(Chapter Twenty-Two)
(Morndas 13th) (With Astrid)
The night was rough, rougher then it's ever been. With homes still needing to be repaired, and on top of that some were fearing of another raid like the one from yesterday. That's mostly the elderly and young ones though.
Astrid on the other hand was one of the few that had a hard time sleeping but not due too her home needing to be repaired (which it does though) or fearing of a raid, it's because of her wondering why all of this is happening to them. It was never this bad before but that was until Draco showed up and ever since then, things have been getting worse. She's not blaming the guy but she's worried what other trouble he'll bring with him.
Astrid was suppose to have class today but she's going to have to go cancel it since she wants to help out with the repairs to the village but she also wants to find Draco and talk with him since she didn't get too yesterday.
After grabbing her things she heads on down stairs to see that her parents were there getting ready too have breakfast. Astrid wasn't hungry right now so she told her mother that she'll get something at the hall later. Her mother did ask where she was going Astrid explained that she was going to cancel hr class and that she'll be back to help.
Her mother just nodded letting her daughter leave the house. Leaving the house Astrid was quickly greeted by Ruffnut and with her was her brother.
"Hey Astrid, you off too your class?"
"Yes but I'll be cancelling it so I can come back and help out with the repairs" the three began walking to the arena.
"I don't know why you want to repair such an amazing sight" Astrid glared at Tuffnut.
"Don't listen too him, he's just being stupid"
"Hey!"
"Anyways, how long do you plan to help?"
Astrid shrugs her shoulders "I don't know, I guess until I feel like stopping, why?" it was Ruffnut's turn to shrug.
"Just wondering" Astrid raises an eyebrow.
"I hope you're not planning something"
"Why would you say that?" Ruffnut smiles.
Astrid rolls her eyes "Because it's you we're talking about"
Ruffnut acts offended "How could you say something like that" she laughs.
"I'm bored, I'm going to go find something to do" Tuffnut blurts out leaving the two girls.
"Finally, now that h's gone we can actually talk" this seemed too confuse Astrid "What do you mean?"
"I mean we can actually have some girl talk, like for example, have you talked to Draco yet about the whole 'dueling for your hand' thing?"
"No I haven't, it seems like there's never time to do that and even if there was time, it's do to how it acts towards everyone, he's hostile and yes I know why, everyone doesn't have to keep telling me but that doesn't make it any easier to talk unless you want to get yelled at"
"I think you're the only one he's yelled at, at least that I know of, yea he got made at Snotface but that idiot was asking for it" she couldn't help but laugh remembering seeing Snotlout getting knocked out during the duel he had with Draco.
"He did go too far, I don't know how Stoick can deal with him and if he becomes chief I'm leaving Berk"
"I wouldn't blame you, I would do the same" Ruffnut had a strange thought run through her mind "Hey, what would you think if Draco became the new chief instead of Snotlout?"
This question threw Astrid off a little bit confusing her "Where did that come from?"
"Just answer the question"
"If that were to happen then I think a lot of things would change for probably the better but you know how we are, we don't accept change easily"
"That's true but I was mostly talking about how would you feel about him being chief"
"I would feel at least safer knowing that we have someone smarter then Snotlout becoming our chief but I also feel…" Astrid stops speaking when she heard noices as they approached the arena and it wasn't just the kids she was hearing.
Reaching the edge looking down into the arena she sees the kids as well as Draco all standing in the middle of the arena. Taking a closer look at him she's realized that everytime he's around the kids his tone changes from cold to friendly but she knows that he's probably only doing that since they're kids.
"Let's go down there and see what they're up too shall we" Ruffnut says leaving her friends side to go into the arena. Astrid quickly catches up with her.
As the two girls enter the arena they begin too hear what they were talking about "Was the dragon big?" one of the asks.
It seems that they're talking about the dragon from yesterday's raid. Draco didn't say anything since he noticed the girls approach them but with the kids around he can't show or say anything hostile so his exspression is clear of any sign of hostility.
"Hey kids, what are you guys talking about?" Ruffnut speaks up gaining the attention of all the kids.
The kids quickly run over to greet the girls while Draco just stands there turning his attention away. Seeing that the kids are here Astrid can see that this might be the only chance she gets too talk to him.
