimeter, and with its interior often crowded as it was used to both house the young children and tend to the wounded. From where she stood on the east side of the bridge connecting the sea stack to the island, Astrid could see that some of the healers who assisted the elder were standing outside of the building, directing groups of young children inside. It seemed like Astrid had gotten Erik there in good time since only a relatively small number of children were gathered outside the hall. Tugging one last time on Erik's hand, the fifteen-year-old led her brother across the bridge and onto the sea stack, stopping just a few yards from the healers standing by. Turning around to face her brother, she knelt on the ground before him.

"You need to go with the healers now, Erik. I have to get back to the village to do my job." she told him, looking into his slightly panicked blue eyes. "I love you, little guy."

"I love you too, Astrid." her little brother replied, his voice a little shaky. "Please be careful when you're out there."

Touched by his concern, the young Viking nodded, pulling Erik into a long hug before releasing him and directing him to one of the waiting healers. She watched as a woman guided her little brother towards a group of young children making their way inside, making sure to stay long enough to see him go safely into the elder's home. With Erik now safely inside the elder's house, Astrid then turned on her heel and quickly ran back towards the carnage. Now alone, Astrid was able to run at full speed, with the fifteen-year-old reaching the outskirts of the village in just a few minutes. As she approached the village, Astrid could already see that the dragons had been very busy in the short amount of time that it had taken her to drop off her brother. There was an ominous orange glow lighting up the early morning sky, and the sound of fires crackling penetrated the cacophony of screaming Vikings and roaring dragons.

Astrid saw at least two homes completely engulfed by fire, the flames already starting to burn away at their walls, exposing their wrecked interiors. It was already too late for those halls — no amount of water poured on those fires would put them out. They would be reduced to a smouldering pile of charcoal by sunrise. A lone woman stood outside one of the homes, the villager screaming in agony as tears rolled down her cheeks. She must have been one of the occupants of that house, the woman inconsolable at having to watch in horror as her home, the place where she had built a life with her family, was slowly being reduced to ashes. Her heart clenched at the sight of the woman's anguish, but the young Viking kept running towards the centre of the village, determined to join her fire brigade squad and prevent more tragedy from occurring. As she neared the village centre, she passed another three homes on fire, with their residents already busy moving their valuables to the relative safety of the village paths. Those houses were thankfully only dealing with small fires, and they looked like they would be salvageable if the fire brigade got to them on time.

The closer she got to her destination, the more the battle around her intensified. Astrid was around five-hundred yards from the plaza when she could once again see the ongoing fight between Berk's warriors and the dragons. Above her, the skies were occasionally lit by streaks of fire, and the surrounding air was filled with the sounds of Viking battle cries and dragons roars. Her people were trying their hardest to repel the attacking beasts, but they weren't having much luck. It was hard to drive back an enemy that could breathe fire and fly. Compounding the already bad situation was the fact that the Vikings not only needed to attack the monsters, but they needed to defend their families, homes, farms, and livestock as well. It was, very much, not a fair fight. However, despite being dealt a bad hand, the Vikings fought with valour, and, every once in a while, they managed to take down one of the dragons. Once on the ground, the dragons were much more easily dispatched by the warriors, as heavy chains weighed them down and prevented them from fleeing, and steel blades sliced through their scales.

Crossing into the village square, Astrid headed to the well in the middle of the plaza where her fire brigade squad mustered during raids. Although she had made a slight detour to drop off her brother, the young Viking was still the first one to arrive at the designated meeting place. It didn't take long for the others to join her, with the rest of her squad arriving only a few minutes later. The first of her peers to reach the well was Snotlout Jorgenson, a short, black-haired boy who was often annoying, disobedient, and rude. It wasn't surprising that she couldn't bear to work with him, given his attitude and the fact that there was a long history of bad blood between the Hoffersons and the Jorgensons. However, while Snotlout was not Astrid's favourite person, even she had to admit that he was one of the most promising warriors in the village.

Next came the Thorston twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut — a cunning, mischievous, blond-haired brother and sister duo. The boy, Tuffnut, thought himself the comedian of their group, always trying to make jokes, though often ones which were provocative or fell flat. The girl, Ruffnut, was the brains of the duo, always coming up with plans for the pranks which the two liked to pull, often ones that left her brother as the party held responsible while leaving her own hands clean. Despite the stark differences that existed between the two girls, out of everyone in the squad, Astrid felt closest to Ruffnut. They weren't exactly friends, but, being the only girls on the team, they shared similar experiences, which helped forge a closer bond between the two. It also didn't hurt that Ruffnut had the wonderful ability to provoke Snotlout with just a few words, a power which the other girl used liberally. Last to arrive was Fishlegs Ingerman, a stout, blond-haired boy who was the same age as the twins and a year younger than Astrid and Snotlout. Despite his young age and seemingly perpetual shyness, Fishlegs was one of the most intelligent Vikings in the village and an asset in any fight.

They were definitely not the most coherent group of people, but, somehow, the teenagers made it work. At first, she had been a little apprehensive about working with such a disjointed group, but the fact that they all brought their own skills to the squad had made it easy for them to get along. Astrid was the unofficial leader of the group, the young Viking's strong character and strategic mindset working in her favor. Snotlout, despite his obvious flaws, was quite useful in situations that called for the use of brute force or great strength. Ruffnut and Tuffnut, though often bickering with one another, could nonetheless put aside their differences when needed, with the twins working wonderfully as a pair. Fishlegs, who may not have been the most athletic member of the squad, was one of the most intelligent Vikings on Berk, his knowledge an invaluable asset to the fire brigade. During the three years that she had served on the fire brigade, Astrid had learnt that she could trust every single one of them to do their jobs. That was quite the vote of confidence for her squad, considering it came from Astrid, a girl who decidedly not one of the most sociable people in the village. With her entire squad now assembled around her, Astrid began her briefing.

"Look alive, guys! Today's going to be a busy morning." Astrid said. "I saw five fires on my way here from the elder's house. Two of them were far enough along that those houses are likely going to be total losses, but three looked small enough for us to put out."

"Five fires for five Vikings." remarked Tuffnut, interrupting her briefing.

"Yes, Tuff. There's one for each of us to deal with." the fifteen-year-old said, slightly annoyed at his unnecessary interruption. "Anyway, I think we should focus on putting out those three smaller fires and stopping the spread of the two that are already too far along."

