So after reading several Hiccup x Astrid fics, I decided to finally make my own; just a short one, but an idea that I've been playing around with for some time.

This first chapter is more of a summary/retelling of the part in the movie where Hiccup meets Toothless for the first time. I changed and added a few things to fit this story. Hope you guys enjoy!

NOTE: I do not own anything HTTYD related.

Chapter 1: Prologue

Vikings were tough and intimidating. They had nerves of steel and were not afraid of any man or beast, especially when that beast was a dragon. DRAGONS…these creatures had persecuted the Vikings lands for many years always stealing any food (including humans) they could get their claws on. It was an ongoing struggle that left many dead on either side. For the dragons, it was a fight for survival; for the Vikings, it was an occupational hazard. Every Viking knew their duty and was expected to follow it through to the end. You see a dragon – you kill it; plain and simple.

Stoick the Vast was the chieftain of the Viking's land of Berk. His name said it all; a huge bulk of man with a stature that masked most other Vikings and arms as strong as steel and broad as trees. He was an example and model Viking for all. When the chief had a son born to him, he and the whole village were excited. Surely the son of such a great chief would also be great, right?

Unfortunately, they were all disappointed with Hiccup. Yes, Hiccup –the same sound one makes from their mouths when they've eaten too fast. Hiccup was a strange Viking. He was scrawny and wimpy with arms like twigs and nerves like that of a frightened field mouse. He was very creative and loved to tinker with multiple objects, which put him as apprentice to the town's blacksmith, Gobber. He was shunned by many of the adults and children of the village for being different. Even his father would wonder if he got the wrong son, instead of some talking fishbone.

Throughout the many years that would follow, everyone would grow accustomed to the shouts and screams of the chief's son that would emanate during any of the dragons' usually raids. Gobber would always give him the same line before leaving the boy to tend the smithy by himself: The dragons will see you as sick or insane and go after the more Viking like children. Hiccup had grown to accept the opposite and on more than one occasion, had found himself in quite the mess usually with his father having to save him and clean up the ensuing destruction that followed. It was on one particular mess that everything would change for the chief's son; something new was on the horizon and it would change how he and all the other Vikings lived their lives from that point on…

"…but I just shot down a Night Fury…ow, ow, ow!" Hiccup was being manhandled by his father as he was given to Gobber.

"Take him back to the house and make sure he doesn't get out! I have his mess to clean up" said the chief as he disdainfully walked away. Gobber gave Hiccup a small slap over the head as he led him away. The adults gave their disapproving looks at the boy and some of the children jeered while he walked by.

There was a deep yearning and longing to fit in with everyone else. "…The point is stop trying to be someone you're not" Gobber told the boy approaching the doors to the chief's house.

"But I just want to be like you guys" replied Hiccup as he entered and closed the door, allowing the blacksmith to walk back to town and assist with the aftermath of the recent raid. As soon as the coast was clear, Hiccup snuck out the back and headed towards the forest. "I'm going to find that dragon even if it's the last thing I do" he thought as he ran. He then stopped and thought for a moment; he definitely didn't want this to be the last thing he did, but if he was ever going to impress the other Vikings, his fellow students and his father, he would have to do this. He summoned every ounce of courage he had and the image of a certain blond-haired beauty crept into his mind. Thinking of Astrid gave the boy the necessary push to continue on with his journey. He had long since had a crush on the girl, but was always too shy to talk with her, let alone express his feelings. On top of that, she was the top student in her class and why in Thor's name would she ever notice someone like him? Finding the Night Fury was his one and only shot of getting the chance he needed.

A couple of hours later, Hiccup was muttering angrily to himself. He was sure he had traversed the entire forest looking for his dragon. "I'm never going to find this thing. It's hopeless! Oh, how the gods must hate me!" He turned around and was about to head home when a branch smacked him right in the face. Rubbing his face and getting his bearing, he moved it out of the way and continued on the same path only to be met with another broken branch. "What the…" was the only thing he said as he noticed that several trees in the same direction were ripped, broken and had limbs scattered everywhere. The ground between these trees looked disturbed and there was a trail hewn in as though something heavy had been dragged.

"Could this be?" He became excited and ran along this new path until he came to a massive boulder. He hung his head realizing the path ended there. Nothing was going right for him and he began to doubt if he really had taken down the mighty beast. Yet there was something within that told him to press on; he wanted to ignore it, but heard a small rustle. He stopped dead in his tracks, pressed himself against the boulder and checked his surroundings. He saw nothing but a thought occurred to him. He turned around and peered over the boulder.

