Astrid and Stormfly's Relationship

**Astrid and Stormfly's Relationship** is one mirrored, like her and Ashley, of explicitly expressed affection. They share a strong bond that is built on unyielding trust and an unspoken understanding. They are both fiercely protective of one another and willing to go to great lengths to keep each other safe. However, unlike Hiccup and Toothless’ relationship which is more brotherly, Astrid and Stormfly have more of a pet-like friendship.

## How to Train Your Dragon

When Astrid and Stormfly first met in the dragon fighting arena, it was during a training exercise. After attacking the other recruits with her venomous spines and blazing magnesium fire, the Deadly Nadder chased Astrid throughout the whole maze, destroying everything. The fight finished when Astrid hit the dragon with her axe and part of a shield that happened to accidentally get stuck on the blade of the axe. Astrid and Stormfly, unlike Hiccup and Toothless, do not start off with such a tender bonding moment. Rather, Astrid has it in mind to finish off Stormfly, being brought up to believe that dragons are mere pests to be exterminated, and also believing that by killing dragons such as Stormfly, she will prove her worth and earn recognition for House Hofferson.

During another training exercise, Astrid fought Stormfly again, but as she ran forwards yelling, an axe above her head poised to kill the dragon, Hiccup scratched Stormfly under the chin in her soft spot, causing her to fall asleep. Astrid stared on in apparent shock and incredulousness.

Later, Hiccup helped everyone train a dragon, and so Astrid and Stormfly bonded for the first time. Throughout the final battle, they found they worked naturally together: although Astrid blatantly found it strange and terrifying riding a dragon, the two worked well together, beginning to see their worth as a team. They later helped Hiccup, Toothless and the other teens in their battle against the Red Death.
Even though Astrid fell off her dragon during the battle, she was later seen riding Stormfly during Hiccup's closing narration, and looking as though she was enjoying herself much more.

## Gift of the Night Fury

Astrid and Stormfly were seen decorating Berk together. Stormfly is following Astrid's commands and helping her to prepare the village for Snoggletog, hinting that they have trained a lot since the battle with the Red Death. When Stormfly sees the other dragons flying by, she takes off to join them, leaving Astrid to plead with her not to go. Stormfly paused, but gave into instinct and flew off. Later that night, Astrid sadly states "I was looking forward to spending the holiday with Stormfly."

It was later revealed that the dragons went to lay their eggs; a fact which Astrid seems much relieved about on their return, suggesting that she—like the other Berkians—was worried her dragon had left for good. When the dragons return, Astrid and Stormfly reunite, with the latter also bringing her babies. She shows her children to Astrid, allowing her to touch them and stroke them, which Astrid takes great joy in. They then celebrate Snoggletog together in the Great Hall.

## Valerix Season 1

In "How to Start a Fairy Club", Astrid and Stormfly train very closely, more so than most of the other Dragon Riders, as Stormfly knows a lot of tricks and roll calls. Stormfly also greets Astrid every morning through her bedroom window, which Astrid says is one of the best parts of her day, everyday. Astrid is also able to pick up on Stormfly's anxiety and offer comfort.

The pair still have a lot of room for developing their bond. While out practice-flying in the forests of Berk in "The Terrible Twos", Stormfly disobeys Astrids command to fly between two closely-situated trees. She does so, however, because flying where Astrid directed may have resulted in her being injured. Instead, Stormfly bucks Astrid off her back temporarily and then catches her on the other side of the trees, where Astrid realized a tree had fallen. Astrid realizes that she should have paid closer attention to Stormfly instead of directing her into a dangerous situation, and apologizes to her dragon.

In "In Dragons We Trust", Astrid is forced to give up Stormfly for a time, as the dragons are blamed for a series of property destruction events, prompting Stoick the Vast to order all dragons banished from Berk to Dragon Island. In fact, Mildew framed them, but was never caught. Astrid and Stormfly have a sad good-bye on Dragon Island, at which point the extent to which their bond has reached in such a short time becomes plainly evident: Astrid almost begins to cry as Stormfly is being caged and murmurs that it feels "like my heart is breaking". Stormfly also appears greatly distressed and looks around her in evident concern, trying to get to Astrid.

