Astrid was fuming, but on the inside she was hoping Fishlegs had gotten to Stoick and Gobber fast enough. He might not have been the fastest runner, but this was an emergency situation. With their dragons gone, Outcasts on the island and their weapons stock depleted, they had very few options, no thanks to Mildew. But if Fishlegs was right and they were looking for her, then she could at the very least have something of an advantage in that they hadn't captured her with the other villagers.

Looking down at the three Outcasts using the rocky ledge as a kind of stage, she couldn't help but watch the one in the middle who seemed to be the ringleader. That was definitely not Alvin the Treacherous, if the stories her father had told her about him were true. He certainly wasn't a lithe, weedy-looking thing of a teenager, that was for sure, but Astrid could tell by the look on his face that he meant business. He rested his hand on his upturned axe, his other placed on his hip as he raised an eyebrow in the direction where Ruffnut had just decked Mildew before he could say anything, giving him her best sweet smile when narrowed green eyes look at her.

"Sorry, sir, my grandfather's very old, he needs his nap."

He gives her a look before he rolls his eyes, shouldering his axe in the crook of his neck that was free from the spiked shoulder guards he wore. Astrid watched the way his small muscles moved from where she was hiding, her own axe in hand. "As I was saying before I was interrupted, my name is Hiccup the Horrendous, son of Alvin the Treacherous and heir to the Outcast tribe." His eyes glanced over the adults in the captured villagers, as though he was watching for their reaction. "We've come for your so-called dragon conqueror."

So it was true. They were after her. Astrid slid down and hugged the shadows on the side of her rock, hearing murmurs go up among the crowd as she clutched her axe in both hands. What she wouldn't give to have Stormfly with her right now.

"I'm afraid I have very little patience," Hiccup was saying, running the pad of his thumb over the blade of his axe, watching the way blood bubbled up along the slick cut before he licked it into his mouth. He was so distracted that he didn't see Snotlout climbing up onto the platform, carrying the club that they'd found on the beach that morning. "If the dragon conqueror fails to show himself in the next hour? Then I might just have to start dealing with Berk's...population control. I'm sure Stoick could do with a few less mouths to feed."

Astrid felt her heart race in her chest, her eyes widening. He was going to kill people if she didn't give herself up. Snotlout's war cry reached her ears and she spun around from where she was leaning back against her rock, watching him raise the club over his head. "Snotlout, you idiot!" she hissed to herself, fingers clenching around the edges of the rock.

One sweep of his foot was all that Hiccup needed to take the other viking down - Snotlout might've been big in stature and one of their best fighters in their age group, but watching him mess up so easily...it was kind of painful to watch. Once he had him on the rocky floor, a booted foot found his chest, Hiccup leaning down with a menacing grin on his face as he hovered his axe at blade point over the other boy's throat. "It seems like we have our first volunteer..."

"Wait!" Astrid stood up before she realized what she was doing, swallowing down a breath as she hopped over her rock, landing on the rocky ledge with ease and her axe in hand. "I'm the one you're looking for."

Green eyes looked at her, his gaze seeming to stare into her soul before he leaned up and away from Snotlout, keeping his foot pressed against the other boy's chest as a way of keeping him pinned to the ground. His upper lip lifted into a sneer, gaze roaming her body. "You're the dragon conqueror?"

"Yes."

There was a moment of silence before he burst out laughing, followed by a chorus of laughter from the other Outcasts. Astrid gripped her weapon in a white-knuckled grasp as she straightened her shoulders - she couldn't do anything, not with Snotlout in danger. But Snotlout was quick to interject the laughter, breath wheezing out of him due to the foot crushing his ribs.

"I-it's true. All the dragons are afraid of her. Wh-why do you think you haven't seen any?"

Good, good. Hiccup looked like he was buying it. His nose scrunched up before he leaned down, hooking the sharp edge of his axe's blade into the neck of the other boy's shirt. "I think you've soiled your pants," he purred before he lifted his foot and unceremoniously kicked Snotlout off the platform, turning his attention to Astrid. "And how can we be sure that you're the dragon conqueror?"

"Take me to dragon island."