"Hey, can you keep them busy for a second?" Ruffnut looks over to where Draco was then back at Astrid now seeing why she wanted her too keep them busy. She nods her head.
Astrid leaves Ruffnut's side and heads over to where Draco was. He seemed to have notice her approaching since his attention was now on her instead of whatever random thing he was looking at. He still doesn't seem to be showing hostility but that's what was making her uneasy.
"Can I talk too you for a second?" she asks.
"If it's about the whole duel thing again then you don't have to say anything because that's what I need to talk to you about as well, Ciri won't let up on it so she told me to come talk to you" he pretty much was saying that if he didn't do it he would be bugged by Ciri the whole entire time they're going to be here.
"Yes, that's what I wanted to talk to you about, I'm sure that you weren't doing it out of the kindness of your heart but I do want to thank you since I didn't get to the first time, but I do also want too…" he holds up a hand stopping her.
"Before you continue, you're right I didn't do it out of the kindness of my heart, but in a way I did since I've seen how much you hate the guy, also how he just sees you as a prize, that's not right, I also understand, at least too some degree that here, since I won, I pretty much won your hand which wasn't my intention" this time she stops him by speaking.
"That's what I was going to talk to you about, here on Berk, if something like that were to happen then the women has a chance too fight for her own hand" she shifted her weight becoming a little bit more uneasy.
"Yes, I'm aware of that and if that's what you're going to suggest then fine, we'll duel but I won't throw the fight just too let you win so you better get better before then" she felt a little offended hearing that he was pretty much calling her weak but seeing how he fights she can't really argue but that didn't make her any less angry.
"So when can we have the duel then?" she asks folding her arms over her chest.
"Like I said, when you get better so until then we're stuck" that stung Astrid's heart a little bit.
"Dude, why are you being so hostile?" Ruffnut calls out from behind Astrid. Astrid turns too glare at her friend.
"I'm not being hostile, I'm stating the truth and why does it matter too you?" he calls back.
"She's my friend isnt that enough?"
"Yes and no, this doesn't concern you"
"Ok, would you two stop (looks at Draco) stay there for a second" she quickly walks over to where Ruffnut and the kids were.
"Hey kids, I'm going to have to cancel class today since I'm going to be helping out with repairs so you can go on home and for you Ruffnut, just go stand by the door or go back too the village" the kids nod their heads taking off for the exit while Ruffnut does the same and follow them out.
Astrid turns to see that Draco was still standing there "Sorry about her"
"That's nothing new too me, Raven does the same thing" this was the first time he said something about one of his friends that wasn't to the chief or Gobber.
"I've heard that name a couple of times"
"That's because I've mentioned her a couple of times, she's one of those kind of people that will talk out of turn or at higher figures" this shocked Astrid seeing that he was actually talking to her without scolding and about one of his friends at that. This might be her chance.
"How many friends do you actually have, from the way you speak about them you have a lot" she's trying too not stop on any dragon tails while speaking to him.
"I have a lot of friends some on other parts of the world, but there's a totally of sixteen of us that stayed together" Draco knows that he was speaking about his friends too her but since Ciri is pretty much forcing him to get along with them unless he wanted to never here the end of it.
What Draco's talking about is that earlier that morning he and Ciri were talking about some of the things that has happened since he's been here. After hearing it all she realized that he's been avoiding everyone. She understands why he does that but she still got onto him and told him that he needs too loosen up and that he should know by now that none of them are going to do anything stupid.
He knows what she's meaning but still… "Hey? You still there?" Astrid snapped her fingures pulling him back into reality.
"Yes, I'm just thinking"
"So you didn't hear me then?"
"Nope"
"I said why are there so many, are you guys family or something?"
"Something like that, not blood related but we've been together for so long we just eventually became a family or that's at least how we see ourselves"
"You must trust them a lot too consider them family" he nods.
"I trust them with my life" he began too walk away heading for the exit.
"Where are you going?" she asks.
"I'm going to the hall"
"Are you going to help out with the repairs?"
"After I'm done eating, I haven't eaten yet" speaking of food Astrids stomach growls out of hunger.
