AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey, everyone! WOW! You guys smashed my expectations in your responses to my modern AU! I was beginning to think you were put off by my long note at the beginning, but it looks like I was wrong! You taught me a lot about writing these things, even though only five of you wrote reviews (as of the time I wrote this note)! Thanks for that, by the way! This AU will not be very traditional. It probably belongs in the "supernatural" genre, but it's not centered around anything godlike. You'll find out soon enough! At the end of this chapter, I'll explain a few of the choices I made with this story, much like I did in the other one! From this point on, notes to my readers will be in their respective stories.

Chapter 1: Wild Child

My name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. My home is a small island called Berk, twelve days north of hopeless and just a few degrees south of freezing to death. My best friend is a dragon. My brother was once a dragon. As for me, I used to be the biggest screw-up Berk has ever seen. Always in the way, never quite ready to do the one thing that has kept this island alive in the past seven generations. We fought dragons to keep our island safe. Most people would leave and find another home, but not us. We're probably the most stubborn Vikings in the Barbaric Archipelago. Quite ironically, it was the same kind of stubbornness that led us to peace with the dragons we'd been fighting for hundreds of years. You might ask me how any of this could be. It's a long story, and if you're willing to listen, I can tell you. Let's begin with the story of my childhood…

At six years old, Hiccup felt that his life was the worst anyone could ever live. For starters, he could never seem to build up any muscle as fast as any other boy on Berk, his relationship with his father was strained by the loss of his mother, and he seemed to screw up everything he tried. He would lift a hammer and end up hurting himself or someone else. His father had essentially given up on making him into a Viking. On this day in particular, he sent his son to do one of the only practical things he trusted Hiccup with anymore: launder his clothes in the stream.

"You must be responsible for yourself!" he had said. "And if that means laundering your clothes more often than you need to, then so be it! I keep telling you once a month is enough for Vikings, but you just don't listen!"

That was partially true. Hiccup wasn't the best listener, but he was a quick learner, even though he wasn't very obedient to what he was taught. He thought, and often acted, independently. The only commonality he shared with his fellow Vikings was a passion for fighting dragons. He'd never actually fought one before, but he'd been inspired by his father and other adults in the tribe. He often brought his knife with him to the woods, like on this day.

As soon as he finished drying his clothes in the river, he set them on rocks to dry. He was about to sit down when an axe buried its head in the ground just a few feet in front of him. He spun in the direction it came from and yelled, "Careful, Astrid! You could have hit me!"

Astrid, a village girl with two braids of blonde hair and an unassuming lean build, was already one of the best axe throwers in the Hooligan Tribe at age six. Hiccup's scream caused her to laugh and say, "Don't do that!"

"Don't do what?" asked Hiccup.

"Don't act like I don't know what I'm doing," said Astrid. "You already know how good I am at throwing axes."

"But one day you'll learn to kill things with it," said Hiccup. "And I don't want to get killed by accident."

"How would I kill someone by accident?" asked Astrid.

"I don't know; maybe if someone walks into your axe while you throw it," said Hiccup.

Astrid yanked her axe out of the ground and said, "While you're waiting for your clothes to dry, do you want to track down some dragons with me? I heard dragons roaring earlier. If they haven't moved yet, we might get to see them."

"Why do you like dragons so much?" Hiccup wondered aloud. "They ate my mom."

"I don't think they're all evil," said Astrid. As they started walking down the trail towards where Astrid heard the dragons, she explained, "You're reading in the Great Hall all the time. Haven't you read about bees?"

"Yeah, but bees only sting people," said Hiccup. "They don't kill people."

"Some people die of bee stings because they have allergies," said Astrid. "Anyway, I read a bit about bees myself – don't tell my parents or my brother – and there's a very special bee called the queen bee. She controls all the bees in her hive. So I thought, what if there's a queen dragon?"

"That's ridiculous and believable at the same time. Have you ever talked to Fishlegs about that?"

"He says there's a dragon like that in the Dragon Manual, but it's been extinct for hundreds of years."

"I haven't even gotten that far in the manual yet," said Hiccup.

"That's because you're a slow reader," said Astrid.

"No, it's because I don't just focus on how to kill them."

Astrid stopped in her tracks and said, "Oh, so you do like dragons."

"I mean, uh..."

"Don't be ashamed of it, Hiccup," she said. "To be honest, I'm curious about them, too. That's why I wanted to track one down."

