So hey guys, before we get started, I must say thank you very much, to be honest, this story has the least everything (of course it would) in terms of stats, but it seems this one gained the most followers in the shortest amount of time, which is awesome, must mean I'm doing something right...Right?

Anyway, I want to say this one was a little more difficult, it was more fun at the end, but that start feels a bit slow to me, I would however like feedback on it.

Next up, thanks again NatBlake for the review, I did try to keep Hiccup and Fishlegs relatively close as friends in school go, and I think I did rather well (hopefully), also, I've always had a deal for realism, along with trying to design a flowing story (man I hope I succeeded here), and I've already talked you about RwF so I'll leave other comments out (though I'm gonna be honest, there was a tiny speck of inspiration from reading that story, obviously not as much as from other stories, but I did have a bit)

Also, I'm gonna be honest, I feel like I may have augmented Astrid's personality a little to be less cold (among other smaller things of her), but I was trying to show she is more friendly with Hiccup, and I guess without watching over here most of the time it could be hard to tell (at least when I look at it)

Either way, enjoy the next A Start:


Chapter 2: A Start

Hiccup had, over the coming weeks, spending more time at Felix's house, occasionally taking Toothless over, to which Felix didn't mind. His dad was, like Hiccup's rarely ever home, but he was just really strict when it came to school. Hiccup also learned that Felix is a computer wizard, and while owning a an old Gateway older than both of them, he showed amazing skills messing with the old paper weight. And Hiccup was fascinated by it.

Another thing Hiccup also found was that he and Felix were really good playing music, they attempted to do skeletal samples of multiple rock songs, like Black Sabbath's Jack the Stripper intro, or Iron Maiden's Fear of the Dark. They found they weren't perfect, but while Hiccup could follow the song well, Felix wasn't too far behind. He obviously however, wasn't as accustomed to a drum kit as Hiccup thought he'd be, but he didn't mind.

The oddest thing to Hiccup was how involved his best friend was to some of it, paying heavy attention to the sounds, though not showing it before, Hiccup suspected the drums helped bring it out for him. Another thing was neither of them sang, even if neither could get the songs to stop playing in their head, Felix because he was too timid and suspected his voice was bad, and Hiccup because he too was nervous, and thought the same thing. They were just content to play music until midnight, leading Hiccup to sometimes arrive just after his father, if he hadn't first been kicked out by Mr. Ingerman.

Two months later, when he and Fishlegs, as he started to nickname Felix jokingly, became even more in sync then they started off, he noted how fun it was becoming and how much time he actually spent with Fishlegs every chance he got. One night while he was falling asleep, he thought about how he and Fishlegs sounded really good together, and how they liked to mess around a lot. This led him to think from music to starting a band, never contemplating it before, but remembering every time he and Fish complimented each other's skill on their instruments, it gave him more fuel. He however found one issue with starting a band: A good rock band would need a bass, the sound the bass produces is so great and yet often subtle, he felt it just couldn't be left out of thought. That leaves the question of who will actually play it? He knew his jerk of a cousin played a bit, but he was no way asking for him.

The next day in math, he talked to Fish on it, when they were finished the class, about being in a band and getting a bass player. His response was "I'd love to, but my dad won't let me, maybe over the summer?" To which Hiccup explained to be as a band to practice, and how he wanted to play around a bit musically. "I suppose we could, any ideas for who should be on the bass?"

"No, I only know Scott can, and we both know how bad that would go." Hiccup continued his contemplating on a bassist for the unnamed group they decided on forming. Hiccup's contemplating had been lasting most of the day when he reached Language Arts, whom he had with Snot, Tuff, and Astrid.

In class, he tried to avoid being noticed by Snotlout and Tuff, knowing full well the former was looking for a beat down, and the latter being happy to join in. Hiccup was lucky not to be picked on by any of his usual bullies, and as soon as class ended, he waited out for an extra minute, he talked with Astrid, mostly about music sparking from what she was listening to on her phone. Through the conversation, he learned she liked both Genesis and many songs from Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, as well as Jazz, Blues, and Classical. They held a conversation for another minute, where he learned she also occasionally played multiple instruments, only specific finding out she played the piano. He made a mental note to ask about other instruments later as he entered study hall.

When study hall was over, and he was all caught up on most of his homework for the week, Hiccup went to lunch, and found a place he could sit next to Felix, and yet found Astrid also sitting across and talking to him. Hiccup got down in the seat and immediately heard Astrid move to him. "You two are starting a band? And you didn't tell me? Seems like you need a bassist." She interjected.

"Well neither of us knew you played anything. Can you actually play the bass?" He asked her, hoping that she would say yes to this and a followup question.

"It's been a bit, but yeah, I have a some skill in it." She retorted, feeling anxious to actually have something out of school to do. She had little to do and seeing the talent show come up around the corner would be another excuse to do something she hadn't tried in a bit.

"So you want to join? And do you have a bass?" He asked, feeling a tad conflicted by asking her, even though he meant to anyway. His long time crush entering in a band by him, even only a small side group, is not something he was sure he'd be entirely comfortable with.

"Why would I ask if not to join? Of course I have one and play it. Could I actually join?" She said, waiting for Hiccup to respond, who Felix brought up as more like the leader of than him. Both looking at him, he felt slightly anxious at the stares, but decided almost immediately against saying no. "Sure, why not? We're gonna practice at Felix's after school." He told her to which Felix blurt in "It's just a fifteen minute walk down Plyer street, I think Hiccup could drive you down for your equipment, if you need it." And Hiccup glared at him "I may have license but I don't have a car." He said dryly.

