Chapter Text
Fall on Dragon’s Edge was always a busy time. Preparations for winter had to be made; leaves had to be cleared, among other things. But after the trees were bare and everything was ready to be covered in snow, the Dragon Riders had another event to prepare for: the birthday of one Astrid Hofferson.
This birthday, in particular, was special. It was her eighteenth birthday, and it was also the first birthday to be had on Dragon’s Edge. No one really said much about it though, as there was so much work to be done, and it was basically forgotten, except on Hiccup’s part.
He had never forgotten Astrid’s birthday since he was old enough to know what a birthday was. He had put plenty of thought into what could be done to celebrate the occasion, but failed to produce an idea he liked. So after many scrapped plans, he sought the help of Catia and Heather, the night before the big day. He had perhaps procrastinated a bit.
He found the two girls washing the dinner dishing in the clubhouse chatting pleasantly about the proper way to slaughter pigs. It was a conversation that only the two of them could possibly keep lighthearted.
“Do you need any help?” Hiccup asked, walking into the room.
Catia glanced around. “I don’t think so,” she replied. “We’re almost finished. Thanks anyway.”
“Are you sure? I don’t have anything else to do.”
Heather stopped scrubbing and looked up at him. “Alright, what do you want?”
Hiccup sighed heavily and sat down in one of the chairs. “Help,” he groaned. “Just help.”
“With what?” Catia chuckled at his dramatic display.
“Astrid’s birthday is tomorrow, and I want to do something really nice for her. But have no ideas whatsoever.”
“Her birthday is tomorrow?” Catia asked. “I didn’t have any idea when it was, or I would’ve done something myself.”
“Same,” Heather nodded. “I can’t believe I didn’t know that.”
“Okay, can we focus more on the help side of this,” Hiccup begged. “I have less than 24 hours to do something.”
“How much help do you need?” Heather asked, setting her pot on a towel to dry. “Throw her a party and get her a present. It’s that simple.”
“But I’m terrible at parties!” Hiccup cringed at how whinny he sounded.
“That’s because you aren’t a girl,” Catia told him. “Girls throw better parties for girls because they know what girls like.” She glanced over at Heather. “Should we tell him what we do at girl parties?”
“Nah,” Heather grinned. “Keep him guessing.”
Hiccup scowled. “You two are the worst help I’ve ever received.”
The girls laughed, mainly because they knew he would way over think what a “girl party” was. In fact, it wasn’t much of a “party” at all. It would more than likely involve hiding away in one of their huts, changing into the most comfortable clothes possible, and sprawling out on the floor and bed to talk for hours. And it was probable that hair braiding and massages would be involved.
But although the two girls thought that was the best way possible to spend a birthday, they knew very well it was not what Hiccup had in mind.
“What about a surprise party?” Heather suggested.
“I don’t see how it could be very surprising,” Hiccup grumbled. “She knows I’m going to do something. I’ve never forgotten her birthday.”
“She doesn’t know for sure that you’ll remember this time,” Catia said thoughtfully, “Especially since you’ve been forgetting a lot of other stuff lately.”
“I have not!” Hiccup defended himself indignantly. “Name one thing I’ve forgotten!”
“To strap your left shoulder guard on all the way,” she answered flatly.
Hiccup glanced at his shoulder and realized she was right, and he quickly fixed it, his cheeks burning. Heather was giggling so hard she couldn’t breathe, and Catia stood with her arms folded and an “I told you so” smirk. “I do know how to dress myself,” he mumbled, more than embarrassed.
Catia elbowed Heather in the ribs to silence her. “I know. We’ve all been a little scatter brained lately. It’s just a crazy time of year. Which is why Astrid might just think we completely forgot her birthday.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” he asked, imagining Astrid given him a good “how-dare-you-forget-that” punch in the stomach.
“Oh, yes,” Heather said finally. “She is going to have the best birthday ever!”
. . .
Astrid woke up late, yawning and stretching to rouse herself. She glanced out the window and smiled. It was a beautiful day; a perfect day for a birthday. Stormfly plodded over to her bed, nuzzling her affectionately.
“Thanks, girl,” Astrid smiled. “I think you’re going to enjoy today, too. A day off for me is a day off for you.”
She rolled out of bed, pulling on her boots and snapping on her shoulder guards. Her hair was a little frizzy, and she decided to redo the braid. It didn’t take very long, and soon she was headed up to the clubhouse for breakfast.
When she entered, however, there was no one in sight. Confused, she walked into the kitchen. Catia was there by herself, washing some dishes and humming while she worked.
“Hi, Tia,” Astrid said quietly, walking over.
“Oh, hi Astrid!” she smiled. “What have you been doing all morning? We waited for you to come for breakfast, but since you didn’t show up, we had to eat without you. There’s a plate for you over there.”
“Oh…thanks.” Astrid took the plate and walked back to the table, sitting down to eat. Having breakfast all alone wasn’t exactly what she’d had in mind. Perhaps she shouldn’t have expected them to wait for her. They still had work to do, and she couldn’t hold that up, birthday or not.
