Welcome to Font Challenge: HTTYD! This will be a series of drabbles/oneshots based off of the individual alphanumeric and dingbat characters in a standard font.

Expect lots of Hiccstrid and character/scene studies! Prompts and suggestions are welcome, but I prefer to stick pretty close to canon. (No modern AUs or crack pairings here!) At the moment I don't have a planned update schedule, but reviews do motivate me to write faster. *wink wink*

Enjoy!

-o-

A is for Alpha

Hiccup had grown to be the leader of the group, but Astrid would always be their alpha.

As a girl, she had trained the hardest. She was easily the most physically proficient, and mentally, the most ruthless of all of her peers. Each member of their gang had felt the fire of Astrid's temper at one point...though perhaps some were burned more often than others. More subtly, though, they also felt the warmth of her loyalty, the comfort of her protection. Astrid had claimed Berk as her home, and would fight tooth and claw to keep it safe.

For a long time, this had meant regarding Hiccup with a deep disdain. He had been weak, unfit to be the future chief, incapable of defending his people against the threat of dragonfire and foreign invaders. It's not that Astrid disliked him, rather, she simply resented what his unViking nature would mean for their future.

Yet miraculously, Hiccup had managed to shift the paradigm, expanding not only her view of dragons, but of the the whole world. In a moment, in a single 'no' from his lips, her allegiance belonged to him. Even as their parents sailed away to certain doom, she believed that he would be able to come up with a plan to save them all. When he did, Astrid ensured that the others would follow these unorthodox methods and the boy who came up with them. Hiccup had always capable of leadership of course, but it took the trust (and on ocasion, physical reinforcement) of Astrid, the alpha, before he was able to wield it.

On days when the mantle of chieftain was especially heavy, Astrid would try to remind her husband of the incredible things he'd already done. In so many ways he was blind to the revolution he had sparked mere years ago.

"Look at what Berk has become! Our ancestors could never have dreamed of a day where there was peace between vikings and dragons. You did this, Hiccup!"

Hiccup knew better though. "No," he would say, smiling gratefully at her.

"You did."

-o-

A/N: That was fun! One of the things I most appreciate about Astrid's character is that her support is crucial in the success of many of Hiccup's ideas. Without her conversion in the first movie, Hiccup would have simply ran away with Toothless or worse, been dragged back to Berk in shame and disgrace. However, because she believed in him, Hiccup was able to use his talents to drastically improve life for everyone. Hiccstrid for the win!

Please take a moment to reflect, review, and stay peculiar! Until next time, y'all :)

-PP