The other members of Astrid's fire brigade squad nodded their approval, with the young Viking especially relieved to see that her idea had the support of the most intelligent member of the group.

"What are our assignments?" asked Ruffnut.

"Yeah, babe," Snotlout added arrogantly. "Tell the Snotman what he can for you."

She bristled at the remark, taking a moment to calm herself and push down the rising bile in her throat. It wouldn't be appropriate for Astrid to waste valuable time swinging her axe at Snotlout's smug face, not when every minute that she wasted allowed the fires to grow and spread. So, instead of fulfilling her baser instincts, the fifteen-year-old carefully thought about where the members of her squad would be most useful. Once she had come up with a plan, Astrid began issuing her directives.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut, I want the two of you to contain the two larger fires and make sure that they don't spread to the adjacent buildings." she ordered.

"Got it." chorused the twins, nodding in unison.

"Snotlout, since you always like to brag about how strong you are, you're going to bring water from the well to refill the barrels near the site of the fires." Astrid instructed. "Even if they're full right now, I doubt that they'll be enough for us to put out all the fires."

"It's not bragging if it's true, babe." replied Snotlout.

The young Viking took yet another moment to quell her anger, telling herself that she couldn't strike his highly punchable face, no matter how much she wanted to. There were more important things for her to focus on right now, namely saving people's houses.

"Where do you need me, Astrid?" Fishlegs asked shyly.

"You're going to be helping me put out the three smaller fires." Astrid replied. "And, if there's anyone trapped inside one of the buildings, you'll stay outside and try to get the fire under control while I go inside to rescue them."

"Hold on a second," Snotlout protested. "That coward Fishface gets to work with you?! How is that fair?"

Astrid frowned, not at all appreciating the short, arrogant boy's behaviour.

Fishlegs looked down at his feet, his lower lip quivering at the short boy's hurtful words. The rotund boy might have been the largest member of the squad, but he was also the most sensitive. And although Snotlout called him a coward, Fishlegs was anything but. Cowards didn't volunteer to serve on the fire brigade in the middle of dragon attacks.

"I don't want to hear it right now, Snotlout." Astrid said firmly. "Fishlegs is going to be working with me today, and you're going to be fetching water."

"Come on, just let me switch places with him." Snotlout said. "Everyone knows that I'm way more useful than Fishface."

"I don't know how much clearer I could be. You all have your orders, and I expect you to follow them." the fifteen-year-old said, raising the arm holding her weapon. "Whoever chooses to disobey them will get an axe, courtesy of me, swung at their faces. Am I understood?"

"Ugh, fine." Snotlout replied, his eyes warily fixed on her raised axe.

Everyone else in the squad nodded, aware that Astrid wouldn't hesitate to make good on her threat. She was thankful that the rest of the group didn't raise any objections to her words, thereby tacitly supporting Fishlegs in the dispute.

"Good." she said, lowering her axe. "Let's go! There's no time to lose."

With the matter now sufficiently resolved, Astrid took off towards the west side of the village, leading her squad to the fires that they would attempt to put out. As the fifteen-year-old ran down the dirt paths of Berk, she reflected on Snotlout's bad behaviour. The young Viking had never appreciated Snotlout's behaviour in the past, often finding it to be problematic, but she absolutely loathed his latest comments. All of them, especially Astrid and Ruffnut, were used to Snotlout's smug, arrogant words, but the short boy had taken his bad behaviour one step too far this morning. Not only had Snotlout blatantly insulted a member of the group, but he had also called into question their honour. To Astrid, that was an especially troubling accusation to make, given her family history with allegations of cowardice.

Yet, as much as she wanted to defend her peer, she couldn't do so. For bullies like Snotlout, relying on someone else to fight your battles was just as bad as, if not worse than, any accusation of cowardice. And it wasn't just Snotlout who believed this to be true. There was still a sizeable minority in the village who had the same mindset as the bully. As a result, any intervention on Fishlegs' behalf carried the risk of potentially further lowering his social standing. While Astrid absolutely loathed Snotlout's bullying, there was nothing that she could do to stop it. The boy would just have to bear the insults until the day he gathered his courage and fought back against Snotlout's barrage of abuse.

Despite having to dart between warring Vikings and occasionally needing to dodge dragon fire, it only took about five minutes for Astrid and her peers to reach their destination. As the young Viking rounded the last bend in the village paths and reached the location of the fires, she found herself looking at a much-changed situation. In the fifteen minutes that it had taken Astrid to get from the west side of the village to the plaza, brief her squad, and get back, the situation had worsened considerably. The smaller fires which had been plaguing the neighbourhood had now grown larger, the flames now licking along the walls of the three affected homes. If those fires were not suppressed soon, they would begin eating away at the walls of those three houses and threaten to damage their interiors.

Further away in the distance, Astrid could see that the more serious fires had nearly reduced the two halls that they covered to a collection of burning timber support beams, charcoal, and ash. What remained of that pair of homes looked like they could collapse at any moment, and if the burning wreckage fell onto any one of the surrounding houses, the fires could quickly spread across the entire neighbourhood. A fire of that size would be impossible to control and would threaten to consume the entirety of the village. If they wanted to avoid a catastrophe, she and her squad would need to get to work immediately.

The fifteen-year-old moved closer to the scene so she could better gauge the rapidly evolving situation. She noticed a few changes immediately. First, the woman who had previously been screaming in horror outside one of the two nearly burnt-down houses was now gone. Astrid hoped that a family member had come by to take her to the elder's house. That woman had clearly been in shock, and she needed to be looked after until she could snap out of her daze. Second, there were now small piles of personal effects outside the three homes affected by the smaller, though no less serious, fires. Every few minutes, someone emerged from one of the three houses with more of their belongings, piling them out onto the village paths in hopes of saving them from the flames.

Having seen enough, the young Viking ran towards a few of the barrels placed along the village paths, looking into each one. She let out a curse under her breath when she realized that they were all practically identical in terms of their contents. They were all more than half empty, with a few almost completely drained of their water. There was no way that they could put out all of these fires with such a small amount of water. Frankly, Astrid didn't think there was enough liquid in all of the barrels combined to extinguish even the smallest fire of the five currently burning. They needed more water, but Astrid had thankfully planned for such an eventuality, having already assigned one of her peers to the task. Turning to face her squad, she gave them their orders once more.

