It's a bird, no it's a plane, no it'S aN UpDaTE

Astrid stumbled as a house near her exploded into flame. Coughing a bit from the smoke, she steeled her grip on her axe, pulling herself upright. Vael was nowhere in sight; all she could see was the forms of the villagers running to defend themselves and the massive shadows of the attacking dragons.

A thought to Firen's whereabouts flitted through her mind, but she had to focus. Letting her training kick in, she sprinted for a house that was not yet aflame, dodging spurts of fire and – lightning? She squinted in the brightness against the night as she reached the building and began quickly climbing up the wall. Unfortunately, climbing with one hand is hard enough without explosions constantly rocking the grounds foundations, and she was barely able to cling to the shingles.

Glancing to the right, she spotted an upturned wagon. Jumping back down onto the ground, she made a dash for it, hopping up the wheels and supports to the top. Securing her axe on her back, she leaped up to the roof of the house, grasping onto the edge and hauling herself up. In a crouch, hoping the darkness and the matching colors of the shingles and her clothes would conceal her enough, she scanned the open air around her.

Smoke clouded her vision, and the screams and yells of the people filled her ears. Brushing her bangs out of her eyes, Astrid craned her neck to better see over the burning village.

She winced as she saw a small boy get burned alive.

"What's going on here?" She said aloud to herself, her gaze flitting all over what she could see from her position. She scooted back to the rear of the roof for an angle on the rest of the village. Firen and Vael had told her that dragons were scarce here. Why would they lie to her? She had thought they were good people; a bit annoying, but good. She considered the possibility that the attack was something new to them, but she dismissed it instantly. Vael knew what to do like it was a regular occurrence. And from what she was now observing, so did the villagers.

A heavy wind blew over her suddenly, strong and familiar. Quickly rolling into a crouch and whipping her gaze upward, she watched the silhouette of a dragon glide right over her. Not wasting a second, she jumped up and wrapped her arms around the tail.

The skin of the dragon's tail was hard like a shell, and she had to maneuver her arms to fit between the blunt spikes. The dragon was flying quite fast, skimming rooftops. Astrid struggled to hold on, and it only took a second for the dragon to notice her presence, its body rumbling with a growl. She craned her neck to see the dragon, realizing it was a rumblehorn. And it had a rider.

The man on the dragon's back, twisted around to see her. His clothes whipped in the wind, and he didn't even carry a weapon. But a black hood was raised over his head, darkening his features and making it impossible to discern his face. He was large, muscled, intimidating. But it was the shoulderpad with the design of the dragon skull that gave her an unnerving chill. She hesitated for a split second, and it gave the man time to jump up into a crouch on his saddle, turning to face her threateningly.

Astrid quickly shook herself out of the distraction, pulling herself fully onto the tail while climbing up towards the man. She didn't know who he was or why he was attacking this village, but she was determined to not let him get away unscathed. After all, she had the reputation of dragon riders everywhere to uphold.

She lunged at him, drawing her axe in a swing attack from the right, which he blocked with his own arm, catching it below the axe head. Fast as a cheetah, Astrid brought it back around feinting left before slicing from below. He easily dodged all her strikes as if she was a child in training, and it made her mad. Who was this dragon rider? How was he moving faster than any human should?

After a few attempts from her, he began fighting back. His blows came faster than she could keep up, and she felt pain spark in her ribs and gut when he punched her before she could defend herself. She gasped in pain and was able to raise her axe to deflect any more blows to her stomach, twisting it and hacking down to catch him in the arms. He simply leaned back out of the way before coming back forward and grabbing the handle of the axe between her hands, his weight bearing down on her. She grunted with the heaviness of his grip, and was barely able to twist her axe around slightly so she could elbow him hard in the chest. He took the hit, but moved with it, stepping back and pulling her with him, off balance. In her position, it was easy for him to yank her to him, using her own axe to trap her against his body.

She growled, struggling mightily. She didn't understand what was happening. She couldn't be beaten so easily in melee combat! She was Astrid Hofferson, fearless warrior of Berk! Anger coursing through her, she swung her head back forcefully, slamming the man right in the chin, causing him to rear back with a grunt of pain and release the grip of one of his hands. She twisted away, pulling her axe away with her as she moved too far and slipped off the dragon's back.

She released a single scream as the sensation of falling overcame her, but to her surprise they'd been flying dangerously close to the ground, and she was able to tuck her body and land relatively safely. She rolled a distance until she came to a stop on the ground, groaning at the pain in her body. She shook her head as she pushed herself up onto her elbows, hearing an explosion to her left, and feeling searing heat on her skin. She forced herself to her feet, seeing smoke and fire. Screams echoed around her, and she could have sworn she saw Firen to her left.

Realizing she wasn't holding her axe, she spun around wildly looking for it. People were running around her, making it difficult to see anything clearly, but she spotted her axe a few yards away on the ground. She dove for it, grabbing it quickly just as she heard panicked yelling. The only reason she noticed it through the throng of screaming was that they belonged to a voice she'd spent the last week hearing.

She took off searching for the source. For Vael, for Firen, she wasn't sure. A shot of lightning struck the ground near her and she jumped away, feeling the electricity on her skin. She whipped her head up, seeing a skrill fly above her. A skrill?! This dragon bore a rider too, though she only caught a glimpse of them before the dragon was too far away. She could just make out that it was a girl. Tightening her grip on her axe, she raced away, forcing herself to focus, to dodge the children who screamed for their mothers, and fathers who swung weapons through the air.

