A/N – From an editing perspective, this could have went right after chapter one. I'm regretting my decision not to lump these two chapters into a single, better chapter. Lesson learned; don't rush chapters.

X

Chapter 2: Fly Away, Little Dragon

Astrid wrapped her hands around her warm tea. Her mother fussed over dinner, a sizzling chunk of mutton in a warm sauce that filled the house with tasty aromas. Ingrid was a fantastic cook and often made too much for just the Hofferson house which brought neighbors and friends to their evening table.

Astrid watched her mother effortlessly roast the meat and prepare the juice and vegetable. She did not inherit her mother's talent with food. Instead, she received her father's quick eye for battle and sharpness in combat, and according to her mother, his stubbornness and blue eyes. Astrid brought the tea to her lips. Bitter. She tasted the herbs her mother put in the winter stew, for health and balance, she said.

A heavy hand fell on their front door. Ingrid threw a towel over her shoulder and stepped to the door and pulled it open without hesitation. Stoick the Vast stood tall and proud on the other side.

"Ah, I could smell the mutton from the Great Hall," Stoick said with a wide smile, half-hidden by his massive red beard. "How are you, Ingrid?"

Ingrid laughed, her friendly charm of a chuckle, and waved his compliment away with her hand. "Oh, I'm just fine."

Stoick's eyes settled on Astrid, and his grin faded. "Astrid, you're home early. I haven't seen the others yet."

Astrid tore her stare away from Stoick and forced her gaze down into the tea. "I went ahead of them."

"She said she hasn't felt well today," Ingrid said.

"Is that so?" Stoick asked. "I'm sorry to hear that, Astrid. It is getting to be that time of year, again."

"Aye, that's what I thought." Ingrid nodded, returning to her stew. "Will you be joining for dinner, Chief?"

"Oh, I just might." Stoick nodded. "I haven't smelled anything near as appetizing today. Well, I will let you get back to your day."

"See you, Stoick," Ingrid waved as their chief exited through the same door he entered.

The door began to close on its own, however it didn't meet the doorframe. Snotlout burst through it with the twins and Fishlegs close behind. Wide eyes stared at Astrid as they clogged the doorway, stacked on top of each other like insects. Astrid couldn't give them another excuse for rushing to her door for the tea in her mouth. She made to swallow her, but her mother spoke first.

"Yes?" Ingrid asked.

"We were just coming to make sure Astrid made it home," Snotlout said, disbelief leaking through his sneer.

"They were worried," Astrid added, right on the heels of his words. "When I said I didn't feel well."

Ingrid stared at her under a mother's narrowing, knowing gaze. Astrid bit her lip. She was caught, she knew, but Ingrid wouldn't fuss over it with the others standing there.

"Huh," Tuffnut said, hand on his chin, studying Astrid calmly. "I really thought we'd never see her again, you know? It was a gut feeling. You know how my gut is. It's generally right."

Ruffnut giggled, "That's not half of it."

Tuffnut glared sideways at his sister, but whatever snide comment he'd had slipped from the tip of his tongue and glued his mouth shut. Stoick reappeared in the doorway, overshadowing the four teenagers in front of him.

"What does he mean by that, Astrid?" Stoick's tone was not a question. The venom had risen, and she knew it could turn sour within a single word.

When Astrid failed to make an excuse, Ingrid asked her, slowly, "Astrid, why were you home early?"

Stoick took a step into the house and Snotlout flattened his back against the door to let him pass. The others stood behind the chief, all looking like a dragon that had cornered a sheep, expect for Fishlegs, who looked as though he might pass out. Stoick said lowly, "How early were you? Early enough to have taken a shortcut?"

Astrid swallowed, her throat had gone dry. Underneath her mother's gaze she felt small, but under Stoick's she felt as though something stood on her chest and press her into the ground. She felt the color slip from her face, just as the words skidded away.

"I-I…" Astrid began, but looked down at the table to avoid the multiple stares. "I went through Blood Tree Pass."

