Hey guys :)

I thought I'd try my hand at some HTTYD fiction between updating my other stories. It's just a random idea I had one day and decided to write down. It's set during the first movie when Hiccup finds Toothless after having shot him down and turns completely AU.

Enjoy.

Hiccup looked up from his hand-drawn map, scattered with X's, and peeked over the gorge expectantly. Pleasepleasepleasebethere... Nothing. The clearing was disappointingly empty. He added another 'X' to the page, then scratched his pencil over the whole map in frustration. This was ridiculous. He had been searching for that miracle dragon for hours and all he had for his trouble was sore feet and eyes he could barely keep open. Damn dragons.

He snapped the book closed and pocketed it, huffing in defeat and starting to mutter. "Uggh, the gods hate me." He climbed gingerly over a boulder and stamped the ground grumpily. "Some people lose their knife or their mug. No, not me. I manage to lose an entire dragon." He trudged on and whacked a low-hanging branch out of the way, but it snapped back at him, hitting him in the face. Ow ow ow that stings... He looked up, squinting, to see a snapped tree trunk. His tired eyes followed it to a long trench of up-turned earth that lead over a clump of boulders. Suddenly he's not so tired anymore. Maybe this could be it. Maybe... He followed the trench, creeping silently over the boulders and peeping over the top.

And there, he sees it. A downed, black dragon, its body and tail tangled in a bola. His bola. Hiccup's skipped a beat. Was it dead? It sure wasn't moving. Biting his lip, heart hammering in excitement, he slipped over the top of the boulders and slowly approached the creature, unable to stop the beaming smile that stretches his face. "Oh wow," he murmured, almost unable to believe what was in front of him. "I did it. I did it. This fixes everything! Yes!" He struck a victory pose, planting his foot on the fallen Night Fury. The possibilities were endless for him now. Thoughts of respect and friends and Astrid and his father filled his mind. Everything was possible now. He stuck his chest out proudly. "I have brought down this mighty beast!"

It suddenly shifted.

"Whoa!" Hiccup sprung back, terrified. It's not dead! Oh Gods, it's still alive! Rattled, he fumbled for his blade and crept along the length of the weak, wounded dragon, dagger poised to strike. As he reached the head, he found the Night Fury's yellow eyes wide open and staring coldly up at him. He tried to look away, but something about its unnerving, unflinching stare drew him back. It looked almost pleading... But now was not the time for mercy. He had brought this dragon down and now he was going to finish the job. With the creature safety tangled in the ropes, Hiccup jabbed at the air with his dagger, puffing himself up with false bravado. "I'm going to kill you, Dragon. I'm gonna cut out your heart and take it to my father. I'm a Viking." He took a breath, saying the words more to reassure himself than to intimidate the dragon. "I am a VIKING!" He raised the dagger, determined to prove his Viking-ness. After this, the other kids would have to respect him. No more teasing, no more contempt, no more working in Gobber's dingy little shop. He could finally be recognized for his full potential. He just had to plunge the blade down...

But the dragon's labored breathing broke Hiccup's clenched concentration. He opened an eye, uncertainty leaking through. Could he really do this? End the life of an innocent creature? The dragon held the stare, fearful and pleading. He felt like it was looking into his very soul, begging him not to go through with it. Finally, the Night Fury closed its eye and lowered its head, seemingly resigned to its fate. Now was his chance. Do it quickly, don't let it feel pain. He held the dagger aloft, ready to strike.

"NO!"

The cry echoed around the clearing, startling him. Hiccup looked up, still holding the blade above his head, and was amazed and a little bit terrified to see a girl standing on the edge of the rock wall. She jumped, and he watched, mouth open, as she leaped from boulder to boulder as nimbly as a mountain goat and landed on the ground.

"Leave that dragon alone!" she growled, creeping slowly towards him. He watched her, fascinated. She was pale and heavily freckled, her flame-coloured hair was chopped short and spiky, and she was slightly taller than he was. She was clad entirely in what looked like dragon scales and a long, dark, yak-fur cloak. Her feet were bare and her toes nearly blue from the cold, and her legs and arms were covered in scratches, probably from poking around in the forest like he had been.

He blinked as she motioned him away from the dragon, her face angry. He almost obeyed her, but then he raised his dagger again and planted his feet firmly on the ground. "I found it first."

"Go away."

"No." He looked her in the eye and glared, hoping he looked intimidating. "I brought it down, and I'm going to bring it's heart back to my father."

Quick as lightening she had pulled a sword on him. He gasped and raised his hands in the air, dropping the dagger, and she approached him and kicked it away. She scowled, pointing the sword at him, then turned away and touched the dragon's head tenderly. Hiccup watched in shock as she stroked it and muttered unintelligible words to it. It's eye opened and focused on her, and she smiled and kissed the creature on its snout.

"W-w-what are doing?" he asked, confused. How was she not afraid of this creature? It was a Night Fury of all things! And here she was acting like it some some kind of pet!

"She's alive, no thanks to you," she muttered, sending another glare his way. "But these ropes, ugh! Poor dragon, did the mean little boy hurt you? For his sake, he better not have. He might find a sword in his gut if he did..." She examined the ropes holding the dragon and raised her sword to them. "Let's get you free."

"No!" Hiccup cried feebly as she cut the first rope. He had worked hard to make the device that threw that rope, and spent half the day looking for the dragon, and now she was setting it free? But there was nothing he could do. He watched glumly as she cut the rest of the ropes and stepped back. The dragon stretched and slowly clambered to its feet, and Hiccup stepped back in fear. Now was probably a good time to get out of there...

But the dragon swung its head around and fixed Hiccup with a glare, and in one bound had pinned him to the ground. Hiccup looked over at the girl, who was standing back with her arms crossed, stone-faced, then stared up at the creature above him, terror galloping through his veins like a thousand wild horses. This was it. This was where he would die. There would be no dramatic welcome back at the village, no chance of redemption, no chance to change his father's mind. He was going to die at the hands of an angry dragon and its equally angry owner. He squeezed his eyes shut as the dragon opened its mouth, the whistling hiss of gas at the back of it's throat signalling that it was about to blow his head off, and resigned himself to his fate. If he was lucky, he might make it to Valhala. That wouldn't be so bad...

Then the most deafening sound he had heard in his life blasted in his ears, and the weight holding him down lifted. He cracked one eye open to see the dragon backing off, still glaring, and the girl frowning in confusion before clambering on top of it. "You should have eaten him," he heard her say before they bounded off into the forest, leaving him alone on the ground, mind spinning with what he had just seen.

There you go! I wasn't quite sure where I was going to go with this, but I think it turned out ok. Reviews are very welcome. Tell me what you thought and whether I should turn this into a story. If I do write more about this, maybe give me some ideas too, cuz I really don't know what I could do with this.

Thanks for reading :) Go check out my other stories. Everything Has Changed needs a bit more love. Love you guys, and maybe I'll write more HTTYD fics in the future :)