"I guess I should do the same, I left home without eating"
"Then I guess we should hurry then"
Did Astrid just hear him say 'we' as in he's letting her tag along, whatever that Ciri women said or did to him it's working. Honestly it was weird to see him act this way towards her even though it's also nice since he's not scowling or trying to push her away for once. Still weird though.
The two left the arena and began making their way across the bridge which both are just noticing that it did take some damage from Odahviing. It wasn't a lot of damage so it was kind of difficult too notice but coming back from the arena it was clear what was damage.
"That thing did a number to the village, and you said you've fought things like this"
"Yes, but this one is different from the others, he has more tricks under is scales then most"
"How come you didn't kill it?"
"It's harder too kill those kind of dragons, their scales are tougher then the ones you deal with here, but that one and a couple of others have stronger scales, the main reason I didn't kill him is because we just didn't have the strength too do so, we were able to take him down yes, but passing his scales is another thing" he took a quick breath before continuing.
"I've dealt with him once but I had the others with me and even then we still couldn't pass his scales, we just don't have the kind of material too do so"
"The way you're speaking you know what kind of material it would take" he nods.
"It takes dragon bone to pass scales like that" this surprised Astrid.
"Dragon bone? Has is that possible?" he shrugs his shoulders.
"Don't know, but they're people that can do it but it cost a lot to get one but they're also rare so getting one for everyone would take a long time"
This is actually surprising to Astrid. Being able to make weapons out of dragon bones. It sounds impossible but he doesn't show any signs of joking so it must be true but still sounds impossible.
"Can all dragons talk?"
"You heard him?" she nods.
"I was hoping you wouldn't ask that like everyone else since it's annoying to keep explaining, but no, not all dragons can talk, only a few but that doesn't mean that they can't understand you. For example, the dragons you deal with here, they can't speak but they can understand it may not look it but you've possibly have notice something weird about them a couple of times"
Astrid began too look back on the times she's fought dragons. She can recall a few times that she's fought dragons that seemed different from the others but she didn't really think about it too much since it didn't seem important to remember. But that's when she remembered the Nadder she fought.
"Yes I have notice, the Nadder I fought, it was trying too chase me into an ambush. At first I thought it was due too them just being animals like wolves but now that I think about it, it seemed more thought out then instinct"
"Because it was, dragons are quite smart, yes some are going off instinct but others are intelligent like the one that blew up that tower yesterday, that one seemed to know what it was doing since it was going after certain things" Astrid knew what he was talking about.
"The Night Fury, that thing hasn't been around for years, we thought it just decided to leave and never return but it seems like we were wrong"
Draco began to think about it a little bit and thought that maybe the queen at the nest is smarter then he thought. It wasn't odd for dragons to orders of alphas or betas but being able to use them wisely, that was uncommon. At least to him it was.
"Have you ever seen the Night Fury?" he asks.
Astrid shakes her head "No, nobody has, the only thing we know about it is that it's black that's why it's been impossible too see but this time we still couldn't see it"
"So, no one's seen this dragon?" she shook her head. Whatever kind of dragon that was, it's going to cause them trouble in the future. He was not looking forward to that.
The two were now in the plaza and from the looks of it everyone, at least that they can see are out helping with the remaining repairs. With the amount of people that are helping out they should be done by midday.
"Hey, Astrid" the sound of Fishleg's voice gained her attention but Draco stopped as well.
"Hey Fish, are you helping out?" he nods.
"Yea, my day has me helping with replacing some of the wall to the forge that wasn't completely done but we got it done now and now I'm heading off (looks at Draco) Oh, Draco you're here too?"
"Yes, but I'm heading to the hall to get something to eat before jumping in to help" Fishlegs looks at Astrid a little confused. She didn't know what to tell him.
"What's that look for?" Draco asks.
"O-Oh, nothing I'm just a little shocked… Oh, I almost forgot, Stoick told me if I were too see you to tell you that he needs to talk too you" he changes the subject.
"What does he want to talk too me about?" Fishlegs shrugs his shoulders.
"I don't know but he told me that he would be waiting in the hall, which you're already heading there so telling you was kind of pointless was it?"
Draco didn't say anything else but a quick 'thank you' before he leaves. Astrid does the same leaving Fishlegs by himself. He didn't get far so she was able to catch up with him.