"You can use mine, I'll set everything else up in the basement while you guys do that" He said outloud. "You got this right" As he leaned over, whispering to Hiccup, who was just now feeling the surprise that Astrid and Felix agreed to being in a band with the school punching bag. "Yeah...yeah I got it" As he stared absentmindedly. It'll be fun.


After the day was over, Hiccup walked to his Felix's house with his small 'band', and arriving in the front door, Fish threw the keys to Hiccup. "Please don't scratch it." He spit out as Hiccup got in the driver's side, unlocking the passenger door for Astrid. "Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing happens." Felix, trusting Hiccup was not one to willingly allow damage to the car, walked in as the car started, proceeding to set and clean the basement for when they got back.

"I'm gonna pick up my guitar and equipment, and then we'll get to your house" As he stopped on the side of road in front of his house. He spent two minutes getting everything, deciding against bringing Toothless, not knowing how Astrid would react. He reached outside after telling his pal to keep watch on the house till he got back and rushed out the door.

"What took you so long?" Astrid asked as he put the guitar in the back of the old Mustang. "Had to say goodbye to Toothless." She was about to ask, but he caught her with "He's a Greater Spotted Eagle, and my best friend." She could only formulate an "Oh" before the car started movinng again. "So...where do you...uh, live?" With a slight stutter.

"Just off of Foremen Road, you know Distle ave?" She inquired, preparing for more specific directions when they reached the street.

As Hiccup got Felix's car down a small road called Distle Avenue, and she gave him more specific instructions to the house, parking in front of the house. She rushed out, through the door, and took fifteen minutes before she came back out, a filled bass cover and amp in hand. After she got back in, Hiccup drove off aiming to immediately return to Felix's.

On the drive back they started conversing in relaxed manner, Hiccup asking about how he learned bass, and about any other instruments she played, her asking him about his strangely named eagle and where how he learned guitar. "It was originally a joke, when I was the youngest and smallest falconier in training...and I didn't really have any friends. Gobber, as we called him, was a good friend of my dad's , and he got me into it when I was eight. During the first few weeks, I was struggling, I'll leave out the details but when I got finally was ready to train a falcon, they didn't give me a hard bread, and then one day, out of nowhere, an eagle, completely untrained, not even given a name yet, came smashing into my face. Broke out a couple teeth, but after he hit me someone came by joking at me about being Toothless, and I looked at back at the eagle, and...it was like we immediately understood each other...and the name seemed appropriate, it just stuck...to him I mean. After that...he practically followed me everywhere, especially home." Reflecting of his friendship with his eagle. Realizing he just spilled a bit much on the drive immediately seized up and cut it, arriving in moments back at Fish's house.

As soon as Hiccup parked in Felix's driveway, Astrid got out and retrieved her bass and amp while Hiccup waited momentarily before getting out and grabbing his guitar. He that pretty casual conversation in Felix's car brought up a few thoughts, mostly wonderings on his more or less disappointed father. His father was less than happy about his priorities, who Hiccup had unconsciously made aware years ago, were not academics. He just found that while he could find a consistent, maybe even comfortable life moving through it, he felt it wasn't worth it, he didn't care about consistency, nor even success, he wanted to something more, something else, a true passion and not a fleeting paycheck which he only actually received a small portion of. As he entered the basement, it made him think about what he wanted, but snapped out when Fishlegs called out for him to plug up and listen to Astrid first.

He sat down on a small swivel chair by the wall as she was ready to play. He listened and she just played a specific tune, he couldn't place it, but felt it was well and good. He told her just that and they are prepared to play a bit just for the hell of it. They spent the remaining day choosing random songs, lots from three piece bands of course, and had pure fun screwing around. They laughed at points when they screwed up bits of the song and cared very little for doing the right things. At some points Hiccup would go on his own tangent and they would keep up with him really well, almost as if they were playing a planned song. It wasn't perfect but they seemed to fit really well, reaching a level of insanity they could not understand but could somehow follow.

They spent hours the first night messing around playing in a strange harmony. They agreed to regularly visiting Felix's when his dad was away. The next few nights contained at least six hours of practice, they got much better, and more in sync each night, nearly a week later and they felt like they were as good as if they were playing together for years, each one of them found it amusingly strange. The Sunday following, Hiccup decided he try and direct them on actually practicing a song and not just exercising together, and started on playing In Bloom with no singer. They practiced the whole night till they got it right. Then, As they were packing up for the night, Astrid wonderly asked if they'd do the talent show going on Friday. He was reluctant about it, unsure if sticking around the school after hours would be a good idea, with risk of Snotlout and his crowd, especially the other football players who could all kick his ass. She explained she was going to enter it anyway just for fun but would like it if they could play together, as they seemed to play well together.

"You really think it's a good idea?" as he watched her put her equipment in the car trunk before she sat in the front passenger seat, with Felix driving, he choose to sit in uncomfortable back of the Mustang. "Yes, I think we definitely sound good enough" as she slugged him in the shoulder. He thought about it, and with her and Felix around, and since he wanted to do music anyway, decided he had start playing public at some point. "Alright, maybe you're right, I guess it could be fun."


Wow, this was honestly a fun end. Also I don't really have much to add, other than the fact that almost every song I list in this story I actually listen to myself (and when I pull it up, it's often for one of two derpy reasons, I'm either already listening to it, or I want to listen to it, either way it's in my ears by the time I pass the title)

(Maybe I abuse commas too much...)

Also, I'm gonna get back to TiR and try to release a chapter by the end of the weekend, I missed long enough that a weekend release day seems deserving.

So let's end it on my usual mantra: If you liked it a fav and follow helps let me know (and saves the story for later *wink*), and whether you liked or hated it, tell me, it helps me know if I'm doing a good or bad job, and how much of a job I'm doing. And thank you very much for reading. *gives internet handshake to each reader*