Meet Stormwing
When the two Vikings returned to Berk with Toothless, Shredder and the injured night fury there was a round of happy applause. Then Fishlegs noticed Astrid cradling her shoulder and the red stained shirt she had borrowed from hiccup to press on it.
Astrid was immediately taken into Stoick's house to be healed and even over the wind Hiccup could hear her screaming in pain.
Snotlout, Tuffnut, Fishlegs and Hiccup sat outside with their dragons while the women in the village healed Astrid. A few hours later after the Storm had ended Ruffnut came out to them.
"Ruff! Is Astrid okay?!" The guys yelled.
"What do you think? Her arm is gone! Of course she isn't okay!" Ruff yelled.
"But is she…?" Hiccup asked.
"She's alive yeah. She should be up and around in a day or two. But she needs to rest." Ruff said eyeing Snotlout and Tuffnut.
"Why are you looking at me? She must be weak if she lost her arm like that." Snotlout said.
"What was that Snotlout?" Hiccup asked coldly.
The others and the dragons all backed away from Hiccup as he turned to face Snotlout.
"You heard me. She's weak. Just like you Hiccup." The bigger boy said.
True Hiccup was still smaller than Snotlout but since he had lost his foot he had been training his body and he had gained quite a bit of muscle.
Hiccup ran up to Snotlout and smashed his fist into the arrogant boy's face. Snotlout staggered back and gripped his nose but reached out to grab Hiccup who kicked Snotlout in the knee with his good foot.
"Take it back Snotlout. Just take it back." Hiccup said staring Snotlout right in the eye.
Snotlout didn't even speak, he turned tail and ran.
The next day Hiccup saw Astrid sleeping calmly on the bed that had been prepared for her with her mother sitting next to her.
He quietly snuck out and walked over to the dragon academy. Ruff, Tuff, Fishlegs and an old face were all waiting for him.
"Heather? Good to see you!" He said as he hugged her.
"I flew in last night on Rattles and heard what happened to Astrid. Is she okay now?" The dark haired girl asked.
"Yeah she's fine. But who's Rattles?" Hiccup asked.
She smiled and whistled. There was a loud roar then a huge dragon covered in bones flew done from the cliff and landed outside the academy.
"You trained a BoneKnapper? Amazing." Hiccup said as he inspected the dragon.
"I found him when we were sailing home but he was too small to ride back then. Of course home is gone…" She said.
"What do you mean? Gone?" Hiccup asked.
"The berserkers. They found this giant Whispering Death and used it to sink the island. I… I was the only one who made it out." Heather said crying.
"The Screaming Death. Dagur's been busy." Fishlegs said.
"Hey uh Hiccup I don't know if you noticed but that other Night Fury is here." Tuffnut said.
"Where?" He asked then saw it sitting behind Heather.
"Hey. I thought you had run off." Fishlegs said approaching the dragon.
It growled at him and backed away. Hiccup approached it and it made the same purring noise as Toothless.
"Hey, where did you find a girl Night Fury?" Heather asked.
"How do you know it's a girl?" Tuffnut asked.
His sister smacked him in the face then answered Heather.
"She fell out of the sky after Dagur's Skrill burned her leg off."
They all looked at the injury and found it was even worse in the daylight. The burn was now a white scar where the dragon's leg should have been. She was slowly learning to walk without the leg but she was still hobbling.
"Aww you must be tired. Here I have some extra fish." Heather said tossing a fish.
The she dragon caught it and swallowed the fish whole. Someone made a grunting sound and they all turned to see Snotlout watching them.
"What do you want Snotlout?" Hiccup asked.
"Oooo hit him again Hiccup!" The twins cheered.
"Shut up! You two are idiots." Snotlout shouted.
Barf, Belch, Ruff, Tuff, Toothless, Hiccup, Heather, Rattles, Meatlug, Fishlegs and even Hookfang glared at the boy.
"What's a matter snot? Get beat up by Hiccup?" Heather asked.
"I came to get Hookfang. Come on boy." He said.
The Nightmare growled and moved behind the others.
"Even he thinks your wrong. Just take back what you said." Hiccup said.
"Yeah right. I still think Astrid is weak. She lost an arm saving a cripple." He said with a shrug.
