Astrid Hofferson was a proud girl. She was stronger than the rest of her classmates, very athletic, smart, pretty, and very, very stubborn. Thus it annoyed her to no end when the parakeet she finally worked up the will to purchase was the most strong-headed creature she had ever met.

The bird, though she was it was perfectly obedient, thought itself the ruler over her home the second she released it into her apartment. Astrid dubbed the bird Stormfly, to which it took kindly, the blonde supposed, she would tell her guests, that it repeated the name relentlessly well into the night.

The bird's owner worked as a barista in a coffee shop below her apartment, where the manager was kind enough to let her keep the bird in the shop during her shifts, so long as Stormfly was kept in the decent sized birdcage she had brought the animal home in.

Astrid's friend, whose birth name as Rayya, but much preferred Ray, sat sipping from a tall glass as the barista moaned about her naughty parakeet, glaring at the bird as it preened itself proudly before a cooing audience.

"Taylor and I took Barf and Belch to a specialist." Ray informed her friend pointedly, referring to her twin brother and their Siamese kittens. "It took a couple of classes until the guy stopped humming the song from Lady and the Tramp, but the guys barely live up to their names anymore!" She chewed her straw. "He's really good."

"Right." Astrid scoffed. I can afford to pay someone to tell me that my bird is stupid. I don't have any support from my parents, remember, rich girl?"

Ray grinned at the bitter endearment. "My parents would be happy to pay for it!" she offered.

Astrid didn't often accept money she didn't work for, but this bird was driving her to the edge.

XxX

In a week, Ray had arrange for Astrid to join the Dragon Academy. She has expected the teacher to give individual classes, but Ray informed her otherwise.

The twins drove her to a small building that looked worn out and misplaced between the between the taller buildings in their city. She hummed with interest as they excitedly led her in and wove their way into a gymnasium-szed room.

A boy who couldn't have been more than a couple of years older than her lit up when the trio entered. His green eyes sparkled as he kept from his seat on the floor, a black cat spilling when he did so.

"Hello!" He nodded politely, lifting one foot as the cat who earlier occupied his lap circled the other. "I'm Hiccup. I run this not-exactly-fine establishment. Astrid, right?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow at him, shifting Stormfly's cage to her left hand so she could extend her right. "Yeah, Hofferson." He shook her hand with an awkward grin and she held up the cage, "This is Stormfly." The instructor unlatched the door, setting the bird free.

"This," He returned, scooping up the less than satisfied cat who begged for attention at his feet. "Is Toothless. He was a stray. I call him Toothless because some..." Astrid could tell he was biting back a profanity by the way he halted the sentence and hesitated. "One filed his teeth. His hind leg is a prosthetic. We match." The boy finished with a mischievous grin, holding out both his right foot and his cat's.

The bird owner tried not to gasp at the makeshift foot he boasted, but didn't resist snapping her fingers in revaluation. "You're Haddock! We take some classes together." he nodded shyly.

"Into to Business, Mathematics 102, and History of Equality." the brunette's smile turned sheepish.

Before she could respond, he clapped his hands together. "So! You guys know the drill!" He flashed a more confident grin at Astrid as the others loudly made their war to the center of the room. "This is where we sit in a circle like a group of kindergarteners."

"Ah," she replied eloquently. "I see."

Hiccup sat in a metal chair as his pupils took their places in the surrounding mismatch ones. The boy extended both his legs and placed his palms on the chair between them.
So, you guys," the instructor addressed two young men Astrid hadn't noticed before. "This is our newest maybe-member. Her name is Astrid Hofferson, and her bird's name is..." he glanced quickly at a clipboard with the sheet Ray had her fill out. "Stormfly, sorry. Astrid, this is Scott Jorgenson and his dog, Fang," he gestured to a fit brunette who wouldn't stop winking and his reddish inbred dog. "And Fisher Ingerman and his turtle, Meatlaug." The next boy he pointed at was a stout, shy blond with a turtle snug on his lap.

"Hello," Astrid greeted, her bird squawking after her as though to repeat the sentiment.

In return she received two variations of, "Hi.". A low, flirtatious one that made her blush merely because of the effort she made to hold back laughter, and a meek one that was drowned out by Fang's barking.

Hiccup whistled to the dog and gave him a firm order to sit. "Right, then, first off: who's got questions?"

XxX

The lessons went by quickly. Astrid hadn't expected them to be so lighthearted and fun.

In the end, Ray announced that she and the resident bird owner would be going to a bar, after dropping off their pets at home, inviting the others as well.

"I have class," Scott said reluctantly, and Fisher nodded, admitting he was busy with school as well.

After looking shyly at his students, Hiccup smiled slightly. "I'm free." He offered, tossing his backpack over one shoulder.

"Cool," Ray stuck up one thumb and smacked her brother in the head with an empty cat kennel.

"I have to go put Toothless in m room, be right back." The boy smiled worriedly at the twins as they wrestled to the ground before jogging with his cat into the next room.

"Fisher," Astrid called the blond aside as he passed her. "Hiccup lives here?"

Fisher shrugged. "Yeah. It's a dump, but I heard he left his dad's house before he finished high school. He's lived here ever since."

Ray popped up from the ground, where her brother was being sat upon by their kittens, and leaned on Fisher, who flushed at the contact. "Yeah, Hiccup's back story could be the theme of some melodramatic movie." she rolled her eyes. "Cry me a river. It's not like he moans about it all the time, or like he's upset about it. All he complains about is living in this dump."

"I think it's strong of him." Fisher interjected, "It's probably hard to live on your own when you're seventeen."

"You're just soft." Ray scoffed and linked arms with Astrid, shouting, "Cat whisperer! If you don't hurry it along, we're gonna leave without you!" and shooing Fisher to his classes.

Astrid thought about what the blond had said and felt bad for their instructor.

That's not too bad of a place to end it, right? Sorry if some of it is awkward. To be honest, I wrote a lot of it in the wee hours of the morning. I hope you guys can bear with me until the end! It'll be nice to go on this journey with you! Heheh... I will fix the cover soon.

Please leave a review! Thanks :)