Author's Note:

Thanks to my five reviewers, though seriously guys, that's pathetic really—only three percent of my readers willing to even say thanks! But I'll give you guys the benefit of the doubt this time, given that it was the first chapters... But I need better response if I'm to keep this up to the end!

sagemanexp: Glad you liked the chapter!

Notlobe: Hmm, how's it different to the normal role reversal? I'm not sure I understand you there, but it's good to know the chapter was good anyway!

Thunderbird 22: Well, I hope it'll be good when you do read it!

prite: Good to know it's good. And, by the way, I'm a girl.

HanyouExorcistAlchemist48: I'm glad you'll be sticking around for a bit. Hope you enjoy this chapter as well.


Chapter Three


THE WORLD was overwhelmingly bright, or so Hiccup thought when he first opened his lead-like eyes. It seemed to be the early afternoon—the warm sunlight which bore down on the land and the soft tweeting of the birds all around could signal nothing else—but, while he would normally have relished in the tender caress of the gentle heat, he could not appreciate the pleasant temperature that day; the agonising burning in his tail completely overruled the otherwise heavenly atmosphere.

Grunting as he raised his head a little and trying to ignore the pain—with much difficulty—Hiccup let his sharp eyes scan his surroundings. It was, to be fair, a rather beautiful valley; an expansive, pale blue lake took up the majority of the clearing, but a few small trees and rocks were littered around the sandy and grassy outskirts. There was, it appeared, a somewhat generously sized cave at the opposite end of the valley too—but what dragon would ever take shelter there when the day was so heavenly?

Pushing him self up onto his front paws, Hiccup immediately let out a short gasp of pain and yelped, immediately falling back to his stomach as he turned his head this time to face his rear legs, keeping his tail—though it made his body tremble to just move it—out of his range of vision. The pain was unbearable; he couldn't bear to look, knowing that doing so would only make the torture even more unbearable. Even just wondering how bent his fin was made him grit his teeth.

Snarling at the sight of the odd, sharp-smelling snake which still bound his legs, Hiccup's eyes narrowed as he opened his mouth a little, charging up a small plasma blast and spitting it towards the beast which now kept him tussled up. For a minute, he almost imagined the attack had been successful—the snake had suddenly gotten incredibly, incredibly note—but, once the fire had completely vanished, he found that his attack had, to his dismay, done no noticeable damage. The two-legs' minion still kept his legs clamped; it was a stronger beast than he had thought.

Pushing up again onto his fore paws, Hiccup then began curling his body around, reaching for the snake with his overly sharp teeth. It was no easy feat to grab the thing, however; in his position, every time he even came close to snagging the snake ended up with him falling on his side—and, by extension, on his tail—and letting out a deafening roar of agony. It was, quite literally, like nothing he'd ever known. Even Stoick's harsh (but arguably well-deserved) tail slaps were gentle in comparison, a fact which was all the more powerful when it was considered that even the Queen had been known, on occasion, to wince or grumble at the rumblehorn's frustrations—though how much was fact and how much was gossip among the females was hard to say.

In amidst the potion of pain bubbling away in his mind, a few short and snappish commands could also be discerned; complaints from the Mother, who would know that he was still alive. From what Hiccup could tell, she was snapping at him for not bringing back any food—and for not returning at all—but, honestly, her grumbles were the least of his problems. Sure, he'd probably have to avoid the nest indefinitely if he didn't get back that day—that or condemn himself to be eaten alive—but right now, he was more interested in shaking off the stubborn snake which still kept him tied up. He was a downed dragon, and with a broken tail there was no way he could fly straight yet, so if he was to remain grounded he would at least need to be able to run.

Lunging once again for the snake, Hiccup grunted as his teeth finally—finally!—gained some hold on the vile tasting creature. Then clamping his jaw around it he shook his head wildly, desperately trying to loosen it off; alas, he had no such luck, eventually only succeeding in allowing himself ten more centimetres of movement and giving himself aching teeth to add to the pain. It was as if the world had a vendetta against him today—and his suspicions were only confirmed when he felt something thick and scratchy crack through the air, coiling around his raised muzzle and jerking it shut.

Unable to make a noise, Hiccup threw his head about wildly as he searched for his attacker, surely a two-legs by the smell of the newest snake. Writhing, he even attempted to fly away at one point, but with no working tail fin and unusable rear legs he did little more than push himself a few metres through the dirt towards the lake; grunting as his tail knocked against a small rock, he then raised his head and pushed himself up once more into a sitting position, looking about with wide eyes.

For a minute or so, nothing happened and, seeing no immediate danger, Hiccup relaxed a little and began to lower his head down onto his paws. And then, just as he did so, he heard the war cry of an approaching two-legs.

He shot upright, flaring out his wings and trying to find some way to stand, but his reaction was too delayed; it was less than a second from the time he heard the two-legs' roar to when a massive mass landed down upon his back. The smell of the thing was potent—it was definitely the one who'd attacked him before—and its funny hissing was even more evident, ringing in Hiccup's ears. But, most terrifyingly of all, the creature clutched a long, sharp blade in its paws—and was angling the weapon towards his neck.

Hiccup writhed and flipped his body around with his front paws as a pivot, growling through his constraints as he narrowed his eyes, unsheathing his fore claws. Then slashing his tail around, he felt his heart fill with angered glee as he smashed the fins against the two-legs—but he could barely see through the blinding pain Which blurred his vision.

When the pain passed eventually and his vision cleared, Hiccup growled in the back of his throat as he felt something heavy land on his tail, pinning it to the ground; grunting quietly, he struggled to move against the weight of the lean but muscular beast and he shot his head around as he felt something sharp touch his overly sensitive tail fin.

For just a moment, he watched, paralysed, as the two-legs raised his head and gripped the blade tightly, its paw turning from tan to white—and then the creature made a short string of noises and plunged all of its weight on the weapon, slicing cleanly through the skin of his tail fin. And Hiccup roared, snapping the snake around his muzzle off as pain overwhelmed every one of his senses.

With all of his might, Hiccup howled as he pushed off with all of his strength from his rear knees, snapping out his wings and beating them for slightly more power; the two-legs was thrown off easily, but its blade did not come loose immediately, instead slicing cleanly through the remaining tendons and muscles, leaving Hiccup roaring in a way which he had never done before.

Terror raged in his mind and Hiccup bucked again, though he still remained on his knees, Then turning his head to the man, he snapped open his mouth and charged up an immediate plasma blast, firing it in blind fury in the general direction of the two-legs, his body to agonised to allow for rational aim. The creature yelped and scrambled backwards, having leapt forwards to grab up then precious and mutilated fin which had ended up laying on the ground; Hiccup watched him with unfocused eyes and snarled before roaring once again and spitting out another, even larger blast in the beast's direction. But he knew it had missed the second that he let it loose, and as the dust and pebbles cleared—the aftermath of the explosion—he could just notice the horrid creature scrambling up over the top of the cliff and to freedom.

And then he collapsed, shuffling forwards a few metres and draping his steadily bleeding tail into the water, roaring and snarling and moaning until he finally fell asleep.


Author's Note

Oh dear, poor Hiccup... As you may have probably guessed, this fic is not going to be exactly the same as the original movie, but it will still follow the general plot. It will also be a bit darker than the original because, to be frank, the dark genre is my best area. However, don't fret—it won't be that dark, so please stick with me!

As always, please review and fave! All I'm asking for is a few words, and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about the fic as well in the top chapter comments, for both guest or member reviews!

See you soon!

-Luna