The she dragon looked at the boy and bared her teeth. Snotlout stood his ground as she approached.
"You know there's a difference between being brave and being stupid. This is stupid." Fishlegs said.
The she dragon fired a weak plasma blast at Snotlout sending him flying. He got up and tried to run but she followed and kept firing at him.
"He deserves that." Fishlegs said.
"That and more." Hiccup said.
After that the kids spent the day practicing aerial maneuvers while Hookfang kept the Night Fury company.
At dusk Toothless and Hiccup circled the island to check for any enemy ships or dragons. There were none so they flew back into Berk just in time for dinner.
It was a quiet meal so as not to wake Astrid but halfway through eating she stirred and tried to stand. Her legs which hadn't seen much use for the past day were not prepared for the sudden movement and she fell forward. Hiccup caught her before she hit the floor and she sent him a silent thank you.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
"Hungry." She croaked.
"Well then come on over and we'll fix you right up." Stoick said moving a chair for her.
Hiccup helped her over and then sat back in his own chair. Stoick out a hot bowl of soup in front of her and she awkwardly ate with only her left hand. She noticed that Stoick and Hiccup were not staring and she was thankful that they weren't focusing on her.
"Anything happen while I was… out?" She asked.
"Heather showed up with her own dragon." Hiccup said.
"Really? What kind?" Astrid asked.
"A BoneKnapper." He answered.
She nodded silently and looked at Stoick who obviously had something he wanted to say.
"Anything else?" She asked.
"Hiccup beat up Snotlout." The chief blurted out quickly.
"Whaaat?! Hiccup?" She asked looking at the boy.
"Yeah." He said.
"Why?" She asked.
"He… He called you weak. For what happened." He said.
Astrid suddenly felt a lot of things. The dull pain from her arm, anger at Snotlout but mostly she felt happy that Hiccup had defended her.
Without thinking she leaned over and kissed him. Then remembering Stoick was in the room she went back to eating with her face bright red.
"Well I think I'll go out on a patrol. Toothless your in charge while I'm gone." He said sensing the kids embarrassment.
Toothless yawned in response but watched the two teenagers.
"So…someone else wanted to see you." Hiccup said.
Astrid tilted her head confusedly and wondered who else would want to see her other than her mother.
Hiccup jerked his head to the corner of the room where the firelight was darkest. Two green eyes stared at her then slowly they came forward and stepped into the light.
It was the female Night Fury. She sniffed at Astrid's missing arm and looked at her own missing leg. Then she purred as she brushed her head against Astrid.
"I think someone really took a liking to you." Hiccup said.
Astrid patted the dragon on her head and scratched her chin. After a few minutes Astrid removed her hand and the dragon curled up next to the fire.
"So Hiccup… I wasn't thinking of going home until tomorrow. Do you have anywhere I could stay?" Astrid asked innocently.
"Uh… we've got the bed for you…" He said thinking he could see where this was going.
"Oh come on." Astrid said grabbing him and trying the direct approach.
Later when Stoick came he peeked into Hiccup's room to see the two teenagers curled up next to each other on his bed.
"Good job Astrid. I knew one of you had it in you." The chief whispered under his breath.
The next morning Hiccup woke up to find Astrid sitting on the edge of the bed staring down at her shoulder. He gently placed a hand on her other shoulder and she faked a smile for him.
"Come on. I'm sure everyone's worried about you." He said.
They walked outside to find Fishlegs sitting next to the door.
"Hey Fishlegs! How long have you been out here?" Hiccup asked.
The larger boy snapped awake and looked at Hiccup and Astrid. He grinned.
"Since last night. When you guys were eating." He said.
Hiccup face palmed while Astrid's face grew redder than a Monstrous Nightmare.
"Tell anyone and I will throw you in with the Whispering Death's." Astrid said.
"Understood. Everyone else is already down at the Academy. I think Snotlout is causing trouble again."
"Well at least I know how to deal with that problem." Hiccup said.
Snotlout was indeed causing trouble but Heather was quickly solving that problem. When Hiccup arrived she had Snotlout in a headlock and he was turning blue.
"That's enough Little Miss Innocent." Astrid said.
"Astrid! How are you feeling?" The other girl asked.
