Author's Note:

I know what you all are thinking, not ANOTHER fanfic with some random OC all up in it! And I apologize but I couldn't help it. I've wanted to write a HTTYD fanfic for a long time and reading Alice W. Rabbit's fics really inspired me.

If you don't like OCs then….I guess you shouldn't read.

Chapter 1: A Downed Dragon is a Dead Dragon

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third! You get your lazy butt up this instant!"

Hiccup sluggishly opened one eye, not at all pleased with the sudden interruption of a particularly interesting dream, and stared up at the source of the high-pitched shriek. The tall blonde that was stood above Hiccup's bed had nothing in her hard gaze but pure annoyance.

"A-Astrid? What're you doing here?" he groaned sleepily, putting an arm over his eyes in an attempt to block out the bright rays of sunlight that shone through his now open window.

Astrid flipped her bangs out of her left eye and put her hands on her hips, all the while her glare intensified ten-fold. For such a petite Viking one wouldn't think she could be so intimidating.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe you forgot…" She promptly grabbed Hiccup's pillow right from underneath his head and hit him square in the face with. "We have to help the younger students with the dragons today." She dropped the pillow back onto his bed. "You volunteered, remember?" She added when he gave her a drowsy and slightly confused look.

Oh, that's right.

It's been about a year since the Red Death was taken down and peace was restored in the Viking village. Now that the students were being taught to ride dragons instead of fighting them they needed a really good teacher and Hiccup, being the first ever Viking to ride a dragon was also the best.

Astrid let herself out of Hiccup's room to allow him a chance to get ready in privacy. She let out an irritated sigh while she walked down the stairs into the living room where Toothless lay by the fireplace. The noise caused the dragon to lift his head but he put it back down and tried to resume his nap.

After walking around in circles restlessly Astrid finally decided to take a seat next to Toothless while she waited for Hiccup. He was supposed to meet her and the class at the arena this morning. But after a half an hour of waiting and no Hiccup, Astrid took it upon herself to look for him; which is why he was greeted with such a rude awakening.

She let out another sigh and gently rested her hand on Toothless' head. "Why is your rider such an incompetent idiot?" She grumbled.

Toothless looked up at the girl with a blank stare. She knew he couldn't understand a word she was saying but that didn't stop her from venting to the large reptile. Toothless just kept quiet.

When Hiccup finally came down Astrid wasted no time in rushing him out of the house, shouting angrily and berating him for his lazy behaviour. Humans… Toothless thought to himself with a slightly amused shake of the head when the door slammed roughly behind the two.

"Sorry we're late everyone!" Astrid said as she and Hiccup approached the small group of children. "Some of us decided to sleep in today…" She gave Hiccup a knowing shove, to which he responded with an embarrassed grin.

"S-sorry everyone…" He mumbled, rubbing his arm uncomfortably. You'd think with him being the saviour of Berk Astrid would give him a little more slack. Apparently not.

After dragon training the kids went home with slightly burnt fingers and singed hair but their enthusiasm to learn about the creatures were unharmed. Astrid watched the rowdy group of pre-teens as they ambled their way out of the arena, all claiming to be the next best dragon rider. At that she gave a small smile.

Unknown to Astrid, Hiccup was watching her. And the sight of her smiling caused a smile to creep onto his face as well. Astrid looked up to find him staring at her and he quickly looked away, his face a slight shade of pink. Astrid chuckled and walked over to where he stood and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. The colour on his face intensified.

He knew it was a silent apology for the way she barged into his room and nearly ripped his head off for sleeping in. It was bad but not that bad. She wasn't good with words to show how much she was sorry but Hiccup certainly didn't mind this method either. After they packed up, Hiccup and Astrid decided to take the longer route home; a scenic route through the forest that always seem to put Astrid in a good mood.

As they walked past a particularly dense forest of trees they heard a strange noise that came from the foliage. At first they thought it was nothing more than a small woodland animal but the rustling of the leaves became louder and more incessant. Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other and proceeded into the bushes to investigate the source of the strange sound. They eventually reached a clearing but nothing was there, save for a few birds nesting in nearby branches.

"Hmm…" Hiccup scanned the bushes for a sign of the creature that made the noise. Nothing.

"Maybe it was nothing." Astrid said with a shrug and turned around to head back to the trail.

"Yeah, maybe…" Hiccup agreed, still a bit reluctant to leave right away. Just as he was about to follow Astrid out of the clearing he heard the noise again and quickly turned around to see a dragon dragging itself out of the bushes on the other end of the clearing.

Hiccup stopped in his tracks and almost stopped breathing. This wasn't just any dragon. Staring back at him with wide eyes was a Night Fury. "Astrid…" he called out, not taking his eyes off the dragon. "Astrid!"

"What is it Hiccup? I thought we were -" Astrid walked back, slightly annoyed but stopped mid-sentence when she saw the Night Fury watching them both carefully.

It was silent for a while. Nobody spoke and nobody moved. Nobody even blinked. The strange Night Fury was the first to do something. It inched backwards, trying to get back into the bushes behind it without making any sudden movements. But Hiccup decided to take a small step forward and the dragon jumped back. But it stopped and gave a small whine, lifting its left front leg from the ground. It was hurt.

Hiccup also noticed that its right wing was bent at a weird angle. It was definitely injured and unable to fly. Hiccup took another step forward and the dragon lowered itself closer to the ground and let out a warning hiss, its pupils now thin slits.

"Hiccup, be careful." Astrid warned, still rooted to the spot.

"I know," he responded, still taking little baby steps towards the distressed dragon. "But it looks like it's hurt. I just want to check it out." But the dragon didn't agree with this for it let out a growl. Hiccup noticed that there wasn't anger in its large green eyes but panic. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." He whispered, holding up his hands to show that he had no weapons and meant no harm.

But the dragon quickly turned around and jumped back into the bushes. Not caring if its leg was in an enormous amount of pain, just desperate to get away from the humans.

"Well that was weird…" Astrid commented while joining Hiccup in the now dragon-less clearing.

"Yeah," he mumbled, still staring at the spot the Night Fury just was. "But it needs help… There's no way it can survive like that out here. I don't think it can even fly. "

"We'll come back tomorrow. It was obviously scared of us so we have to find a way to get it to trust us first."

With that Astrid walked off and Hiccup followed soon after. The words Gobber told them when they had first started dragon training rang in his ears.

A downed dragon is a dead dragon.