Dragons: The New Chief

Chapter 47: Afraid

"Hey girl." Astrid said as she approached the nadder in her pin.

Stormfly squawked. She shuffled her wings and cocked her head from side to side, watching her rider walk up with a basket of chicken. The blonde chuckled and tossed the dragon a piece. With one large gulp, the chicken was gone. Once the basket was empty, Astrid tossed it aside and scratched the dragon on the back of her neck.

"What do ya say, girl? A lap around the island before going to my uncles?"

The nadder squawked again, shaking her entire body before Astrid clambered onto the saddle and they took off. As soon as they were level in the air and slowing to a steady pace, Astrid sat upward to enjoy the view. She sighed, it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining down and warming her rather cold skin. It was one of those rare days during the winter that it didn't snow, and Gothi hadn't predicted any storms.

"Let's take it easy today." Astrid said, patting the dragons side.

As the wind rushed around them, Astrid felt the flutters in the pit of her stomach. She bit her lip. The feeling, as she had said before, was surreal. She loved it; she loved feeling nervous, for that's how it made her feel. Under any other circumstance, she would try to push away the chills and butterflies, but now she wanted to embrace it, savor it. Stormfly squawked, feeling the pleasure surging through her rider. Astrid giggled uncontrollably as they rounded a sharp corner around a cliff. When she looked ahead, her smile widened even more.

"Wow." She gasped. "Land over there." She told Stormfly, pointing at a very familiar cliff overhanging the crashing waves.

Stormfly zoomed down, folding her wings against her body. Just before they made impact with the ground, the dragon sprawled open her wings and grasped the cliffside with her mighty talons, spraying stone and snow everywhere as she landed. Astrid hopped of Stormfly, letting her feet sink into the snow until they couldn't be seen.

The woman twirled around once, taking in the snowing forest behind her, the white cliffside she stood on, the raging waves below and the very familiar sea stacks in front of her.

"It's been forever since i've been here." She breathed.

The woman chuckled lightly as she wandered up to the edge and settled down. She let her legs dangle over the side fearlessly. Stormfly came and settled beside her rider as well. They sat there for a while, just gazing at the open ocean, watching the birds swarm around the sea stacks, the tidal class dragons leap out of the water and the sun slowly rise higher in the sky.

"You probably shouldn't be out here alone, you know." A man said from behind her.

Astrid stiffed, but realized quickly who was walking up behind her.

"Well I'm not alone anymore, am I?" She asked with a smirk.

The man chuckled. "I guess not."

Astrid twirled around and rose to her feet, coming face to face with Fishlegs and Meatlug.

"Hiccup doesn't worry?" He asked.

Astrid shook her head. "No, not yet at least."

The man smiled and sighed with pleasure. "It's crazy isn't it? Has it been...four years since we've been here?"
Astrid laughed, nodding. "Yes, I was just thinking about that. It has definitely been a while, but..." She turned around to gaze at her surroundings again. "It hasn't changed much."

"Well," Fishlegs said, patting the gronkle next to him. "Meatlug and I still come almost everyday."

Astrid's eyes widened. "Really? After all this time?"