"What do you think the chief wants to talk too you about?"
"Probably about what happened yestery or something near that line"
"If it is then that means we're most likely going to have a meeting in the hall soon and when that happens it might be the one that will tell us when we're heading out for the nest"
"Have you ever seen the nest?" she shakes her head.
"No I haven't, from what I hear there's a massive wall of fog that surrounds it and in the past whenever we would send ships out that way only about one or two ships return but the last time we did that was a year ago ever since then the raids have become worse and we've lost a lot of lives since" she sounded sad.
"I'm sorry to hear but there's nothing you can do but continue to live for those that have fallen"
She didn't have anything to say so Draco stayed quite until she spoke again. She stayed quiet all the way to the hall which felt kind of weird, usually he wouldn't mind her being quiet but this was just awkward.
Upon entering the hall they were met with greetings from the chief and Gobber "Draco, Astrid, what are you here for?" he asks trying to make conversation.
"We came to get something too eat but I'm also here to talk too you, Fishlegs told me you had something to talk about"
"Getting to the chase huh, yes, I do need to talk to you" Stoick looks at Astrid. She seemed to know what he was thinking and she left to go get her food.
Once she was gone Stoick began to speak "Draco, the dragon from yesterday, are we going to have too worry about what it said?"
"Yes, he will come back and with more, honestly if I were you I would think about leaving the island and move somewhere else, but it's not my island or my choice. The only other thing I could say is that you're going to need to upgrade your gear. The weapons and armors you have now will not withstand a fight against one of those dragons let only who knows how many" this wasn't sounding good to Stoick, not at all.
"'ow long do we 'ave till it returns?" Gobber asks.
"Don't know, it could be days, weeks, months who knows it could even happen tomorrow for all I know. Like I said you might want to consider changing gear"
"I was afraid you would say that, but changing armor and weapons? We don't have the materials to do that"
"Don't worry, I already have that handled, those letters I sent, there was another one that told Johann to get ahold of a merchant that I know back home and told him to have him come here, even though I wasn't expecting for that dragon too show up but since he did it's a good thing I did" this took the two men by surprise.
What they were really surprised about is that Draco was already a couple steps ahead and wasn't even going too tell them about it. This guy seems to always surprise them.
"Ya didn't 'ave to do that ya know?"
"I know but it seems like you guys needed it and with what happened yesterday, you're going to need it" Draco looks past the two men to see that Astrid was sitting at the table close to where they're talking with two plates and mugs.
Both Gobber and Stoick could see that he was looking pass them. They knew who he was looking at. Stoick coughed regaining his attention again "One more thing, later today around midday there's going to be a meeting in the hall and I want you to be there"
"I'll be there but I may already know what it's going to be about, but I'll still be there" Draco walks around the two men to go sit at the table where Astrid was sitting at.
Stoick and Gobber watch Draco go over to sit across from Astrid. This was strange to the both of them "What do ya think 'appened?" Stoick shrugs not sure what happened.
"Well, whatever 'appened, I wish that it 'appened sooner"
Back with Astrid and Draco. Both of them were eating in silence but with how quiet the hall was Astrid spoke up breaking said silence "What was that about?" she asks.
"Just like you said, it was about what happened yesterday and also about a meeting later today" he takes a swig of his drink.
"If they're doing it later today then we better get done with the repairs by then"
"I could already take a guess of what the meeting's going to be about, it'll be about the nest and possibly about making some changes" Astrid looks at him questionably.
"What do you mean changes?"
"I mean like upgrading gear, armor and weapons, nothing big but if or more like when Odahviing returns everyone will more or less have to help escape and or defend Berk"
"Do you really think we'll choose to leave Berk?"
"No, but it might be an option down the road"
Astrid was going to say something about that they won't ever leave Berk but te sound of the hall doors opening grabbed her attention. It was Tuffnut,Ruffnut, and surprisingly Snotlout, with a bandage over his nose.
The three notice Astrid and Draco and walked over to them. Snotlout on the other hand went to go seat somewhere else which Draco found somewhat funny but he wasn't going to let them know that.
"I see you two are still together, did I miss anything?" Ruffnut teased.
"What are you talking about 'did you miss anything?'" Astrid may not know what she's talking about but Draco somewhat does unless it's not what he's thinking.
