The credits for this one-shot really should go to my friends. They keep calling the film "How I Met Your Dragon" and that gave me the idea. Hence, this story will be written from Astrid's point-of-view with the main focus being on that first flight with Hiccup and Toothless. I know this has been done many times, but I might as well give my own spin on it, ne? Hope you enjoy.

How I Met Your Dragon

Something was up. Oh, yes, something was definitely amiss on Berk. I mean, seriously, how was Hiccup improving so rapidly in dragon training? As expected, upon beginning the training, he hovered away from the action and, when he was involved, he was always screwing up my perfect rhythm and synchronization between attacking the dragon in question and defending against its attacks.

Yet, within a week, all focus had shifted from me, the clear victor of this year's recruits, to him, the dead-last. It wasn't just Gobber's focus or the attention of the rest of us trainees. Oh no, Hiccup managed to attract the attention of the entire village! Was he trying to do this? He must be; the village had refused to acknowledge him before and now…No, I could see through this ploy. I would be the one to find out what was going on and expose him as a fake to everyone, the entire village and especially his father, Berk's reigning Chieftain.

It was one afternoon. Dragon training had concluded early today because Gobber had work to do at the forge. I was particularly upset. Hiccup had, again, made me look like a fool, failing in comparison to his techniques. Even if he had charmed that Terror right back into its cage, Tuffnut did not have to point out about him being "better than I ever was". What an insensitive jerk! I mean, seriously, has everyone forgotten about weak, useless Hiccup? The one who, only weeks earlier, had wreaked yet another dragon raid, claiming that he had hit a Night Fury. How could everyone have so easily forgotten that? No one has ever even seen a Night Fury, so we are expected to believe that HE shot one right out of the sky? Yeah, right. What a load of…

My axe hit its target. Again and again, tree after tree took a beating from my highly accurate shots. I pried my axe from its latest victim and rounded to fire another shot. Flipping skillfully with my axe still raised, I was stopped. My mouth dropped in astonishment as, there, in front of me, stood him staring back at me in disbelief that I had caught him. In his arms, he carried a bundle and I noticed that he had removed his usual fur vest. Yes, something was definitely up; I've got you now, Hiccup. You cannot hide this time!

He gulped slightly and paced away at a light joke. Lucky for him, he got a slight head-start as I just stared back at him, lowering my axe in stupor. Disappearing behind a rock, I followed his exact path with stealth, but when I peered out over the large rock, I noticed that he had again disappeared. I balled my fist and struck the rock in frustration. It hurt, but definitely not as much as my pride; I really thought I'd had him this time. Soon, soon, I will find out what you are up to, Hiccup…just you wait.

It was less than a week later that found me and Hiccup in the ring, alone. We had been the top two in the training class so this was our opportunity to convince the elder of who should be the one to kill the Monstrous Nightmare in front of the entire village. There was absolutely no way that I could lose this, but, just to make sure…

"Stay out of my way! I'm winning this thing." I pushed his shield down and got right up in his face. It was then that I noticed he had a helmet. When had he gotten one of those?

"Good, please, by all means."

Okay, he seemed way too ready to agree. Is he even trying? Come to think of it, he never afflicted any wounds to any of the dragons during training. His methods were so…tame. Well, no time to think about that now. After I win, I will figure out what he is up to.

I dodged between barriers, the Gronckle in my sight. "This time, this time for sure!" I reassured myself before charging out, axe raised…to find that Hiccup had already subdued the Gronckle. He gave me that look, gesturing feverishly as the ground cheered. How did this happen again? He had, again, made me look like an idiot and my frustration rose. "No! No, you son of half-troll, rat-eating, munge-bucket!" I screamed out, swinging my axe just hoping it would make contact with one of those wooden barriers.

Chief Stoick called for the attention of all in attendance and I noticed Hiccup making to leave again, claiming to be late for something. That does it! "What?! Late. For what. Exactly?"I asked him, pressing my axe directly to his neck, my speech coming out broken as I still had not yet caught my breath. I did not get my answer, though, as Stoick asked for quiet so that the Elder's decision could be revealed. As could be expected, she did not choose me. I glared daggers at the boy next to me as everyone cheered.

