Summary: In a small village, raising dragons for fighting is typical, expected even. But when a local outcast befriends one, it's up to them to find out why. Human!Toothless and Dragon!Hiccup AU.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters depicted in this story

Chapter 2: You Can't, Well, Maybe You Can

Tuulikki ran through the town, hearing the hustle and bustle of the early risers. He nearly tripped again, on his clothes no less, but he saved himself and ran because today, of all days, was special.

Today he would finally show people that he was more than a goat herder, that he could tame monsters. He knocked on the door of Magnus's house, a man who's family had raised hatchling dragons for generations.

"Is it that day already?" a grumbling voice followed dragging feet. It took visits twice a day for three months before Magnus got fed up with Tuulikki and told him when he could take a dragon of his own.

The older man opened the door, blithely accustomed to Tuulikki speeding through. Magnus was a thin and cantankerous old man, life having sucked out any patience and joy it held for him long ago. He was clothed in rough leather and thin fireproof armor, enough to stop any stop any overexcited dragon from tearing into him. Any hair he had left was on his head was a dusty red color shorn close to the skull. Magnus grumbled some more, rubbing his forehead to ease his splitting headache, leaning his staff against the doorframe, where it's dangling teeth clinked against each other.

Gobber yapped at Tuulikki's heels, the old dragon having missed the boy. He was chubby, half-blind and battle-scarred, with scales the color of old gold that flaked off when he got too excited. Tuulikki lightly scratched its head, trying to keep Gobber from tackling him.

"Aye, shut yer gob, Gobber!" the keeper yelled over the whining. He slammed his staff against the ground for effect. Gobber looked startled, but quickly moved away from Tuulikki, curling up near the hearth.

The graying merchant looked Tuulikki up and down, "So, yer here up and early." The black-haired boy nodded, mind already racing. What kinds of dragons did Magnus have, anyway? He hoped that there was one that was fierce, fearless, and as sharp as a spike; he wouldn't settle for less than amazing.

"Well, c'mon back." Magnus hooked his staff on the trapdoor to underneath his shop, revealing a small set of stairs leading down. Beneath the store was a small room carved from the earth, where the dragons were kept. Magnus carried a torch in, setting it in the wall. It was covered in old scorch marks, reminding Tuulikki of where he was. He contained his squeal of excitement, as that would be less than manly.

Tuulikki was looking at the dragons in delight, eyes anxiously moving from one to the other, wondering which one he would get. The lizards were curled up in sleep, rolled up like little presents waiting to be opened.

"Well?" Magnus growled, "Get going, they're not going to sleep forever, and they're right terrors when they're awake."

The tan boy picked his way through them, finding a thick-skinned one the color of burnt toast with drool coming out of its snout. He looked scary enough. "Okay, how 'bout him?"

"Can't. He's been reserved."

At this, Tuulikki turned around stared at Magnus, "What?" he said, not believing it. "You said that if I got here early I would have my pick of the litter!"

With all the grace of the Vikings he was descended from, Magnus bluntly pushed forward, "Yeah, except for that one, he's reserved."

"Okay…" Tuulikki started looking around, "That one." He pointed to a reddish brown one with jagged horns.

"The Reily family wants that one." Tuulikki growled a little, pointing at a shifting mass of yellow and blue spikes. "Reserved."

a lean yellow-gold one; "Reserved."

another thick black one curled up with a rock; "Taken."

a silver one stretching its wings; "That one's got some debt to work off."

Tuulikki asked aloud, "So, when you say you're giving me a choice, it means I have none at all?" Magnus just stared grumpily at him before the black-haired boy pointed to another dragon. Behind them, unnoticed, the lizards were perking up. For those who don't know, cold-blooded creatures tend to slow down in cool environments. In fact, when Tuulikki and Magnus came down, it was freezing enough that most dragons were too tired to move. Now that they had brought a torch in, the little buggers were starting to wake.

Tuulikki pointed to the last dragon in the room, a mud brown one with large, blunt spikes on its body. "Ya can't have that one, he's for-" Magnus was interrupted by the 'fwoosh' of a fireball being thrown. Soon the underground room was filled with dragons clambering to Magnus for their breakfast.