"Oh come on Astrid, I'm kidding, so how long have you guys been here?" Ruffnut changes the subject.
"Not long but once we're done we're going to go help out with repairs, which I assume you guys won't do" the twins act offended.
"Now that hurt, we would do anything we can to hel…" Tuffnut couldn't even finish his sentence before he busted out laughing along with Ruffnut.
"It seems like you know us well"
"It's because I've met people like you in the past" the twins seemed surprised.
"Wait, so there are more Loki followers out there!?" Draco looks at Astrid with a raised eyebrow but she just shook her head which told him to just ignore them.
"Anyways, I'm done eating, I'm going to go on and start helping out" he says leaving the table along with his plate while waving the three goodbye.
Once he was gone Snotlout then left the table he was sitting at and moved to their table with a thud. He sat next to Tuffnut and they could see that he was still angry at the guy "I thought that guy would never leave" he comments.
"You just got here" Astrid snaps.
"Just ignore him, he's still mad that he got his ass wooped"
"I didn't get 'my ass wooped' he just got lucky" Snotlout argued.
"No, you were just bad, and seriously, fighting him while he was still injured and you still lost"
"He was the one that wanted to fight, I was going to let him heal before fighting"
"Bull, you wanted to fight him while he was weak so you could have an advantage over him"
"Dude, Astrid, you're defending the guy a lot lately what's gotten into you?" the male twin asks stopping the argument. At least for the brief moment.
"I'm not defending him, it's the truth"
"No, you're defending, did something happen…" Snotlout cuts Tuffnut off.
"She's probably sl-OW, what the hel" Snotlout turns around too see who smacked him upside the head. It was Gobber.
"Gobber, I thought you left with Stoick" Gobber takes a sit next to the idiot.
"Na, I stayed behind so I could see how this idiot was doing" he gestures to Snotlout.
"Hey!" Gobber glares at Snotlout shutting him up.
He turns his attention back too Astrid "So, I see that the lad was actin' a little different" he was talking about Draco.
"Yea, but that's because that Ciri women told him that he needs to open up or he'll never hear the end of it" Astrid explains.
"Ah, so it's not because ya used ya charms on him" Gobber joked which caused Astrid to blush a little bit but luckily no one can see, hopefully.
"Astrid's too good for that guy, she would never-" "Would you shut up" Astrid snaps.
Astrid gets up out of her seat annoyed and leaves the hall not saying a word to the others. Gobber and the twins turn to look at Snotlout with disappointing stares. Snotlout looks back at them confused of what he did "What?"
"Do you ever know when too shut up?" Ruffnut questions.
Gobber, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout all got up leaving the table to go do what they're having too do for the day. The twins went to go home and help out their parents which they didn't want to do but had too when their mom forced them too.
Gobber heads to the forge to get it up and running unless Hiccup's already there getting everything ready for the day. And Snotlout left to find his other friends to go complain or something like that.
A couple of hours later nearly all of the repairs were finished and Astrid met up with Draco whom was standing at the window of the forge talking to Gobber and possibly Hiccup. A couple minutes later the twins and Fishlegs were the next to show up.
"Hey, shouldn't we be heading to the hall for that meeting?" Fishlegs questions.
Gobber nods his head and says "Ya kiddos go on ahead, I'll close up shop and be there in a couple of minutes"
"Ok, see you there Gobber" Gobber went further into the forge disappearing in the back while the five of them went on ahead to go to the hall to get there a little early before everyone begins to pile in.
"Arent we kind of going a little too early?" Tuffnut asks.
"It's better to be early then later I guess" his sister answers not sure for herself.
Ruffnut couldn't help but notice that Astrid was ahead of them a little seemingly to try to kep up with Draco which had a head start of everyone else. Tuffnut and Fishlegs have noticed this to but Fishlegs was the first to say something.
"Don't you think it's kind of weird to see those two being around each other this long?" he whispers.
"Yes, he's usually snapping or yelling at her or something like that but this time it's different, yea that Ciri girl told him to be a little nicer but it's still weird"
"You know what would be weirder, what if what Snotlout said was true and that there was a thing between the two that no one knows about" Tuffnut jumps in quietly.
