Astrid Hofferson was not prepared for this. She had faced many, many trials in her life that most would see as more difficult than the situation she was presently facing. She looked little more than 14 years old but she had defeated enemies more than twice her size. Had single handedly led an entire troop of her shield brothers and sisters to victory. She was the best at both hand-to-hand combat and wielding her ax on the battle field.

But this was not a battle. Not yet anyway.

This was a boy.

A tiny, red, wailing, absolute hiccup of a boy- swathed in furs and tucked into his mothers arms. This was what she had been preparing for? Training for? To guard and guide this runt of the litter? She could not possibly be expected to waste her talents on someone who would, chances were, not live out the night. She turned to leave the house but a sharp tug just behind her navel prevented her. The more she pulled against it the more it pulled her back towards the newborn babe until she was forced to stamp back to his mothers bedside. Keeping her wings tucked in tight to her body under her heavy woolen cloak she stood over the bed; there was no way out of this. She knew it, though she hated to accept it.

"Oh, Stoick, he's so small. He's too early into this world." The boys mother, face and auburn hair still damp and clinging in strands to her cheeks with sweat from the birth, clutched the boy to her chest.

Stoick leaned in to kiss his wife's forehead and took the boy into his arms. The baby stopped crying as he was cuddled into the large mans beard and waved his tiny hands in the air. Stoick smiled down at his son, eyes wet, and held his finger in front of the boy - who then clasped the over sized finger in his hands.

"A good grip on him! Look, Val, he's already strong. He's going to grow up to be the strongest Berk has ever seen, don't you worry. Our little Hiccup. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. All will fear his name and face!"

Oh, they could not be serious? Astrid couldn't hold back a snort. Naming him Hiccup? She understood Vikings and their strange taste for names but Hiccup? Well, if nothing else the Viking chief was at least observant. All will fear his name and face? His name was a joke and his face looked as sweet as a kittens. She moved across the room as Stoick placed the boy, Hiccup, in his cradle and moved his hold his wife's hands and she quickly fell asleep. Coming to a halt in front of the cradle she looked down at the boy who, with wide, green, eyes was taking in all he could see. Now that he was quiet he didn't look all that horrible. Small, yes. Alarmingly small? Definitely. But his curious eyes promised a strong mind. And perhaps he would grow into a fine, young warrior. After all it was her that had been chosen to protect his fate. Pulling down the hood from her cloak she allowed her thick golden braid to fall down her shoulder and leaned closer to him to see if, maybe, up close she could see and hidden secrets this underwhelming child held.

There were the hints of freckles on his cheeks, and a tiny, pudgy nose and the lovely smell that all babies seemed to come by naturally. But other than forest green eyes that already seemed to be asking questions to the world there was no inkling that he would be a great swordsman. Nor could she imagine a spear in his hands. A battle hammer was out of the question. But there was something there. Something she couldn't name. She placed a hand on his head and smoothed out the thin auburn tresses that matched the colour of his mothers hair so perfectly.

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Here I do stand to protect you from harm until your end of days." Astrid felt the tugging behind her navel again but instead of pulling her it pulsed as she spoke her vow. "Here do I stand to guide you in your destiny. As I swear on my Grace as an Angel- I will be your guardian." Astrid pressed her lips to Hiccups forehead and felt the odd pulsing in her stomach give one last push that shuddered throughout her body and into the very tips of her wings before it subsided. When she pulled away Hiccup had fallen asleep. Eyes shut and stomach moving up and down with his breath. She tucked his swaddling blankets tighter and stood up straight.

No, she was not prepared for this at all.

Every child on Berk knew at least the basics of a guardian angel. Even if they were seen as nothing more than a bed time story to tell were great and terrible beings, dedicated to watching their wards. And only those with great fates in their hands were guarded. Linked at birth and linked until death a guardians job was to nudge their ward into their fate- and protect them from an untimely death.

Astrid, being one of those guardians herself, knew it wasn't quite that simple or easy.

100 years of her eternal life had been spent dreaming of becoming a guardian and when her High Council presented her with the opportunity she took it without a second thought. Their instruction was vague. Little more than where and when the child would be born and that they would change the course of their world. And that they would be a ... challenge. But the small blonde angel was never one to turn down a challenge. She had conquered everything the world and the Council had thrown at her so far and was ready to take this on. She had spoken to other angels. Not asking for help. Of course not asking for help. Just fishing for a little information about how to exactly go about guiding someone to a fate that you yourself weren't even privy to? That was the biggest hurdle. Trying to figure out what the child's fate would be. She asked the High Council a few days before the boys birth if they could tell her but they just told her in that smug High Council tone that everything would be revealed as it needed to be. Very helpful.