"Snotlout, I need you to start bringing water here now." she said. "There's not much left in any of the nearby barrels, and we'll need much more if we're going to put out all five fires."

The short boy nodded at her command, thankfully not objecting to his job again, and ran to the nearby casks. Picking up two of the buckets that lay close by, Snotlout darted past the squad towards the well in the village square.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut, you guys need to get to work on containing the two largest fires immediately." Astrid instructed. "Be careful when you're working, the support beams on those houses look like they could collapse at any moment."

"That's not going to be as easy as it sounds." Tuffnut replied, frowning. "Those fires have already burnt through most of those two houses. Even if we manage to put out the fires, those structures won't be made safe."

"Look, Astrid, as much as I hate to admit it, Tuff's right. There's not much we can do to make what's left of those buildings safe." Ruffnut said. "Those support beams you're so concerned about, they're not going to be able to bear their own weight for much longer. When those timber beams collapse, and they definitely will, they could crash down onto any one of the surrounding homes. The impact might even be enough to get them to reignite, causing the fires to spread beyond those two houses."

"The twins are right, Astrid." Fishlegs said timidly. "Those two houses won't be safe, regardless of whether or not those fires are extinguished."

The fifteen-year-old frowned at her peers' words. They couldn't just let those two fires continue to burn through the two homes. If they were isolated buildings, she would agree that it would be far safer to let the fires just burn themselves out, but these houses were in the middle of a neighbourhood. If they let them continue to burn, the fires would definitely spread.

"We can't just let them continue to burn, guys." the young Viking said. "There has to be some way for us to put out those fires and make those structures safe."

The twins just stared back at her blankly, not offering any suggestions. Fishlegs looked thoughtful, but the boy also didn't provide any ideas. She was just about to tell the twins to help her and Fishlegs with the three smaller fires instead when her rotund peer let out a shriek.

"A controlled collapse!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "What we need is a controlled collapse, followed by throwing water over the two sites. That way, the support beams will be safely on the ground, and we can flood the area with water to make sure that the pillars can't reignite and spread the fires."

"As much as I would love to knock down a few buildings without being blamed," Ruffnut said. "Those support beams are pretty thick, how are we supposed to get through them?

Fishlegs was engrossed in his thoughts for another few moments before he looked back up towards them with a grin.

"Astrid, your axe!" he said. "If you lend the twins your axe, they can use it to chop away at the beams, weakening them just enough to encourage them to fall in a specific way."

The young Viking was reticent about lending her prized weapon to the twins, but she knew that Fishlegs was right. The twins couldn't do their jobs if they didn't have the required tools, and it just so happened that Astrid had been the one to bring along an axe. She just had to be the kind of girl who thought ahead and brought a versatile weapon. Sighing loudly, the fifteen-year-old held out her axe to Ruffnut.

"Here, Ruff." Astrid said. "Just make sure that you get it back to me in the same condition it's in now. I don't want to see any dents on the blade or any burns on the handle. And, for the love of Odin, don't let Tuffnut use it."

"Hey!" exclaimed Tuffnut. "How come I'm not allowed to use it?"

"Because out of the two of you, I trust Ruffnut the most." the fifteen-year-old replied with a smirk.

"Oh, I am hurt." Tuffnut said, dramatically clutching at his chest. "I am very much hurt."

"Come on, bro." Ruffnut said, grabbing the axe from Astrid and dragging her brother down the path towards the two houses. "We've got work to do."

As the twins went off to do their assigned task, Tuffnut's complaints getting fainter and fainter as his sister lugged him further and further away, the fifteen-year-old turned to face Fishlegs. The intelligent, stout boy who would be her partner for the morning stood before her, eyes nervously looking at the three fires that they hoped to extinguish.

"Come on, Fishlegs," Astrid said as gently as she could. "We'd better get to work if we want to save these three homes."

It took a moment for the boy's focus to move from the growing fires nearby to her, but Fishlegs eventually registered what she had said and nodded at her words.

"Okay, Astrid." Fishlegs replied weakly.

"First, we need to get everyone out of these halls. They might be trying to save their things, but it isn't safe for them to be inside while we try to put out those fires." she ordered. "Introduce yourself as a member of the fire brigade, and tell them that they need to leave and head over to the elder's home to get checked out. Make sure to check every room in the house to make sure it's actually empty."

"Alright," the smart, husky boy replied. "Which houses should I take?"

While she appreciated his willingness to deal with more than just a single set of the residents inside the burning homes, it was probably a good idea for Astrid to take the lead in this situation.

"You take that one." the fifteen-year-old said while pointing to the house with the least severe fire. "I'll take the other two."

"Got it." Fishlegs said with a determined look on his face.

"Once the residents are gone, meet me outside that house." Astrid said, pointing to the hall affected by the worst of the three smaller fires. We'll tackle that one first, and then move on to the other two in order of severity."

"Alright," the boy replied. "See you in a little bit."

With that said, the intelligent, rotund boy turned on his heel and ran towards his assigned house, leaving Astrid to handle the inhabitants of the two homes she had agreed to cover. Darting towards one of the two halls, the young Viking carefully approached the open door, avoiding the flames licking along the wall. Although it was early on a cold, autumn morning, the growing fire made it feel like it was midday on the hottest day of summer. Peering into the main room of the house, she tried to locate the residents to no avail. Despite not being able to see them, she was certain that there were villagers inside, the fifteen-year-old faintly hearing people talking over the crackling of the fire.

Taking a deep breath of the cold, early morning air, Astrid ran into the home and loudly knocked on every door on the ground floor. When nobody came out of the rooms, the young Viking opened each door to check if anyone was inside. The fifteen-year-old only found empty rooms. Having made sure that there was no-one downstairs, Astrid returned to the main room and darted up the stairs. Following the sounds to their source, she found herself at the door to a bedroom where a woman and young man were trying to fill a basket with as many of their belongings as they could.

"Hey!" the young Viking yelled, getting their attention. "My name's Astrid, and I'm with the fire brigade. You guys need to get out of here!"

"What about our stuff?" the young man asked, coughing slightly from the smoke.

While, at first glance, it may have seemed irrational to risk their lives to save a few replaceable pieces of property, it was an understandable, human urge. These people had likely worked hard in order to obtain these goods, and they didn't want to just leave them to burn in a fire. In addition, there was more at stake than just the monetary value of their belongings. They probably had at least a few emotional attachments to some of the things in their house. Still, while she may have felt sympathy for them, they couldn't stay there.

