Astrid vaulted over the ship rail and ran to get as far away from everything as possible. The past few hours had been too overwhelming, and she needed a break to wrap her head around it all. 

First, Hiccup. Toothless. And she thought finding out the truth was hard to understand, then that flight was... Surreal. Then everything went to yak dung and Hiccup was disowned, Vikings went to battle with a giant dragon that they had no chance of winning. 

We Vikings are idiots. Why do we go to such lengths to find conflict anyway? 

"Astrid!" The girl heard her mother's call from the crowd. Astrid turned to see her mother struggling to support her father, who was clutching his side and was barely putting any weight on a charred right foot. 

"Dad!" The shield-maiden cried and weaved through the throng of Vikings to help her mother. They shuffled straight to their house and gingerly laid Astrid's father on the long table. 

"I'll get Gothi," her mother said and was back out the door. 

"What happened?" Astrid asked her dad. 

He grimaced. "Got caught under one of the burning ships when the dragon set them aflame. 'Was able to get out be- with some help, but not unscathed." Her father, not a bulky man, but had a broad, tall and fit build, grimaced. Astrid immediately went to comfort him but he waved her off. 

"I-I'm fine, Astrid. No burns that Gothi can't handle." His daughter hesitantly moved back and sat down at one of the chairs around their dining table. She felt guilty, but also somewhat relieved of guilt in another way. 

This is why I stayed. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to Mom or Dad.

Astrid had a feeling she was closer to her parents than others were. She got her blonde hair from her father and ocean blue eyes from her mother, as well as her lithe but strong frame. Her parents were the only family she had- she had never known her grandparents, had no siblings, and her uncle Fearless Finn was killed by the Flightmare several years back. Her father had wanted his firstborn to be a boy so he could teach him the ways of their trade, so Astrid had decided when she was six to take up dragon killing and be the son he never had. Needless to say, she had excelled at that and made her parents very proud. 

Her father chuckled. "That was quite some show by Hiccup in that fight, huh? Who knew he had it in him? I was surprised he wasn't killed long ago, but then again he has a knack for keeping himself alive." He commented and closed his eyes. 

Astrid frowned. "Stoick said that anyone who he hears say his name would be punished-" 

"Stoick isn't here, is he?" Her father cut his daughter off. He sighed. "Stoick just saw his son side with the creatures who killed his wife and have harmed many of his friends and people. Hiccup was his last tie to his wife, and the last blood family member he actually cared about. He's hurt and grieving, but can't show it because he's the chief and needs to lead his people. Give him some time and I think things will go back to normal." Astrid nodded, but still had her doubts. 

Hiccup wouldn't have found solace in Toothless if we had been nicer and if Stoick hadn't been so harsh. And things can't really go back to how they were without Hiccup, can they? 

A few minutes after the conversation stopped the door opened and Gothi rushed in with Gobber and her mother behind her. Her father attempted to sit up and greet them, but immediately grimaced and gave them all a pained smile before tenderly lowering himself back to laying on the table. 

Gothi was immediately furiously scribbling in the dirt that covered the floors- no doubt scolding Astrid's father for trying that. Gobber was peering over the little woman's shoulder, ready to translate once she was done. 

Astrid's mother nudged her daughter's shoulder and nodded to a pot that was laying around. "Go get some water. We're treating burns here and I think that's the where she's probably going to start." 

Astrid nodded, grabbed the pot, and hurried out to the village well to fill it. 

The Hofferson house was towards the outskirts of town despite being one of the more powerful families in the Hooligan tribe. They weren't as powerful as the Haddocks, the family that has ruled since they arrived on Berk, or the Jorgensons that were closest related to the chief, but the Hoffersons were well respected for their fearsome fighting and sensible heads on their shoulders. 

There were some people on the streets of Berk but overall everything was quiet. Some people had bandages on already and were assessing the other villagers' health. A few children were huddled together, quietly whispering and staying out of their exhausted parents' way. 

The battle sure took out a lot of our numbers. There should be more people about. 

Astrid made it to the town well and saw that there was a line of a few adults with their own buckets or pots, waiting their turn to get water for cleansing wounds or starting dinner. The shield-maiden joined the end of the line. She had moved up a few places before someone tall and wide loomed behind her. 

"Astrid." The girl glanced back to see Stoick the Vast with a dead serious face. 

"Yes, Chief?" Astrid asked with a hint of uncertainty. 

"Is your father doing alright? I heard he was injured in the battle." Something felt off about this exchange, but Astrid continued it. This was Stoick, after all. Nothing to be worried about.

"Gothi is treating him now. His foot has some pretty bad burns on it, but the pain itself seems to have dulled and he's awake. I think everything will be fine once everyone is healed." Astrid said with a small nod of certainty. 

Stoick hummed, "Good to hear." 

The first Viking finished getting his water and moved out of the way. Astrid stepped up with the line, and Stoick followed her, although he was more off to the side as to not be in the line. 

"Astrid," 

"Yes, chief?" The girl was starting to get impatient now. 

"I need you to get together with Snotlout." Astrid spun on her heel and turned to face her chief. 

"WHAT?!" 

"Here me out, lass-" 

"Um, no! Snotlout has been asking me for years to be his girlfriend, and every single time I've said no!" 

"I think you'd do good in setting him on the right track to being chief-" 

"You said no hitting the new heir right? There would definitely be a lot of that trying to get some sense through his thick skull. And even then after fifteen years, I'm pretty sure that's impossible." 

Stoick scowled and glared at Astrid. "By order of the chief, I command you!" 

"I said no! I'm not dating Snotlout Jorgenson if it were my ticket into Valhalla!" Astrid shot back. 

By this time everyone around the square were staring at the argument. The Viking that was in front of Astrid had moved out of the way, so she took her pot and tied it to the sopping rope and let it fall down to the reservoir below. 

"I'd hope you'll reconsider, lass." 

With that Stoick the Vast left Astrid to collect her water with a very bad taste in her mouth.