A/N: There are many words running through your head right now, I'm sure. Either cursing me for the length of this chapter (4,500's - dude I muttered profanities to myself too) or something, but mind you - I didn't know it was gonna be like this ... I just felt like it needed more. So hence, the long first chapter. Blah blah blah. Moving on x)

So Hiccup's name is Hiccup, and will always remain as such because of how it's just a proper name for her :) Astrad is Astrid's name as a boy, instead of "divine beauty", my research found it as "divine strength."

I was completely befuddled by the fact that there's not a lot of genderswaps - either that or I just can't find these things - so I decided to write one of my own. I was heavily inspired by StoriesOfAnInsomniac's works - believe me, they are heavily recommended. So when I was left waiting for the update on the second installment of their trilogy, I felt restless and couldn't help but think up my own twist to the plotline and inclusions to it, so here we are. I decided to make one where Hiccup's a bit more misunderstood, Stoick struggles more to deal with her, and Astrad's more ... or less someone who runs after her a lot :D

Enjoy :)

Disclaim: I don't own anything of How to Train Your Dragon - for I am a hopeless blundering hiccup in high school with absolutely zero chances of owning something this awesome :D

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Chapter 1: This is Berk

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This here, is Berk.

Twelve days North of hopeless and ever so pleasantly few degrees South of freezing to death. Located directly on the Meridian of Misery. Home to the Hairy Hooligans, my village and tribe. We're sturdy - been here for seven generations but yet every single building is new. Our lovely attractions include fishing, hunting, and some of the best views of the sunsets.

Our only problems are the pests.

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Maybe ... maybe it was a tree? No - she could see something forming that didn't look like leaves. Probably a structure... No, no Hairy Hooligan could come up with a structure like that, so there was no way she could've thought of - ah now it wasn't a structure. Not a roof or a tree - it was hair. A mess of spiky hair.

A small smile rose up to Hiccup's lips as she leaned forward with further interest. She watched her hand move, the mess of spikes now growing and two longer stands on both sides.

As of the current moment, she was sitting at a table in the den of her home in front of the fire. She had woken up early to make a light breakfast for her father before he left to get at his patrols. Not being able to get back to sleep, she tried to find something to occupy herself. After a failed attempt at finding something to read or work on, she settled for drawing. So there she was, drawing to her heart's content in the leather bound notebook she cherished.

And it looked like a promising drawing of equal liking.

The charcoaled wood in her hand was leaving behind the lines of a strong jaw that did injustice to the actual perso. Her small smile grew softer one as she drew the eyes.

"Dragons!"

Hiccup sucked in a startled breath, hand posed just above the paper. She dropped her hands on the table, pushing herself up to stare at the large door.

"They're on the eastern side!"

She scrambled for the door, grunting to pull it open only to meet a Nightmare turning towards the noise. It opened its mouth and with a yelp, she slammed the door shut, throwing her back against the heating door.

"Dragons it is then," Hiccup muttered, waiting until the Nightmare was gone before stumbling out the flaming door.

Berk wasn't a bad place to live, really! Of course, you had to get over the fact that there are dragons. Well that, and that they continuously steal the food supply, take livestock, burn the houses and watch towers, and occasionally may take a limb or life. But that wouldn't stop the Vikings from living there. Even if they had to face the occasional food shortage, constant repairs, and multiple injuries, this tribe would never leave. Why? Because Vikings had stubbornness issues.

...Really big stubbornness issues...

"What are you doing?"

"Hurry up and get inside!"

"Stay out of the way!"

Hiccup dodged another incoming Viking that charged at a Gronckle beyond her, her shoulder length hair was not helping as it kept whipping into her sight. But it was something she got used to, running blindly passed more Vikings, who hollered at her to get inside, and more dragons who may have glanced at her.

No one wanted her outside, and in the long run, Hiccup knew why. Of course, whether they wanted her out of the way or not, she still had to get to the forging stall - even if she wanted to or not. Only problem was that the stupid thing was in the middle of town and her house was on the blasted hill way from the main part. And a lot could happen on her way over to the stall-

She yelped, jumping to avoid a rogue fireball that landed directly where her feet had been.