"Not as good as will after I give Snotlout a good thrashing." The blonde girl said.
"Ha! You can't beat me with one arm! Plus your a gir-" He stopped as Astrid landed a kick in the family jewels.
"Who said I needed any arms?" Astrid said.
The dragons laughed at Snotlout but Hiccup decided that this was enough.
"Astrid leave it. He's suffered enough for one comment."
"Yeah I guess your right. But… If you ever say something like that again I won't let you off this easy." She said.
Snotlout nodded from where he was on the ground and curled up into a ball.
"Okay so today I thought we could see what Rattles and the new Night Fury-"
"Her names Stormwing." Astrid said.
"Okay Rattles and Stormwing are capable of." Hiccup said.
Rattles, hearing his name, scratched at the cage like roof of the academy. Heather made a hand sign for him to sit and he reluctantly did.
"Where is Stormwing, Astrid?" Hiccup asked.
"She is still up at the house with Toothless. Call him and she should come to." She said.
"Would you like the honors?" Hiccup asked.
Astrid smiled then made a loud screaming whine that echoed up into town. A minute later two Night Fury's were racing into the academy.
"Hi. Do you want to fly?" Astrid asked the dragon.
Stormwing nuzzled Astrid's hand and knelt down for the girl to climb up onto her back. It was a little difficult with one arm but she managed.
"Okay lets show the boys how a real Night Fury flies." Astrid whispered.
Stormwing ran out of the arena and took off. She was smaller than Toothless but only slightly and with her full tail she was free to perform flips, spins and loops that he never would be able to.
As she was flying Astrid noticed the Night Fury's signature whistle as they gathered speed. Where Toothless could only make the noise for a few seconds Stormwing was maintaining it.
After nearly ten minutes of flying and maneuvering they landed in front of a shocked group of Teenagers.
"What?" She asked.
"That was amazing!" Hiccup said.
Even Toothless was shocked and his mouth was hanging open much like Hiccups.
"Alright Heather. You and Rattles are up." Hiccup said.
Heather nodded and climbed up onto Rattles like a monkey. The large dragon took flight and while he was not as fast as a night fury he would be as fast as Hookfang.
"Hmph she's not that good." Snotlout said.
"Shut up." Fishlegs said.
A few minutes later Rattles landed and Heather hopped down off his head.
"How was that?" She asked.
"It was good but you need to be able to do evasive maneuvers. With his size it'll make him an easier target." Hiccup said.
The rest of the day, they spent patrolling and taking care of the dragons. Later as the sun started to close in on the horizon Astrid walked back into town and found herself greeted by her mother.
"Astrid! I heard you were up! Are you feeling okay?" She asked.
"Yeah… I just want to have a nice quiet night. I'll be in my room." The girl said and her mother nodded.
Losing her arm and her dragon in such a short time must be hard on her, her mother thought.
Up in her room Astrid collapsed on her bed and stared at the stump of her shoulder. She wasn't as angry about losing it as she had thought. No her anger was all directed at Dagur.
"Hey." A voice called from outside.
Astrid turned to see Heather standing on the neighboring roof.
"What are you doing here?!" Astrid asked.
"Well I only have my little camp by the academy so I thought I'd visit your house." Heather said.
"Really that's the only reason?" Astrid asked waving her in.
"Well that and I thought I would tell you, I heard you and Hiccup last night." She said.
Astrid felt her face brighten up then she narrowed her eyes.
"Why were you in town?" Astrid asked.
"I couldn't sleep and apparently neither could you." Heather laughed.
"You will not tell anyone what you heard." Astrid said coldly holding her axe.
"I wasn't planning on it. But I have to ask, did I hear what I think I heard?" Heather asked.
"No, it wasn't like that. That's why I don't want you or Fishlegs telling anybody." Astrid said.
"Well then what was it you were doing?"
"I'll tell you… do you hear that?" Astrid asked.
There was a faint rumbling in the distance and the two girls ran to the window to see what it was.
It was easy to spot the massive thunderstorm moving towards Berk from the southwest.
"That's not a natural storm." Astrid said.
"Why not?" Heather asked seeing nothing abnormal.
"Because the wind blows out of the north onto Berk. That's from the Beserker island." Astrid told her.