"Leave it! It's not safe for you to be in here!" she replied. "We'll do our best to save your house, but you guys need to leave right now!"

The two thankfully didn't protest her order, quickly dropping the basket that they had been trying to fill, making their way past her and down the stairs. The fifteen-year-old checked the other room on the second floor before she ran down the stairs and out of the house. The two people who had been inside the house now stood in front of it, staring at the flames licking along the front wall.

"I checked the other rooms in your home and didn't find anyone there." the girl said. "Was there anyone else inside the house with you?"

"No, my mom and I were the only ones in there." the young man replied.

"Alright, you two need to get to the elder's home and get a check-up from one of the healers." Astrid said. "Can you get there on your own?"

"I think we can manage that." replied the woman. "Please, just try to save our house."

"We'll do our best." the young Viking replied.

Nodding at her words, the woman grabbed hold of the young man's hand, and the two quickly walked west towards the elder's home. With one house now devoid of its residents, Astrid moved on to the next. The fifteen-year-old was just about to enter the building when she saw a man exiting the structure, the girl quickly getting out of his way. He, like the young man from the neighbouring house, was coughing, though this villager also had a little soot on his clothes. Astrid pulled him further away from the fire and carefully helped him get seated on the ground, giving the man a quick look over to see if he had any injuries.

Thankfully not finding any, the young Viking darted into the house the man had come from and did the same checks for people still inside that she had done in the neighbouring house. She knocked on all the doors on the ground floor before opening them and peering inside. When she didn't find anyone there, she went upstairs and did the same checks, again finding nobody. Satisfied that the house was now empty, she ran back down the stairs and out the front door, making sure to avoid the growing fire on the front wall. Astrid made her way to the man who had been inside the house, who cough had thankfully lessened during her survey of the building's interior.

"My name's Astrid, and I'm with the fire brigade." the fifteen-year-old said. "I checked your house and didn't find any other residents. Was there anyone else with you inside?"

"No," the man replied. "It was just me."

"Okay, good." Astrid said. "You need to get to the elder's home and get a check-up from one of the healers. Can you get there on your own?"

The man nodded in response to her question. "Yeah, I think I can do that." he answered.

"Alright, I just have one more question. Earlier this morning, there was a distraught woman standing outside one of the two houses over there." the young Viking stated, pointing to the site where Ruffnut and Tuffnut were working. "Did you happen to see where she went?"

"Yeah." the man replied. "I saw her daughter pass by my house earlier to get to her. Her daughter took her to the Gothi's."

"Good," Astrid said. "The woman seemed to need a check-up from the healers."

"Anyone would after seeing their house burn down." the man said. "Now, lass, can you help me up? I need to go see the healers, and you need to save my house."

"Of course." the young Viking replied, grabbing one of the man's arms and swinging it over her shoulder, helping him get back on his feet.

"Thank you, lass." the man said, slowly making his way down the dirt paths of Berk towards the elder's home.

Turning around, Astrid looked back towards the three houses that she and Fishlegs would be trying to save. While the fires looked like they had grown a little in the last few moments, they still seemed manageable. The flames were still confined to the front walls of the houses, and they had thankfully not spread to the upper floor. With gravity working against them, any fire that spread above the ground floor became much harder to combat. It was especially difficult to fight fires on rooftops, where the fire brigade often had to waste time getting ladders and carry heavy buckets of water up to the flames. It was, therefore, no wonder that most of the houses that burnt down on Berk were those that had faced fires on their upper floor or their rooftops.

As long as Astrid and Fishlegs kept these fires contained close to ground level and only on the front walls, they could save all three houses. A few dozen yards away, the young Viking could see her partner pointing a few people to the path leading out of the village and to the elder's home. The villagers, thankfully, looked to be listening to his directions, and a short while later, nodded to the boy and turned to leave the area. She saw Fishlegs taking a moment to make sure that the people actually left the area before joining her in front of the fire that they had agreed to put out first.

"Everything okay on your end?" Astrid asked her partner.

"Yeah," Fishlegs replied, nodding. "I checked the entire house, and only three people were inside. I told them that I was with the fire brigade and to leave their houses and go to the elder's hall."

"Good," the fifteen-year-old stated. "Now let's get to work."

Her partner nodded, following her as she darted to the water barrels located nearby. Given that they were now all full of liquid, it looked like, despite his earlier protests, Snotlout had been busy working after all. Picking up a pair of buckets, Astrid tossed them to her partner before grabbing two for herself. After having filled up their buckets with water from the barrels, the pair made their way back as quickly as they could. They were careful not to let any water overflow from the sides of the buckets, the two fully aware that it was difficult to get water to a neighbourhood so far from the village well.

"Focus your throws on the upper portion of the fire." Astrid said when they reached the largest of the three blazes. "We can't let the flames spread to the top floor."

"Got it." Fishlegs said, putting down one of the buckets and using both hands to hurl the contents of the other pail at the top of the fire.

Despite all of Snotlout's unpleasant and unfair criticisms of Fishlegs' abilities, the stout, intelligent boy was actually quite strong and capable. Her partner's throw hit the mark, extinguishing a small portion of the flames that had been licking up the front wall of the house. Mirroring her peer's strategy, Astrid put down one of the two pails of water and used both of her hands to throw the liquid inside the other bucket at the fire. Sure of her accuracy, the young Viking didn't even stop to see if the throw had landed on its target, immediately picking up the other bucket and emptying the water inside on the flames before her. Beside her, the rotund, fourteen-year-old boy did the same, throwing another bucket of water at the fire.

With their buckets now empty, the two partners headed back to the nearby water barrels, refilled their pails, and carefully made their way to the house once more, emptying the contents of their buckets onto the flames yet again. It was slow work, necessitating a seemingly endless cycle of trips to and from the water casks, but, gradually, they managed to not only halt the spread of the fire but start shrinking it as well. Astrid and Fishlegs kept working diligently, and after some time, they doused the last of the flames with the water inside their buckets. As the last remnants of the fire met its end, smoke and steam cleared to reveal a charred, but still standing house.

