Dragons: The New Chief

Chapter 49: Demons

Astrid wandered down the stairs in darkness, the pain of hunger stabbing at her. She yawned as she descended the stairs with a candlestick in her right hand. Creaks of thin wood lead her down until she heard the light thump of solid ground. The woman shuffled across the grain into the kitchen.

Today had been an eventful day. After going through as much sewing as she could bear, she clothed herself in her new clothing, a blue and brown dress that hung to her knees, revealing her brown leggings. Valka taught her how to sew the fabric so that it would stretch slightly, so hopefully it would last longer than a month.

Astrid met the gang at the academy then. When she arrived all was chaos; the kids were running around, Ruffnut and Eret sat back and snickered as Fishlegs, Snotlout and Tuffnut ran after the little ones. The kids screeched loudly, laughing at the game that they were making the gang play involuntary.

"This is why I don't want kids." Ruff said, pointing at the kids and then returning her finger to her lip, where she proceeded to bite the nail.

Eret leaned back against the barrels behind them and looked to Ruff. "I totally agree with you."

"They're demons!" Snotlout yelled. "Why do people have kids?"

Fishlegs stopped in his tracks. "You are having a kid." He stated with a sly smile.

Snotlout stopped and pointed at the man. "Shut up, my son won't act like this!" He gestured to the kids still running amuck.

"How do you know it will be a boy?" Fishlegs asked.

The two continued to bicker as Astrid made her way down to Ruffnut and Eret. Tuff still chased after the kids, laughing along since he apparently liked the game as well.

"Good first day?" Astrid asked.

Ruff chuckled. "It's a disaster without you."

Eret eyed the woman with a joking smile. "You need to pop that thing out so you can come back."

Astrid rolled her eyes, still watching the three other men acting awry. "Nah, I think I just want to watch. Maybe I'll have Fishlegs and Snotlout take over permanently."

Eret smacked his hand against his forehead. "We're screwed."

After watching for a few more minutes, Astrid finally had enough and sought order to the academy. She promised the kids a special 'field day' if they were to behave while she was on leave, but if they didn't, they would have to wait another month before getting their dragons. The kids, wanting to get their dragons as soon as possible, groaned and went back to their lessons. Snotlout thanked the woman gratefully and went about with Fishlegs to finally get some teaching in.

She then met with Hiccup at the great hall, where they ate lunch and Hiccup, obviously, commented on how beautiful she looked and how much he loved her and the new outfit.

"I feel a little girly, though." Astrid complained as she grabbed at the fabric.

Hiccup chuckled. "Two seconds ago you said you loved it."

Astrid, playfully, pushed his arm. "Well, now I hate it."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and leaned over, pressing his lips to her jaw. "Of course you do milady."

They continued on with their lunch with casual conversation that died out as the meal went on. Not many vikings were in the hall at that time as most just had a big breakfast and dinner, but Hiccup almost always skips breakfast and Astrid wants to make sure she's eating enough for the health of their baby. Once the woman scarfed down the rest of her chicken, she dropped her head into her hand and shook it back and forth.