AN: Um, hi? It's been a while... I wanted to say how blown away I was by the response to this story. Like, it has almost as many follows/faves as my first story, which has been much more popular than anything else I've written, so I was very happy.

I know that I promised at least a few of the reviewers that this would be up, like, a week after the prologue, but... I've been fighting a major block since February. My life got much too dramatic for me to focus on anything I posted here, so I would have a new idea and not have a clue where to take it. Which is why I only had 1 chapter here for 6 months. and why this other story I started a year ago still only has one chapter... Whoops.

Also, to all those reviewers asking all the questions: I don't know where this is going to go. I don't typically plan my stories in advance (hence the super long waits that tend to occur), so I literally have no idea what will happen. I do know two things: I currently have no plans to write baby!Hiccup, and Hiccup will not be speaking Dragon, ever.

Before you leave, though, hear me out! Baby!Hiccup isn't the story I'm telling, and isn't very necessary the way I want to tell this story. I might do some flashbacks where we get his POV as a kid, but I'm not sure yet. And he won't be speaking Dragon because, in my opinion, it would be impossible for a person to be able to make those noises. There's such a great range of sounds and pitches that I don't think the human voice can make an accurate copy. He will be able to understand Dragon, but not speak it himself.

And, finally, thank you to my lovely beta and internet bestie luckynumberblack for reading this earlier!

Chapter 1: The Boy by the Lake

Astrid stormed out of the training ring, gripping her axe tightly in both hands. She really needed to hit something. Snotlout had been distracting again when a dragon was loose! Would he never realize that she wasn't interested? Didn't he know how important this was?

She stomped her way into the forest, looking for a good tree to practice her throwing on. As she walked, she thought about the news she'd overheard at breakfast that morning: the chief, Stoick, feared his wife might not make it through this winter. Astrid had met Valka a few times when her mother had visited her. She was used as an example to the children: this is why dragons are dangerous, why you must learn to kill them; see how weak and sick she is? It is because she could not kill the dragon that threatened her own child, a mere baby.

She understood their reasoning, but dragons were big, and the rumors were that the one that had cradle-snatched that night had been one of the biggest the village had ever seen. If it had been so huge and monstrous, would anyone have been able to defeat it?

Her thoughts drifted away as she debated which direction to take now: over the rock in front of her, or to the right aways, and then sort of back the way she came. She couldn't remember ever having been past this particular rock, so she chose to clamber over, in the spirit of exploration. As she found a handhold and a few promising footholds, she caught some noise coming from beyond the rock; it almost sounded like a voice, but there was a deeper, more visceral noise overlaying it. She hoisted herself higher, and peeked out over the edge.

She saw a boy, a skinny boy about her own age, with longish reddish-brown hair. He was wearing a vest, a worn green shirt, and trousers, but was strangely barefoot. He was kneeling in the mud beside a small lake in the clearing, dragging a stick through the damp earth. And he was talking, but she didn't see anyone else in the clearing with him.

Curious, she finished pulling herself on top of the rock, and called out to the stranger. "Hey!"

The boy jumped at her voice, surprised by her sudden appearance. He dropped the stick he was holding and stared at her, eyes wide in… was that fright?

"It's okay! I just wanted to talk to you," she called as she jumped down from her perch. "I've never seen you around here before… You're not from Berk, are you?"

He looked like a deer that had just realized it was being hunted.

"Are you okay?" she asked, walking forward and sheathing her axe.

"Uh… Yes? I just… uh… I… You surprised me," as he said this, something behind her seemed to catch his eye. Confused, she turned, but saw nothing. When she faced him again, his arms were spread, as if he'd been signaling to someone. He quickly dropped them again. He grinned, the spread of the smile too large to be normal; he was being overly friendly, trying to convince her he was harmless. Which, of course, meant he wasn't.

"I'm Astrid," she offered, not wanting to drag on an awkward silence, not wanting him to realize she was onto him—whatever it was he was up to. He was being secretive, and, sure, they just met, but her instincts were screaming at her to figure out what was going on, for Thor's sake and she was just trying to make the best decision. Which, right now, was to not run off.

"Hi… Um… I'm, I'm Erlend."

It was a strange name to have. It literally meant 'outsider', and was usually only used when trying to get a stranger's attention. Why a child would be named that was beyond her.

"So, where are you from, Erlend?"

"It's a pretty long way from here… You probably haven't heard of it." So maybe it wasn't his name, just what he had been called since arriving.

"Oh. Are you visiting Berk?"

He still seemed very distracted. They were sort of walking in circles and it was almost like he was trying to keep something in his line of sight. Astrid wanted to turn again, but she didn't want to scare him off before she'd discovered what he was doing here.

"Uh… no. Not—not really. Just… passing through, I guess."

She looked down and realized she was standing over what he'd been sketching in the mud. It looked like a dragon, but not any that she'd ever seen. "What's this?"

When she looked back up, he had that frightened-deer look again. He gulped visibly before answering. "It's… It's nothing, just a ske—"

"Who were you talking to?"

Erlend blinked as his face paled. He gulped again.

"I heard you talking while I was climbing over that rock," she said, pointing to the boulder that was now behind him. He turned to glance at it, and then looked at her again. His eyes kept shifting to something behind her, though, and she was finally fed up. She spun around, and screamed when she saw the dragon crouching on the other side of the small lake. She stepped backwards, turning as she went, and pushed Erlend to the ground. Her axe was in her hand mere moments later, and she turned back to the beast that was now bounding towards her. She could tell Erlend was saying something, but the adrenaline screaming through her body wouldn't let her focus on anything but the danger that was coming ever closer. Her mind was analyzing the terrain and her choices faster than she had ever thought was possible (there was plenty of cover along the edges of the clearing; the soft earth was bound to slow her down; if she threw her axe and missed, she was dead, and she might be dead even if it did hit the beast, better not risk it). She tightened her grip and lifted the weapon above her head, sucking in a breath to release a war cry, when Erlend stood up and yanked on her arm, knocking her off balance. She fell to the ground, hitting her head on a small rock. She went to sit up, and the world spun. She tried to shake off the daze, and when she did, she saw Erlend standing between her and the raging dragon, holding him off with only words and gestures.

Who was this boy?

AN: Please leave reviews! I'd love to hear what you like, what you think I'm doing wrong, and any corrections you might have! (I can't promise to answer questions or to do what you want me to, but I will reply to any and all reviews I receive!)

PS- I'll explain how he can speak English in the next chapter... probably. Hopefully, I'll see you guys soon! :D (Review!)