Although the fifteen-year-old and her partner were now feeling the exertion of their work, beads of sweat rolling down their faces, they couldn't afford to take a rest. There were still two more fires for them to put out, blazes which had gotten larger while they had been working to save the first house. Refilling their buckets with water once again, the pair headed to the next fire, employing the same strategy of preventing the flames from spreading to the upper floor that they had used to save the first house. They made the same trips back and forth between the water barrels and the fire, on one occasion even passing Snotlout as the boy ferried water between the village well and the nearby casks. It was gruelling work, but eventually, the two teens managed to put out the second fire and moved on to the final blaze.

Astrid was starting to feel tired, her arms aching from the weight of the filled buckets of water carried to and thrown upon the flames, but she kept working, determined to extinguish the last of the three fires. Beside her, Fishlegs huffed and puffed as he, too, hauled water pails to and from the site of the fires, tossing out their contents onto the flames. Relief filled Astrid when the two teens managed to put out the last of the blazes, successfully saving three homes from the destruction the dragons had brought with them. It had taken them about half-an-hour in total, but the pair of teens had managed to put out three fires and ensure that three families would still have roofs over their heads when the raid ended.

Astrid and Fishlegs took a moment to catch their breath, standing near the blackened walls of one of the homes they had saved. It was substantially quieter now that the crackling of the fires was missing from her surroundings. A gentle, early morning breeze blew through the area, helping dissipate the heat that had built up in the air and soothing the young Viking's tired body. Further away in the distance, the fifteen-year-old could see that the twins were well on their way to completing their assigned tasks of safely bringing down the remnants of a pair of houses and containing the spread of the two largest fires.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut had already brought down the remains of the first of two wrecked homes, the hall's smouldering, timber support beams laying in a pile on the ground, still burning, but thankfully not threatening any nearby structures. Tuffnut worked on the first house, carrying buckets of water and emptying them onto the burning heap, snuffing out the dying fire bit by bit. Just a few yards away, the fifteen-year-old saw the silhouette of Ruffnut repeatedly swinging an axe, the girl cutting down the last few timber support beams that stood amidst the remains of the second house. She was relieved to see that the fourteen-year-old girl had heeded the young Viking's warning and had not let her twin brother handle Astrid's prized weapon. Feeling a little more refreshed by the moment of respite, the fifteen-year-old stood up straighter, ready to get back to work.

"Come on, Fishlegs," Astrid said. "It looks like Ruff and Tuff are just about done with their assignments. How about we help them finish up?"

"Lead the way, Astrid." her partner replied, straightening up.

The fifteen-year-old picked up her pair of buckets once more, heading down the dirt path towards the twins, her partner picking up his own pails and following right behind her. Once they reached their destination, the two teens headed towards a set of nearby casks, filling the pails that they carried with water, and made their way to the pile of burning rubble that Tuffnut had been trying to put out. When Astrid and Fishlegs arrived, buckets of water in hand, Tuffnut gave the pair a grateful look before continuing his work. The young Viking and her partner threw water on the smouldering debris, causing a cloud of steam to rise and a few stray embers to shoot up into the air.

As she and her peers toiled to extinguish the wreckage, Astrid couldn't help but feel like was an animal being slowly roasted over hot coals every time she got up close to the smouldering ruins. The only consolation was that with this type of fire, she, at least, didn't have to throw the contents of water pails several feet in the air. With three people working together and a contained site, it took the teens only a few minutes to completely snuff out the last of the embers, rendering the area safe. As soon as they extinguished the ruins of the first house, they moved on to the one next to it, where Ruffnut had just brought down the last of its crumbling timber support beams. It only took them a few minutes to put out the last fiery wreck, the debris at last no longer glowing. With all of the fires in the area now extinguished, the teens gathered near the wreck of the second of the two homes that had burnt down.

"Thanks for letting me borrow the axe, Astrid." Ruffnut said, holding out the weapon for the other girl to take back. "I don't know how I would've brought down those support pillars without it."

"Oh, I'm sure you'd have found a way, Ruff." the fifteen-year-old remarked, confident in the other girl's capacity for destruction.

Taking her axe back from the female Thorston's hands, Astrid examined the weapon's blade and handle for any damage. Thankfully, it seemed like Ruffnut had been careful with her prized weapon, the young Viking finding no signs of damage to the blade or handle.

"Don't worry." Ruffnut assured. "I didn't damage it."

"Just making sure." Astrid replied.

"I still can't believe that you trusted Ruffnut to use your axe but not me." Tuffnut complained. "I mean, it's Ruffnut we're talking about here. She's my sister, and I still wouldn't trust her with anything."

Tuffnut's comments prompted his twin sister to smack the back of his head. The force of the blow caused the fourteen-year-old boy to shriek and stumble forward a few steps. Once he had regained his footing, Tuffnut turned sharply and glared at Ruffnut.

"Ow!" Tuffnut yelled, rubbing the back of his head. "What was that for?"

"That was for being a knucklehead." Ruffnut said, smirking. "How about instead of complaining, you thank Astrid and Fishlegs for helping you do your job?"

"Thanks, guys." Tuffnut muttered, still scowling at his twin sister.

"You're welcome." Fishlegs said timidly.

"No problem, Tuff." Astrid replied, letting out a small laugh at the twins' antics.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut always seemed to be embroiled in some kind of petty dispute with one another. The twins had the extraordinary ability to turn just about any situation into a humorous one. It may have just been Ruffnut admonishing her twin brother for his continued complaints about not being allowed to wield Astrid's prized weapon, but the sheer frivolity of the twins arguing about such an insignificant matter in the middle of a dragon raid was enough to bring a small smile to her face. The young Viking was thankful for the distraction from the events of the morning, especially after she and her peers had toiled to put out five fires, saving three homes in the process. Even though Astrid was standing just a few feet away from a pile of rubble that had been a house, arms aching, and beads of sweat rolling down her face, she was still able to smile at Ruffnut and Tuffnut's silly behaviour.

Unfortunately, the moment of levity didn't last long. The young Viking's grin was quickly wiped from her face by the sounds of loud footsteps approaching their location. Astrid knew exactly what the noise meant. It heralded the arrival of the most annoying member of the squad. He must have seen the rest of the team assembled and hadn't wanted to be left out. The fifteen-year-old had to admit that she was a little disappointed by his appearance, having enjoyed the feeling of liberty afforded by not having to witness his poor behaviour and listen to his rude, provocative words. Still, Astrid couldn't be unprofessional, the girl pushing down the feeling of displeasure that had arisen from her peer's appearance. Flushed from exertion and his face glistening with sweat, Snotlout panted when he reached the gathered teens.