The pair are reunited in the following episode, "Alvin and the Outcasts", after defeating Alvin the Treacherous at Dragon Island. During the skirmish, Stormfly twists in mid-air to avoid an in-coming boulder, but it results in Astrid falling to the enemy ship and being captured. This may indicate that the dragon and rider are still learning combative flight techniques, which would make sense, as they have been together for under six months.

In "How to Pick Your Dragon", it appears that Astrid may project her own secret insecurities as a female Viking onto Stormfly, and strives to prove herself and Stormfly as superior warriors to the many other males.

In "Dragon Flower", Stormfly and Astrid are riding together through the village with Hiccup and Toothless, when they fly past the blue oleander flowers, causing Stormfly to spiral out of control and nearly collide with Toothless, who is experiencing similar effects. Astrid tries to calm her dragon down, and looks somewhat concerned that she doesn't seem to be feeling well. When later on, Stormfly sneezes and shoots a row of spines, Astrid knows something is up with her dragon and seems visibly worried—along with all the other riders for the health of their dragons. Later, Astrid is shown caring for Stormfly in the stables. Stormfly is curled up and appears to be looking sadly to Astrid for help. Astrid kindly talks to Stormfly, stroking her and attempting to make her feel better; whereupon Stormfly sneezes again, sending a myriad of spines towards Astrid, who ducks out the way just in time. Stormfly croons apologetically to Astrid, who comforts her by merely smiling sympathetically and dismissing the incident, saying: "Don't worry Stormfly, I'm a soldier. I've been shot at before."

In "Heather Report Part 1" and Part 2, Stormfly and Astrid are demonstrated to have trained extremely hard, being able to keep up with Hiccup and Toothless and even coming close to flying faster than them. Astrid appears extremely proud of Stormfly, refusing to reveal the secret of their newfound speed to the gang. When Heather comes to the island, Astrid becomes somewhat protective over Stormfly, seeing that Heather seems to have her eyes on the Deadly Nadder. Stormfly soon ends up trusting Heather, despite Astrid's overprotectiveness. Although Astrid does not get cross with Stormfly for this, she demonstrates considerable concern and anger, hinting at understandable defensiveness over her dragon.

In "What Flies Beneath", when the riders attempt to calm a Whispering Death with dragon nip, all their dragons, including Stormfly, fall asleep upon smelling it, leaving the riders defenseless. Even so, no fault of Astrid or Stormfly's was due to this small misunderstanding, and the pair continue to fight the Whispering Death, working together proficiently.

## Valerix Season 2

Over the course of the series, Astrid demonstrated her consideration for her dragon, often talking to her and always being confident of Stormfly's abilities, whilst Stormfly herself never failed to look after Astrid, and sense her mistress' mood. Their relationship continues to develop as they train and learn more about each other. By this time, even though little time has lapsed since Astrid trained Stormfly, the two have a strong bond and care for one another deeply.

In "Worst in Show", Astrid demonstrated how far training with Stormfly has led her. When she and the other teens attempt to train Terrible Terrors in order to prove their Dragon Training skills, acquired through training of their own dragons. Stormfly seems to hold no jealousy over Astrid and her new dragon, and when Astrid manages to successfully train it with ease, she seems pleased at how far her skills have come. Although Stormfly does not experience any of the jealousy that Meatlug does over the new dragons, Astrid makes sure not to show an excess of affection to her new training partner, with her usual regard for Stormfly's feelings, and once the episode is over, her Terrible Terror is not mentioned again, as she goes back to training with Stormfly, the two of them having proved their skills as dragon and rider.

