A Fresh Start:

Hiccup crouched low in the undergrowth. He tried to slow his breathing as he peered through a gap in the bushes, looking for his pursuer. His chest rapidly rose and fell, trying to compensate for the lack of oxygen that his run had caused, but Hiccup felt just as out of breath as ever. Adrenaline surged through his veins, filling his body with strength and energy. Deeming it safe to move on, he slowly turned around, crawling out from the bush he had been hiding in. No matter what, he couldn't make a noise; it would find him if-SNAP! Hiccup winced as he accidently put weight on twig, doing the exact thing he'd been trying to avoid. Idiot! He berated himself. Slowly peeling his eyes open, he leaned forward. I guess it's now or never, he thought, before setting off at a sprint across the clearing. Granted, he still wasn't entirely used to his new prosthetic, so it was more like a stumble, but he was getting there.

It had been several months since the whole incident with the hunters, and after many gruelling physiotherapy sessions, Hiccup was finally starting to get his life back to a sort of normalcy- well, as normal as it could when you had a wolf for a pet. After the issue with the deer had been cleared up, Toothless had been awarded free reign in the small town of Berk and could come and go whenever and wherever he wanted, but could nearly always be found glued to Hiccup's side- even now. Hiccup had almost reached the other side of the clearing, when seemingly from nowhere a large weight knocked him off of his feet.

Slightly dazed, Hiccup was surprised when a slobbery…thing swiped across his face. Groaning good naturedly as he opened his eyes, he pushed the lump that was his wolf and best friend off of himself.

"Toothless, you know that doesn't wash out!" He glared at the wolf who was sitting in a heap on the grass, grinning wildly. Leaping forward, Toothless grabbed the boy's arm gently in his mouth as he batted at him with his paws. Hiccup retaliated, pushing the wolf around and grabbing at his fur. The pair began rolling around on the grass, neither winning or losing their little game. Toothless spotted something on his human's arm, something he was sure the boy would hate to lose. Tugging gently at the bracelet on Hiccup's arm, he pulled it off and sprinted away, holding his prize high in the air as he did so. He was strutting around the clearing showing off his prize as Hiccup finally realised what it was, and with another loud groan, he pushed himself to his feet and took a slow step towards the black wolf.

"C'mon bud, let's not do anything rash here…" He said slowly, soothingly, as he held his hands out in front of him in a placating manner. Toothless was having none of it as he jumped backwards just as the boy reached him.

"Why you little-!" Hiccup shouted, all attempts at trying to stay calm vanished as he chased after the wolf, doing exactly what Toothless had planned. A human was no match for the speed of a wolf, but Toothless repeatedly let Hiccup get close, before sprinting away, teasing the boy. Instead of mindlessly chasing his friend, Hiccup changed tact and leant over into what resembled a stalking position as he slowly walked towards the canine. Toothless held his gaze evenly as the boy edged forwards, and it wasn't until Hiccup was less than an arm's length away from him that a grin erupted on his face as he once again sprinted away. He loved this game.

Defeated, Hiccup sank to the ground panting. He flopped onto his back as he gazed up at the clear blue sky. There wasn't a single cloud in sight. But he couldn't relax for long as Toothless had rejoined him, rolling down next to the boy after dropping the bracelet on Hiccup's stomach.

Hiccup slowly reattached the bracelet to his wrist. It had been a present from his dad, given to him soon after he had returned from the hospital. After the last few guests from the welcome home party had left, Stoick approached his son with a small box. Curious, Hiccup shrugged off his weariness as he propped himself up on his elbows whilst lying on the bed in his room.

"This is for you." Stoick said as he handed the box to Hiccup. "It… it belonged to your mother. I should have given it to you ages ago, she would have wanted you to have it, but I just couldn't bring myself to parting with it."

"Wow, thanks Dad. I- I don't know what to say…"Hiccup had murmured graciously as he began to open the small blue box, undoing the ribbon that held it closed. Looking up at his father's nervous face, he asked "Why now? I mean, cos you said-"

"I just stopped being such an idiot." His father interrupted with a soft smile. "I figured that if it was with you, it'd be even closer to me. Besides, I'll never have lost it all the while you have it."

Hiccup returned the smile, as he tugged the lid off of the box. Inside of it was a simple plaited bracelet. It was made of dark leather, with a knotted pattern. Turning the bracelet in his hand, he noticed a large crystal wrapped into it. The crystal was an iridescent grey, with streams of blue and puddles of gold, with bronze fissures running through it. It was stunning .The jewel reminded Hiccup of the Northern Lights, the way it had so many different colours, giving it a sense of life. It sounded pretty silly considering it was just a stone, but it seemed almost more than that. He felt strangely calm when he looked into it. Hiccup unwillingly tore his attention from the stone and turned it to his father who had begun talking again.

"It's a labradorite crystal. She wouldn't go anywhere without that thing. Said it kept her safe. I don't know if it really did, but she seemed to believe it. So I thought, after everything that's happened, it might help you too. I don't know if you like it, but-"

"I love it." Hiccup grinned up at his father. Stoick let a small smile slide onto his face, and with a small nod, he left Hiccup to observe the stone in peace.

That had been a good day for Hiccup. It had proved to him that his dad really had changed. After all, it's easy to say you're different but to actually change almost everything about you is difficult. Hiccup knew firsthand what it was like. Overnight, he'd gone from the town joke to "The pride of Berk!" At first it had been kinda cool, but after a while, it got frustrating. People who had previously bullied him were trying to be his best friends, and it was fickleness like that that really annoyed Hiccup. There was only so much sucking up a person could take. And so, it was on days like this, when people were being exceptionally false, Hiccup would escape back to where it all started, with the friend who still saw him as the clumsy, if somewhat more popular, boy from before. And that friend, of course, was Toothless.

A/N: Hope you liked it guys! It's definitely been a long time coming X'D For a while, I toyed with the idea of writing a sequel, but instead I've decided to do a series of oneshots. I'll update whenever I have a new idea, and those ideas may not necessarily be chronological, so some could be looking at Hiccup's past whilst others may be set further in the future. I'm very much open to ideas (in fact, I'll probably need them! XD) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot, and as always, it'll make my day if you follow, favourite or review 3