"I more want to know why they took my mom and if they're actually ruthless killers," said Hiccup.

"Come on," said Astrid, picking up the pace. "They can't be too far off now!"

It wasn't long before they came to a small clearing in the woods and took cover behind the tree line. Standing in the clearing were two smallish dragons, one with a long, narrow face and a head crown, and another with a smaller face with long ears. The first dragon was purple and had bloodshot eyes, a hunched back, and two legs. The second dragon was very slightly smaller and had jet black scales, striking blue eyes, four legs, and a long tail with two fins at the end.

"Hiccup, do you think that's a …" Astrid's voice trailed off in fear.

"Night Fury," Hiccup finished for her. "That's exactly what it must be."

"No one's ever seen one and lived to tell us," Astrid whispered.

"But we might," said Hiccup. "It's too dangerous to stay here. We have to go back to the village right now, before they see us."

The six-year-olds started to sneak away, but froze when they heard the purple dragon screech. Lightning discharged around its wings as it rose to the attack.

"It's a SKRILL!" Hiccup shouted.

Astrid swung her axe at the beast, but it used its very strong wing to block the attack. "And it's smart!" she screamed. "RUN!"

The two started to run back to the village, but the Skrill chased after them twice as fast. Suddenly, the dragon let out a screech of surprise as the Night Fury attacked it. The Skrill fought back with a lightning attack, shocking the Night Fury off its body. The Night Fury gained ground and fired a plasma bolt at the Skrill, who failed to dodge it.

"What's the Night Fury doing?" Astrid asked.

"I think it's trying to protect us," said Hiccup.

"Why, though?"

"Absolutely no idea," said Hiccup.

The Skrill used the moment of confusion to grab Hiccup by his claws and take off. Hiccup could hear Astrid screaming his name, but with the wind knocked out of him, he couldn't shout back. He felt himself being shaken out of the Skrill's grasp so suddenly, his arm was scraped by one of the Skrill's talons. He looked up and saw the Night Fury's face of … concern? The dragon landed Hiccup safely and looked down at its own paws. Hiccup's blood had stained the dragon's toes.

"Why?" asked Hiccup, even though he knew the dragon couldn't answer.

A loud thunderclap sounded and the Night Fury fell to the ground unconscious. Behind him stood the Skrill, who had just launched a furious lightning attack against the other dragon. Astrid and Hiccup, though afraid, stood their ground. They had nowhere to hide. The Skrill tried to fire once again, but nothing happened.

"Four shot limit," said Hiccup. "He used it all on the Night Fury."

The Night Fury suddenly seemed to catch on fire as it rose to the ground again, focusing all its attention on the Skrill. Mustering up all the strength he could, be fired one final blow to the Skrill's chest and collapsed again, still aflame. The Skrill, defeated, gazed at the children with a bloodthirsty expression before flying away to catch the next thunderstorm.

Amazed, Astrid yelled, "We survived that!?"

"Look at the Night Fury! He's … changing!" said Hiccup.

Indeed he was. In just a few seconds, the Night Fury had transformed into an unconscious boy identical to Hiccup in almost every way. The biggest difference between him and Hiccup was his pitch black hair, which contrasted greatly to Hiccup's auburn hair.

"Do you have your healer's bag?" Hiccup asked Astrid.

"Sure," said Astrid. She handed it to him and asked, "What do we do now?"

"Get the clothes from the rocks and bring them here as quickly as you can," said Hiccup. "He needs them."

While Astrid ran back to get Hiccup's washed clothes, Hiccup covered the boy in the blanket from Astrid's bag. After getting some water from the nearby stream, he used a small cup from the healer's kit to get some water in the boy's mouth. He stirred when Hiccup gave him a second sip.

"Hey, there," said Hiccup. "Are you the Night Fury?"

"…igh … fur…" The boy slurred, but couldn't speak yet.

"Night Fury?"

The boy's blue eyes opened and he said, "Night … Fury?"

"Hello!"

"Hello!"

"Can you talk?"

"I think so, if Norse is your language," said the boy. "I've been watching Vikings for a long time."

"So you've been watching us and learning our language?" asked Hiccup.

"Kind of," said the boy. "From a distance." He gasped. "Wait! If you can understand me, then that means…" He looked down at his hands and started to hyperventilate.

