That Snoggletog Gift

She had been training for so long... she deserved a blade. Yeah, her mother said 'no', but it could also have something to do with the financial rumor he had heart about the Hoffersons... and even if it weren't, her mother could still prevent Astrid from using it at training.

Therefore, he didn't feel as if his plan was a bad thing, so when he arrived at the forge, he couldn't stop fidgeting as he searched for the right way to ask for Gobber's help. He didn't need to wait long, for blacksmith knew the boy all too well to know he wanted something.

"Go on, Boy. Spill. What do you want?"

"Hm... Could you help me craft another dagger?"

Yes, of course Hiccup could try to do it by himself, but if he was being honest he knew he wasn't ready to handle molten steal alone... He wasn't that stupid. And he almost burned himself when he was crafting his dagger; he only didn't because Gobber was there to assist him.

"A new dagger?" He raised an eyebrow. "Does it have anything to do with Snoggletog coming around?"

"No..." The boy's voice faded and he looked away for a moment, but as soon as his eyes met Gobber's suspicious expression, he gulped. "Maybe..." The blacksmith's stare remained the same and Hiccup couldn't handle the pressure. "Ok, yeah..." He sighed. "It's a gift."

"I thought we'd give Stoick a new sword together, wouldn't we?"

"We sill are... This dagger is for someone else..."

Gobber's raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Hiccup... You can't buy friends by giving them stuff..."

"What? No!" He shook his head. "I don't want that. I just want to give someone a gift..." He looked down. "I don't even want to tell this person I'm the one who gave her the present..."

"Her?" Hiccup's cheeks instantly got as read as a Monstrous Nightmare. Gobber laughed. "Oh, I see, Boy... Don't worry. I'll help you."

He smiled, but bit his lower lip before he asked one last thing. "Promise not to tell anyone?"

"Alright, Lad... I promise."

_______________________________________________

Tree days later, Snoggletog Eve finally arrived. Hiccup had built a small box to put in Astrid's present, the new dagger with a sheath. Now, he wrapped a single string around the box, putting a piece of paper between them.

With the package in hand, he left the empty forge and headed to Astrid's house, hiding the box in his fur coat, even though the streets were fairly empty. Almost every one started gathering at the Great Hall in the en of the afternoon for the feast. So on his way there, Hiccup quickly stopped by at her house and left without being seen.

Astrid, however, wanted to leave the Great Hall, she was still sad that her parents didn't give her what she wanted the most and now was bored because they were focused on talking to other family members and friends. She had already eaten, and since she was a little tired, Astrid decided to go back home earlier.

When she got close enough to the door, she nearly stumbled onto something on the snow. There was a little wooden box lying by the door. There were footprints no bigger than hers, so probably someone small left it a while ago.

Curious and even a little suspicious, the girl knelt down and grabbed the box. There was a piece of paper in the string-wrap around the box; it was simple, with only her name written on it.

She entered home to open it. She couldn't help but wonder what was that and who'd put it there... why wouldn't the person give it to her straight away?