A rough grip on the back of her tunic pulled her high up off the ground. She would've panicked, thinking a dragon was taking her with it.

If, you know, her captor hadn't spoken up.

"Hiccup! What do you think you're- What is she doing out here? Where's Astrad?" He demanded, searching the surrounding faces for the one he ordered. Hiccup sighed.

This was none other than Stoick the Vast, her father. He was Chief of the Hairy Hooligans and the strongest and largest Viking on the island of Berk. Knowledgeable as all leaders, braver than any tribe put together, more honest than the drunkards in the Great Hall, and easily tempered. There was a rumor that when he was but a baby, he managed to knock the head off a full grown dragon. Did she believe this? Without a doubt. Why? Well for good reason. He got really angry when she was out...

She knew he simply wanted her out of the way. Gobber says it's for her safety. Others say it's for their own.

The only reason why she half-heartedly believed Gobber, was because-

"I'm here, sir."

-Stoick had gotten her a trainer.

A blush had risen to Hiccup's face. Pushing his way through the older Vikings, was Astrad. His face was shining slightly with sweat from the fires and the constant running but his face showed indifference.

Stoick released his grip on Hiccup, dropping her onto all fours with a grunt. She barely had a moment to register that as a smaller but firm grip took her elbow. "Get her inside!" Stoick ordered before she was pulled up.

Astrad didn't need to be told twice, shielding her back as he ushered her away. She fought another onslaught of blood rushing up to her cheeks as she felt Astrad brush against her when he covered her from another house being set on fire. He seemed oblivious to it as he maneuvered her around the most dangerous of routes, avoiding many attacks with her occasional yelp and his occasional grunt.

She was almost relieved when he brought her to the door of the stall. Scaring her when he slammed her against the door pane, he shielded her again from another attack behind them. "Th-thanks Astrad." She mumbled.

His icy blue eyes were on her, giving her a curt nod.

"Glad ta see the two of ya joinin' the party," came Gobber, the meat headed man with attitude and prosthetic limbs called, working on sharpening another battle axe. "Almost though' that ye let Hiccup get carried off, puttin' out fires an' all." He glanced at the two with a smirk.

Astrad rolled his eyes. "Doubt me much?"

"If a tad bit," Gobber chuckled, the boy snorted and Hiccup gave the man an offended look.

"Please, even without Astrad they wouldn't know what to do with..." She looked down, gesturing to her small figure, painfully aware that he still hadn't unhanded her, "...all this."

"They need toothpicks, don' they?"

Hiccup shot him a look. A sudden pressure on her elbow made her look up at Astrad's stern glare. "Hiccup, you stay here in the stall, I have to go help out now. Do me a favor and not get Stoick angrier." Gobber snorted, managing to hide it as a cough for both of the teenager's glances.

When didn't Hiccup get the man angrier than a dragon could?

"I-"

"Hiccup."

The girl sighed and nodded. He gave her arm one last squeeze and released her to sprint from the stall. Gobber watched Hiccup with amusement as she muttered profanities, rushing to replace her fur vest with her apron.

If anything, Hiccup was took pride in that she managed to upgrade weapons nearly better than Gobber. Having been Gobber's apprentice since she was young, it was a habit. Gobber managed to appraise that aspect of her, even if he didn't agree with the weapons she tried to create. The only problem was that this wasn't what she wanted to do.

In the midst of handing back weapons to Vikings at the counter, Hiccup was able to get a clear view of a Gronckle shooting flames at a house nearby, burning it completely.

A shout made her look over to water keg, leaning to get a better look. It was a group of teens around her age there, all of them were filling up buckets of water to put out the fire.

Charging head first towards the flames, was her cousin, Snotlout. Arrogant and bullheaded, bulky with muscles for a boy in mid-teens, and already down the same path as his father. He was by far the most annoying of the group, and Hiccup was sure it was mostly for how much time she had to spend with the buffoon. With their fathers being close brothers, she had to constantly deal with said idiot.