"It looks like you all somehow managed to put out those fires without me." Snotlout said once he had caught his breath. "Though, I bet that if I had been here, we would have been done way faster."

Astrid frowned, her grip on her axe's handle tightening. It seemed that not even being tired from running back and forth between the well and this area could change the short, annoying boy's behaviour. Resisting the urge to punch the arrogant boy, Astrid turned to face her team once more.

"Great work, everyone." she said, ignoring Snotlout's remark. "We put out five fires and saved three houses. However, while we might be done in this area, there are probably more fires for us to put out in the village. We should head back to the square."

"Come on, Astrid. More work?" Snotlout complained. "Just let someone else handle it."

The young Viking scowled. The arrogant boy loved to talk about how he was one of the most promising warriors on Berk and how, despite his age, many in the village respected him, but that didn't change the fact that Snotlout wasn't naturally altruistic. If there was ever a way for him to avoid doing work, he took it. That was the difference between Astrid and Snotlout. She served for duty, honour, and the redemption of her family name while he worked only for glory.

"Are you too tired to keep working, Snotlout?" Ruffnut said with a smirk, preempting Astrid's own response. "Here I thought you were the best warrior of our generation. I guess not then, since you're obviously too tired to help save the village."

Ruffnut's goading seemed to have the desired effect, with the short, arrogant boy's face quickly reddening. The fifteen-year-old had to hide her own smile at the sight, resisting the urge to praise the other girl for what she had done.

"No, of course not!" Snotlout exclaimed, embarrassed. "I was just saying that so everyone else would have a break. I'm ready to go whenever you guys are."

"Alright then, it's settled." Astrid said. "Let's head back to the square."

With the argument between Ruffnut and Snotlout now sufficiently resolved, the squad quickly made their way back to the plaza. As Astrid and her peers raced down the dirt paths of Berk towards the centre of the village, she passed numerous Vikings engaged in battle with the dragons. The raid had been going on for about an hour, meaning that they were near the halfway mark of the attack. The passage of that milestone was made clear by the way the fighting seemed to build, soon reaching a crescendo. Dragons were now diving down to attack more often, raining fire down upon the villagers, causing them to scatter. Some of the more brazen beasts were even landing to terrorize Berk on the ground. While her people were putting on a valiant effort to repel the monsters, it was clear that they were only mitigating the damage, not stopping it.

It only took a few minutes for Astrid and her peers to reach the main square. Upon reaching the plaza, the fifteen-year-old made a quick survey of the area, finding that while dragon attacks were more common near the village centre, the square was, so far, relatively unscathed by them. Most of the businesses that surrounded the square were closed, having been shuttered since sunset yesterday, but one was already open. At the south end of the square was the blacksmith's workshop, well-lit by the orange glow coming from the forge. As the only place on Berk where one could buy weapons or have them repaired, it was open even during attacks. The young Viking saw that there was already a short line of Vikings forming outside the building.

"Fire!" someone yelled, pointing at a building that had just caught fire at the southeastern edge of the square. "We need the fire brigade!"

The moment she heard those words, Astrid immediately sprang into action, darting towards a nearby water trough, her peers not far behind her. Setting down her axe near the wooden tub, she grabbed a bucket of water and ran towards the burning building. Faced with flames on parts of the structure's base and walls, she threw the contents of the bucket of water at the foot of the burning house. She was joined mere moments later by her peers doing the same, their collective efforts causing a cloud of steam to erupt. While they did manage to put out the part of the fire near the base of the building, the flames licking their way up the walls remained. She and her peers would need to get more water if they were to put out this fire.

Gesturing for her team to follow, Astrid led them away from the fire and back towards the wooden tub filled with water. This fire was small enough that if they hurried, she and her peers would most likely be able to save the structure. Unfortunately, they only made it a dozen yards or so before a Gronkle flying overhead launched a boulder blast straight at the building they had been trying to save. Astrid heard the booming sound of an explosion and the cracking sound of wood splintering. Mere moments later, the fifteen-year-old felt a wave of hot air rush out from behind her. She didn't even need to turn around to know that the structure was lost. In any case, there was no time to dwell on the matter. There were more fires for them to put out around the village, and Astrid could see the distinct orange glow of flames coming from the homes closest to the harbour. Turning to face her team, the young Viking started issuing new orders.

"Alright, guys, We couldn't save that building, but there's more work to be done." Astrid told them. "Head over to the lower village. I'll grab my axe and meet you guys there."

"Same tasks as before?" asked Ruffnut.

"If only some of the buildings can be saved, like back on the west side of the village, then, yeah, everyone's assigned the same tasks." the fifteen-year-old replied. "If, like I'm hoping, all of the structures look salvageable, then, Ruff and Tuff, you guys should help Fishlegs and me. Snotlout, somebody will still need to get water to the area, so, in either case, you're going to be bringing it to the site."

"Oh, come on!" Snotlout exclaimed in protest. "Can't someone else be the water boy?"

"No." replied Ruffnut, smirking. "Now, let's go, water boy."

The team split up, Fishlegs and Tuffnut running towards the lower village, Ruffnut dragging a whining Snotlout not far behind them, and Astrid heading back towards the water trough in the plaza. It only took her a few moments to reach the water trough, with the young Viking picking up the axe that she'd set down near the wooden tub and turning around to rejoin her squad. As she made her way across the square and down to the lower village, Astrid noticed that the shutters on the blacksmith's workshop were now closed, and the line outside had grown in size. The fifteen-year-old was confused as to why Gobber's shop was closed, as even when the blacksmith wasn't working, his apprentice usually was. As much as she wanted to go and check up on the kind man's shop, Astrid knew that she didn't have the time, the young Viking choosing to instead push on towards the lower village.

Darting down the winding, dirt paths of the island, occasionally dodging blasts of fire from dragons flying overhead, Astrid soon reached the lower village. The fifteen-year-old took a moment to survey the area, finding two homes burning and many more threatened by the near-constant blasts of fire from above. Her squad was already hard at work, with the twins working to put out one of the fires, Fishlegs trying to extinguish the other, and Snotlout passing her on his way to fetch water from the village well. Having seen enough, Astrid set out to help Fishlegs snuff out the blaze that he was fighting, heading over to a nearby cask, setting down her axe and filling a bucket with water before going to join her partner at the site of the fire. She threw the contents of the pail at the burning building, extinguishing a good portion of the fire, and headed back to the barrels to collect more water.

