12 Astrids Return

Stoick the Vast gasped loudly as he awoke with a start; he had been sitting beside his wounded son in the warm glow of the Gronckle lava. Sleep had finally overtaken him while he rested his head on the very rock on which the boy lay. Looking out of the mouth of the cave Stoick could see a faint greyness, so he knew that the night was now over and the sun would rise within the hour.

He stood and looked around the cave noticing that all those about him were sleeping peacefully, but he could hear some movement coming from outside so he made his way to the mouth of the cave. Thankfully the storm was over, although a strong breeze continued in the pre-dawn light as all around him, Viking men and women attempted to create some kind of order in the wind blown campsite; some were lifting up a frame that had once formed part of a huge catapult. An impressive weapon, but unfortunately totally useless against the giant dragon the Vikings had fought the day before. The frame had now been tied to one of the spare sails retrieved from the salvaged longships, and as it was raised up, the sail became taught creating a crude, but much needed shelter. Stoick began to realise how soundly he had slept, for he had not heard the large tent pegs being hammered into the ground at all. Over by the edge of the camp he could see that some of the pickled fish they had salvaged, was being cooked on a fire that was surprisingly made of burning wood.

"Mornin' Stoick" yelled Hoark the Haggard while tending the fish. "Breakfast will be ready soon."

Typical Hoark, thought Stoick smiling to himself; even with a broken leg, he finds something to keep himself busy.

"Do you know where Gobber is?" the Chief asked.

"Aye, he's gone down to the shore with some of the men to check out what's left of the longships."

"Righty ho then" the chief replied and strode off toward the beach.

As he came closer he could see that all of the wrecks were still in place, and had even moved a little more up the beach thanks to the onshore wind of last night's storm, but they had also been damaged further by the constant pounding they had received.

"Ready for another day of cookouts and jolly camp fun?" quipped Gobber as he hobbling up the beach.

"Not now Gobber I'm not in the mood."

"Ahh... I see a good rest has made a new man out of you."

"Gobber please!" Stoick pleaded for his friend to be serious. "No sign of Astrid then."

"Err... no, but before you get too worried, consider that she may have spent the night on Berk because of the storm and she may be on her way back even as we speak"

"Do you really believe that?" Stoick declared accusingly.

"Well, to be honest..."

"I thought not, and we've got no ships to send out after her."

"No, but we do have a Gronckle and a Zippleback, with a Monstrous Nightmare not far away that we could..."

"Of course!" Stoicks face lit up.

"IVAR AND THORFINN" he shouted to some of the men combing the wrecks "find Fishlegs and the twins and tell them to bring their dragons to me here; I've got a very important task for them to do."

"Right Stoick." The men replied and began to run off, until Gobber stopped them.

"Don't worry about that men; get back to your work."

Stoick spun around and glared at Gobber ready to knock his head off, but then he saw the smirking blacksmith pointing one finger out to sea.

"Take a good look before you kill me." Gobber suggested.

Stoick turned his head and saw an approaching dragon ridden by the most bedraggled young girl he had ever seen. The pair had a hard landing on the beach right in front of the two men, and the dragon sat down immediately in complete and obvious exhaustion. Astrid leapt off Stormfly with a slight stumble, removed her gloves and approached Stoick with a huge grin on her face; she looked absolutely awful with bruises on her arms and legs, blistered hands and hair that stood straight up, but to Stoick she had never looked better. A bottle was revealed from within her coat that she held out to Stoick.

"Here you go Chief." Her eyes were looking at him, but they didn't seem to be actually focused anywhere.

"Are you alright Astrid?" Stoick asked concerned.

"Sure" she replied and passed out on the spot.

Olvor's eyes widened as Stoick walked back into the cave carrying the small unconscious warrior.

"Not another one" she said looking for a place to put Astrid.

The sun had not quite risen and the cave was still full of sleeping and mostly snoring Vikings who were either among the injured, or had come in for a rest a few hours ago. Olvor spotted old Krabbi, a rather unpleasant man who's name suited him well, making a horrible noise over by Hiccups rock; as one of the wounded he had been allowed to spend the entire night inside the cave, even though his only malady was a twisted right ankle, so Olvor gave him a quick kick in the seat of his britches.

"Get up you lazy beggar and make room for someone who's really hurt. And as for the rest of you, anyone who is able to walk can go outside and make themselves useful; the sun's almost up."

As the weary Vikings yawned, rubbed their eyes and made their way outside, Olvor picked up a yak skin and spread it out on the ground near the Gronckle lava before returning to take the brave girl from the Chiefs arms.

"I don't think it was wise to have let her go; if only we'd known a storm was coming."

"I did know" Stoick replied "but I wasn't quick enough to stop her."

Olvor smiled as she placed Astrid gently on the rug. "She is a determined Girl" the doctor noted.

"And a successful one too" Stoick agreed as he handed Olvor the bottle and threw the satchel on the ground.

"Well this makes it all worthwhile" Olvor nodded.

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Sorry everyone but he's in a bad mood again, or as I like to call it 'The Dark Side of the Moon' :-D