Needless to say, I did not stay for the celebrations. Instead, I retreated to the woods. There was a cove in there where I could always find the best whetstones. Time to sharpen up my axe because the next time I see Hiccup, I am chopping him up into mincemeat for making me look like a fool in front of the entire village. How quickly the roles had reversed? Hiccup was the revered hero and leader of the year's dragon training recruits. I was the screw-up, the village idiot. Let me tell you this: I did not like this role reversal, not one bit.

Picking up a good whetstone, I sat down on top of a nearby rock and began to sharpen up my axe. Later, Hiccup entered the cove. Again, he was not wearing his fur vest and he had a large basket over his should. "We're leaving! Looks like you and me are taking a little vacation. Forever."

I halted my sharpening as he entered the cove area. He had not noticed me, so I just sat there. Who is he talking to? I know that he does not know I am here. Deciding to wait just a little longer, I continued to observe Hiccup as he set down his basket. Never one to be patient, I got tired of waiting and scraped the whetstone across the axe, alerting him to my presence and successfully startling him.

Tripping over a small rock on the ground, he tried to make small-talk with me. "What the?! What are you doing here?"

Have I ever mentioned that I hate small-talk? Well, I do and I especially hate it when it originates from this small boy. Dropping the whetstone, I got right to the point. "I want to know what's going on." My battle-ready axe gleamed in the sun as I held it up. I must look pretty menacing. Good. Hiccup doesn't deserve my sympathy. I had observed this boy enough and tried to figure out his secrets, but to no avail, so now he would tell me himself or I really would chop him up into mincemeat and I dare him to test me now that my axe is at its sharpest. "No one just gets as good as you do," I continued, jumping down from the rock and twirling my axe. "Especially you. Start talking! Are you training with someone?" I could tell that Hiccup felt very uncomfortable with my advances, but, right now, I did not care. I was not leaving until I had my answers. "It better not involve this." I grabbed the shoulder of that leather vest he was wearing to prove my point.

A sound startled me, disrupting me from getting my answers. Throwing Hiccup to the ground, I stopped over him (meaning on top of him to get over him) to try to catch a glimpse of what had just made the noise. If it was even possible, this seemed to make Hiccup even more nervous as he began blabbering about making outfits and how I should drag him back and expose him to everyone. Clearly he did not want me to see what made that noise and I would not have any of it. I twisted his arm and heard it as he dropped to the ground.

"Ow! Why would you do that?!"

He made to stand back up, but I was in no mood to deal with this boy. Kicking him back to the ground, I answered him. "That's for the lies." To further my point ,I dropped the blunt-ended handle of my axe onto his small stomach. "And that's for everything else."

Whatever was in that clearing was clearly angered by my treatment of Hiccup because I heard a growl. Then, finally, I saw what had made that news. It was a black dragon. Was that…a Night Fury? Wait, Hiccup had claimed that he'd shot down a Night Fury. He'd been telling the truth?

The dragon advanced and I found myself trying to save the boy that, only moments earlier, I had been hurting mercilessly. Raising my axe to take out the dragon, I was stopped abruptly when Hiccup jumped me, pulled my axe from my hands, and slid it away from the dragon…and from me. I was still on the ground as I watched him trying to calm the dragon. How had he not been eaten yet? More important question, why was he telling it that I'm a friend? Just for protection, I guess, but it was still strange. Okay, well, the whole scene was strange.

Trying desperately to hold back the black dragon, Hiccup turned to me. "You just scared him.

Wait…what? "I scared him?! Who is 'him'?"

It was clear that Hiccup did not want to do this, but he introduced us anyway. Yes, introduced, as if we were two Vikings meeting for the first time. Wait…Toothless? He named the dragon! Okay, that's it. It's time Chief Stoick knew about this. I knew that something was up! I just never expected it to be this…extreme. All I could do was shake my head in disbelief as I bolted in the direction of the village.

During my sprint, I briefly looked back. Good, I wasn't being followed. Guess he gave up, knowing that he couldn't win this time. Jumping over a fallen tree, I was shocked when my feet were lifted from the ground. Something had grabbed my arm. Screaming out, I cried out to Odin, fearing the end. It was not, however, as I was deposited onto a high branch of a pine tree. Looking up, I that same Night Fury, Toothless, apparently, land on the tree which bowed from the dragon's weight. Situated on the dragon's back was Hiccup. He rides dragons? This day just gets weirder and weirder…and I was sick of it. "Hiccup, get me down from here!" My voice sounded so whiny, even to my ears, but how else was I supposed to feel? I was hanging for my life here and the only way down was through this boy and his…pet dragon?