Stoick inhaled and Astrid clenched the mug, preparing for the storm, but he hesitated. Astrid chanced a peek up at him. He looked as though he might explode. He turned to the others and said in a deadly tone that shook the house, "Go home."

"Yes chief!" Fishlegs squeaked, and then vanished.

The others lingered as long as they could under Stoick's gaze. He shut the door behind them and suddenly it felt much too dark. Astrid met Stoick's eyes, but quickly averted them to the tea. His eyes shone bright with anger and disappointment. She tried hard not be the subject of disappointment, and to impress the elders. She had done well, until now.

"I shouldn't have to tell you about the dangers of that pass this time of year." Stoick spoke calmly, but every word laced with venom and rage. She prefer his shout; this felt much worse. His voice softened, layered with a sorrow that made Astrid cringe. "People go through, or even just near, and they're never seen again. What would your mother do if something happened to you?"

Astrid kept her eyes on her tea. She supposed he had every reason to hate the forest. Fifteen years ago the forest had taken both Valka, his wife, and Hiccup, his young son. They wandered too close, they said, and the forest took them. Stoick had never gotten over it.

"Think of your family, of your friends, of the people that would miss you." Stoick said lowly. "Think of the daughter your mother wouldn't get to see grown, or married, or happy, and all because of one stupid mistake. Your life is not worth the pride you risked."

Stoick turned to leave and Astrid caught her mother's stare. She had more to say, but would wait.

"Astrid," Stoick asked, hand on the door. He turned, and Astrid wish he hadn't. He looked ten years older. "Did you see anything in the pass?"

"No," Astrid shook her head. "Just trees and leaves."

Stoick inhaled, and Astrid feared he'd call her bluff. He didn't, to her great relief. He swung open the door and closed it behind him. Astrid sighed loudly and took another gulp of her tea. It grew cold.

"Well?" Ingrid said.

Astrid shrugged, "Well, what?" She knew the look on her mother's face. Disappointment.

"You're a horrible liar, just like your father." Ingrid came to sit across from Astrid. She lowered her tone, "What's wrong?"

"Mom," Astrid started.

"Why did you go through the pass? You know it's forbidden."

"I know, I know, Snotlout dared me." Astrid covered her face with her hands. "He wouldn't let me hear the end of it if I turned him down."

Ingrid groaned. "Your stubborn pride will be the end of you."

"I'm sorry," Astrid said. "I know it was stupid. But nothing happened."

"If could have," Ingrid said. She studied her daughter across the table, and after a long moment she leaned onto her elbows. "Did something happened?"

Astrid gapped, unsure if telling her mother would end badly. She already sat in hot water, what was a little more? She nodded. "I did see something, two somethings. There was a tiny dragon and a person. I thought it was Snotlout at first, trying to scare me, but it wasn't. The little dragon went to them and let them hold it, like some kind of baby."

Astrid paused her story to look up at her mother. Ingrid sat frozen, white-faced and wide eyed. Her voice wavered into a whisper, "Baby, you saw a witch?"

"Mom, please, don't say anything." Astrid reached for her mother's hands. "I don't want Stoick to know. He's already mad at me. And I don't want the entire village looking at me like I'll drop dead at any time."

Ingrid shook her head.

"Mom, please," Astrid begged. Ingrid stared at her as though she was already dead, and it tore at Astrid's insides. "If I die within the week, fine, tell all the people you want. But if I don't, then no one can know. Okay?"

Ingrid reluctantly nodded. "Okay."

Throughout dinner, Astrid felt her mother's eyes on her back. The Jorgensons joined them, as well as Stoick and a few other neighbors, and they sat around the hearth fire as they devoured the stew. Astrid kept her distance from Snotlout. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction that she had gotten into trouble, which to him equated to her losing.

Over the table, his gloating I-told-you-so arrogance made her want to drown him in the stewpot. It would ruin the stew, but Snotlout would be dead. She satisfied herself with knowing how she would him in training and show him who's a loser.

The sun touched down on the western horizon and doused the village in gold. Their guests disappeared into their own homes one by one, and soon the house again held just Astrid and her mother.