"If those two were a thing I think I would have noticed it" Ruffnut adds.
"I honestly don't think that'll happen" the female twin turns to Fishlegs.
"How come?"
"Well, lets see, how about the fact that he doesn't see her as a women"
Ruffnut was confused "What do you mean by 'not see her as a women' how can he not see that she's a women? There's two things that pretty much proves she's a women"
"Not like that Ruff, what I mean is that he only sees her as a viking nothing more, not a male or female, just a viking" Ruffnut and now Tuffnut were confused.
"That doesn't make sense"
Fishlegs sigh "It's hard too explain but until she can show him that she's more then a viking, I doubt anything between those two will happen"
Even though it still doesn't make much sense to Ruffnut but she knows one thing though, she's going to be helping her friend out in the future or probably sooner.
Upon reaching/entering the hall they were greeted with the sight of an empty hall. It felt weird to be in here by themselves but they still entered and went over to sit at a table that was close to the fire pit. Draco was the first to sit down next Astrid sitting next to Draco, Ruffnut sitting next to Astrid, Fishlegs and Tuffnut sit across from them.
"How long will it be till the meeting begins?" Tuffnut asks.
"Another hour or so, till then just sit there and be patient" Draco answers as he takes out his journal.
The others watched as he opens the journal to a page that had a picture of a dragon. he then places the book in the middle of the table. The others look at said picture and saw that it was very detailed with details of its size, what it can do, and what he calls it.
"Remember how I said that there are others that have stronger scales then most?" he asks Astrid. She nods.
"Well, this is one of those dragons, I call it an elder dragon, these are rare dragons and I've only seen one but never fought it"
"Then how do you know that its scales are stronger?" she asks.
"Dragons shed their scales, I found a couple and compared it too another ones scales" he explains.
They take another look at the picture and saw how much bigger the jaw was compared to the one that showed up yesterday "Hey, what is this?" Fishlegs points at some smudged spots where it looks like there was suppose to be writing.
"It was a mistake that I made when I was working on this page"
"How would you beat something like that if the scales are stronger?" Fishlegs asks.
"Dragon bone, yes it may sound impossible but it is because I've seen it but they're rare to find as well hard to forge"
"So you're saying if we were to make weapons out of dragon bone we would be able to fight something like that off?" Ruffnut asks.
"By yourself no, you'll have to have help" he closes the journal placing it back under his armor.
"Is that why you didn't kill that dragon yesterday, because you couldn't pass by its scales?" Draco nods.
"Is there any other way of killing them instead of forging dragon bone weapons?" Astrid asks.
"As of right now, no, at least I don't know" that's a lie but he can't tell them how, at least not yet.
"Well, we're dead" Tuffnut says receiving a smack by his sister from across the table.
"Shut it, we're not dead yet"
"We might as well be, from the way it sounds we won't be able to beat something like that, even though it would be cool to watch" he receives another smack.
"Would you stop smacking me"
"Then stop saying stupid things"
"Would you two stop it" Astrid snaps shutting the twins up.
The sound of the hall doors opening gained the groups attention. People were now coming to the hall for the meeting so it's going to start getting very crowded soon.
Not even five minutes passed before the hall was completely filled with people. Luckily for them they were in the front so it's not all that bad. After waiting another minute Stoick spoke up quieting the room.
"Ok! Everyone quiet down!" he yells.
When the room was completely quiet he began to speak again "Now that everyone is here I would like to begin this meeting with telling you that we'll sending a raiding party to the nest in the next three days" this wasn't a surprise to everyone.
"I also hate to say but everyone that isnt an elder or child will be going with me on this trip" some people gasped at the sound of this since this is the first time he's ever done this.
"Now I know it sounds unfair but if we can succeed in taking the nest then we won't ever have to deal with them again, they'll stop coming and the war would end" Draco could only shake his head knowing that it won't happen.
"But during this, I'll have a ship ready for those who remain to exscape if another raid were too happen while we're gone or if we don't return"
Looking around the hall you can see that kids were grabbing onto their parents not happy with the sound of their parents having to leave by force. Some even began to sob which didn't make Stoick feel any better.
"I also want too talk about the dragon from yesterday, and I want Draco too explain a few things about said dragon" Draco seemed a little taken back. He wasn't a big fan of being in front of crowds.