Another cry could be heard, but this time she pinpointed it as Firen. He was screaming out, speaking clearly, though she could hear desperation in his voice. What could be happening?! Astrid collided with someone with a slam, sending them both to the ground, the breath knocked out of her. She stumbled to her feet immediately, feeling the most vulnerable she'd felt in years, since dragons had been her enemy. She hated the feeling.

She didn't bother finding out who she'd run into; she sprinted toward Firen's voice. She could almost distinguish his words. "Get down – I won't – her—" She could only make out bits and pieces, but as she drew closer she ran into someone else. Only it appeared to be on purpose.

"No!" Vael yelled to her as he grabbed her arms, pushing her away from her destination. "Get out of here!"

Astrid pushed back. "No!" She'd had enough of his secrets. "What's going on Vael?! What aren't you telling me?! These people are dying! Those dragons have riders!" She was screaming at him over the noise, trying to get past him. She could make out Firen a short distance away through the smoke. He was waving his arms through the air, a sword in his hand; he was running to and fro, as if chasing something.

"I can't, Astrid! You can't interfere!" His voice carried something she'd never heard in it before. Was it fear? She couldn't tell. Vael's grip on her was strong, but not as strong as that of the hooded dragon rider. She was prepared now.

"Stop keeping secrets! Let me through, damn you!" She twisted her arms free and punched Vael in the face, making him rear back in pain as she rushed past him toward where she'd last seen Firen. It stunned her how quickly she became lost in the smoke, having to hear her way around. She raised her axe defensively and caught onto Firen's voice again. It held determination. It had the sound of idiotic courage to it that she heard in Hiccup's voice every now and then. Except, it also held desperation.

She stumbled over what she hoped wasn't a burnt corpse, and fought her way through the cloud of smoke to the other side, into what almost seemed like a ring of light, of fire. Firen stood in the center, screaming at the 2 dragons circling the air above him.

"Why do you keep coming back?! Wasn't she enough for you?! Get down here and fight me! FIGHT ME!"

She halted, frozen by the Firen she was seeing. She looked up to the dragons above, one of which was the rumblehorn from a few minutes ago. The other was a changewing, with a girl astride it. Why are they interested in Firen? Making a split second decision, she ran forward to Firen's side. "Firen!" She called to get his attention as she drew up to him.

He whipped his head around to see her, his eyes widening slightly. "Astrid, get out of here." His voice was surprisingly low, seeming almost in warning. "Go, now."

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on!" Astrid glanced to the dragons circling above, wary but unsure of their intentions, or even what was happening right now.

"Where's Vael?" He looked behind him, then back to the dragons, a glare overtaking his normally soft features. "I told him to stay with you…" He muttered.

"I'm not gonna be held back like a little girl!" She was getting impatient as her nerves became more and more frayed. She couldn't help but notice the dragons and their riders getting closer.

"I can't let you interfere! I can't!" His voice took on a different tone, almost pleading. "Get out of here Astrid!"

She sure as hell wasn't going to back down now. "Firen—" She was cut off by a fireball hitting the earth in front of them, blasting them back and away from each other. She felt the fire on her skin, burning her. She cried out as she hit the ground, landing on her back hard and rolling a few feet. She instinctively curled in on herself, feeling the burns on her skin. Trained for pain, she could handle them. It was the heat on her eyes that was painful. Thank the gods, it wore off after a few moments, and she was able to move, to sit up. Her prickling eyes landed on Firen a ways away. The dragons had landed, one on each side, and were circling around him, the riders staring down at him.

She could see Firen's mouth moving as he spoke to them from his position on the ground, obviously in the same struggle as she; but there was a ringing in her ears that muffled everything around her. She struggled to her knees, shaking her head, but her hands were empty. Her axe was gone, and she couldn't see clearly enough to find it. Her head hurt, she seemed to remember the loud smack when she hit the ground. Something warm and wet trickled down the side of her face.

She struggled to her feet, far more slowly than she could bear. The world seemed to spin, and her skin stung like Hel. Her eyes trained on Firen and the riders, she took a step forward, but then felt a pair of arms wrap around her middle, pulling her back. She tried to fight, but she was disoriented, and only managed to kick and elbow without any serious damage. She realized it was probably Vael.

Seconds later, a shadow approached from her right. She heard a loud huff of breath; it was familiar somehow. Wind hit her face as the shadow landed next to the dragons. The 2 riders dismounted, closing in on Firen. But then she realized that the shadow was a dragon too. And its rider was looking right at her. His hood was up, but she could see firelight reflecting off the green of his dragon's eyes. Hiccup.

Everything was clear now. Hiccup was there. Toothless was there. It didn't matter that he was dressed differently, or that his wore the same red dragon skull shoulderpad as the other riders. He was here.

With renewed vigor she struggled against Vael, her eyes never leaving Hiccup. Firen was forgotten. He's alive. Finally, with a well-aimed kick to the kneecap, Astrid was able to free herself from Vael's grip. She sprinted towards Hiccup, who was frozen, his eyes on her. She saw his lips move before her vision was blinded by white. She was thrown back again, but this time it was by a blast of icy frost. She rolled away on impact, looking up fast to see what had happened. A Snow Wraith?!

She had no time to think before it shot at her again, and she ducked to her side to cover her face. She could have sworn she heard Hiccup call her name. An icy chill surrounded her, and it all went dark.

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A/N: OKAY just wanted to say thanks so much for the reviews and follows since the last update, I hope to have another one pretty soon since I'm getting back in the mood! :) Please review!