Astrid Hofferson first noticed Hiccup Haddock at a Halloween Party when they were eleven. She had met him before-well, Berk wasn't such a large town that all the kids didn't go to the sole Elementary, Middle and High Schools-but he was someone she hadn't paid much attention to. She was smart, quick, strong and determined, always leader of the class and first to step forward while Hiccup was shy, clumsy and stammered. Admittedly, he was far the smartest kid in class, though he was easily distracted and tended to head off at a wild tangent chasing some mad notion of his own. But he tended to be ignored by Astrid and teased-sometimes quite harshly-by the rest.
But everyone was invited to the Party so Hiccup had come, dropped off by a large one-armed one-legged man with an elaborate braided blond moustache and twinkling blue eyes. The skinny boy had walked self-consciously into the School Gym with its purple and orange streamers and carved pumpkins, dressed in an elaborate black mask and black pyjamas with a stuffed cloth tail trailing behind him. The man leaned forward, murmured a few words of reassurance and clapped the boy on the back so hard he fell over.
"Oops. Sorry, laddie," the man said in a broad Scottish brogue and lumbered out. Hiccup picked himself up.
"Thanks, Gobber," he grumbled, dusted himself down and pulled his mask down determinedly. Astrid had stared at him: she had gone traditional with a witch outfit, the hat a perfect black cardboard cone and cloak fastened absolutely straight, the decorations of stars and bats stuck neatly on and wondered whether he had come as a demon of some sort. It certainly didn't look like anything she had seen previously. Puzzled, she picked up a pumpkin and orange juice and walked over to inspect him.
"Grrr!" he had tried and she looked and him a scowled.
"What are you supposed to be?" she asked bluntly. "You don't look very frightening."
"Actually, this-this is the most feared dragon of them all!" he protested, his slightly nasal voice muffled by the mask. She folded her arms across her chest, an unimpressed expression on her face.
"It doesn't look very frightening," she told him . "Actually he looks cute."
"Does not!"
"Does too!" And he did. The mask was actually very good, a blunt rounded muzzle on a flattened head with several ear flaps all neatly formed. Large round green eyes were painted in with oblong black cellophane panels for pupils and the slightly open mouth showed red gums with no teeth. The dragon looked rather like a large black kitten. Astrid rapped it with her knuckles.
"Hey!" Hiccup protested, backing away. "You'll damage it!" It was clearly a good piece of work, probably papier mache over chicken wore. It must have taken ages to make.
"Why are there no teeth? I mean, it doesn't even have fangs!"
"Night Furies had retractible teeth," he told her proudly.
"Did your Mom make that for you?" Astrid asked, inspecting it critically. There were even small scales painted on the dragon's cheeks and the paintwork was very even and neat. He paused and his skinny shoulders slumped.
"No," he sighed. "She died when I was about one."
"Oh." She tried to remember him with a Mom but all she could recall was the large two-limbed man who had brought him this evening and an even larger man with an enormous flaming beard and a booming voice. She knew him: the Mayor, Stoick Haddock. "You're the Mayor's son."
"Yeah."
"Did he make the mask for you?" she accused him.
"No, I did it myself." The tone was hurt. She frowned.
"Oh." She sipped her juice. "So why is it supposed to be scary?" He leaned closer and his voice dropped.
"He's the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself!" he told her conspiratorially but she was less than impressed.
"That's rubbish!" she snapped. "Night Furies are supposed to be extinct now! So yo can't be one!" He balled his fists and flipped his mask up, showing his flashing forest green eyes and defensive face.
"Yeah, well at least they existed!' he retorted. "No one ever saw a witch like that! The outfit you are wearing is a Nineteenth Century construct rather than being rooted in any historical accuracy!"
"You're weird!" she snapped, annoyed because she guessed he was right. "Dressing up as a dragon! Fine for a five year old...but we're eleven! It's a STUPID outfit!"
"Dragons are cool," he said tightly. "My Mom was a Dragonologist and Veterinarian and she studied all sorts of dragons. They are fascinating and that's what I'm going to do when I grow up!"
