It was a not so cold day on the Isle of Berk. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the rubble was smoldering. Which meant it was a day after a raid. Clean up day.

If you were to look at the top of the hill, you would see a fairly decent sized house with a very Viking like man walking out. This was the house of Stoick the vast, the Chief of Berk. He would also seem to be speaking instructions such as "don't burn down anything," to someone inside. If you knew anything about said Chief of Berk, you would know exactly who he was talking to. Inside that house was the Chief's son, a very un-Vikingly Viking named Hiccup, who was now seven.

"Gobber said no working at the forge today, but he expects you to be in tomorrow. Got it? Good. I'll be back tonight." Stoick told his son before walking out the door and beginning his chiefly duties. "Bye." Hiccup said softly and waved. Normally he would respond with an "I'll be here," but that would be a lie. Not that Hiccup needed to stay in anyways. All kids were allowed free reign of the island, except for the forest, the kids were afraid of that place. Well, most of them anyways and, as always, Hiccup was not most Viking children.

Hiccup put his notebook, a few apples, and his charcoal pencil in his bag and began his trek to the forge to pick up his invention.


Hiccup snatched his invention from the top of his desk in the forge, put it in his bag, and started running to the forest to meet his best friend. He was about to reach the edge of the forest when a blue and yellow blur came flying at him and pushed him to the ground with a surprised squeal. He opened his eyes and saw a pair of icy blue ones right in front of him. "Whoops, sorry Hiccup," Apologized Astrid Hofferson, Hiccup's best friend. "It's ok" he replied, beginning to stand up "I'm used to it anyways." This was true. For the past couple of years, the other kids (namely Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut) had taken up teasing Hiccup and pushing him down any time they pass him as their favorite pastime. Aside from pranking that is. Astrid looked a bit angry. "They haven't been teasing you again have they?" Astrid inquired angrily. "Honestly Astrid, I don't really care anymore." Hiccup answered. This was a lie and Astrid knew it, her eyes grew fiery for a second before she replied with a simple "Okay" and changed the subject to the new invention the two would be testing as they walked to a clearing in the forest.

"I got the idea from watching Gobber repair a crossbow." Hiccup informed his friend as they reached the clearing and pulled his invention out of his bag. It was a slingshot, and at the bottom of the handle was a platform like piece of wood so it could stand on its own. It also had a support that, if removed, could allow the slingshot to move to different angles.

"Hiccup, it just looks like a slingshot to me." Astrid said slightly disappointed. "Yes it is," responded Hiccup proudly, "but that's not all. Before I can show you the rest, try it out." She took the slingshot from his hand, grabbed a rock and shot it at the tree that had a target painted on it. Over the years, Hiccup and Astrid tested all of his inventions on that tree. They eventually just painted it so it could be an actual target. Astrid let the rock fly with such power that there was a rather decent sized dent in the tree after it was hit.

"Cool, now what else can it do?" Astrid asked eagerly. She really wanted to see the full usage of her friend's invention. Hiccup smiled, reached into his bag and pulled out a curved piece of wood. Hiccup removed the support that made the slingshot stand upright and attached the string to a notch on the side of the slingshot. He stuck the curved piece of wood onto the top and handed it to Astrid. She looked at it for a second and exclaimed "A table catapult!" Hiccup beamed and let her try it out.

It was the first invention of his that worked.


That evening at the great hall, Hiccup and Astrid excitedly showed Gobber Hiccup's invention. Gobber was actually surprised that it worked and to be honest, so were they. They were walking back to their own table when a leg popped out from nowhere and tripped Hiccup. There were some giggles and a cough of "Useless" that followed. Snotlout and the Twins, of course. Astrid's blood boiled but Hiccup just got up, brushed himself off, and led Astrid to their table before anyone got choked by a spoon at her hand.

"Hiccup, can I see that invention of yours?" Astrid asked with her eyes focused on Snotlout and the Twins. He handed it to her cautiously. She set it to catapult mode. Later, three eight year olds would complain of flying vegetables and would be laughed at for their "Big imaginations."