It took several trips back and forth from the casks of water and the burning building to refill their buckets, but, by working as a team, Fishlegs and Astrid managed to gradually shrink the size of the blaze, eventually extinguishing it altogether. A few dozen yards away, the young Viking could see that Ruffnut and Tuffnut had also managed to do the same with the fire they had been fighting. Unfortunately, the situation in the lower village was very different from the one on the west side of Berk, with dragons actively circling overhead, shooting blasts of fire at the Vikings and buildings below. As a result, during the time it had taken the four teens to save the two houses, three more homes had caught fire. The squad didn't let that bring down their morale, with the teens instead focusing their energy on extinguishing the new fires, not on the vile beasts above.

Fortunately, it seemed that luck was on their side that morning, and, in the end, Astrid and her team managed to save all five structures. That meant that out of the eleven burning buildings her squad had dealt with so far, they had managed to save eight. For most people, rescuing eight out of eleven burning homes wouldn't seem like a bad result, but Astrid wasn't most people. The fifteen-year-old wouldn't be satisfied by anything less than perfection. How could she feel content when this result meant that three families would have to find somewhere else to sleep for the next few days, if not weeks, because of her shortcomings? The only consolation was that as the sky turned a lighter blue and dawn neared, the dragon raid seemed to be waning in intensity. Pushing down the feeling of disappointment that she felt towards herself, the young Viking collected her axe and joined the members of her team as they gathered near the water barrels.

"Damn, we're on a roll today!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "We managed to save all five houses."

Astrid frowned at the boy's remark. They weren't on a roll. They had failed to save three houses. Regardless, the young Viking held her tongue. She knew that Tuffnut wasn't trying to be insensitive. He just didn't know any better. Besides, her squad, Snotlout included, had followed their instructions to the letter. If there was anyone responsible for their failures this morning, it was Astrid. Maybe if she hadn't fallen asleep after reading the Dragon Manual, then she could have gotten to some of the fires sooner and saved more houses.

"If you count all of the fires we dealt with today, we still didn't manage to save three halls." Fishlegs interjected, somewhat shyly. "That means that we failed to save houses nearly one-third of the time."

"Way to be a buzzkill, Fishface." Snotlout grumbled.

"Yeah, can't you just let us have this win?" whined Tuffnut.

Sensing what was surely the beginning of an argument, the fifteen-year-old chose that moment to chime in.

"Alright, alright, that's enough squabbling, guys." Astrid told her team. "We did some good work this morning, but there's always room for improvement. Now, the raid's not quite over yet, so I think we should head back to the plaza and see if there's more we can do to help."

"Ugh, you want us to do more work? Again?" complained Snotlout. "You really need to lighten up, Astrid."

The young Viking scowled at the boy's words. Astrid didn't need to be less stern. It was Snotlout who needed to take being part of the fire brigade more seriously. The fifteen-year-old was saved from having to respond to the comments by Ruffnut, who, as always, had a retort for Snotlout's usual grousing.

"Not this again." Ruffnut interjected. "I thought we'd established that none of us care about your whining, Snotlout."

"Hey! I wasn't whining!" Snotlout exclaimed, flushing in embarrassment. "I was just asking whether we really need to go look for more to do when, like Astrid said, the raid looks to be almost over."

"I'm tired of having this conversation over and over again, Snotlout. You should know by now that you'll work for as long as Astrid says you have to." the other girl replied. "Now, let's go already!"

Since no-one dared to raise any objections to Ruffnut's statement, the squad followed Astrid's directive and made their way back to the village square. With the dragon raid waning in intensity, it was much easier for the young Viking and her peers to navigate the dirt paths of the village. Even though they had taken a different path to the plaza than the one they had used to reach the lower village, it only took Astrid and her peers a few minutes to arrive at their destination. As she crossed into the north end of the village square, the fifteen-year-old found herself faced with a shocking sight. Near the centre of the plaza, a massive, red and black, Monstrous Nightmare dragon was spewing a continuous torrent of fire at one of the tall, wooden pillars that held up a brazier used to light up the skies above Berk during dragon attacks.

Just as the beast moved around the pillar to face its prey, Astrid saw the chief her tribe, Stoick the Vast, dart into the square, leap and grab hold of the Monstrous Nightmare's jaws and twist them away from the dragon's target. The monster struggled briefly struggled against the chief's bulk, eventually breaking free and trying to let out another stream of fire, but nothing happened. It seemed that the constant blasting it had done earlier had tired it out, leaving it with no fire left in its belly. The older Viking must have come to the same realization as the man smirked at the beast.

"You're all out now." Stoick said, punching and kicking at the Monstrous Nightmare's head. In just a few moments, the chief had managed to get the dragon to retreat, the monster flying back to its nest.

Astrid had thought that the excitement was over when the dragon had retreated, but she was wrong. The now charred, wooden pillar supporting the brazier groaned and gave out, collapsing to reveal the chief's son standing behind it. While the beam thankfully didn't hit the chief, his son, or anyone else, the brazier that had been held atop it separated from the pillar when it hit the ground and rolled over the edge of a walkway towards the harbour. Even from halfway across the square, Astrid could hear the screams of Vikings trying to dodge the flaming obstacle that was making its way along the paths of the village. The fifteen-year-old could only hope that nobody would be hurt as a result of the accident.

As the sun began to rise, the young Viking was elated to see that the raid was finally over, the last of the beasts carrying off their bounty towards their nest. With the dragons leaving, the villagers were now free to pour back into the plaza, forming a line of onlookers around the edges of the square. Turning to face the father and son duo once more, she took a moment to see how the chief's son had fared in the attack. A skinny boy, standing at five-foot-eight, with brown hair and green eyes, Hiccup Haddock didn't look like much of a Viking. He certainly didn't take after his father, a six-foot-four, red-headed, green-eyed giant of a man. While the chief's son didn't seem injured as a result of the Monstrous Nightmare's attack, he wore a pained, embarrassed expression on his face. It was understandable, given what had happened.

"Sorry, dad." Hiccup said dejectedly.

The chief didn't appear placated. Even from a distance, Astrid could see that a large frown was on his face, and she would swear that she could even make out one of the veins on his temple visibly throbbing in anger. The chief's son looked to be in for the scolding of a lifetime.

"Okay, this looks bad. But I hit a Night Fury!" the chief's son said.