"Are he boring you, babe?" a familiar voice asked and Simon 'Snotlout' Jorgensen sauntered up. As one of the oldest in the year, he was bigger, stronger and bulkier than both the others. He was dressed as a Viking, his short black hair sticking out from under his horned helmet and face twisted in a cocky smile. Astrid was fighting with her feelings: she disliked Snotlout because he was cocky and assumed Astrid wanted to be his friend because he was the strongest in the year...but she was annoyed at Hiccup for being so stupid.
"No, I'm fine," she said tightly, deciding to fight her own battles. But Snotlout didn't take the hint and turned his cold blue eyes on the skinny boy.
"Hello, Useless," he sneered at Hiccup. The boy glared back, his pale, freckled face angry.
"What is it, Snot?" he snapped. Snotlout scowled.
"Are you annoying my Princess?" he accused the smaller boy. Hiccup narrowed his eyes.
"I think you are," he suggested, reading Astrid's distaste for the boy. Other kids started coming up-the twins Tore 'Tuffnut' and Ragnahilde 'Ruffnut' Thorston, Frank 'Fishlegs' Ingerman, Gustav Larson and Dag 'Dogsbreath' Daehle- all watching Snotlout picking on the class loser. There were 'oohs' at Hiccup's sarcastic reply and the silence as the larger boy paused, his face growing red in anger-before he snatched Hiccup's precious mask, ripping it from his head and tearing the neck of his pyjamas.
"No-I'm pretty sure you're annoying me!" he snarled, throwing the mask to the floor and stamping on it. Hiccup ran forward, trying to rescue the mask but the twins dragged him back as Snotlout finished by jumping up and down, smashing the beautifully built mask to a mangled mess of wire and crumpled papier mache.
"Snot-no! Stop it-please!" Hiccup protested before the twins shoved him to his knees, landing by the wreckage of his mask.
"Oops, Useless," Snotlout sneered, laughing at his distraught face at the destruction of his beautiful mask. Astrid held her breath, shocked as the smaller boy picked up a piece of smashed mask, seeing the delicately painted little scales. His throat worked and his wide green eyes shone. "Aww...is widdle Hiccup gonna cwy at his pwecious mask being bwoken?" Snotlout sneered. Trembling with anger and misery, the smaller boy lifted his tousled auburn head and glared.
"Not as much as Snotlout is gonna 'cwy' at raising Astrid can't stand him!" he snapped. Snotlout stopped laughing and pulled his fist back...but someone got there first. Astrid punched the arrogant boy in the face.
"What is wrong with you?" she snapped. "He's just a nerdy kid who likes dragons! You didn't need to smash his mask!"
"Well, he won't be winning the 'best costume' prize, will he?" Snotlout scoffed, flexing his muscles and walking away with his entourage. Astrid was left looking down at the boy, sniffing as he gathered up the remains of his mask. He lifted his shining eyes, blinking at her.
"Go ahead and laugh," he said in a hoarse voice. "I-I know you think I'm weird anyway..." He sounded on the verge of tears. She sighed, then dropped to her knees and helped him gather up the pieces of his mask.
"It was a really well made mask," she said more gently, seeing he was really upset. He shrugged.
"Not any more," he murmured.
"You are talented, aren't you?" she asked. He gave a shrug.
"I just have loads of time...because don't really have any friends..." he admitted. She stared at him. His forest green eyes were usually bright but they were dulled with defeat and his face was pale.
"You really like dragons, don't you?" she asked. He sighed.
"Ever since I could remember," he admitted. "Of course, my Dad thinks it's stupid but I am who I am." She stood and brushed her skirts off...then offered him her hand.
"You're not so weird," she said, her blue eyes twinkling. "And it was a kinda cool idea." He shrugged and allowed her to help him up.
"Um...your costume isn't stupid either," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. "You-you look really nice." She smiled and saw a tentative smile light his face as well. She took his hand firmly.
"Thanks," she said honestly. "C'mon, Dragon Boy-let's get some juice..."