There, the mysterious blond girl is reading his journal. Hiccup didn't see her take the book from the branches, and that kind of creeps him out. "Uh ... is that my book?"

"Yes. I'm borrowing it. I hope you don't mind," she said. Hiccup actually minds about it, but when he noticed that there's an axe next to her, Hiccup thinks twice and decided to let her read it instead.

"S-s-sure,"

There was silence for a moment, but then, suddenly, she throws the book at him, grabs her axe and stood. "You're weird,"

"What?"

"You're weird. Human can't fly!" she said, referring to one of Hiccup's invention.

Wait, she was actually reading it? "Well, I haven't figure out how to make human fly, but I'm sure we can!"

"What about those things on the first pages?"

"Well it's a weapon. It shoots things, like a catapult but it can shoot more than just giant rocks,"

"We have hands; we use it to throw things. Something like that is for gigantic objects,"

"I thought we can use it to reduce some energy, you know?"

"You're still weird. You're Hiccup, the chief's son, right? Are you sure that you're our future chief? Cause you're kind of ... tiny,"

Hiccup is totally annoyed. Did this girl, who he had never met before, and who probably doesn't know much about him, just offend him? Who is she to talk like that? Who is she to ... Fine, I think it's time for her to have her lesson, Hiccup thought.

"What's your name?" Hiccup started.

Phase 1 of Haddock Instant School: Greet your student

"Astrid. Astrid Hofferson,"

"Wait, the Hoffersons have a daughter?" Hiccup didn't realize that he spoke it out loud until Astrid choked him and threatened to slice his neck with her axe. Hiccup is petrified, while Astrid grinned like a devil, then she decided to play along.

She loosened her grip on his neck and says, "Wait, the chief has a son?" Hiccup stuck out his tongue. Astrid seems satisfied, then she lets go of her grip. "What were you going to say?"

Phase 2 of Haddock Instant School: Ask their first opinion

Hiccup clears his throat, and then looks at her axe for a few seconds, making sure it's not going to be stained in blood soon. "Well, Astrid, what do you think of me?"

"Don't you have ears, Hiccup? I told you, you're weird!"

"But," he paused, "Do you know me?"

Astrid is getting confused. "Of course I know you. Didn't I just say your name?"

"Ah, you know my name. But do you know who I am?" he asked. He starts to open random pages on his journal and pretends to read.

Phase 3 of Haddock Instant School: Try your student's patience, and show them who the teacher is

Astrid groaned. She's definitely not the patient type. Not that there are plenty of patient vikings on Berk. "What? Do you suddenly forget about your whole life? You're Hiccup, Chief Stoick's son! Happy?"

Phase 4 of Haddock Instant School: Bait war

Hiccup secretly smiled slyly. She has taken the bait. Now it's only a matter of time. Will she pass the Haddock test, or fail and clarify herself as one of those people who don't care about what he says? "Good. Anything else?"

"You work in the forge as Gobber's apprentice," she said.

"Glad you noticed."

"You're weak," she said as a matter of factly, and smiled in victory. But she didn't know that Hiccup won't stop asking.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Thank you for summing that up. Anything else?"

"You like to invent things, obviously," she glanced at the book.

"Anything else?"

She's starting to panic a bit, because she's running out of answers. But she's not going to let him win this one. So, she decided to answer him but change the topic slightly, hoping that he would take her bait. "You made a list of what not to do around every person in the villager. Oddly, there's no page about me,"

"Clearly, I just met you. Anything else?" Changing topic plan? Fails.

Ugh, what does he wants? Will he ever stop?

Astrid is too bored to keep playing, so she admits defeat. "I don't know!"

"You don't know?"

"NO!" she swears that if he's not the chief's son he would be dead right now.

"Do you know my personality? My favorite food? Things I hate, things I like? What I think of everyone in the village?"

He keeps asking questions like he can't run out of breath, and Astrid is not patient enough to hear him asking things all day. "SHUT UP! I don't know, okay? How am I supposed to know many things about you? I barely even know you!"

"If you barely know me then why did you judged me?" that shuts her up. Finally ... this is Hiccup's favorite part.

Phase 5 of Haddock Instant School: Riddling talk. Teach them, but let them figure it out on their own.

"Are you blaming me for giving my opinion?"

"No, opinions are good. But I think they're only fair if you know about what or who you are judging. It's not fair for me to just get insulted like that. And to add to that, this is the first time we talk!"

"See? You're being weird again!"

Okay then ... time for some examples.