Following him was Fishlegs, an awkwardly round boy who at often times reminded her of a mouse. Astrad told her that he was actually pretty decent to talk to, once you got past whatever long stream of dragon info he would spout out. Not that Hiccup would try, she could hardly talk with him because of his friends.

Not far behind the two, the twins fighting over a bucket. Ruffnut and Tuffnut, the oldest being Ruffnut. Similarly to Snotlout, they were a bit on the annoying side with their constant disagreement. They, however much they argued, seemed to be one and the same, from whatever angle you looked at. It just seemed that Ruffnut was more mischievous and her brother more vulgar.

The four of them were somewhat oddly grouped for friends compared to other teens their age, but they were well-known, especially for their active aid during dragon raids. More so was their unspoken leader, Astrad, whom was quick behind them.

Astrad Hofferson was known as the strongest, most intelligent, incredibly talented, strong-willed, fittest, and the most insanely good-looking young Viking of the Hairy Hooligans, definitely living up to his namesake. His promising success had his future entirely set by hand of his mother and the Chief himself, already designating a spot as a high order of the tribe, what spot was yet to be clarified to Hiccup. It was because of all this 'perfection' that had led Stoick to hire him as Hiccup's trainer, or keeper as you will. It was a 'last resort' to attempt to get Hiccup to be the right Viking, but even that was a lost cause. Yet Astrad seemed adamant on keeping the girl in check, being the only one that she could talk to even if he spoke orders to her most of time, only offering words of guidance whenever she voiced her doubts.

It was because of that one little fact that had caused Hiccup to gain such a massive fancy towards him. As far as she was aware, only Gobber knew that she did.

But it was for everything else, that she wanted to get out there and be like him. To prove herself to her father, to show everyone that she wasn't a lost cause under Astrad's attempt to teach her, to show him that she wasn't Hiccup the Useless. As she watched Astrad dodge a Nadder's flame shot, she felt that she wanted him to rely on her too.

Hiccup gripped the counter to pull herself up. She didn't get far when prosthetic pincers grabbed the back of her tunic. "An' where ya think yer goin'?"

"For crying out loud, Gobber," the girl groaned as he dropped her away from the counter. "I need to make my mark."

"Ah, ya've made plenty of marks - all in the wrong places." The man waved his pincers at her.

"Please let me out." She pleaded, "Just a few minutes- a few minutes and I'll kill a dragon. My life will be socially better, Snotlout might not dunk my head in a barrel next time I deal with him, and I might even convince Astrad that I have potential." She gestured outside, trying to keep a stubborn front that Gobber had seen many times.

"Don' think so, lassie." He answered, "If ya can't lift the hammers or clubs, can't swing axes or swords, for Odin's sake, if ya can't even throw these," he held up the bolas that was snatched by a passing Viking, "then you can't go outside!"

The sweat of nerves dripped down the back of her neck, "o-okay so that's true. B-but I've been working on something!" She held her hand up to keep Gobber at bay as she jogged backwards and gestured to an odd looking contraption. "This can throw them for m-" The brush of her fingers activated the weapon, making the Bolas Shooter throw a ball at breakneck speed.

Gobber barely had time to dodge as it hit a Viking coming up to the stall. Both stared stupidly at the fainted man before Gobber turned back. "See, now this, this righ' 'ere is exactly wha' I mean." He poked her shoulder.

"Hey!" Hiccup yelped, "It's just a few mild calibration issues I need to tweak-"

"Hiccup," Gobber interrupted sternly, "if ya ever wanna get out there ta fight dragons, yer gonna need ta stop with..." He hestitated, "... all of this."

She looked down at herself, "but you just pointed at all of me!"

"Precisely, lassie!" Gobber grinned with this seemingly newfound explanation, "ya need ta stop bein' all of ye."

"Oooh," nodded Hiccup sarcastically, Gobber mimicking her. "You, my friend, are playing the wrong game! You'll learn your lesson for keeping all this raw Vi- oi!" She yelped, struggling under the weight of the blunt sword that he had thrust into her hands.

