"Whoah! Are you crying?! What's that like?" asked Tuffnut with complete ignorance at his own insensitivity, as Snotlout helplessly watched his dragon deteriorate in front of his very eyes.

Tuffnut's questioning was followed by several grunts of pain as Snotlout then proceeded to pummel him several times.

"Crying?! That's ridiculous!" whimpered Snotlout as he wiped away his tears. Crying was sooo un-Viking-like. "It's just dust in my eyes! Can't you see how dusty it is in here? Guys? Right?"

Snotlout knew that he must've looked ridiculous and weak to the others. But he was surprised when, instead of tormenting or laughing at him (as he had often done to Hiccup when they were younger), they actually looked at him with pity and sympathy. But was that really any better?

"Snotlout, there is nothing wrong with being upset, it just means you care," said Astrid as she placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort (something she would be loathe to do if the situation wasn't as serious as it was). Even Snotlout himself looked surprised by the move, and quickly backed away.

"Uh, alright…let's just pretend for a minute that I did, well, "care"; how would I know? I mean, how would you know?"

"Well," said Astrid, "you might feel a tightness in your chest…"

Like when you see someone you just realized you might care for, enter a battle-ring with an untrained Monstrous Nightmare as an entire village of shouting Vikings looks on, she thought.

"…you might get a little shaky…"

Like when you see your friend plunge down into an inescapable inferno…and miraculously somehow come out of it alive, only to be missing a chunk of his leg…

"…your eyes might get watery."

Like when you're forced to abandon your own dragon, the best companion you've ever had, on an island, knowing you might never see her again, all because of something that wasn't even her fault!

Snotlout just looked around at the others warily, knowing that he had just felt everything that Astrid described, and that they knew it too.

"Y-yeah, I'm going to go with dust…for now."

Like when you realize that your friend is going through the same thing and feeling exactly the same way as you did…