Astrid moved quietly along the edge of the cave, watching the shadows dart away from the light of the torch as she did so. Stormfly crept carefully behind her, and she found herself amazed all over again at just how silent something so large as a dragon was capable of being. Of course, that also made things a little unnerving, because that meant there could easily be a dragon in this cave that didn't appreciate visitors. She didn't think that was the case, really--based on the condition of the skeleton they'd found, there was nothing predatory here. Or at least, there hadn't been when the skeleton had been a live person.

She cast her eyes across the width of the cave to check for the light from Hiccup's torch, then looked over her shoulder at Stormfly.

"If there was anything here, you'd know about it, right, girl?" she asked, and Stormfly chirped reassuringly. Yeah, if there was any danger to be found, she was pretty sure the dragons would have sensed it.

As they walked, she picked up some scattered sticks and twigs, figuring they could be used for kindling. They would need a fire if they were going to stay here for very long. Nearing the middle where she and Hiccup would meet, though, Astrid discovered something else: along the wall there appeared to be writing and drawings. There were sketchy lines etched into the rock all along the edge of the room, and Astrid reached up to run her hand over one of them, a drawing that looked an awful lot like a Whispering Death.

"Are you seeing this?" she asked when Hiccup was within earshot. "It looks like whoever was in here was studying dragons.