The riders all evacuated the arena Hiccup took off with Stoick and the other riders but not without several protests. The chief was putting his faith and his people's lives in his daughter's hands. Heather stayed on Berk, hoping her survivalist skills might help.
Astrid stormed through the village with her hair and hands lit up in crimson red flames, firing at anyone or anything in her path. Heather herded the Berkians into the great hall as Astrid stormed into the chief's house.
"What else are you hiding in here?" She growled to no one in particular as her Nadder joined her in the hut and gave her a concerned warble.
"Don't give me that look. Either you're with me or you're against me." She glared.
'I'm with you. Always.'
"Good. Now help me look." She ordered as she began rummaging through the chief's house.
After twenty minutes of ransacking, she hadn't found anything useful. Stormfly ventured to the farthest corner of the hut and squawked at the floor.
"What is it?" Astrid wondered as she lifted the fur rug to find a hidden trap door. "That's more like it." She smirked as she hopped into the hidden room below the hut.
***
"Oak, what the hell happened back there?" Heather wondered.
"I'm angry at Stoick. Astrid sensed it. Anger controls fire." She explained simply as she continued to check that everyone was present and uninjured.
"I meant you. Lying isn't who you are." Oakley shot her a look of confusion. "Your arm." She explained. "Besides, you've never turned into a black-eyed monster."
"She's not a monster!" Oakley hissed. "And why do you think I got locked up in the first place."
"Wait, really? What happened?"
"Okay, I can either stop my crazy girlfriend with uncontrollable firepower from tearing the village apart brick by brick or stand here and tell my best friend one of the most traumatic stories of my childhood," Oakley explained.
"Good point, bigger fish to fry."
"It looks like everyone's here," Lotus explained as she sauntered to the back of the hall where Oakley and Heather were stood.
"And everyone's okay?" Oakley checked.
"Phlema and Sven have a couple of burns. A few bruises here and there but nothing too alarming." The blonde explained.
"And Gothi is tending to them?" Lotus nodded. Oakley turned her attention to the Vikings bustling about the great hall. "Attention, everyone!" She called. Of course, Vikings being Vikings, chose to ignore the sixteen-year-old girl. Oakley spun around and grabbed a large hammer off of the back wall and slammed it into the table, breaking it in half. Everyone spun to the young teen.
"Look, most of you don't really know me. I get that, I could've tried harder to get to know you guys too. But, right now I need you all to listen to me and do as I say or none of us are making it out of here."
"And why on earth should we listen to a little girl who's had no experience in a life or death situation?" Spitelout shouted from the back of the crowd.
"First of all, I've been in plenty of life or death situations. Second, I know those powers. I know their triggers. I also know Astrid. Her strengths, her weaknesses."
"Pfft, Astrid Hofferson doesn't have weaknesses." The Jorgenson scoffed.
"She's only human." Oakley shrugged. "Besides, right now, she's not Astrid. She's me. Which means, my weaknesses are her weaknesses. And if that's not enough for you. Neither Stoick nor Hiccup are on the island, and since I'm now of legal age, that makes me acting chief until they return. So, shut up and do as I say."
They had never seen this side of Oakley Haddock. This sudden confidence and assertiveness was fairly frightening to the women that knew her most.
"Where is Stoick?" Hoark wondered.
"I can't tell you that. For his safety and yours."
"Huh, smarter than you look." Everyone spun around to see Astrid stood against the door to the hall with her arms folded and a mischievous smirk on her face. Her eyes were still pitch black. "So, where is he... Chief?" She glared as she made her way through the quickly parting crowd.
"You know I'm never gonna tell you." Oakley scowled.
"You don't have to." Astrid focused intently on her girlfriend.
"You can't get in my head."
"You can't hide your feelings forever." She chuckled.
"I've been doing it my whole life, I've gotten pretty good at it," Oakley smirked, focusing just as intently. "Astrid, I know you're still in there somewhere."
"Wrong." The blonde stated. "Astrid's gone. Now, where is Stoick?"
*You're crazy if you think I'm gonna let you kill my father.*
"Crazy, huh?" Astrid thought. "Fine, have it your way." She shrugged. She clicked her fingers and two long stripes of fire fought their way down the center aisle of the hall and continued to grow.
"Heather, get everyone out of here," Oakley ordered. The raven-haired teen nodded in understanding and quickly began to evacuate the hall.
"Astrid, stop. You know deep down that you don't want to hurt anyone." Her mother attempted.
"Don't tell me what I want!" She growled as her hair lit up in crimson flames. She threw her hand out towards the older blonde causing multiple pointed rocks to ascend from underground, the final one piercing the woman's stomach. She fell to the ground with a piece of rock sticking out of her abdomen.
"NO!" Oakley shrieked. Astrid quickly spun back to Oakley.
"You wanna get to her, tell me where he is!" She scowled.
"Don't-" Lotus rasped out.
"I would make your choice fast. Mommy dearest doesn't appear to have much time left."
Oakley let out a low growl as her hands balled into fists. Fighting Astrid was the last thing she wanted to do, but what other choice did she have.
After twenty minutes of continuous punches, Astrid decided enough was enough. She drew several more rocks from the earth below. Luckily Oakley's physical strength was a result of training six hours a day for ten long years and wasn't affected when she lost her powers. She leaped out of the way in a somersault dive. The final rock caught her sleeve tearing it to reveal the handprint that Astrid had left earlier that night.
"You said I didn't get you." Astrid reminded. "You lied to me?" She almost gasped.
"I was trying to protect you."
"I don't need protecting, Oak." Astrid declared. "You should know that by now."
Oakley smiled at the use of her nickname. She was getting somewhere. Lotus involuntarily let out a pained groan. Astrid spun to her before turning to leave, without a word.
Oakley raced to her girlfriend's mother and dropped to her knees.
"Hey, Hey. Can you hear me?"
"You... have to... stop her." Lotus rasped out.
"What if I can't?" The young teen sniffled. Lotus brushed her bangs away.
"You're Oakley. There's nothing you can't do." She forced a smile.
"But, she's me too."
"Then stop trying to... tap into Astrid's weaknesses, and... tap into yours." The blonde suggested.
"I'll be back. Don't you dare die on me!" She demanded. "Chief's orders."
The brunette raced out into the plaza to see Astrid stood in the very center of the village, fire shooting from both hands. Heather raced over to her friend.
"Astrid's still in there. She's trying to exhaust her powers so that she can't cause anymore damage." Oakley realized, coughing through the smoke she was inhaling.
"But that could kill her."
"And she knows that." Oakley added. "She's risking her own life to stop herself, but something tells me she won't risk mine, just like I wouldn't risk hers."
"I sent everyone to the cove. They should be safe there." Heather explained.
"Good. Mrs. Hofferson is injured. Get in there and keep her alive." Oakley ordered. "I'm ending this now."
***