"Oh boy." the older man quickly started away from his dragons, motioning for Tuulikki to come with him. Tired and very angry, the boy dodged to the side of a fire blast, grabbing something before coming back up the stairs.

Safely out of the inferno, Magnus closed the trapdoor. "Aye, sorry about not having any dragons for ya."

Tuulikki took a quick look at the bundle in his arms, and shook his head. "I think I'll be alright." the tan boy said as he dashed out of the house. Or, he tried to.

Tuulikki told himself that it wasn't his fault that Siegfried and his cronies were in the doorway, preventing him from leaving and making him turn at the worst possible second and crash into the wall.

Yep. Not his fault at all. He waited a second for the ceiling to stop moving while clutching his arms to his chest. Now if he could just get moving before Magnus noticed…

"How's the ground, Toe Licker?"

Tuulikki groaned.

Siegfried looked down on him, surrounded by other faces he knew and disliked. They were 'friends', if friendship meant knowing their first name and blaming them for anything and everything that went wrong in life. In fact, if it took that little, then he was friends with everyone of his age group.

Siegfried was the ringleader, a beefy flame-haired son of a blacksmith. When he got angry, his whole face turned a beet red and he had a tendency to destroy anything not nailed down and on fire. As a result, Tuulikki didn't like him that well, and he frowned as he saw two identical sneers.

Bartek and Berta backed up Siegfried in everything he did. They were cousins, inseparable despite growing in different households. Some people even confused the two for siblings. Bartek, ever the genius, noticed the squirming pile in Tuulikki's shirt. The dark-skinned boy grabbed at his cousin's tunic, but was ignored.

Cordi squeaked out, "Is that a-" before getting shushed by Siegfried's loud laughter. She was a dragon-lover, par for the course when your uncle was Magnus, and was smarter than Tuulikki; the round girl knew when to shut up around others, and that was half the battle in teenage politics.

And finally, Storm. Tuulikki's vision stopped flickering as soon as he saw her. Her pale hair always shone, blue dresses were clean and Tuulikki never knew if a speck of dust ever called her home. She was a dream, meant for someone who could actually keep her. It was well known that she never lifted anything heavier than her dresses and was quite fearless.

He stared until a dragon burst out of his chest and latched onto her.

Err, the dragon that he was attempting to steal from Magnus, not a metaphorical one made out of his feelings. That would be stupid and totally ridiculous.

The whole group of teenagers jumped back except for Storm, who only looked pleasantly surprised. "Oh!" she cradled the blue and yellow spiked mass uneasily. "Did you get this one for me?"

The black-haired boy raised himself off the ground. He was about to say, "No, gimme back my dragon!" but a pompous voice broke in.

"Oh Freya, you gotta be kidding me! Not even the dragon he chose likes him!" The other kids broke out in laughter.

"Hey!" Magnus broke in, "What are you trying to do by stealing that dragon? Go back home to yer mum, ya troublemaker!"

Tuulikki bolted through the door, not looking back.

Notes: The dragons are basically smaller versions of the common breeds shown in the movie, with varied color schemes. The dragons are all shorter than 4 feet. All domesticated dragons are either solid in color or have two colors and one 'fades' into the other at certain points. They eat small game (rabbits, mice, etc…) and certain plants, considering there are no lakes or oceans around to fish from.

Yes, the cast has POC. I didn't want to go all the way, because that would mean when you put them against their owners, it'd be like slavery all over again. Soooo…only a few are dark-skinned.

Also, for future reference, Tuulikki's skin tone is between Will Smith's and Aldis Hodge's. Look them up if you don't know about them.

Here's the names for the other kids:

(Hookfang) Siegfried- means 'peace' and 'victory'. Chosen because I needed something in two parts. Also, 'fried'. Is ginger, because the 'fiery redhead' jokes never get old.

(Barf) Bartek- the Polish version of Bartholomew. He is also not white, I just haven't figured out a shade.

(Belch) Berta- Polish version of Bertha. She has the same color of skin as her cousin.

(Meatlug) Cordi- Short for Cordelia, the name of a princess who was loyal to her father. Remember what Fishlegs said about Gronkles? 'What you're looking for is loyalty.'

(Stormfly) Storm- just because I want her to be the only one out like Astrid was.

Kudos if you thought getting Hiccup was going to be like it was in the books. Please review!

Ill