"This house is too quiet with your father gone," Ingrid sighed, one eye on the window and a hand over her heart.

"It's only been a month," Astrid pointed out, as indicated by the dashes carved into the wood just inside her parents' bedroom.

"And every day seems a year," Ingrid sat down in her favorite chair beside the hearth. "Last time he was gone for nearly seven months. I don't think I can handle that kind of time again. I told him so, but he listens about as well as you do."

Astrid yawned.

"Don't go sleeping on me yet," Ingrid pointed a finger at her. She tried to smile but her words were hollow. "You'd better help me clean all this up before you die."

"Right," Astrid smiled back at her, attempting fake humor, but something inside rumbled at the thought that she might not wake the next morning. It was all foolish nonsense, of course, but it still sent a shiver alone her spine.

Astrid helped her mother wash and clean the kitchen and table and by the time Ingrid deemed it finished, sleep pulled at her eyelids so hard she barely made it up the stairs. Barely a conscious thought lingered as Astrid collapsed into her bed.

X

Yellow had been with him as long as he could remember. The little Terrible Terror slept curled at his feet every night and kept his feet warm. Toothless wanted to sleep in the bed, too, and it had taken a while for him to understand that he was much bigger than a Terrible Terror.

"Yellow?" he called, inching his way through the forest. He kept his hood up in case his mother found him wandering this close to the village. He shook that thought; she would be furious.

A dash of yellow flickered just out of view and he hurried to find the little dragon before something happened. He came to the edge of the forest, but Yellow was nowhere in sight.

"Yellow!" he whispered.

His heart beat fast. He'd never been this close to the village without his mother before. The buildings were all made of wood and the Vikings were large, several times his size, at least. He stood behind a tree to avoid being seen. Had Yellow wandered into the Viking village? He kept close to the tree as the village began to wake. Maybe he'd just stay here a while and watch. His mother wouldn't have to know.

X

Astrid woke to Ingrid's screams. She jumped from her bed, grabbed her axe, and took the stairs three at a time. She leapt into the kitchen with her axe swung over her shoulder. Ingrid stood against the wall, wide eyed, with white knuckles gripping an iron pan in defense.

"What's wrong?" Astrid asked, lowering her axe at the empty kitchen.

"It's under the table!" Ingrid shrieked, pointing downward.

Astrid looked again, but still saw nothing. She took several steps forward and peered underneath the table, where a tiny yellow dragons nibbled on a stale loaf of bread. It blinked, one eye at a time, and slanted its thin neck to look at Astrid. Her breath caught in her throat. The same dragon had stared at her from the pass, before the witch had appeared. Astrid wheeled around, axe drawn upwards, half-expecting the green eyed witch to appear in her kitchen. When no such being came, she lowered her weapon.

"Open the door," Ingrid said, motioning. "I'll get the broom and swish it out. Kill it outside or let someone else deal with it. I don't want guts on my floor again."

"Right," Astrid nodded and held her axe in one hand and grabbed the door with the other. She opened it, but not before peering out. No witch in sight.

Ingrid grabbed the broom and turned it upside down, and slowly moved the handle toward the little dragon. She tapped the table to get its attention and wiggled the handle at it. The tiny dragon bent down and narrowed its bulging eyes at the intruder, and grabbed the bread in its shape little teeth and waddled toward the open door. Once outside it took flight, and it hadn't cleared the rooftop before shouts spread throughout the village.

"Dragon!" and "Dragon attack!" were among the many war cries as Vikings flooded out of their doors and fields only to find the sky clear, save for one little beast carrying away a moldy loaf of bread that weight half as much as it did. Astrid stepped outside just as she heard the swish and clunk of a firing crossbow.

She clutched her axe as the cheers erupted. A stone fell into her stomach and expanded and she leaned against the doorframe as the feeling pushed into her chest and gut.

"Astrid, dear?" Ingrid asked. "Are you alright?"

"I don't think we should have done that," Astrid said quietly. She glanced toward Blood Leave Pass, with the sickening sensation that someone watched back.