After eating her lonesome breakfast, she left to find Heather. Ever since breaking her ankle, Heather often had to take a break from training to give her foot a rest. Perhaps she would be willing to take a day off as well.
But she had no such luck. Heather was busy helping Fishlegs organized all 718 of his books, and there really wasn’t much for Astrid to do to help. After trying and failing to locate Hiccup, she left to find Dagur. Maybe he would be interested in some axe training. But Dagur was already training with Snotlout, and Astrid really had no interest in hanging around for that. She checked to see if Catia was free, but she was scolding the twins for something, and was carrying a list of things to do.
Astrid was about to go ask if Catia wanted any help, but noticed Hiccup working in the forge. A smile lit up her face. Hiccup never forgot her birthday! He would make time for her, and even if he couldn’t, he would still talk with her while he worked. Besides, she was willing to help him if she could.
She walked up the ramp to the forge and entered, waiting until Hiccup finished pounding on a piece of metal to announce her presence. He saw her standing in the doorway first.
“Hey,” he smiled, pausing his work. “What’s up?”
What? No “happy birthday, Astrid?” she thought, feeling somewhat hurt that he didn’t mention it. “Oh, not much,” she shrugged. “Stormfly and I needed some time off, so I freed today up. Do you think you might have time to go flying with us?”
“I really wish I could, but I’ve got an all day project going, and I really need to get it done.” He offered her an apologetic smile.
Did you seriously forget? “Can I help?”
He glanced around the forge. “Well, there’s not much to do but welding and molding right now. There isn’t really anything for you to do. I mean, you can stay if you want, but you’ll pretty much just have to sit here and listen to me bang on metal for most of the day.”
“Oh, okay. I guess I’ll just go for a solo flight then.” I can’t believe it. You actually forgot. And just when I was starting to think we could really be more than just friends. “I might take awhile, so feel free to eat lunch or dinner without me. I’ll be back late.” She knew it wasn’t a big deal. He was just busy. But it still hurt for some reason, and she disappointedly walked over to Stormfly and took off.
It was too late in the day to fly back and celebrate her birthday on Berk with her parents, so she decided to just spend the day with her dragon and make the best of it.
. . .
Hiccup ran to find Catia and let her know that Astrid had left. Now the real preparations could begin. Heather had already started on a cake, and Snotlout and Dagur were sent fishing, and hopefully they would actually come back with fish. Catia was working on presents, or at least the main present.
He walked up to Catia’s hut and opened the door, the thought of knocking first somehow escaping him. Catia gasped and struggled to hide the shirt she was working on. “Oh, it’s just you,” she sighed. “Is Astrid gone?”
“Yeah,” he muttered. “I feel really bad. She looked so disappointed when I made it seem like I didn’t have time for her.”
“She won’t mind when she finds out what you did,” Catia said with a smile. “Now, do you have any more fabric? Also, can you go get one of Astrid’s shirts for me? I need to measure it.”
“Sure,” Hiccup mumbled, still feeling rather guilty about making Astrid think he forgot about her, even if it was to keep a secret.
He left to dig around in Astrid’s hut, found one of her blue shirts, and walked back to his hut to find more of the red fabric he had used to make his tunics. He was almost positive there was some more in a chest somewhere. He eventually found it, but it was very, very wrinkled and smelled terrible. When he unfolded it, he realized why he hadn’t used the cloth. This was the piece he’d spilled a bottle of ink on.
He explained the issue to Catia, as he passed her Astrid’s shirt. “I guess I’ll just have to make it sleeveless,” Catia decided, laying out the fabric she had, and measuring the shirt so she could cut it.
“We have plenty of time,” Hiccup told her. “Astrid said she would be back late.”
“Oh, perfect!”
“No, it’s not perfect. She obviously thought we forgot about her.”
“Hiccup, just go do the metalwork. If you’re worried she’ll break up with you-”
“Break up with me?!” Hiccup nearly shouted, his cheeks flaming. “We aren’t even together!”
“Sure,” Catia rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say. Just go work on the skulls.”
Hiccup scowled and nearly walked straight into Heather as he stormed out.
“What’s wrong with him?” Heather asked, sitting down to help.
“He’s lovesick,” Catia answered plainly. “Utterly and hopelessly lovesick.”
. . .
Astrid sat by herself, staring out across the ocean. The cold, white-crested waves crashed up on the beach. She was, for lack of better words, bored to death. She didn’t know what to do with herself, other than sulk. That was honestly more fun than doing literally nothing.
She knew it was immature of her to be so upset that her friends didn’t remember her birthday; she wasn’t even very upset about that. She was mostly discouraged because it seemed like they didn’t want her around. Of course, they didn’t say that, but the cold shoulder she had received said it for them.
Maybe she was over reacting. Maybe they didn’t want her to leave at all. But whatever the case, she wasn’t enjoying the day one bit. Astrid leaned back against Stormfly and sighed, muttering “Well, happy birthday to me.”