"Hey, it's okay!" said Hiccup. "Anyone who protects me is my friend. My name is Hiccup. What's your name?"

"Well, my name was Jolt," said the boy. "I think I'd like to be called Jack, though." He looked around. "Is your other friend okay?"

"She's fine. She's getting you some clothes. I wash them further down the river."

"So she's okay? She's not hurt?"

"Jack, she's fine. She wasn't hurt like you or me."

"Your arm!" Jack gasped. "Did I scrape it? Oh, I did, didn't I? I screw up everything!"

"Hey, me too!" Hiccup exclaimed. "It's okay, I can–."

"No, let me do it!" Jack insisted. He put his palm up against Hiccup's wound, closed his eyes, and said, "I know it's only a flesh wound, but please, let me make it up to you." His palm gave off a soft blue glow and when it came away, Hiccup's wound was healed. A scar took its place. Hiccup stared at it, amazed.

"How did you do it?"

Before Jack could answer, Astrid arrived. "Good, he's awake! She tossed the clothes over to Jack and said, "You'd better put these on."

"What?" Jack asked. "I don't know the first thing about putting these on!"

At that moment, Hiccup realized he would have to personally train Jack in all things according to the human world.

"You found this boy in the woods?" Stoick boomed. "Little one, you'd better have an explanation for yourself!"

Jack and Hiccup stood in the chief's house, Hiccup's father standing across from them. "I've been island hopping for a year now," said Jack. "My ship was attacked by dragons. I was the only one to escape them. I used part of my boat as a raft and landed here."

"Landed?"

"Washed up," Jack corrected himself. "It was a saying my family had. 'We've landed'. It's something we say when we … dock at an island."

"So your family was caught in a dragon attack, and only you escaped?"

"I'm small," said Jack. "I hid in the broken pieces of my boat."

"So you're an orphan now?" Stoick asked.

Jack, as if the reality of the situation was hitting him, nodded slowly and started to cry.

To distract his father, Hiccup walked over, grabbed Stoick by the arm and said, "Dad, can we talk for a second?" He pulled Stoick outside the ajar back door and said, "Dad, please! He's my friend! And he has no parents! You can't just toss him into the sea!"

"What made you think I would do that, Hiccup?" Stoick asked. "If he has nowhere to go, I'll take my chances and let him stay. But at the first sign of defiance, he goes to the prison."

"I'll take care of that!" said Hiccup. "You've told me the rules thousands of times! I can teach him how things work around here!"

"That's Gobber's job, Hiccup," said Stoick.

"How many times have things ended badly when Gobber teaches the rules? Should I remind you of when his burglary lessons when wrong?"

"Good point," said Stoick. "Alright Hiccup. I'll put you in charge of his integration. But you do realize this means I'll have to adopt him into our family, right?"

"Yes, sir," said Hiccup.

"Good lad!" Stoick said. "Now, the first thing he'll have to learn is what happens when the Flightmare appears. Aurvandil's Fire appears tonight."

"What's that?" asked Hiccup.

"Ask Gobber," said Stoick, turning to leave. "I must make preparations. Tell your brother all he needs to know."

I was going to continue this into the night, but I decided I should probably dedicate an entire chapter to the Flightmare attack.

Okay, you guys probably have a lot of questions now. Why is Jack a part of this, and why is Astrid Hiccup's friend so early in something that is supposed to be based on the original HTTYD plot? Well, I originally wrote an entire series on adventures with Jack and the original HTTYD characters. There was a crossover with another fandom, but I'm going to eliminate crossovers in these rewrites to keep them in the same archive. I'm going for huge character development in this one, so please be patient with me. Now, onto the next question. Why are Hiccup and Astrid friends at six years old, when the fandom probably believes he just has a crush on her at this point? Well, for a while now I've had this headcanon that Hiccup and Astrid were friends when they were young, but were slowly pulled apart as they got older because of training and/or social statuses (Hiccup being such a reject and Astrid being so well liked or popular). It would certainly explain why she warms up to him so quickly after the "romantic flight" scene in How to Train Your Dragon. The Hiccstrid may advance more quickly in this deviation.

Also, in the modern AU I started, I forgot to factor in italics with one of the time indicators between scenes, and I was too lazy to upload an updated chapter to replace it, because that would mean replacing the entire chapter file. That's it for now! Thank you so much for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter! Bye now!