He crouched back down, "Oh gods!" He stole a quick glance around the boulder; it was still there! The creature he was seeking was right there on the ground not 50 yards in a small clearing. "This is great! I really did catch a Night Fury! This is definitely going to get me noticed; heck, maybe even Astrid will look at me differently!" For once in his life everything was going right for the chief's son. The only dilemma now was how he would deal with such a beast.

"I could go back to the village and get someone to…wait that's stupid. Why would anyone believe me?" It was true, sadly; why would anyone in the village take time to believe Hiccup, the non-Viking who was always running from said creatures almost getting killed. "No, I'm going to have to bring the proof myself."

The boy slowly made his way to the beast who was still breathing (he had secretly hoped it was dead). For a brief second he took in the beauty of this rare beast still tangled in the ropes of the contraption he had made. Its scales were like onyx and its body as black as night. None of the stories did this beast justice as Hiccup took in its terrific majesty. Not realizing the courage he was showing, he planted a foot on its side, "I have taken down this mighty beast!" He was nearly knocked off balance as the dragon pushed his foot off him. It was now fully awake and it stared at him as if penetrating the depths of his soul.

He would have turned tail and run at that point, but something kept him grounded in his place. The whole day would have been wasted had he left and he needed to show everyone he was just like them; that he could be a true Viking – something his father would be most proud of. Summoning the little courage he thought he had, Hiccup stared back at the beast. "I'm going to kill you and take your head back to my father! I'm a Viking!" Drawing his tiny dagger from his pouch, the chief's son readied himself to deliver the final blow to the dragon. He raised the weapon in the air above the dragon. This was the moment he would prove himself. The beast let out a small moan and turned away, preparing itself for its departure from this world.

He brought the dagger down with great force (or at least it was for him). He always wondered what a dying dragon would sound like, but he would never get the chance especially at that moment. His knife only made it halfway through the strike. This was his moment! Why did he stop? "What am I doing" he said to himself. Really unsure of what he was doing at that point, he began to cut the bonds of the beast. He had just finished with the second to last rope when in a flash of black the tables had turned on the poor boy. The beast had him pinned to the ground and was staring at him, danger in his eyes. Hiccup was face to face with the harbinger of his death and for the first time, he realized why the Night Fury was the unholy offspring of lightning and death. The creature raised its head and let out a bloodcurdling roar. Instead of pain however, Hiccup only felt air as the dragon took off and flew away.

What just happened? Why didn't the beast finish him off there? These and other thoughts raced through his mind as he stood up. He turned and headed towards the village until his knees gave out. He had just survived a Night Fury, but this didn't matter for the ground came rushing up to him as he passed out.

The next day…

After the incident with the dragon, Stoick decided that he would put his son in training camp. Gobber would train Hiccup and the other kids the one basic skill they needed to survive: How to Kill Dragons. The student who did the best would have the 'honor' of killing their first dragon. If by some long shot that student happened to be Hiccup, he knew he wouldn't be able to go through with it especially after what happened the previous day.

Everyone expected either Astrid, the Viking prodigy or Snotlout, the young brutish son of the Jorgenson tribe to be one of the lucky students. The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were too busy fighting and arguing with each other to be selected and Fishlegs was the bookworm on anything pertaining to a dragon – he was not the fighting type too. Despite this all, Snotlout made a crack about wanting to transfer to a new class because Hiccup had already captured a Night Fury.

The first lesson was about the shot limit of each dragon. Gobber began to name each of the dragons and explain them to the students. "Would you stop that!?" he exclaimed at Fishlegs who's uncanny knowledge as he kept listing aspects like armor and strength kept irking the blacksmith. He finally stopped at the Gronckle cage and unhinged the opening.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" shouted Snotlout when he saw this.

"I believe in on the job training" the smithy replied as the beast flew out of its cage. It looked at all the potential meals in front of it before prepping some fire blasts. The kids began running before Gobber shouted, "Quick! What's the first thing you need?"

"A doctor?" said Hiccup.

"Plus 5 stealth?" said Fishlegs.

"A shield" replied Astrid. At this everyone ran for their respective pieces of protection. Eventually their numbers dwindled and of course with his luck, Hiccup's shield was knocked from him and began rolling towards the wall. He finally grabbed it, but was cornered by the Gronckle and was about to be blasted had Gobber not grabbed its mouth and redirected the final blast.

"Remember, a dragon will always go for the kill" he told them as he put the beast back in its cage and dismissed them all for the day.

Later that day…

Hiccup was back in the woods at the spot where he released the dragon. He thought about what Gobber had said earlier, "So why didn't you?" The Night Fury had the chance to claim the boy's life, especially since he was the one who had caught him. However, the beast just roared and flew off leaving the poor boy scared out of his mind.