In "Bing! Bam! Boom!", Stormfly and Astrid have their turn at attempting to train the young Thunderdrums, Bing, Bam, and Boom. Here, the pair show that despite how far they have progressed in learning and bonding together, they still have some work in coordination to do: Astrid stands on the sidelines desperately yelling instructions and guidance to her dragon, while Stormfly attempts to get the babies under control as they dart around her. The two seem not to be listening to one another very well (most likely not helped by the sonic screeches of the Thunderdrums) and everything spirals out of control rapidly. Later, Astrid and Stormfly demonstrate that they have quickly learned and adapted their method of working together with the Thunderdrums, as when the riders are chasing Bing, Bam and Boom throughout Berk, Astrid and Stormfly use the latter's immense speed and agility to interject the rampaging dragons by cutting them off with Stormfly's spines from flying into the town center. Here, Astrid and Stormfly show their adaptability as a pair, and find a way to listen to each other even with the Thunderdrums as a distraction.

In "Cast Out Part 1" and Part 2, the Screaming Death, Astrid and Stormfly are shown riding together exceptionally well with almost no setbacks, indicating that they have trained and bonded together well.

## Dawn of the Dragon Racers

The duo continue their strong bond, both in present time and in the flashback. During races, they work together as an unstoppable team, until Snotlout Jorgenson and his dragon Hookfang collide with Astrid and Stormfly, knocking the latter from her dragon and causing her to break her arm, preventing her from continuing with the racing. When this occurs, Stormfly, despite being knocked from the sky, recovers as quickly as she can in order to be the first to get to her injured mistress' aid. She then stays beside Astrid, and when Astrid shows anger towards Snotlout for knocking into her, Stormfly too growls at him and flares her spines. The two are later shown refereeing the races, as Astrid can no longer fly at high speeds as she cannot hold onto Stormfly. Stormfly makes a visible attempt to fly gently and slowly, demonstrating her great consideration for Astrid's condition.

## Valerix: Dragonflix

Throughout the series, Astrid is constantly training with Stormfly. Together, they train every morning and fight every battle valiantly together. Their bond has evidently become deeper and stronger, with Astrid demonstrating unconditional care for her dragon. It is their bond that allows them to fight side by side in the battlefield as equals, both of them ready to do anything to protect the other whether its putting themselves in harm's way or keeping the other safe. Astrid also often talks to Stormfly while the two train, and Stormfly usually responds with growls and other noises, indicating that she understands Astrid is talking to her, and she seems to enjoy it.

In "Night of the Hunters, Part 1", Stormfly is captured, causing Astrid to go through a lot of stress. Throughout the whole show, the two fight valiantly together.

In "No Dragon Left Behind", when Astrid believed Stormfly was poisoned, she went as far as to punch a Slitherwing in order to obtain the necessary venom for Stormfly's condition, and was driven to tears at the prospect of losing Stormfly when the anti-venom did not work. She was willing to die to save her dragon, saying to the others that she couldn't lose her. On finding that the remedy had failed to work, Astrid began to cry: this is the first time in the entirety of the franchise where she is shown to cry properly. Finally, Astrid discovered Stormfly had been, in fact, grieving the loss of Garff—she had never been poisoned. While evidently relieved she was not about to lose her dragon, Astrid continued to take Stormfly's feelings into account, comforting her dragon by talking to her and telling her that they would never forget what a great friend Garff was. She even draws a picture in the silt for Stormfly of her and Garff together. The two share their grief together, but Astrid tries to help comfort Stormfly, and when Garff is revealed to still be alive, the two rejoice greatly with each other, sharing one another's feelings. Astrid later thanks Garff for "doing so much for all of us, especially my girl here."
Astrid and Stormfly know each other so well that they can predict each other's actions in times of crisis.

In "Blindsided", after a lightning storm leaves Astrid temporarily blind and scares off all the dragons, Astrid and Stormfly are the first to reunite by predicting what the other would do. This yet again demonstrates the strength of their bond: they know each other so well that they see instantaneously what the other would do in the circumstance. During a battle with a wild Triple Stryke, Stormfly tossed Astrid aside, much to her protest, to keep her out of danger. She was also shown to react similarly to Astrid's temporary blindness as to when Astrid broke her arm; she flew considerately and carefully, demonstrating her care for Astrid's feelings. Astrid leans on Stormfly as she is finding it difficult to get around, and Stormfly appears to be concerned for her.

