He never told anyone his first memory of her. It was, he thought, pathetic he remembered the little details about four year old Astrid Hofferson on that midsummer evening. For once, there wasn't a dragon
circling the island and the rest of the Hairy Hooligan tribe were either in the Mead Hall or inside their own homes.
Hiccup was an inquisitive child with a tendency to wonder away from others and explore on his own. That particular night, his father was with the likes of Spitelout Jorgenson and Gobber the Belch and far too wrapped up in other matters to pay attention to where his young son had wondered off to. He trusted the women in the village to collectively keep an eye on him, seeing as they were much more nurturing than he was.
The skies were clear. Not a cloud was in sight and it was less painfully freezing than normal on Berk. He could hear the chatter from the Hall and the occasional giggle of the other children playing nearby. He didn't really associate himself with them. His cousin, Snotlout, was both bigger and stronger than him and enjoying pushing Hiccup around in front of everyone else to impress them. Hiccup had sadly learn to tolerate and 'be the bigger man', as it were.
"Stupid Snotlout" Someone sulked, kicking a stone so it dropped down the cliff face and hit the grey sea below with a soft splash "It's always his game, never my game even though I started it"
He looked in the direction of the stone kicker and saw a shock of lightening blonde hair pouting and furrowing her brow. She was around the same height as him but more muscular, despite being a girl. She was Astrid Hofferson. He had seen her running around the village, usually with some sort of stick she was using as a make-believe weapon. He couldn't help but stare at her blue eyes as the fading sunlight seemed to reflect off of them and steal his attention from exploring his surroundings.
"Close your mouth or you'll catch flies" She snapped at him once he saw him staring.
"But there are no flies here" He replied, taking the term literally and looking around to spot these flies she spoke of.
"It's an expression, muttonhead" She huffed dramatically as she kicked another stone over the edge.
"I'm not a muttonhead" He said, puffing out his chest "Snotlout is for taking your game"
"Eavesdropping is rude" She sighed angrily.
"But you're rude too"
"So what?" She scoffed "If I jumped off a cliff, would you jump off it too?"
"I'd consider it" He said innocently "You'd hurt yourself and would need help"
"Help is for the weak" She declared "Astrid Hofferson doesn't need help"
"Hey, Hiccup?" She had just spotted Hiccup enter the Dragon Stables. She removed her saddle from Stormfly and was struggling to carry it and put it back in its correct place "Help me put this back"
"Help is for the weak" He smirked "Astrid Hofferson doesn't need help"
"What if I jumped off a cliff would you help me then?" She asked as he turned on his heel and strolled out of the stables.
"I'd consider it" He called back.
Then suddenly, it all clicked together for her.
New one shot series. Hopefully regular updates because I'm a serious sucker for Hiccstrid