"Berk'll take their chances, fer now, sharpen." He called, waving away her next yelp of profanity as she tumbled onto the floor.

Sitting up, Hiccup glared at his back. One day, just you wait, she thought, struggling to stand and work. It was always like this, for her to be pushed back into the stall. Okay, she knew it was for her (several) inventions that she had tried to use and ended in disaster. But what did they expect? Gobber basically told it how it was, she couldn't lift or use any sort of weapon. Astrad had tried teaching her but not matter what he tried, she couldn't do it. She openly longed for a day out of the stall and everyone knew it.

But only few knew that she simply wanted a chance.

A chance to kill her first dragon.

With her reputation, though, it needed to be a good dragon. Killing dragons was everything around here, especially to the teens around her age. Nadders would get her noticed - at the least. Gronkles were tougher - a blush would often rise to her cheeks when she thought of Astrad rewarding her kill with a peck on the cheek. The Zippleback would be exotic in her case, for two heads, double the status - so probably a kiss from Astrad. Then there's the Monstrous Nightmares, which she wouldn't even bother with for her first try - only the best could go after them. Those pests had the annoying habit of setting themselves on fire.

If you thought that was the biggest prize, though, well you got another thing coming buddy.

The hair on the back of her neck curled when her sharp ears caught the sound of a low whistle in the far distance. Her hands that were working the bellow instantly froze.

For the biggest prize of all, the Night Fury had decided to make its presence known. Tricky, those were. They never show themselves, never steal any food, and possibly the worst of all, they never miss. These beasts were the ones that her father worried the worst about, he kept the closest eye on them even if he couldn't see them. Gobber once told her that her father had the ability to detect a Night Fury before it struck. Clearly-

"Gobber, get down!" Hiccup shouted, ducking behind the barrel of coal. She was barely able to hear his drop to the floor from the sound of a plasmatic flame blast that shook the ground outside. There were multiple shouts of the dragon's name to follow.

-Hiccup had that trait as well. And that was exactly why, she was going to be the one to get it.

"Good one, tha' one, lass." Gobber remarked, lifting himself from the ground and reaching over his work desk to get his interchangeable battle axe arm.

Her eyebrows furrowed, "where are you going?"

"They need me out there. So Hiccup, stay in the stall." He grunted, clicking in his weapon and hobbling towards the door.

"Hey-" She called incredulously, picking herself up, meeting the warning gaze from her mentor.

"Stay." He punctuated his axe. And turned to leave before looking back again, "put." When he turned the third time, Hiccup had to fight off an eye roll, "here - you know what I mean." He frowned, noting her look, turning with a battle cry and charging out of there.

But his words fell on deaf ears as a small grin came to Hiccup's lips.

It was minutes later when she threw off her smithing apron, shrugged into her vest, grabbed her machinery - after fixing it a bit, mind you - and hightailed out through the back door. There was no way she was gonna risk a run-in with Astrad.

Getting a quick look, she began to wheel the shooter in the direction of an uninhabited cliff overlooking a watch tower. Other Vikings noticed as she passed the fray, shouting multiple variations of 'get back inside'. Her responses were limited to apologies and 'excuse-me's as she dashed through, her mind elsewhere.

Coming to a halt at the edge of the cliff, she hissed, pulling down the lever to set her contraption. She shoved her nose underneath the eyepiece to get a view of the starry sky.

"Give me something," she whispered, turning the shooter. At this point she was desperate for something. With one too many disappointments under her belt, one too many pitiful looks towards her father and Astrad, one too many flinches and disgusted faces.

One too many failures.

She was desperate for anything.

A sudden screech to her left made her focus her sights on the watch tower. The quick purple blast nearly blinded her as she followed a black shadow. She turned her aim quickly, a small cry coming from her lips when she slipped, accidentally firing the Shooter in a random direction after the shadow.

She sat up, looking frantically towards her shot. High and desperate hope held her breath as she watched. And her hope was not in vain.

The loud and painful screech of the Night Fury was heard, Hiccup's eyes brightened. Scrambling to stand, she rushed to the cliff's edge, watching in wonder as the falling dragon shot towards Raven's Point.