"Astrid, you are a coward!" Oh Gods, wrong word!

The experience of Astrid almost choking him to death taught Hiccup something, and that is he doesn't want to see what she will do if he angered her. So Hiccup closed his eyes tightly and holds his breath. His brain is now imagining things, like what would his dad be like if Astrid kills him now. But he smiled a bit, because the upside is that he can meet his mother again.

"What did you say?" Astrid said. Her voice is a little deeper, and a mix of threat, anger, and menace. Like a cat targeting a mouse for supper.

When Hiccup opened his eyes, the first thing he saw is a pair of beautiful blue eyes. He actually would jump in shock of how close those eyes are, but the next thing he saw made him think twice. He saw her axe pointing directly at his neck. Hiccup gulped and tried to keep his breathing stable. Never ever in his life that Hiccup saw a girl so violent. Hiccup had seen her more than once in the village, and on dragon raids. She always hang out with the twins, Snotlout and Fishlegs, so Hiccup was expecting her to hate him just like the other kids. But this time, this is the test that's going to give him an answer.

Calm down, Hiccup. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. A person pointing an axe at another person's neck is just a regular thing. Oh you'd only end up dead or losing an arm or leg ... no big deal.

"Yo-you're a coward! You won't even hurt a fly!"

"You don't know me, Haddock. I would gladly tell you what I can do to a single fly, even what I can do to you if you make me angry. So, APOLOGIZE NOW!"

There, a perfect plan to escape. "Why should I? You don't know me but you judged me anyway. Why can't I do the same?"

Hiccup would never believe what happened next. She pulls back her axe and walks away, leaving him totally confused but also guilty. What did he say wrong?

Phase 6 of Haddock Instant School: The big test

Hiccup chases her to the deeper part of the forest. But she ran so fast that Hiccup lost track of her. I knew it. I shouldn't have picked the word 'coward'. He sighed and leans back to a nearby tree. He used this method many times, but the usual response he gets is ignorance or a punch. But running away? That's something new. He felt bad for calling her a coward (though it was just as an example), although his feeling says that a violent girl like that won't feel offended by it. But like what Valhallarama said, don't judge something if you don't know it. What's wrong with me and girls? Because of the event of a single day, Hiccup promises to stay quiet. This time, when Snotlout makes fun of him, he wouldn't fight or whine again. He's getting tired of it anyway, and in the end Snotlout would grow up too, right? Well although it could take him like forever. This time, he would let people to learn his mother's teachings by figuring it out by themselves. Because somehow it's more effective when you figure it out on your own. So be it, he would be quieter.

"What are you doing here, Hiccup?" a voice suddenly asked him. Hiccup was startled, but relaxed a bit when he saw the blond girl standing next to him.

"Are you angry? Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. But I had to, because if I didn't give you an example you would never understand," Hiccup admitted guiltily.

Astrid's eyes seem to open a bit wider. Not menacingly, but with the same amount of guilt as Hiccup's confession. "Hiccup, I'm not angry of you." Hiccup's expression changes from guilty to curiosity. Astrid doesn't need him to ask his question to answer it. "I'm actually angry of myself. Because you're right."

"I am?"

She nodded. "I was just getting to know you. Heck everything I know about you are only the obvious things. I know nothing about who you are up there," she paused and pointed to his head, " ... and who you are in there," and then she points at his heart. Her finger accidentally pointed too close, causing her finger and his chest to come in contact. Both starts to blush heavily, and Astrid quickly pulls back her hand. If only it stayed longer on Hiccup's chest, she would feel a very fast heartbeat. "Sorry. About that and everything,"

Phase 7 of Haddock Instant School: Graduation

Hiccup smiles warmly. Never had anyone in his life apologized to him with so much sincerity.

To be honest, Hiccup never got to this phase before. No one ever listened to him until the end, and to Hiccup's surprise, his only student that graduated suddenly hugs him tight, whispering a thank you.

"You're welcome,"

Astrid Hofferson, congratulations. You just graduated from Haddock Instant School.

Later that night in his room, Hiccup was writing on his journal again. This time, instead of writing about his inventions, he opened a fresh new page and started to write.

'What Not to Do Around Astrid Hofferson by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III'

'1 – Make her mad

Reason: Or the last thing you'll ever see is her axe swinging right at you.'

'2 – Talk too much

Reason: She's not a patient person, just get to the point.'

'3 – Underestimate her

Reason: Because behind her violent nature, she's a smart and (sometimes) a gentle girl.'

-Kookie