"You have to give me a chance to explain."

No, no, no. Absolutely no way. "I am not listening to anything you have to say!"

Always ready with a comeback, Hiccup replied to me, "Then I won't speak. Just let me show you. Please, Astrid"

Clearly, I had two options. Fall to my death whenever my hands decide to slip or trust Hiccup. As much as I hated the second option, I really had no other choice. He offered me a hand up, but I refused, slapping it away harshly. Just because I had to trust him this once didn't mean that I had abandoned all of my pride. Okay, so he got me in the saddle…on the back of a dragon…rephrase, on the back of a Night Fury. That didn't mean that I was comfortable as I sat tensely behind Hiccup. "Now, get me down."

"Toothless, down. Gently." Hiccup's instructions sounded like he was talking to some small household pet. Of course, we don't have many of those in Berk, but, what I'm saying is, that this is not the tone you would normally use with a dragon, especially here on this island.

The dragon's wings flipped open, catching the breeze. Hiccup turned back to me. "See? Nothing to be afraid of."

Hiccup's guard was down and the dragon took off, racing higher and higher. Not secured and refusing to hang onto Hiccup, I almost tumbled off the back. Ahead of me, I could hear Hiccup yelling to the dragon, but I didn't focus on what he was saying; I was more worried about not dying. The ride grew wilder as the dragon dipped down into the waters below, dousing all of us. It did not stop there as the dragon climbed back into the air and spinning this way and that. I couldn't take this anymore; precious days were probably draining from my lifespan. Without thinking, I hugged closer to Hiccup and told him, "Okay, I am sorry! I'm sorry. Just get me off of this thing."

Strangely enough, that must've worked because the dragon released its wings again and the movement ceased. The ride became calmer and, once I felt safe once again, I raised my head from Hiccup's back and took in the new surroundings in which I found myself. We were soaring above the clouds and among them. Reaching out, I touched them. How light and fluffy they felt!

The world grew dark as we flew and the shimmering sky colors appeared, dancing among us. Through a break in the clouds, we looked down on Berk, some houses lit by candlelight. Of course, I had never looked down on Berk from the sky; it truly was a sight to behold. It appears I had misjudged this dragon…all dragons, actually. To think that they could be so gentle…and friendly, it truly was amazing. "All right, I admit it," I told Hiccup, "This is pretty cool. It's amazing," I continued. "He's amazing," I corrected quickly.

From there, the flight had turned dark as we found ourselves taken to a mountain filled with dragons. There was one dragon there that astonished even Hiccup. It was the biggest dragon that either of us had ever seen and we barely managed to escape. When we had safely landed back in the cove, I tried to convince Hiccup that we needed to tell Chief Stoick about what we had seen, but Hiccup did not agree.

"No! No. No, not yet. They'll kill Toothless. Astrid, we have to think this through carefully."

"Hiccup, we just discovered the dragons' nest, the thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here, and you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon? Are you serious?

Immediately, I was floored by the determination in Hiccup as he turned back to me and replied, "Yes." Never before had I seen this side to Hiccup. He always seemed to be laughing things off, brushing aside everything with a goofy smile, but there were no jokes this time and I really did not know how to reply.

"Okay. Then what do we do?" I asked him softly.

"Just give me until tomorrow. I'll figure something out." He sounded strained, torn even.

Agreeing, I made to leave, but I stopped briefly. This moment was too serious so I decided to lighten it a little. Giving Hiccup a quick, swift punch to his small arm, I told him, "That's for kidnapping me." A little unsure, I brushed my bangs aside and then finished with a quick kiss to Hiccup's cheek. "That's for…everything else," I told him quickly before running off toward home.

That was how I met Hiccup's dragon. It definitely started off rough. Toothless and I had definitely gotten off to a bad start, but that night had turned into the best night of my life. Something had changed between me and Hiccup that night. I understood him, where he was coming from, why he was doing what he was doing, and he came to be one of my best friends. Also, if I had never taken this flight with Hiccup and Toothless, I would never have come to know Stormfly. It was this night that would become the catalyst, the spark, to end up changing the village's mindset about the dragons.

This isn't exactly how I wanted to end this story. I wanted to end with saying "This is how I met your dragon" to relate back to the title, but I guess this will do. As I said, this idea has probably been over-explored, but here's my take on it. Hope it was enjoyable!