He looked in the direction the dragon had flown off to and saw the trail of broken limbs from trees it had tried to fly past. He would follow that trail and hopefully discover where the beast had gone to, but not before noticing something black and shiny on the ground covered by some dirt. Picking it up he realized it was a scale from the dragon. Several other glints caught his attention and he realized that there were quite a few scattered around the area. He picked them all up and stuffed them into his pocket. "I'm definitely keeping these; at least it'll bring me one step closer to getting everyone to recognize me." Not only would these scales hopefully lead him to the Night Fury, his mind began turning with a multitude of things he could do with the scales. The scales of any dragon but especially that of Night Furies, were said to be almost completely impervious to any and all damage. If he gathered enough of them, maybe he could make a small shield or armor with them? With these thoughts still churning away, he continued in the direction the scales led.

About an hour later…

Why was he so clumsy? He had just reached a cove where the trail ended and finally gotten up the courage to navigate down the gorge to where the dragon was staying. Everything was going great until he got his shield stuck in between two rocks. Then he wandered into the clearing with only a fish and small dagger for protection.

The whole time, the Night Fury was watching this young human, wondering how it let itself get caught by such a simple contraption. There was something different about this human; it seemed smarter than the other ones he had encountered. Curious and somewhat annoyed at its gall, the Night Fury came from its position on a rock to approach the boy. He may be different than the others, but that didn't mean he would make any less of a meal should anything go awry.

So now Hiccup was face to face with the mighty beast. Several thoughts raced through his mind, the most prominent being to run since his dagger wasn't going to do much against the dragon. He stayed his ground however and held out the fish to the dragon. It cautiously approached realizing he was offering food, but immediately flinched back and snarled at the boy when he noticed the weapon.

It was no good at this point; Hiccup was at the point of no return. If it was going to kill him, there would be nothing he could do. He pulled back his fur vest, showing the weapon and causing the dragon to increase its snarling. He dropped the weapon and kicked it into the nearby pond. Almost immediately, the dragon ceased its aggressive behavior and calmed almost to the point of acting like a dog. Hiccup thought this interesting and weird, but nevertheless held out the fish once again to the dragon.

"Hmm…toothless? I thought you had…" he was caught off as the dragon's retractable teeth came out and snatched the fish from his hands, "…teeth." Once finished, the dragon came closer to Hiccup, sniffing him and seeing what else this boy had to offer. Hiccup had backed up against a boulder and fallen on his butt as the dragon neared closer to him. It was close enough where he could smell its breath and he held his hands up thinking it was going to attack him. However, the only thing the dragon did was regurgitate the head of the fish right onto the boy's lap.

Slobber and drool covered the remainder of the fish and Hiccup was completely confused. He looked at the beast and it made a motion of its mouth. Hiccup realized that it wanted him to eat the food it dropped in front of him. Normally fish was great, but regurgitated from a dragon? He surely didn't like the idea at all, but was he really going to refuse the beast that could destroy him with one blow or bite? Reluctantly, he took the slimy fish into his hands and took a bite. The smell of the fish mixed in with whatever smell and taste coming from the dragon was disgusting. Putting on his best face however, he smiled with a full mouth and nodded to the beast that it was good (not!).

The dragon however was not satisfied and made another motion to the boy. Now he wanted him to swallow! Hiccup looked at the beast but there was no appeasing it; so, he swallowed. The only good thing with the fish was that it slid down his throat nicely. Other than that, Hiccup was ready to expunge the entire contents of his insides. He shivered at the taste and gave a queasy and weak smile to the beast who tried to smile back in return. Thinking he had something, he stood up and put his hand towards the dragon to try and touch it. It leaned closer as if it wanted to touch as well, but snorted and immediately flew to the other side of the cove. Hiccup was quite satisfied with himself.

Another 20 minutes later…

Hiccup found himself face to face yet again with the beast. He tried to initiate contact, but the dragon only growled at him as he tried to get closer. This time however, he held his hand out, closed his eyes and looked away; he would let the beast initiate the contact itself. He didn't know what to expect or what the dragon might do, but he would soon feel something hard and rough against his skin. It was amazing! He, the runt and weakling of the village, was now touching a dragon! The feeling was incredible and Hiccup was sure he could have stayed there for an eternity. The Night Fury seemed to enjoy this, but as if waking up from a trance, it shook its head and once again flew to the opposite end of the cove.

So there's the first chapter. Let me know what you guys think. It may be just me seeing the small things, but has anyone else wondered what happened to the other part of Toothless' tail? Let me know on theories or if this was revealed somewhere else.

This story is already completed. The remaining 2 chapters will be released over the next two days.

Read and review please.

-RRP