With this lack of helpful information Astrid was starting to feel the beginnings of doubt in her heart. Though she would kill anyone who dared to bring it up to her. But honestly? How was she to be expected to guide some kid to a destiny she didn't know.

In the week before Hiccup's birth Astrid spent most of her time on Berk. She learned the paths, the cliffs, the roar of the ocean and the depths of the hidden caves and tried to catalog all the possible dangers that could be a potential This-Kid-Is-Going-To-Die-And-I'll-Be-Fired-And-De-Winged hazards. Her fourth night on the island brought about a dragon raid and as the beasts descended upon the village she let loose a string of not so heavenly curses that would be sure to make her superiors wash her mouth out with soap.

"Dragons, this island is at war with dragons. Oh Gods." Her face paled as she watched the creatures swoop in to steal entire flocks of sheep. So not only would she have to be wary of the steep cliffs and deep lakes but she would have to be on her toes to keep her ward safe from dragons. Her hands itched for her ax as she saw the vikings spill the blood of any dragon that came near enough. Oh, it had been so long since she had been in a battle like this. Astrid ached to be able to feel the burn of her muscles and the thrill of Kill or Be Killed. She had half a mind to fly into the battle but the logical part of her reminded the blood thirsty warrior part that she was not a physical being in this realm and all her blows would go through whichever enemy she turned her sights on. Once her ward was grown and trained she would be able to nudge their arm and swing a certain way. Or whisper into their ear if an attacker was coming around from their back but for now she was stuck as little more than a shadow.

This must be it, she thought with excitement, this child must be fated to defeat the dragons. There were no other great hardships that she could see on Berk. A little low on food and some of the harshest weather she'd ever seen but neither of those were worthy of a guardian angel. Dragons on the other hand. Now that was something she could help with.

As the sun rose the remaining dragons flew away from the island with whatever food they could carry off. Sunlight began to filter through the branches of the old growth forest and morning fog began to roll in off the water. She heard roosters crowing in the distance. Though she couldn't imagine that anyone who had slept through a dragon raid would be woken up by the crow of a rooster. Stretching out her tense back muscles and pulling off her cloak she expanded her wings and let the first rays of sun warm the tips of her wings. Astrid was not normally a vain girl but when it came to her wings she was prouder than a Nadder. Cream coloured and flecked with gold they shined in the sun. The tips of her primary feathers faded to deep brown and were manicured into perfect rounded points. The trails through the forests of Berk were pleasant enough to walk through but the sight of the sun rising over the island from the sky was something else entirely. Something she would not accept missing for even a single day. She would admit to loosing too many hours flying through the crisp air, twirling and spinning and letting her cares drop off her . Tossing off her cloak and extending her wings to their full span she shot off the ground like an arrow from a bow. The air was still chilled from the night and the fog dampened her hair as she rose higher and higher until she could blot out the moving villagers below with her fingertip.

A deep breath in and she dropped into a free-fall. Tucking her wings in she plummeted back down to the earth until she was a blink of an eye away from the ground and she leveled out and rushed through the village square and many of the vikings felt a warm sudden gust of wind pass them by. The wind extinguished a few of the lingering fires from the dragons attack and Astrid used the momentum from her drop to carry her over the water. The waves broke and sprayed sea foam into her path and left the taste of saltwater on her lips. A short while on Berk had made her thoughts on dragons mostly negative but she could not deny that, were she human, she would envy the dragons for their flight. It felt like what she was born for. As she slowed she turned and pumped her wings to carry her back over to the chiefs house which was situated on the far edge of the village. Touching her bare feet back on the ground she stepped up to the house and walked through the open doorway to see Valka easing herself down onto a chair with obvious strain. Astrid placed a hand on the womans to try and ease some of the pain caused by her heavily pregnant belly. As she placed her hands on her back Valka winced and held her own hands to her stomach.

"Ouch, little one. No need to kick so hard." Valka laughed as she finally sat down fully on the chair. "What's got you so worked up? The dragon raid?"

Astrid thrust a fist in the air.

"Yes! Not even born yet and already the kid is ready to destroy some dragons!"

Three nights later, Valka felt the first pains of labour and Astrid felt her Grace pulling her towards the house and knew it meant that her ward was on his way into the world.

Authors Note: Well, here it is folks. I got struck with inspiration last night and needed to write it down before I lost motivation. Is there an interest in this here? Please let me know. I might keep posting as I write but I may take like 2 weeks and write every night so that I stay ahead of the game. This is my first HTTYD fic so if there's any advice I would be grateful to hear it! Thank you for reading and please review so I know if there's actually enough people interested for me to continue this?

I'm thinking that it will stick fairly close to the canon of the movies but hey who knows.