"First off, Draco, explain too the people about this dragon that you fought"
Draco looked around to see everyones eyes were on him. He takes a quick breath "Lets see, where too begin, I guess I could begin with that this dragon isnt like any other as most of you have seen, this one is unique and dangerous and if he does return, which he most likely will return but not alone"
Someone, meaning Spitelout speaking up cutting Draco short "Why didn't you kill it then, it wouldn't return with others if you just killed it" he says angerly
"That's what I was going to explain, the scales on that dragon cannot be pierced by normal means, the weapons you carry will not hurt that dragon neither will it hurt the ones he'll bring, the only reason why we were able to fight him off was due to us having to use our surroundings to hurt him along with damaging his underbelly"
"Then how would we defend ourselves against these dragons?" a random vikings asks.
"Dragon bone, dragon bone weapons would be the only way and yes, it sounds impossible but it's not, it's been done before and I've seen one of these weapons, they cost a lot of coin and hard too make so you won't find enough to fight off a horde of dragons"
"Then what should we do?"
"One option would be to leave the island but I can see that you won't do that and some of you've made it clear that you won't so the other way is to upgrade from the weapons and armors you have now to better ones, and I have that covered" everyone except Stoick and Gobber were confused.
"When Johann was here, I gave him a couple of letters, one of those letters were too a merchant back home that I have close connections with and asked for them to come to Berk with supplies and weapons of all kinds, I wasn't expecting for one of the dragons from my home to show up so I wasn't going to metion it until it happened but due to recent events I guess it's a good time now to tell you"
"This has been the most I've heard him talk" Ruffnut whispers to Astrid. She only nodded.
"Will these weapons be of any use?"
"Some yes, not all but like I said I wasn't expecting a dragon from my home to show up so it was mostly for the dragons Berk is already dealing with since they would have effect on them as well it would be useful in battle against other tribes if needed"
"Thank you Draco, once again you didn't have too do that" Draco backs up standing next to Astrid like before.
"With that in mind, I'm going to want everyone to have there weapons ready before we head out to the nest, three days from now. Meeting over"
"That was a quick meeting" Tuffnut comments.
"Lately they've been quick"
While everyone starts too exit out of the hall Fishlegs speaks to Draco "What do you plan to do now?" Draco was already leaving the hall but since Fishlegs has stopped him he should answer.
"I'm going back to camp, my friends haven't been in town and I need to see if they're still alive" he joked following the crowed of people out of the hall.
"I have to admit, when it comes down too it, he's still the same person at the end. Distant and cold" Ruffnut comments.
"What are you talking about?" she shrugs her shoulders.
"Whatever, I'm tired so I'm going to call it in early, see you guys tomorrow" Astrid leaves her friends too head home to go to bed. Lately she's been going to bed earlier and she doesn't know why. When she exited the hall she noticed that dusk was approaching.
'We must have been in there longer then I thought' she thought walking down the steps.
On her way home she couldn't help but rethink of what he said during the meeting. Everyone having to go one this upcoming raid except for elders and kids. This wasn't what she was expecting even though she was going to go anyways but being forced too, that's not right.
But what she doesn't like the most is that they're going to leave Berk defensless. This is pretty much a last stand feel. This might be their last days on earth.
She shook her head 'I don't need to be thinking about that now' she thought but a little too late since she ran into her front door. She backed up rubbing her nose "Ow"
Her mom then opened the door after hearing something hitting their door "Hey sweetie, was that you that hit the door?" Astrid walks pass her mom still rubbing her nose.
"I'm going to head to bed" her mom just smiled "Ok, see you in the morning"
Astrid has finally entered her room and tired from her long day of helping. Honestly she wasn't looking forward for her class tomorrow but since she had to cancel it today she'll just have to deal with it. But in a way it was a good day.
After removing the pieces of armor that was on her person she flops on her back on the bed with a tired sigh. She laid there for a little bit looking up at her ceiling before moving around getting the rest of her on the bed then pulled the covers over her.
Luckily for her it didn't take long for her to fall asleep. The last thing that crossed her mind before fully falling asleep was what Gobber said about 'winning him over with her charm' the blush on her cheeks came back.