Astrid's P.O.V.

I wasn't going without my ax. I hope he knows that. I was ignoring Gobber as he instructed us what to do. I had taken plenty of notes during raids where I was able to sneak out of the cellar. I knew what to do for a Gronckle. Snotlout says something about teaching us and then Gobber said he believed in learning on the job before opening the cage. The Gronckle burst out of the door and roars at us.

"Shield. Now!" Emerald orders and I run for the pile of shields before grabbing one. Then, Gobber goes through basic Gronckle questions as we try to stay alive.

"Each dragon has a certain number of shots. How many does a Gronkle have?" he asks. Six, I answer in my head.

"Five?" Hiccup asks.

"No six!" Fishlegs says.

"Yes, that's one for each of you," Gobber says cheekily and Fishlegs starts to cheer before the dragon shot at him. "Fishlegs, you're out!" Gobber called as said boys shield was blown into splinters.

"Dodge!" Emerald shouted and I don't question it as I roll out of the way of a blast. She was on the edge of the arena, watching everything. "Start banging on your shield," she says and I obey with my ax before Gobber even gave us the hint. She was in charge of remembering all the information we've learned from older vikings and saving it for future use. The Gronckle started to seem dizzy and out of it. One by one, the others got eliminated, going over to stand by Gobber. Snotlout was distracted by me when I stood next to him and got blasted. Then it was just me and Hiccup.

"So, it's just you and me huh?" he asked as I watched the dragon. 

When I saw it heading for us, I ran to the side as I said, "Nope. Just you."

"Hiccup! You're out," Gobber said as said boy got a blast right in front of his feet, making him drop his shield. The Gronckle pinned him to the wall and was about to fire but Gobber redirected its jaw so that the blast hit the wall above Hiccup's head. Then, he called it an overgrown sausage and told it to go back to bed as I stood at the edge of the arena and caught my breath. "And remember class, the dragon will always, always, go for the kill," Gobber said before everyone filled out of the arena and went to the Meade Hall. 

"So, good job in training," Emerald said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're my eyes in the back of my head. You did most of the work," I grumble.

"Excited for moonhigh?"

"Heck no."

"Scared you're gonna fall in love?"

"Please, he and all of Berk think I'm psycho. No way is that going to happen to either of us."

"Since when do you see the future?!"

"Since Stoick practically declared me the village crazy lady," I say and jump as someone slams their hands on my table. I had been so wrapped up in my conversation with Emerald I hadn't even noticed Snotlout. He was scowling and holding a hammer. "Please knock me out," I say.

"Gladly," he grunts as he lifts his hammer. Just as he's about to bring it down, Hiccup grabs his wrist and makes him pause.

"Don't waste your energy on her, Snotlout. She always bounces back," Hiccup says before Snotlout rips himself free and storms away. I watch him leave and wish I could follow suit but I had a feeling Hiccup would stop me, because he wasn't going back to his table. Just leaning on mine.

"Can I help you, O' Mighty Son of the Chief?" I ask sarcastically before standing up and trying to walk away. That was a mistake because next thing I knew I was running through the rain as he slowly gained on me. I ran into the forest and took random turns and dodged trees and rocks as the rain hit my face. Suddenly, I found myself at Ravens Point. I paused in confusion as I studied my surroundings.

"Well, looks like I got you here," Hiccup says as he walks from the undergrowth.

"Are you kidding me?!" I scream, raising my ax.

"Calm down, Astrid. I just wanna talk," he says, getting ready to disarm me.

"I am calm," I growled.

"No, you're not," Emerald chuckled.

"Shut up," I sighed, lowering my weapon.

"See, that's what I wanna talk about," Hiccup says, pointing at my head.

"My head band?" I ask smartly and his shoulders slump.

"No. Earlier, you said that Emerald tells you to go crazy 1 out of 3 times that you do. Last night it almost got you killed. And I'm wondering if it's something you need help with," he says.

"Why do you care? Aren't you worried you'll catch it?" I ask mockingly.

"No, I'm not. Listen, Astrid, I know I used to laugh at you, but after what I saw last night, I'm kinda worried about you. What was Emerald saying to you when you were hanging on the vine?" he asks.

"Hiccup, it doesn't matter," I say as the rain starts to let up.

"It does matter, you said, 'Because down there is certain death,' I kinda wanna know what she said," he snaps.

"She asked why we had to go back! Happy?! She doesn't like it on Berk, I don't either, to be honest! She didn't want me to climb back to the top because she didn't want to hear people call me psycho when it's a simple coping technique. She's my only friend, you know! Even my parents aren't my friends! You wanna know why my dad got Stoick to put me in dragon training?! Because that's one of the few ways I'll ever be normal! All my life I've been called thousands of different things, just because I vent to myself more than other people! I vent to myself because no one ever listens! When we run in the middle of the night, we hope that we'll find a way off of this Thor forsaken island!" by the end, I was screaming and shocked to find Hiccup smiling.

"Was that Emerald, or you?" he asks.

"That was me," I growled.

"So you really just vent to her? Have you ever tried to vent to someone else?" he asks.

"I don't want to annoy anyone," I mutter.

"So you annoy yourself to no end because you don't want to waste anyone's time, when in reality, wasting someones time could save your life?" he asks.

"What are you trying to do, Haddock?" I ask.

"I'm trying to help you. Do you ever see things that aren't there?" he asks.

"Some times...why?" I ask.

"Because I remember you running through the village screaming about a Nightfury following you," he says and heat runs through out my body. That was when Emerald was going through, what I call, her Loki phase.

"So?" I ask.

"So, I want you to tell me next time you see something that isn't there," he says. I was thoroughly confused. He never wanted anything to do with me and now he was trying to help me.