Astrid was shocked by the young man's claim, and, based on the murmurs that broke out from amongst the crowd, it seemed like the rest of the village also had a hard time believing it too. It didn't make any sense. How could the chief's son, a boy who the entire village knew wasn't much of a fighter, profess that he had taken down the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself? No, in all likelihood, it was just an excuse that he had come up with to get out of trouble — a very bad one at that. Like the rest of the village, the chief wasn't convinced by his son's outlandish claim, grabbing him by the back of his brown, fur vest and dragging him away from the damaged plaza and towards Haddock Hall. As the father and son pair crossed the square, the Vikings who lined the perimeter of the plaza gawked openly and began murmuring.

"That boy is a menace." an anonymous villager whispered.

"Every time that boy leaves his home, chaos ensues." someone else muttered.

"Hiccup the Useless strikes again," another Viking said. "As if the dragon raids weren't bad enough, we have to deal with that little pest's trail of destruction."

The fifteen-year-old pitied the chief's son. While it was true that Hiccup Haddock wasn't a very good Viking, and that all of his attempts to prove otherwise had been unmitigated disasters, the chief's son didn't deserve the kind of loathing expressed by some of the more cruel villagers. And even if Hiccup had a reputation for being clumsy and a bit destructive among the villagers, he was still the chief's son and heir. That should have at least afforded the young man some degree of cover from some of the more vile things being said about him. Unfortunately, many of Hiccup's harshest critics didn't hold decorum in high regard, and they made their opinions of the boy painfully clear. Their disdain towards the chief's son was so great that even Astrid, whose family knew very well what it was like to be ostracized, acknowledged that the young man was socially toxic.

"It's not like the last few times, dad!" Hiccup protested as his father hauled him off. "I really actually hit it! You guys were busy, and I had a very clear shot. It went down off Raven Point. Let's get a hunting par—"

"Stop!" the chief yelled, releasing his son. "Just stop. Every time you step outside, disaster follows. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter is just a few months away, and I have an entire village to feed!"

"Well, just between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding." the boy replied snidely.

The fifteen-year-old winced, knowing full well that what Hiccup had said wasn't an appropriate response to the chief's anger. In fact, those words only caused the chief's face to redden.

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" Stoick roared. "Why can't you follow the simplest orders and just stay inside?"

"I-I can't stop myself," the young man stammered. "I see a dragon and I just have to kill it, you know? It's who I am, dad."

"Oh, you are many things, Hiccup," the chief said, holding his head with his hands in frustration. "But a dragon killer is not one of them. Get back to the house. Now."

Stoick then called the village blacksmith over to the pair and gave the man his instructions. "Make sure he gets there, Gobber. I have his mess to clean up."

Gobber nodded in response and flicked Hiccup's head using his flesh arm. It seemed that the blacksmith was also mad at the chief's son. The crowd parted as Gobber led the young man to Haddock Hall. As the pair approached, Astrid took out a piece of cloth and started wiping the blade of her axe, hoping that it gave the appearance that she hadn't been intruding on such a humiliating moment for the boy. Unfortunately, the young Viking's peers were not so tactful, and they made it clear to the chief's son that they had witnessed his father reprimand him in a very public manner.

"That was quite the performance this morning, Haddock. Even the great god Loki himself couldn't dream of causing this much destruction on Berk." remarked Tuffnut. "Respect."

From beside him, Tuffnut's twin sister, Ruffnut, snickered at her brother's comment.

Out of the corner of her vision, Astrid saw Fishlegs, who she knew to be one of Hiccup's few friends, giving the young man a small smile and a shrug. That was probably the most benign reaction the chief's son would be getting from the village.

In his typical fashion, Hiccup's third cousin, Snotlout, had something much more obnoxious to say. "I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. Were you trying to help the dragons?" the bully sneered.

When Hiccup passed in front of her, Astrid raised her head and locked eyes with the boy for just a moment. The young Viking only kept eye contact for just a second, but those forest green orbs were piercing. Hiccup didn't need to say the words aloud. His eyes got the message across clearly. The young man wanted someone, anyone, to just stick up for him this one time. Astrid quickly pried her eyes away from Hiccup's gaze, fixing her sight squarely on her axe. As much as she wanted to be the one to tell Snotlout to shut up, she just couldn't. It wasn't just because people would think that Hiccup was weak if Astrid spoke up on his behalf, there was also the fact that it would place the young Viking in a tricky situation. Like she had said before, Hiccup was socially toxic, and being associated with him wouldn't do her family's reputation any favours, chief's son or not. Although it shamed her to admit it, she was pleased when she heard the boy sigh and take another step forward.

"Thank you," Hiccup replied sarcastically. "Thank you very much. I obviously was trying to do just that."

Gobber, on the other hand, did not stay silent, choosing to flick Snotlout's head with such strength that it caused the short and stocky bully to plunge to the ground. The blacksmith had done something that Astrid herself should've had the courage to do. Gobber's actions only silenced Snotlout for just a moment, but what a sweet reprieve that time was. As the pair left, Astrid dared to raise her head again, gazing at the retreating forms of the blacksmith and his apprentice. Gods, she felt like such a coward. Hiccup may have been one of the clumsiest Vikings around, but, in the few times they had interacted, he had always treated Astrid with courtesy and respect. Those qualities were in short supply now that her generation was growing up to become young adults, and some of the more brazen boys tried to flirt with her. Suppressing her feelings of anguish and guilt, Astrid stood up, leaving her peers and went off to try to find her family.

---

1: According to the University of Texas at Austin's Old Norse Dictionary, ei means always and ríkr means ruler or mighty in Old Norse. The name Eiríkr is derived from the words ei and ríkr, anglicized here to Erik. In my opinion, the franchise sometimes focuses too much on the core group of characters, the Dragon Riders, to the detriment of the story. While this can be attributed to the fact that the movies and television series served mainly as devices through which to tell the story of Hiccup and Toothless, I felt like I could enhance the story by adding to the personal, family lives of the Dragon Riders. Thus, I created the original character of Erik Hofferson.

2: According to the University of Texas at Austin's Old Norse Dictionary, bryn means armour or protection and hildr means battle in Old Norse. The name Brynhildr is derived from the words bryn and hildr, anglicized here to Brunhilda. House Hofferson is said to consist of warriors so I thought Brunhilda would be a fitting first name for Astrid's mother.