She hit it. She hit it. For the love of Odin and Frigga, she hit it!

"I did it!" Hiccup cried, jumping and fist pumping into the air with every little fiber in her body. "I hit it!" She whooped, twirling. "Did anyone see that? Please tell me someone saw th-"

A sudden crunching sound made her flinch, turning her sights towards her Shooter, now a pile of heap under deadly orange claws.

All happy feeling was gone as her eyes met the gaze of another Monstrous Nightmare. Twice in one day ... how charming.

"Not you..." She mumbled in slight fear, her eyes widening as she took steps back. The predatory look in its eyes made her gulp. "Definitely not you..."

And like that, she turned tail and ran for her life, letting out a scream as she did, ducking under a swipe of claws in her sprint. Her answer was the Nightmare's terrifying roar as it followed after her, seemingly annoyed with her evasiveness. Not that she'd ever try to let him get the glory, no matter how simple it was to down her.

Rushing over the ridges and down the pathways she came, she somehow managed to dodge all the streams of fire shot in her direction. "I am an idiot, I am an idiot, I am an idiot," she repeated with bated breath as she skirted away from flame shots. "Oh I am an idiot. I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die right after I caught a Night Fury - oh I am so dead." She muttered to herself, jumping over a fallen tree trunk and dashing towards the square.

The Nightmare still hot on her tail. This was so bad - if Astrad or her dad found her... Shaking the thought, Hiccup focused once again before her, feeling her lungs starting to tighten with lack of oxygen. She had to hide or something, there was no way she'd be able to keep running like this. If it wasn't soon, she was gonna be dragon feed in a few minutes.

Almost like an answer to her prayers, there was a thick pillar ways before her. She felt the burn in her thighs as she pushed herself harder.

A sudden swipe for her legs knocked her to the floor. She coughed from the dust of the dirt, groaned when she felt pain on her left leg from the hit and the burning skid marks on her palms. But she was quick to try and scramble onto her back, keeping an eye on the dragon that was preparing to burn her into a crisp.

Panting heavily, she looked into the depth of its opened mouth. She screwed her eyes shut, throwing her arms up for cover.

"Hiccup!"

Her heart jutted for a split second, before Astrad slammed into her with plenty of force to send them rolling to her side. Otherworldly heat soared passed them as they did, completely missing them. She landed on her side with Astrad crouched above her, shielding her from the view of the Nightmare turning angrily in their direction.

"Astrad," she breathed, looking up at him as he kept his hard gaze on the dragon, "you-"

"I thought I told you to stay in the stall," he growled back, ducking his head when the Nightmare prepared to shoot again. Hiccup imitated him, ducking under him. A roar that wasn't dragon made them reluctantly look up, and Hiccup was never more relieved to see her father kicking the dragon's head and initiating a brawl with it.

Now against a formidable opponent, the Nightmare backed up. It was clear after running to prey on Hiccup, it ran out of its firepower, leaving it with only claws that had knocked her over. But that didn't deter Stoick who readied his fist with his palm, giving a mighty battle cry as he dove and punched the dragon's jaw. Multiple punches and kicks came after showed the Nightmare that it couldn't win the fight, something Stoick was undoubtedly proud of. Especially when it roared at him and backed away, clumsily slipping into flight. Stoick gave a snort as he turned to examine them.

She heard Astrad's breath of relief, taking her elbow and pulled her up. Hiccup winced, feeling her leg already threatening to bruise, sighing when she caught her father's indignant gaze on the sky over her head.

She didn't have to turn back to look - the look on Astrad's and Stoick's face was more than enough. Instead, she forced herself to gulp and fiddle with the bottom of her green tunic as she waited for the cloud of victorious dragons to pass.

And who was going to be the first person they blamed it on? Her. Obviously. She'd get some shouting lectures courtsey her father. Judging by the little twitch of his jaw, she could tell it wasn't going to be pretty.

Astrad sighed deeply, reaching up to softly smack the back of her head. "Idiot."

...Oh yeah ... it was bad.