In "Buffalord Soldier", Stormfly and Astrid begin demonstrating their usual competence at flying together, surveying a stretch of water on the map. When they land on the ship they come across, Astrid tells Stormfly what to do with just a word and a hand signal: Stormfly instantly obeys and prepares her spines. When Stormfly senses the danger, she flies Astrid out as quickly as she can in order to save her. Later on, Stormfly awakes Hiccup in the middle of the night, looking anxious and skittish, then leads Hiccup to where Astrid is lying sick on her bed. This shows again that Stormfly can sense her mistress' feelings, and knows when she's not feeling well. Throughout the entirety of Astrid's illness, Stormfly appears worried and more skittish than usual, with a tendency to run around somewhat desperately, indicating that she understands that her rider is sick. After Astrid has been cured, the first thing she does—after thanking the other riders—is to walk up to Stormfly and wordlessly, gratefully hug her head.

In "A Grim Retreat", Astrid proves how well she knows Stormfly, on the same level that Ashley does. When the group discover that the Grimora parasite can be combated simply with saltwater, Astrid attempts to entice the intoxicated Stormfly into the sea, with the words: "Come on, Stormfly, you love the water!" When her words prove futile and Stormfly continues to struggle, Astrid reluctantly pinches Stormfly on the neck with expertise. On Stormfly regaining consciousness, Astrid tells her affectionately: "Don't worry girl, we won't tell anyone about your soft spot. We'll just keep that between you and me."

In "Defenders of the Wing, Part 1", Astrid demonstrates a willingness to sacrifice herself for Stormfly. The Dragon Riders are raiding a Dragon Hunter ship when a dragon root arrow is fired at Stormfly. Astrid puts her own leg in front of the arrow in order to knock it away, resulting in her getting shot to spare Stormfly.

The level of teamwork and coordination Astrid and Stormfly develop throughout their time at the Edge is tangible. Throughout the series, in many instances, we see different tricks and routines that the pair have learnt in their training together.

In the final episode, "King of Dragons, Part 2", Astrid and Stormfly demonstrate a new maneuver known as Spine Twirl, where Stormfly spirals in the air, rapidly firing spines in all directions. The move clearly takes coordination on both parts, and Astrid seems pleased and proud of herself and Stormfly when they execute it in battle.

==Battle for Berk

The bond between Astrid and Stormfly is constantly evolving, especially in this film. The bond between dragon and rider is plainly obvious and has been improved over the years. Astrid rides Stormfly a lot, has taught her new tricks, and many more. They look after one another greatly throughout the film; during Dragon Racing, they manage to execute some complex and brilliant trust maneuvers which ultimately win them the match, including Astrid leaping from Stormfly's back and running across Barf and Belch in order to retrieve the Black Sheep midair, then jumping back onto Stormfly, who then makes a twirling dive for the finish. This further demonstrates the strength of the duo's bond, and how much they trust each other: as America Ferrera states, they are shown to trust one another just as much as Hiccup and Toothless, and have just as good a bond, even though it is often underrated. In this film, the rapid development of their relationship is further revealed.
When Stormfly gets incapacitated to protect Eret, Son of Eret, Astrid was the first to react and tried to break loose of the chains holding her, almost angry and sad to see her dragon suffer like that. It caused a major effect on the dragon trapper as well that made him change the way he saw dragons, and later, he manages to calm Stormfly down and treats her with kindness and respect.

When Drago's Bewilderbeast takes control over the dragons, Stormfly jerks uncontrollably as she briefly attempts to fight the command to follow, before—like the other dragons—her pupils dilate and she flaps mindlessly after Drago. Astrid's reaction to this is one of horror, similar to when Stormfly flew off to have her babies. Later, when the pair are reunited back on Berk, Astrid and Stormfly hug one another joyously and Astrid is seen whispering fondly to her dragon.